Common Name: Sora Yori mo Tooi Basho
Alternative Names: A Place Further Than The Universe, Uchuu Yori mo Tooi Basho, A Story That Leads to the Antarctica, Yorimoi
Score: 10/10, 5/5
Length: 13 Episodes
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Comedy, Slice of Life, Shoujo
Summary: Like most young people, Tamaki Mari has been stricken with the sense that she hasn't been living her life to the fullest. As a kid, she made all kinds of crazy promises to herself that just fell by the wayside as she grew older. Luckily for Mari, that stagnation in her life comes crashing down as she comes to make friends with Kobuchizawa Shirase, a girl who is teased mercilessly for her dream to go to Antarctica. As they plot and plan their way to get to Antarctica, more and more friends join in and make that dream all the more real. Among these new friends are Miyake Hinata, a showy go-getter of a girl who wants nothing more than to prove how strong she is to both herself and others, and Shiraishi Yuzuki, a young and upcoming idol who has had time for a normal life or normal friends until these weirdos came into her life. Still, as excited and peppy as these girls are, the journey to Antarctica will be a difficult one, both physically and emotionally. So long as they stick together, though, there's always a chance that all their crazy dreams, the ones shouted to the heavens and those that are left unsaid, might come true.
Review: Before I delve into the review proper for this title, I believe some categorical clarification is in order. Specifically, while I do agree with most people that this title belongs in Cute Girls Doing Cute Things (CGDCT) genre of anime, it needs to be said that this isn't your standard, zero-thought, zero-consequence slice of life comedy. During its first couple episodes, Sora Yori no Tooi Basho was initially and frequently compared to works like the iconic and eternally popular K-On! and I do see how someone could make that connection. In those first few episodes, we are introduced to a main character who is bouncy, energetic, and more than a little irresponsible, like K-On!'s main character, Hirasawa Yui. Following that line of thought, this show's MC shares feelings similar to those Yui expresses at the start of the show, namely that she needs to do something crazy and new that will redefine her as a person. Rather than getting swept up in another girl's scheme to form a band, though, this show's MC gets swept up in another girl's grand scheme to go to Antarctica. Despite that vast difference in scope, you can see how the idea remains generally the same, so long as you keep insisting on wearing those dumb, K-On!-tinted glasses.
Am I the only person who felt K-On! was just kinda OK as a series? Am I the only one who doesn't feel some need to worship it?
Though Sora Yori mo Tooi Basho is, without a doubt, a CGDCT title, I think it fits in better with the more dramatic branch of that genre, alongside titles like Sakura Quest, Hibike! Euphonium, and Hanasaku Iroha. I hone directly in on those titles in particular because, like Sora Yori, they talk about and express the emotions of youth and the troubles of friendship in such a way that there actually feels like there's something at stake in each interaction. Another way of looking at it is that, in all three of these titles, the characters and emotions that are presented feel real enough that I'm able to pinpoint, identify, and empathize with all the struggles these characters go through. Because of that ability and desire to connect and empathize with this show's cast of characters, the story this show has to tell ended up meaning so much more to me than almost every other show of its kind. I am well aware, however, that the connection I shared with this show isn't a universal constant--it isn't an objective truth that I can use to judge this show and gauge whether or not other people will like it. Ultimately, I think this is going to be one of those titles that you'll either get super invested in, like I did, or it just won't connect for you and it'll end up just being a pretty great show. So, with that in mind, I'm going to state that my own feelings and biases are going to show up heavily in this review. Let there be no doubt, though, that this title does objectively deserve the scores I've given it for reasons I'll go into throughout the review.
So, without further adieu, let's get on this emotional roller coaster and see where it takes us.
As I stated previously, the beginning of Sora Yori mo Tooi Basho bears some similarities to K-On! in terms of the main character's personality and their underlying dissatisfaction with how their life has gone thus far. It's not a coincidence that Tamaki Mari, aka Kimari, bears some similarities to K-On!'s Hirasawa Yui though. As the first girl of this show's quartet of main characters, it makes a great deal of sense that we would start off with a character who is easy to understand and likable. In many ways, Kimari is a build-up character who is meant to ease people into the deeper concepts that get addressed later on in the show. As the show starts, we are given an immediate understanding that Kimari is at her happiest when things are in motion--when things that have been stagnant for a while begin to move. This understanding, in turn, informs us of what her character arc is going to look like as the show goes on. So, right out the gate, we are led to fundamentally understand who she is as a person and what she wants most out of life--novelty that she can create on her own terms. So, in a larger sense, Kimari is a character whose scatterbrained personality and boundless energy is, at once, familiar and likable. More to the point, though, her mindset and goals are designed in such a way that they are simple enough to be relatable for pretty much anyone who has ever thought that they might not be living their life to the fullest.
Hmmm. I wonder if the assumption that people who watch this show will instantly relate to Kimari
and her goals has anything to say about the people who normally watch anime? Nah.
Put simply, Kimari is, at least initially, meant to serve as a simple, likable, and relatable catch-all character whose plight is the hook that'll end up dragging us deeper into the emotional mire she and the rest of the cast have to offer as the show goes on. Once that calculated connection is both expressed and understood, the similarities between Sora Yori mo Tooi Basho and K-On! pretty much end. Of course, it isn't a coincidence that Kimari starts to grow into her own, unique character after this point, when the rest of the cast starts to trickle onto the scene, starting with the show's actual main character, Kobuchizawa Shirase.
That's right! Our simple and likable character that we start the show with ends up being little more
than a hanger-on and perspective character for an entirely different character.
To be clear, when I say that Shirase is the show's main character, that isn't meant to undermine Kimari's importance to the plot or devalue the segments in which she becomes both the perspective and main character once more. What I mean is, on the whole, Sora Yori mo Tooi Basho is more Shirase's story than anyone else's. After all, without her, this quite literal escapist fantasy of going to Antarctica wouldn't have come up in the first place. So, with the introduction of our "true" main character, the show begins to grow more and more complex. Where Kimari is a simple and straight-forward character, Shirase's emotions are far more nuanced and complex. So much so, in fact, that a great deal of her personal feelings and motivations aren't revealed until the show's already halfway done. Much like the decision to start this show from Kimari's perspective, though, there are very good reasons why the truth of who Shirase is and what she wants aren't revealed until later in the show. Namely, on top of not being certain of her own feelings in any given moment, it just wouldn't be reasonable for the reserved and pessimistic Shirase to spill her guts to total strangers. So, in much the same way that Kimari's story progression hinges on the forward movement of their plan to reach Antarctica, much of Shirase's story remains hidden and unresolved until she's gotten to know and trust the rest of the cast.
And so we are introduced to this show's motivational mentor and my second favorite character. Don't worry, my favorite will be pretty obvious by the end of this review.
The first of said total strangers, apart from Kimari, is the frustratingly complex and dualistic character of Miyake Hinata who joins the Antarctica party with a sentiment akin to "Fuck it! Why not?!" Weird and reckless as that might sound, it slowly becomes clear that Hinata fits in perfectly with Kimari and Shirase. This is due, in large part, to the simple fact that Hinata's character exists as a comfortable middle ground between the polar opposites that are Kimari, the energetic extrovert, and Shirase, the reserved introvert. In her own weird and quirky way, Hinata manages to capture the best and worst of these two in such a way that she is somehow able to blend into her own, unique person. To elaborate, throughout the beginning of the show we see Hinata as this outgoing and genki-genki energetic character who openly laughs in the face of adversity in much the way Kimari wishes she could. As the show goes on, though, we begin to see the darker, more Shirase-like aspect of her personality creep into her characterization. Though there are hints of it in the little asides and off-handed comments she makes in the beginning, it isn't until later that we see how a large part of her go-getter personality is nothing more than a mask to hide some of her deep-seated insecurities and traumas. As if to make that connection to Shirase all the more clear, it becomes easy to see how her problems might just be on par with the problems Shirase as we watch Hinata dodge and redirect conflict that's focused on her or actively work against her own interests and growth. Frustrating though that might sound, the kind of self-sabotage Hinata exhibits whenever the MC baton gets passed to her is a very real issue for some people and one that most try to laugh off when it's brought up, a fact that only makes her character all the more reasonable and relatable in a manner wholly separate from the rest of the cast.
Lastly, we come to the character I relate to the least but still empathize with in a way
that is really discomforting because it says a lot about me as a person.
Reigning back from the deep-seated traumas and insecurities, we are introduced to the final member of this show's main quartet, the child-star Shiraishi Yuzuki. Though her story falls pretty much in line with what you'd expect from that single descriptor, "child-star," Yuzuki's story actually ends up being pretty meaningful in its simplicity. More specifically, it is her desperate desire to make some friends that ends up propelling the story forward in a way that no other character can and even serves as the glue that keeps all these girls together in spite of their differences and personal issues. It's this single-minded drive that pushes her to push the issues that everyone else either tries to conceal or tries to ignore, either out of consideration for the person or because of their own discomfort. At the same time, though, the group does a great deal to help Yuzuki define and understand what friendship is like on her own terms, since calling someone a "friend" has different meanings and connotations for different people. So, while her story is far less emotional and complex than either Hinata or Shirase's, it's still given the attention it deserves. Granted, it's only fair she gets her time in the sun since, with her addition to the team and the connections that come with her, the group's dream of reaching Antarctica can actually become a reality.
But before any of that can happen, the show needs to get through some of
the most compelling and emotional character drama I've ever seen.
One of the things I like most about this show is that, unlike most CGDCT shows, it takes its subject matter and the implications that go hand in hand with it totally seriously. I mean, it's one thing to have a show about some girls going to Antarctica. It's another for a show to consider what having a bunch of high schoolers going to Antarctica really means. For starters, it doesn't shy away from the fact that Antarctica is dangerous as hell and that people have died actually died due to simple carelessness in that frozen wasteland. What's more emotionally resonant, however, is the manner in which this show tackles how people would actually respond to a friend or family member going off on some journey without them. Sure, it's easy to say people on the outside would jeer and mock someone for having an impossible dream, but consider for a moment how a friend you've known your whole life would feel in that situation. The show even goes so far as to consider how the adults taking these girls on their journey feel about the situation, both proud that their scientific ventures are capturing the attentions of the young and fearful of all the things that might go wrong--fear that death might not even be the worst thing these girls suffer on their journey. In spite of all the fear, the anxiety, the doubt, and the hesitation on every character's part though, this is a journey these girls will be going on no matter what anyone says.
Just think about how much that speaks to the courage and determination these girls have
to face all those fears and naysayers and still end up fighting to achieve their goal.
Once all that establishing emotional strife and character development is gotten out of the way, it becomes fairly clear that Sora Yori mo Tooi Basho is a story with two core elements. The first is the development and struggles of friendship through the show's series of character arcs that give each one of the girls their time in the sun and firmly establishes the chemistry that makes the friendship these four share actually work. Since I've already gone into some solid detail on how that aspect of the story goes with my look at each of the main characters, though, I'll spare you some reiteration for once. The second core element of this show is one that I've been desperately avoiding up until now because it is simultaneously the thing I am most biased about and the main through line of the story. This second core element is dedicated entirely to Shirase's story of self-discovery and her eventually coming to terms with mother's death. More specifically, it's a story of her grief and the grief of those who were with Shirase's mother when she died during the last trip to Antarctica.
Yeah, let there be no doubt that this shit gets fucking heavy toward the end.
"Heavy" is the word I flippantly use to describe the sheer range and depth of emotions this show evokes as it plows headlong into one the most difficult and treacherous topics an anime can address, but it would be more apt, I feel, to lean back on the phase I used earlier and say that this is an emotional roller coaster. There are just as many ups as there are downs, highs and lows in this aspect of the story that becomes a lot to handle, particularly if you try to tackle the whole series at once. Yet, rather than playing with these emotions for the sake of cheap drama, this show, again, takes its subject matter completely seriously and tries to be as honest as it reasonably can. On average, that honestly lands all those emotions in a stagnant middle because Shirase herself doesn't know how to handle them. For example, there is one scene in particular when all these emotions are brought right to the surface and you can see them all playing across her face and through her mind. On the one hand, there is most definitely a corner of her mind that blames the rest of the scientific team for "letting her mother die." There is a part of her that wants to hate the woman who claimed to be her mother's friend but was left with little choice when it came to leaving Shirase's mother behind or forfeiting the lives of everyone else to go after her. On the other hand, she knows that part of her is just her being unfair. After all, Shirase's mother knew the risks and decided to go anyway.
What this show also acknowledges is that there are two sides to every story--even this one.
As I said already, this story of grief and coming to terms with that grief isn't dedicated solely to Shirase. It is also very much the story of Toudou Gin, the team leader during that last and this current expedition. For her, this story is one of reconciliation as it is recovery, though how that reconciliation ends depends entirely on the feelings of Shirase. Yet, even though this isn't entirely her story, the show doesn't shirk the need to express her feelings as the show goes on. In that same scene I mentioned before, those emotions, again, all come to the surface as she directly questions Shirase's feelings. On the one hand, there is a part of her that wants to be blamed for Takako's death. Though it'd be a cheap kind of resolution, there is a part of her that would find satisfaction if Shirase hated her for the very reason she hates herself, being unable to save Takako. On the other hand, she does want to do what Takako would expect and care for Shirase, now that her mother is gone. The only way that can work, though, is if they both find a middle ground where they can grieve and still live on without the woman they called friend and mother.
Finding that shared middle ground is, ultimately, the path she decides to take, but she
acknowledges that path to reconciliation won't be easy for either of them.
I think that's ultimately the thing I like most about this show--the way it handles and talks about grief. Though it only lightly pokes at the idea at first, it becomes clear in retrospect that this underlying grief colors the entirety of this show just as much as the friendship the girls share. Though it's hard to see at first glance, it is that grief that drives each and every decision and moment of hesitation Shirase feels during the show. It is very much the core of Shirase's personality at the start of the show. Yet as the show goes on, it doesn't try to resolve that grief. It doesn't just magically make everything OK, because that's just not how grief works. There are cheap and easy ways to live with grief, as Shirase and Gin's perspectives both address, but in all those easy solutions the end result is still the same. The fact of the matter is that, until they mind their middle ground and actually come to terms with that grief, they're only going to end up letting their grief run and possibly even ruin their lives. Even when that grief gets addressed though, there is an understanding between them that their battle isn't over. Their grief is still there and always will be. What this show gets right, at least according to my own experiences, is the idea that, to be truly happy, the two of them will need to find a way to live their lives without letting that grief rule each and every decision they make.
Cheesy as this thought might sound, I think the best way to describe their recovery process
is that they do, eventually, "come to terms" with their grief--reaching an unsaid agreement
with that grief so they can eventually move on with their lives.
Though reaching that point is long and arduous, both Shirase and Gin do eventually overcome their grief in much the same way all the other girls have overcome their various problems, hang-ups, and traumas. By the show's end, there is very little doubt whether or not "The Girls are Alright," like the title of this show's OP suggests. While their problems are far from over, the series ends with all of them taking a step in the right direction, which is all I can reasonably ask for. So, I think I can say, without a doubt, that I love this show to pieces and can recommend it to pretty much anyone. While it isn't likely that everyone will share the same connection to this show that I did during Shirase's story, it is definitely one of those dramatic titles that has something for pretty much everyone to relate to on some level. Even without those connections, though, I feel like I can recommend this show purely on its own artistic merit. The show's comedy is perfectly timed. The drama hits hard but isn't overbearing. There are a few low points over the course of the series but they pale in comparison to the number of high points, and that doesn't even factor in the show's fantastic artistic, musical, and vocal successes. The pace and tone are always solidly established and are supported by stellar SFX and an OST that flows from playful to folksy to sweeping orchestra scores that never feel out of place. In all seriousness, I cannot recommend this show enough and would happily sob my way through it all over again if I had the time and tissues to do so.