Sora yori mo Tooi Basho

Filled with an overwhelming sense of wonder for the world around her, Mari Tamaki has always dreamt of what lies beyond the reaches of the universe. However, despite harboring such large aspirations on the inside, her fear of the unknown and anxiety over her own possible limitations have always held her back from chasing them. But now, in her second year of high school, Mari is more determined than ever to not let any more of her youth go to waste. Still, her fear continues to prevent her from taking that ambitious step forward—that is, until she has a chance encounter with a girl who has grand dreams of her own.

Spurred by her mother's disappearance, Shirase Kobuchizawa has been working hard to fund her trip to Antarctica. Despite facing doubt and ridicule from virtually everyone, Shirase is determined to embark on this expedition to search for her mother in a place further than the universe itself. Inspired by Shirase's resolve, Mari jumps at the chance to join her. Soon, their efforts attract the attention of the bubbly Hinata Miyake, who is eager to stand out, and Yuzuki Shiraishi, a polite girl from a high class background. Together, the four spirited girls set sail toward the frozen south, all in search of something great.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kobuchizawa, Shirase Main

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Miyake, Hinata Main

Iguchi, Yuka Japanese

Tamaki, Mari Main

Minase, Inori Japanese

Shiraishi, Yuzuki Main

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Toudou, Gin Supporting

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Samejima, Yumiko Supporting

Lynn Japanese

Takahashi, Megumi Supporting

Kanemoto, Hisako Japanese

Maekawa, Kanae Supporting

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Zaizen, Toshio Supporting

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Himi, Dai Supporting

Fukushima, Jun Japanese

Kananiwa, Kozue Producer

Tanaka, Shou Producer

Iizuka, Aya Producer

Ogata, Mitsuhiro Producer

Reviews

Mar 29, 2018

TakaCode

Recommended

Winter 18 anime season was honestly a pretty underwhelming season overall because unlike the Fall 17 anime season didn’t feature a lot of good shows that are not 2nd seasons or leftovers from the Fall 17 season.
The problem that I have with this season that many of the shows are nothing more style over substance meme feasts.

A1+ Trigger mecha show Darling in the Franxx is the worst example of this because not only in my opinion bad at storytelling it also allowed the memes and reference to older shows to take over the actual story to a point where you're literally only watching it ... for the memes instead of a story and characters. However out of all the anime from the Winter 18 season, A Place Further than the Universe quietly became a big hit and unlike any other new show from this season, it was actually good.
So good to a point where every other anime from winter 18 that is not a squeal or a leftover look mediocre by comparison.

Okay, there was Yuru Camp (Which I haven't seen yet) and cleverly cute Skilled Teaser Takagi San which are great shows on their own right but they pale in comparison to this.
Anyway, what made this show so special?
How did this show become so great that it outclassed ever other anime from the season?
Let's find out.

The story of A Place Further than the Universe follows a high school student name Mari Tamaki who want to make the most of her youth, but she is afraid to do it. One day she encounters a girl named Shirase Kobuchizawa who has been saving up, so she can travel to Antarctica to find her missing mother. Together with two other girls Hinata and Yuzuki, they join an expedition headed towards the Antarctic.

On the surface, A Place Further than the Universe looks like your typical cute girl doing cute things type of show but as the show progresses the show becomes so much more to a point where it deviated from the whole cute girls doing cute things route where it becomes more complex. Add to the fact the pacing the show was brilliant throughout its own as well having great writing, worldbuilding and great themes exploration and got one hell of an amazing series.
One thing that I love about the show is how adventurous it is. Seriously every time you watch an episode of this show you always feel like your actually going on an adventure with the four main girls.

The characters in A Place Further than the Universe were fantastic.
The main girls are very well written as well as having complex backstories that were believable and well told to the viewer.
The character interactions for the four main girls were outstanding as each girl delivers great and charming interactions with each other plus the way the four main girls react to comedic and emotional moments were outstanding to a point where they actually felt like real high school girls.
I honestly have nothing more to say about the characters here since they are all awesome and well written in their own ways.

Honestly, do I really need to say it? It’s freaking Madhouse, and they are known for making anime with amazing production and this show is no different.
The character designs were well drawn as being very adorable to look at on-screen.
The one thing that I adore about the anime is the visual directing, in fact. The visual directing is good it overwhelms the great writing of the story that is honestly very impressive.

For example in the first couple of minutes of episode 1, the show establishes the main character Mari who is an adventurous girl even though she never went for an adventure herself in her whole life however as she finally decided to take the first step towards her adventure of we get some use existent swelling music, however, the train leaves the station and we see Mari standing there. If this was a regular anime, the music would have ended here, however, the music kept playing which was the more emotionally effective choice.

It doesn’t stop there in the couple of scenes we see Mari still being adventurous even though she can’t act it out.
The next shot showcases Mari shoes being wet and that shot alone perfectly symbolize the real world the reality of leaving the school and going on this adventure was being actually more complex then she thought at first. There are more great symbolism and visuals in this but this was one of the best examples of this show amazing visual directing.
Overall visuals in A Place Further than the Universe are a masterpiece of art thanks to great directing and stunning visuals.

The soundtrack is honestly beautiful. It is filled with life, adventure as well-being very emotional.
Yoshiaki Fujisawa did a great job with the soundtrack adding more emotional impact to the series.
The opening theme Alright by Saya is a great opening theme that captures the adventurous tone of the series. It's also very catchy.
The ending theme Koko kara, Koko kara sung by the voice actors for the 4 main girls is an awesome ending theme that I adore to no end. Even more than the opening theme.

As off now A Place Further than the Universe hasn’t got an English which is honestly sad because I really wanted Funimation to do a simuldub with this hidden gem but no we cannot always have nice things because Funimation rather simuldub a broken show like Hakyu Hoshin Engi.
Oh well least with got the Japanese audio which was amazing as every Seiyuu did a great job with the roles especially with the four main girls.

What an amazing emotional and fun ride this was.
This show was honestly a blessing to the winter 18 anime season from mediocrity hell.
The story was amazing filled with great writing, world-building, themes, and pacing. The characters were wonderful and developed, the visuals were brilliant, and the soundtrack and voice acting were great.
I honestly never expected this show to dominate the whole winter 18 season and am glad it did because the show is a perfect example of how to make a good modern anime.
I hope this show gets an English dub someday as well getting licensed by an anime distribution company so we can get a Blu-Ray release for this hidden gem show.
If you want to watch a great slice of life/adventure show then I strongly recommend checking out A Place Further than the Universe.
You won't regret it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Apr 8, 2018

anaract

Mixed Feelings

A decent cast with a unique plot that was unfortunately weighed down with pointless pseudo-drama and overstuffed with cuteness. Anyone watching this show expects a cuteness overload and plenty of slice-of-nothing-happens, which is completely fine if done properly. However; A Place Farther than the Universe reaches for something more complex and story-driven, but falls short on delivering any engaging drama.

The story and genre are at odds with each other; it strives to have dramatic tension between characters, but also wants to beat you over the head with cuteness and positivity. The result is a boatload of forced drama caused by characters being too nice to ... eachother, or some external event which conveniently soaks up all the blame, which gets resolved in 10 minutes and has no effect on the overall story or characters. Afterwards, one of the characters will recite platitudes about how "the world is filled with people living their lives" or "you just have to try your best and see what happens!"

The show isn't without its strengths: the characters are genuinely likeable, though impossibly naive, and the plot - however thin - is real enough to keep the show focused. The friendship of the main characters feels organic and justified, and the different dynamics between each character are consistently entertaining.

It fails with its weak conflicts and generally slow pacing. There are way too many obstacles on the road to Antarctica that come out of nowhere and amount to nothing, while the major dramatic plots are too simple and predictable. There's too many preachy moments of characters waxing philosophically on mind-numbingly generic life advice, and there's also a consistent undercurrent of sexuality that betrays the innocence of the show, with highly-animated boob physics and lots of "generous" camera angles... which comes off as a bit cheap and manipulative for a show that tries so hard to project an image of pureness and good.

In all, it's not a bad slice-of-life show and it delivers on cuteness and some genuine bonding moments, but the dramatic elements that supposedly elevate the series to something more than just an episodic SoL are just too bland and heavy-handed to take seriously.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Apr 12, 2018

Karhu

Not Recommended

I was hoping Sora yori mo Tooi Basho be an anime where cute girls wear ridiculously puffy winter coats against winter scenery, an adventure approached with the comfy manner. Instead this series focused too much on the serious side and contained loads of drama.

Seriousness and drama aren't something I would mind. The problem is the believability. If there is a serious anime about teenage girls travelling to Antarctica, it should be taken seriously instead of half-assedly throwing in obstacles and factors that need to be taken into consideration before the trip. And suddenly at the very next scene we're looking at slice of life ... silliness and personal issues. This makes the series seem rather messy.

Same thing with the drama. When tragic past stories, betrayal and bullying are present, the motivations for the trip become rather questionable. Other than Hinata's natural ambition and Shirase's mom, the main reason for our trip seems to be escapism. This would be great if it wasn't so confusing due the drama and seriousness being half of the anime.

The other half is slice of life comedy. That's where this show shines at. Penguins are a running gag in the show. This is presented in an impressive manner to say the least. Some of the side character's especially Mari's mom create the most memorable comedic moments in the show. Yet, constantly when these moments are present and the characters are goofing around in comedy scenes, I find myself asking the question "so what about the trip to Antarctica? Is that still a thing?"

After the actual trip stars, the series goes for much worse. The following episodes contain at least one melodramatic crying scene each, often more. Along the melodrama, there is always a scene where character shouts their heart's content out loud just to make it seem like there is at least something still going on in the series. These scenes can be rather cringey and feel pointless.

I could have forgiven most of these things if I had found a way to respect the characters. Unfortunately the author made this very hard for me. I strongly dislike it when characters are used as a plot elements or puppets by the writer to compensate their lack of skill in creating substance and events that make sense. For example, in the very first episode, our main character loses 10 000 USD worth of cash. She just drops it. One could argue that this happens because of her characteristics or clumsiness, but it really doesn't. It happens because the author used her as a plot element to introduce the main characters to each others. The same thing is constantly done with melodrama. Instead of there being actual reasons for these characters to cry all the time, they just do so because it was the only way the author knew how to deliver feelings. Quite frankly, shallow content such as this one with zero emotional depth presented is not reaching my end.


*edited and re-submitted, originally with 120 votes
*the purpose of this review is not to claim that my views on this show are somehow "better" than someone else's, just to offer an alternative perspective among the all-positive praise

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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