TakaCode

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 itfor 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.

Azuno-san

Yorimoi Review (edited; slight revision to character's overview to reduce spoilers; 2023) //I just wanted to say that this is my first ever review on MAL and I really felt the urge to discuss the greatness of this Anime.// ( and probably my last. even after 5 years, I haven't felt the same inspiration that YoriMoi gave me with newer shows, not to say they aren't good/better. Still one of my favorites to date! ) //Spoiler Free (As much as possible)// Never judge a book by its cover. It's something I'm trying to get over because this happens most of the time, we judge everything based on first impressions.My initial judgment of the cover was my greatest downfall because it just looked like a Moe/Slice of Life anime, which was a genre I never understood/appreciated up until now. I judged it, so much so that I didn't even read the title, "A Place Further Than The Universe", which certainly does sound like an interesting adventure anime title. Oh was I wrong! Well, not entirely because this WAS a fun Slice of Life Anime with high school girls doing EXTREMELY fun things. Like going to Antarctica. Story (10/10): The story starts off with four high school girls who are total strangers and have problems that are related to one another. In the first few episodes, these problems were presented and used to connect these characters together, to build a friendship based on related problems, and to have an end goal of going to Antarctica, which satisfied all of their problems in the end. I won't be diving into these problems in the story aspect of Yorimoi but rather, the characters aspect. During the journey of preparing and going to Antarctica, they're faced with many problems in between that are usually resolved within each episode, but in the end, it creates the atmosphere of resolution and serves to strengthen their friendship. When the girls finally arrive in Antarctica, they were able to experience “A Place Further Than The Universe”, an entirely new experience, the things they’ve learned for the first time, seeing the distinctive scenery, creating and experiencing friendship throughout a journey. You feel like you’re experiencing the journey and feeling their emotions with them. Overall, the story is very unique, emotional, and adventurous to the max! I feel that adventure animes are either being buried by shonen animes or we just don’t see enough adventure animes that can make you feel some type of way, the way this anime makes me feel, relatable and connected to the characters. Visuals (9/10): Honestly, nothing too much to say about the visuals except that it is phenomenal. I mean, it's Studio Madhouse. They never cease to amaze me with the direction of their animes, including their art and music, which were always perfectly timed for an epic experience. Most of my, and probably a lot others’, favorite anime are produced by Studio Madhouse. After finishing the series, I saw in some forums and comments that the Syowa Station was actually a real thing and was linked to google maps, where I was able to view a 3D image of Showa Station and their ship, Icebreaker Shirase, in real life and they were strikingly similar. The visuals of Antarctica was definitely something new for us anime viewers since we don’t see a lot of animes take place in Antarctica. Overall, beautiful. Sound (9/10): Although the soundtrack wasn’t anything special, I believe the direction of the OST was what made the sound as impactful as it was throughout Yorimoi. At first, I didn’t find the opening, “The Girls Are Alright”, to be anything special. As time went on though, I found it ‘Alright’ then started to find it catchy and by the end, I felt something every time this OP played. Now every time I listen to this OP, I feel happy and remember the great experience I had with Yorimoi, it's very connecting. The ED was always emotional for me and I feel it is largely due to the fact it is sung by the four main characters. Also, each, if not most, episodes end with a happy, resolved ending and when the ED comes up, it just hits you hard in the feels. As for the OST, the great timing of the legendary OST at the right time—Legendary. Every time an emotional scene comes up, the sad music makes it way more emotional. When they’re enjoying their time with each other or a problem is resolved, the happy and inspirational OST kicks in. Every time this happened, I was on the brink of shedding so many tears. Actually, many tears were shedded ;_;. Overall, I think the soundtrack and the timing were extremely essential to my Yorimoi experience. Characters (10/10): //Might be spoiler-ish; editing after 5 years to reduce spoilers (2023)// I’m going to start off by saying that all four of the main characters are very relatable. Their problems are of what regular people would have. Tamaki Mari is a typical high school student who has a typical problem: wanting to make the most of her youth but doesn’t act upon their wants. She feels as if she hasn’t done anything impactful in her life and now in high school, must do something before it's too late but she is indecisive. Relatable. Kobuchizawa Shirase was initially the one to wanted to travel to Antarctica and brought it up to her friend, Mari, in hopes of following in her Mother's footsteps, who was also intrigued about the idea of exploring Antarctica. Oh, and she also wanted to prove and say “In your faces!” to the haters who told her it was impossible for a high school girl to go to Antarctica. All in all, she is the type that doesn’t like to give up, stubborn but is very passionate. Miyake Hinata, the third girl, caught wind of Mari and Shirase’s trip to Antarctica and asked if she could join their journey. Her problem was that she quit school because of her "friends", wanting to be alone, and ended up working at a convenience store. Out of the four, her reasoning for going was the most confusing for me. It seemed out of the blue, overhearing the two girls talk while working her job, then suddenly wanting to go too. But, I think she wanted to go for the same reason as first girl Mari: wanting to do something interesting. She's the genki girl of the group, very uplifting and comedic relief character. Even if her conviction to go isn't on par with the other two, the energy she brings to the group is just as important, regardless. The last girl, Shiraishi Yuzuki, is a child actress/idol who doesn’t have real friends, due to the overload of work as an actress. She doesn't understand real friendships because of this, which is a reoccurring theme for her character, but as she grows closer to the others throughout the show, she begins to understand the meaning of true friendship. Very wholesome. They all first come together with a similar problem: Antarctica. Yuzuki is being forced to go and doesn't want to but Mari, Shirase, and Hinata want to go, but cannot. The girls find a way that satisfies their problems and end up going together on this beautiful journey. As the story goes on, each of their problems is slowly being resolved and their friendship becomes stronger as they help each other through tough situations. Overall, the characters are loveable and quite relatable. They all have different problems that they work out in the end. Beautiful. Enjoyment (10/10): Yorimoi was such a great adventure and had such a blast experiencing their journey to Antarctica. It showed how the characters had many problems when experiencing something new, something totally different, and how they learned from it and overcome the many problems they experience throughout the process. But in the end, after all these problems, these hardships, they build friendship. They have fun, they experience something new, something memorable that they can look back to, just like how we would look back to Yorimoi and think: “Wow, I would love to have my own adventure with people I enjoy being with”. This taught me, through Mari’s eyes, that if you want to do something, if you want to make the most of your youth, act now. Do something extreme. Something you don’t do, either from fear, laziness, or time. Like adventuring. Like Antarctica. Overall, 9.6. Such a great anime that I wanted to write my first review on. I hope you enjoyed reading this review and are going to watch it right now if you haven't already. Like RIGHT NOW! I look forward to doing more reviews on great animes like Sora Yori mo Tooi Basho!!