There are a lot of underrated animes out there or, you know, good animes that do not get enough recognition. But the anime series, A Place Further Than The Universe, despite being quite highly rated in MAL(My Anime List) and ranking at 120 with a rating of 8.52 at the time of writing this blog, is an anime that I, personally, do not hear about much in the anime community.
Now, I say this because animes like Demon Slayer(Kimetsu No Yaiba), One Punch Man, Neon Genesis Evangelion have less rating than the anime A Place Further Than The Universe, but are still talked about way more than the anime that has a higher rating than them.
So yeah, I'm not blaming anyone or any community nor the anime themselves, neither am I saying it's wrongly rated. I'm just saying that it's kind of counter-intuitive tbh.
Now, I say this because animes like Demon Slayer(Kimetsu No Yaiba), One Punch Man, Neon Genesis Evangelion have less rating than the anime A Place Further Than The Universe, but are still talked about way more than the anime that has a higher rating than them.
So yeah, I'm not blaming anyone or any community nor the anime themselves, neither am I saying it's wrongly rated. I'm just saying that it's kind of counter-intuitive tbh.
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, they set sail toward the frozen south. [Written by MAL Rewrite]. Link to MAL for this anime here.
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, they set sail toward the frozen south. [Written by MAL Rewrite]. Link to MAL for this anime here.
Now, on to the review of the anime. There will be quite a few spoilers ahead so if you haven't watched the anime yet, you should stop after the spoiler tag(unless you don't really care about spoilers).
If you just want to know if it is worth watching or not, I'd say give it a watch, you won't regret it; the first few episodes of the anime might feel a bit boring, but the last few will not disappoint. And as for the rating, I'd give it an 8.2/10.
If you just want to know if it is worth watching or not, I'd say give it a watch, you won't regret it; the first few episodes of the anime might feel a bit boring, but the last few will not disappoint. And as for the rating, I'd give it an 8.2/10.
 |
| Click here for Alpha figurine |
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
Review
The Preparation:
The anime started out fairly nicely with Tamaki Mari, one of the main characters finding a fat envelope packed with a "mwillion" yen which was lost by someone while they were running in the station. The first and probably one of the most important encounters of Tamaki with Kobuchizawa Shirase was the subtle point where everything started to turn. I like how the series progresses by slowly recruiting other members for the journey that Shirase will be going on instead of just having them all together from the very beginning. This, in my opinion, sets the stage for better development of the other two characters, Miyake Hinata and Shiraishi Yuzuki, along with Tamaki and Shirase pretty well. Now this may sound a bit contradictory, but the recruitment part of the team members that continued up to around episode 5 or 6 felt a bit boring to me except for some parts in between.
Also, the part when Tamaki, just before leaving for the journey was confronted by her best friend, Takahashi Megumi, felt really heart-wrenching to me. The music, the sun shining from the rear, both friends crying their hearts out, everything was just perfect. Really a great moment. And tbh Tamaki is the kind of best friend everyone needs.
The Journey:
The journey part was, simply put, great. The four high school girls goofing off in the airplane, Hinata losing her passport(a very important thing for international travel) and trying to stay back for the sake of their friends, canceling the main ticket, then finding it, then canceling the new tickets again... I don't know what they were doing, but honestly, it was fun. And yes, the speech the girls gave before leaving for Antarctica, did kinda tear me up and the music played a big role in that; really beautiful moment.
 |
| Click here for Nanami Funko-pop |
The Destination:
My favorite part, undoubtedly, was the experience at the destination. Tamaki, Shiraishi, and Hinata, when they pushed Shirase ahead of them to set the first foot on Antarctica due to her connections with her mother, it was really a touching moment. The relationship of Hinata with her friends was also shown which I liked. This anime provided the depth of the characters needed to familiarize with them, perfectly; not too much, not too less. Even with the team captain, Toudou Gin; her character was really nice as well. Fast forward to episode 12, my favorite episode, the full backstory of the relationship of Shiraise, her mother, and her friends, was nothing short of a masterpiece. Emotions welled up way too quickly in this one. But the final barrier was broken when Shiraise found her mother's laptop and saw all of the emails that she sent her mother over three years. That part... that part really hits the spot.
Moving on, soon, the team of the girls had done their job in the region and were to be sent back to Japan. It was a sad moment, like, leaving the place that was far away from their reach and Shirase having her own connections with the snowy piece of land, yeah, it felt sad. But time moved on and they were soon back to their homeland living their daily lives.
And finally, Tamaki's getting back with Takahashi was a nice ending touch.
So that is my full personal review of the anime A Place Further Than The Universe.
Thank you for reading till the end. Hope you guys found it enjoyable to read.
More to read:
Comments
Post a Comment