A Place Further Than the Universe

A Place Further Than The Universe (宇宙よりも遠い場所) is a original 13 episode slice of life anime by Madhouse.  The series aired in the Winter of 2018.

 

     High school student Kobuchizawa Shirase only lives to step foot in Antarctica.  Her mother was part of a research expedition years earlier but died in an accident.  Shirase has been obsessed with going to the last place her mother was seen alive.  A girl in her school, Tamaki Mari, is fed up with her uneventful life.  When she learns of Shirase's goal she immediately jumps on to do it as well. Where the demure Shirase was charting her own course to fulfill her dreams, the spontaneous Mari rushes headlong into the daunting task, dragging Shirase kicking and screaming with her.

    Through her larger than life personality Mari ends up ensnaring two more high school girls into their wild dream of joining a research expedition to the loneliest continent.  One of the girls is an up and coming actor, Shiraishi Yuzuki.  Her manager and mother have a job idea for her to travel to Antartica and do a series of weblogs to help boost her status.  While at first unwilling to do so, after meeting the other girls and getting dragged into their enthusiasm she decides to do the job.  The final member of their group is a drop out who works with Mari at a convenience store who is trying to shake up her dead end life.  With the possibility beginning to take shape the greatest obstacle the girls need to overcome is to convince the expedition team that worked with Shirase's mother to include them in the next trip.  With her life's ambitions at her fingertips will Shirase and the other girls see it slip out of their grasp?

    There have been a fair amount of fun slice of life stories following a group of endearing girls.  A Place Further Than The Universe is no exception.  The only new ground it breaks is the scope of the girls adventures.  Instead of being a story of aimlessly wasted life around school and home these characters have a goal to make it to Antarctica as soon as possible.  For Shirase, the trip is an attempt to reconcile the loss of her mother, a confirmation of the finality of her loss.  The rest are a long for an absurd adventure that, through the wonders of fiction pull off.  In the end the girls grow as people, taking in not only the experience of the trip but of the bond of friendship.  This change of pace makes for a fresh take on this decades old story.  Along with being a slice of life comedy it also works as a primer for Antarctic exploration as the characters have to learn how to do things properly.

    There's not much more to say about this series.  Its a fun and enjoyable story with lovable but stereotypical characters.  The artwork is pretty well done and realistic in ways it needs to be.  The story does a good job of conveying the characters personalities and motivations and delivers an encapsulated story that doesn't leave the viewer wanting a continuation.  Being an original concept, that was received well enough keeps the hope alive that we will continue to see more original anime, many of which have been some of the most innovative in the industry.  This one though, doesn't bring a lot of new concepts to the slice of life genre, but is still enjoyable and worth the time.

 

    The series is currently available on Crunchyroll.