A Place Further Than The Universe- The Complete Series Blu-ray Review
“A Place Further Than The Universe” is an admirable anime series.
Written by Jukki Hanada, “A Place Further Than The Universe” is a 2018 anime series from Madhouse. The 13 episode series can best be described as a coming-of-age comedy-drama adventure series. The story revolves around a high school student named Mari Tamaki who has goals she wants to achieve. She wants to go on an adventure without a plan, she wants to embrace her youth and she wants to live life to the fullest. Unfortunately, she fears failure and regret when attempting something new. Her life changes when she encounters a mystery girl who runs past her and drops an envelope full of cash. She soon discovers the money belongs to a fellow student named Shirase Kobuchizawa who is saving money in order to travel to Antarctica to discover what happened to her missing mother. To make a long story short, Mari decides to join Shirase on the Antarctica expedition alongside a convenience store worker (Hinata Miyake), a former child actress turned lonely reporter (Yuzuki Shiraishi) and Mari’s longtime friend (Megumi). Throughout the series, the characters attend a summer training camp, experience travel complications, get ill at sea, are introduced to the expedition Captain Gin, and perhaps learn the real story of what happened to Shirase’s mother.
Directed by Atsuko Ishizuka, “A Place Further Than The Universe” is a different sort of anime. It doesn’t involve mechs, fighting, or what have you. Instead, it’s an emotional teen character piece about friendship, adventure, and loss. Granted, there are more than a few instances where characters have exaggerated outbursts (especially when it comes to crying), but that kind of goes with the anime territory much of the time. In terms of the characters, there’s a fair amount of characterization to be had here with each of the central characters having their own arc. The series is at its best when it focuses on the growing bond between these friends.
Story wise, you’re left wanting a bit more. The series takes too long to get to the Antarctic expedition. It doesn’t even start until episode 8! Once it finally begins, it feels a bit underwhelming as it would have been nice to get a bit more adventure. Sure, you get closure but it feels like something is missing here due to the limited plot.
The animation by Madhouse is generally on point. The character designs are fairly basic, but the backgrounds and landscape are breathtaking and really draw you into this world.
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 1.78:1 1080p. How does it look? The animation shines in hi-def.
Audio Tracks: Japanese 2.0 LPCM and English 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How do they sound? The English dub is solid, but the original language Japanese track is the one to go with here.
Extras:
* Clean opening and ending.
* “Behind The Scenes”-An 8 minute behind-the-scenes look at the English voice cast at work.
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