“Water collects into stagnant pools. I’ve always loved watching it spill out all at once. Breaking free, liberated, rushing out. The energy stored up during its stagnation bursts forth. Everything springs into action!”
Sora yori mo Tooi Basho (A Place Further than the Universe) is an anime that can be easy to misjudge on the surface. One can look at the poster or the synopsis and write it off as just another anime about cute girls doing cute things. However, this anime is so much more than that, and I’m going to try my best to break it down and explain why I think
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this anime is so good.
Reading the synopsis for this series, you might think that it all sounds unrealistic and far-fetched, and that’s because it is, and this show is well aware of that fact. They take an unrealistic circumstance that most of us couldn’t imagine finding ourselves in, and they immerse us into this story by turning it into something believable and something we can relate to.
This anime is first and foremost an adventure anime, and it does a fantastic job of capturing that spirit of adventure inside of your heart and it never lets go. The way that it sets up this adventure in the first few episodes and then builds off of it in the rest of the series is incredible. As you see the characters stagnating in their daily lives, until they break free, rush out, and spring into action! It gives you that courageous feeling to set out for your dreams and take them for yourself, no matter how out of reach those dreams may seem.
Aside from being an adventure this anime also has elements of comedy and drama interspersed throughout. The comedy elements of this anime had me laughing out loud, and the dramatic elements had me in tears. This anime will have you laughing and crying in the same episode as it blends together its comedy and drama so well without ever feeling forced or that one element was undercutting the other. The pacing of this story felt perfect for me. It was able to move quickly without feeling rushed, and it took it’s time during the drama without feeling like it was dragging.
One of the main reasons the elements of this anime blend so well together is because the writing in this is great. And I feel that the writing is best showcased in the way that this anime portrays its characters. It might sound silly at first, but all four of these girls are written and depicted so realistically that I never had the feeling that they were characters in an anime. The chemistry between the four main characters is an absolute joy to watch as they discover things about themselves and each other and find the true meaning behind their friendship. Their backstories are beautifully interwoven into the main plot to set up their motivations for wanting to go on this journey, without feeling overly melodramatic or tacked on. This causes me to empathize with these characters so much and relate to them even while they’re doing things that I’ve never done, and they never stop feeling like real people even while they’re living their lives in such unrealistic ways. I could talk about each individual character for a long while, because all four of them are worth going into detail about, but for the sake of avoiding any kind of spoilers I’ll refrain myself. It’s also worth noting that the actresses that played these characters all did very excellent jobs and each of them fit their roles perfectly.
Next is the animation and art, which is simply stunning in this anime. Some of the shots in this series were breathtaking where I had to pause just to take it all in. The character designs look simple, without looking boring or lacking, and the animation is very smooth and fluid throughout the show. To give an example, there is a scene in the second episode where the characters are sprinting full speed through a city at night and the entire scene simply looks amazing. The fluidity in the animation as the characters are running, placed against the gorgeous backdrop of the nightlights of Kabukicho, and then paired with the beautiful OST made this scene very memorable for me.
I have heard a few complaints about the OST of this anime and while they are not without merit, I still think that it’s great overall. At its best, the music is able to evoke such strong emotions out of the viewer, whether it be grinning from ear to ear or crying your eyes out.
At its worst, there were a few moments where I felt that the music was a little overbearing, and that it was trying to tell me how to feel, rather than letting me feel for myself. However, this was a rare occurrence. As this only happened once or twice, and it’s highly possible that it’s simply just me, it wasn’t a big hindrance. Another complaint that I have is that I felt that there were a few side characters that didn’t get as fleshed out as I thought they should’ve, and a few side stories that I felt should’ve had more meaning or impact.
Story (10/10)
Characters (10/10)
Art/Animation (10/10)
Sound (9/10)
Overall Enjoyment (10/10)
Is this anime perfect? Certainly not. These are simply my opinions and the way that I felt about the show, and despite its very minor flaws, I enjoyed it to the fullest. The writing, direction, the soundtrack, the characters, and the animation all come together in this anime to bring something truly worthwhile to the table. So please, if you’re unsure about giving this anime a chance, I implore you to give it a shot. I feel that you might like this anime just as much as I did, and you won’t be disappointed by going on an adventure of your own with this anime. It will make you feel like springing into action and going on an adventure, even if the adventure you want to go on seems completely out of reach, or even if it feels like it’s in a place further than the universe.
Mar 27, 2018
Sora yori mo Tooi Basho
(Anime)
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“Water collects into stagnant pools. I’ve always loved watching it spill out all at once. Breaking free, liberated, rushing out. The energy stored up during its stagnation bursts forth. Everything springs into action!”
Sora yori mo Tooi Basho (A Place Further than the Universe) is an anime that can be easy to misjudge on the surface. One can look at the poster or the synopsis and write it off as just another anime about cute girls doing cute things. However, this anime is so much more than that, and I’m going to try my best to break it down and explain why I think ... |
