Aired: Jan 2, 2018 - Mar 27,2018 Studios: Madhouse Episodes: 13 Welcome back my friends! This week we will be exploring the universe! Well actually A Place Further than the Universe (see what I did there 。゚(TヮT)゚。) This anime is another slice of life anime so it is slower paced than some of the seinen or action animes, but this series has recently become one of my favorite animes of all time. As you can see from the air date, this anime is fairly recent during the winter season. The thing that really draws me into this anime is the rich story and background that each character comes from. Each character is distinct with their own personalities that do not follow the stereotypical archetypes. This is where slice of life animes shine above other genres. Seeing the interactions and development of relationships between the various characters connects you to your emotions and brings out your personality. A Place Further than the Universe does exactly that and executes it extremely well. Let's go figure out what these high school girls up to! (I highly recommend playing the soundtrack while reading this post which I will provide for you guys before the synopsis.) Synopsis: Mari Tamaki is a second-year high school student who wants to make the most out of her youth. She has not taken many steps to make memorable memories and too afraid to go out on the trips she wants to take. Hesitant on going out of her comfort zone, she meets Shirase Kobuchizawa who has been saving up to go on an expedition to Antarctica to visit the place that her mother once loved and disappeared from three years prior. Inspired by Shirase's determination, Mari decides to join her and meets two others, Hinata Miyake and Yuzuki Shiraishi, along the way. The four girls all have their own reasons to go on this expedition, but they all come together with a common goal: reach Antarctica and make memories. Storyline: Oh my gosh guys. I do not even know where to start for this section. Okay I will just begin to say that the story behind each character is thorough and to have each of their stories collide into the main plot is short of genius. The way how the writers were able to weave these stories together to create a beautiful piece of art is outstanding. Sure, you guys might think these types of animes are boring to watch or do not have any real direction except for random snippets of the characters' lives, but A Place Further than the Universe is actually a treat to watch. There is actually a set end-point which we find out early on, and this gives direction to the story. This anime is more about the journey than the destination. Even when they reach Antarctica, their journey is still on-going and continues when they return home. We are able to see these girls grow as individuals in the midst of all the events that occur in the anime. They learn more about themselves through the help of the other characters. Majority of the time, it is hard to balance screen time and develop so many characters in a short anime (only 13 episodes), but this anime nailed it. You feel for the character's struggles as they attempt to get past it and seeing the other characters help in that process is refreshing. The human aspects that the writers bring is something that is rarely seen. Focusing on the characters' interactions with each other and how each of them react to one another is where the source of entertainment is for me. Putting a microscope on human nature is the main objective for this anime, I think, and learning the importance of supporting the people closest to you is definitely one of the points that the writers try to get across to us. This can be witnessed when we see the relationships grow more intimate and the protagonists start to feel extremely vulnerable as their weaknesses are exposed. In the middle of this vulnerability, we learn the reasons why each character decided to take on this expedition to Antarctica. There have been times where the strings of my heart have been tugged; times where I teared up; one time where I legitimately cried (you know the episode if you have already watched it). If you love animes about close friendships and friends achieving a common goal, this anime is absolutely for you. Music: I already posted the anime's OST above. If you aren't listening to it already, definitely check it out as it gives you the overall tone of the anime. The tracks in the anime are mainly inspiring and uplifting. They give you a sense of wonder and a sense of mystery which what we would expect if we were also traveling to a mysterious continent that not many people see in their lifetimes. Majority of the tracks are gentle and calming, perfect for background music while you study or work. I have actually been listening to it this whole time as I am writing this post for you guys. If it were up to me, I would nominate this anime's soundtrack for best Score for the anime awards. The music is up to par of the soundtracks we hear from movies, but in a series. I might actually buy the CD to play in my car (〃 ̄ω ̄〃)ゞ Art: The art in this anime is truly exceptional. I don't know where they got the budget for the CGI and animation for this series, but it really is movie quality. It might be easier to pull off since they do not have to spend so much of the budget on action since majority of the time it's just conversations between the characters, but all of that effort into the lighting and scenery is noticeable. The real world locations are also a big plus as all the geolocations have been thoroughly researched. This anime has lots of reflections and lights, which may be too bright for some of you, but I enjoyed the touch of it. To me, it just shows that there is always something bright to look to even when you think you are stuck in darkness. The reflections are indicative of that because even in scenes where it is dark or dim, some type of reflected light shows up either on the character's hair or on the wall, etc. If you guys have followed me, I am a big fan of scenery shots and boy does this anime have loads of them especially when they finally reach Antarctica. The characters are also drawn super cute and it was the first reason why I was drawn into this anime. The quality of art is comparable to those of feature films. Everything I saw in the first episode was like opening a present I would have never known I needed in my life as everything was just polished and crisp. The multitude of the character's facial expressions are very human. Each character has their own kinks when speaking or reacting to an event which is a subtle detail that I appreciated. I might be biased, but I would definitely nominate this anime as Best Slice of Life or Best Drama in this year's anime awards. I know it's too early to tell, but I just really want to get across how good this anime is. Thank you guys so much for joining me again this week. I really appreciate you all on hearing my thoughts on the animes I love watching. I really do hope you guys watch this anime as I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves taking rides on journies and amazing story telling. If you aren't following my twitter, I have recently been getting back into mangas and I have probably binge read maybe five mangas already... I will most likely review one of those in the near future so it will be a change of pace for both you guys and myself. It will definitely be exciting! 'Til next week friends!
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Coffee senpaiJust an Otaku who also loves his coffee. Grab some coffee and watch anime with me ٩(θ‿θ)۶ Posts for this blog every Friday!
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