//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!!
