Characters appearing in A Place Further than the Universe.
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Main Cast
Mari "Kimari" Tamaki
Voiced by: Inori Minase (JP), Xanthe Huynh (EN)
A second-year high school student who, upon uncovering an old journal, vows to do something to shake up her ordinary, un-adventurous high school life.
- A-Cup Angst: Implied, when trying to seduce a male member of the expedition team, Hinata tells her to stick out her breasts, Kimari's response is to ask if Hinata's making fun of her.
- Affectionate Nickname: Mari's friends call her "Kimari", which starts off as an Ironic Name since kimari means "set decision", something Mari initially has trouble with.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Has the thickest eyebrows of the main four girls, if not the entire cast.
- Captain Morgan Pose: in the opening
- Childhood Friends: With Megumi.
- Cloudcuckoo Lander: For the most part she comes off as a rather average high schooler, but she can be rather weird at times.
- Decoy Protagonist: Despite promotional materials and the opening portraying Kimari as the central character, the story is very much about Shirase Kobuchizawa and her journey.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Once she rediscovers the goals she wrote down at the beginning of high school, Kimari is struck by an intense desire to do something exciting, even though it goes against her typical "play it safe" instincts.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: She's the foolish sibling to her younger sister Rin's responsible sibling; she's more of a Genki Girl and a bit of a Cloud Cuckoo Lander compared to Rin.
- The Heart: The emotional center of the group because of her overwhelming kindness.
- Genki Girl: She's often excited and talks in this manner.
- Nice Girl: One of her defining character traits is her kindness. In particular, she never harshly judged or kept her distance from Shirase, immediately empathized with and hugged Yuzuki over the other girl's difficulty making friends, and couldn't even find it in herself to be angry with Megumi for attempting to sabotage her trip to Antarctica.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Throughout Episode 5, she makes a point of telling Megumi how grateful she is for their friendship, which only makes Megumi feel worse, since not only was Megumi responsible for the rumors, but Megumi admits that she was dependent on Kimari all this time.
- Only Friend: Kimari and Megumi didn't appear to have any friends outside each other until Kimari befriended Shirase. Later, Megumi doesn't take it well when Kimari starts putting Megumi aside for her new friends.
- Ordinary High-School Student: And the fact that she wants to be anything but is the thing that leads Kimari to Shirase.
- Otaku Surrogate: If the books scattered about her messy room are any indication, Kimari seems to be a big fan of Shoujo romance manga.
- Supporting Protagonist: While she's the perspective character of the anime, and acts as the emotional center of the group from time to time, the plot is much more driven by Shirase's words and actions.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Though she supports Shirase in her endeavors, she's not above casting reasonable doubts as to being able to travel to Anctartica. Though Shirase gets offended by her doubts, Kimari, unlike the nay-sayers, does not abandon the efforts to help Shirase.
- Tender Tears: She cries very easily.
- Trademark Favorite Food: When she leaves and when she returns, her family prepares a meal of omuricenote and an absolutely gigantic flan.
- Turn the Other Cheek: She immediately forgives Megumi when the latter confesses she had been trying to discourage Kimari's wishes to go to Antarctica. Mainly because she never was offended in the first place.
Shirase Kobuchizawa
Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (JP), Erica Mendez (EN)
Daughter of Takako Kobuchizawa, an explorer who wrote the book A Place Further Than The Universe. Ever since her mother's tragic disappearance three years before, Shirase has had a single-minded desire to go to Antarctica, holding down several part time jobs and frequently accosting her mother's former co-workers to let her on an expedition.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Shirase gets this frequently at school, due to her fierce dedication to travel to Antarctica. Since most people think her goal is an impossible one, she's often mocked for it, and some students even call her "Antarctica" as a not-so-flattering nickname.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Subverted. Shirase's appearance fits the trope to a T, but her personality soon proves to be far from it. She often shows a friendly, slightly mischievous side and as we go on it's increasingly clear she can be just as goofy as her teammates. Not to mention her Hot-Blooded side (see below).
- Broken Tears: During episode 12, Shirase completely and fully breaks down seeing the thousand emails she sent her mother are unread, giving her the emotional closure knowing that her mother is gone; Kimari, Hinata, and Yuzuki all cry with her outside the room.
- Butt-Monkey: The comedy gets a lot of mileage out of her goofy personality and tendency not to think things through.
- Cuteness Proximity: She has a very strong love for penguins, to the point of crying from just watching a documentary about them. When she sees one up close for the first time in episode 10, she starts crawling towards it with such enthusiasm that it takes both Hinata and Kimari to drag her back.
- Determinator:
- Her single-minded desire to go to Antarctica is her defining characteristic, and is what ends up drawing Kimari to her. Kanae mentions to Gin that she was shocked by the amount of determination she's showed the past three years.
- Her drive and strength of character provides some of the main Big Damn Heroes moments in the series, as she is not a person that shies away from conflict.
- Disappeared Dad: No appearance or mention of her father is ever made.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: In the final episode, she has Hinata cut her hair to a shoulder bob reminiscent to her mother's, to symbolize the growth she has made in Antarctica.
- Foil: To Hinata. In contrast to Hinata, Shirase has a refined and mature appearance, but is actually very goofy and rash. Furthermore, when Shirase has a problem she's likely to speak up about it, and is overall pretty honest about her feelings. And while they have had similar problems, they responded in almost completely different ways, with Shirase doing everything she could to reach her goals no matter who she pissed off.
- Friendless Background: Didn't make too many friends while growing up, partly because of her awkward and sometimes grating personality, and partly because of her determination to make it to Antarctica no matter the cost to find her mother. Which to high school girls would sound like something a crazy person would say and do.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Even minor irritation will get her shouting. In the second episode Kimari lightly questioning the practicality of her plans sends Shirase storming off in a rage, only to come back about thirty seconds later to apologize. Her bark is a lot sharper than her bite, as her friends quickly realise.
- Hidden Depths: She's a great master of mahjong, due to being raised by Takako and Gin, both huge aficionados of the game.
- Hot-Blooded: Amusingly, despite her appearance, she's easily the most rash and passionate of the group. Her enraged reaction to hearing rumors about Kimari (despite Kimari herself being somewhat indifferent), and her attempt to spend her hard earned money for the Antarctica expedition on making sure that Hinata wouldn't be left behind, are good examples of this trait.
- Important Haircut: She cut her hair much shorter before leaving Showa station, signifying her acceptance of her mother's death.
- I Will Find You: Her main motivation to go to Antarctica apparently is to look for her Missing Mom or at the very least, find out what happened to her.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: When Shirase vocalizes her burning desire to spite everyone who ever doubted she could go to Antarctica, Kimari notes that she's kind of a jerk at times, an assesment Shirase readily agrees with without any shame. She again proclaims herself a jerk when confronting Hinata's "friends" from school. Despite this, she has a compassionate heart and cares greatly for all the important people in her life.
- Jumped at the Call: Shirase never hesitates to take any opportunities to go to Antarctica, such as when Yuzuki first offers to let her go in her place.
- Large Ham: When her headstrong nature takes over, Shirase can chew the scenery with the best of them.In your face!!!
- The Leader: She provides the main drive for the girl's expedition to Antarctica. It's her dedication that gets her friends going.
- Legacy Character: The icebreaker that carries them to Anctartica is called the Shirase and the observatory that the first expedition started building was named Kobuchizawa. As such, the 2nd civilian expedition is basically meant for her.
- A Macguffin Full Of Money: Shirase has an envelope containing a million yen she made at her various part time jobs that she earned to help her reach Antarctica. Throughout the series, it is teased on how she is going to use it to help her and friends' journey; initially offering it to help get the exhibition off the ground, then offering to pay for a transfer ticket so Hinata could leave Singapore with them, but never needing to actually use it. In the final episode, she reveals she left it in the inland base where the girls found her mother's laptop, leaving a piece of her with her mother and leaving her mark at the place further than the universe.
- Meaningful Name: Shirase is the name of Japan's real world Antarctic icebreaker ship
, in turned named after Shirase Nobu, a Japanese antarctic explorer. - No One Gets Left Behind: A non-lethal version. Hinata insisted the girls should go to Antarctica without her when she lost her passport at Singapore. Shirase made clear she wouldn't let that happen and was even willing to sacrifice the money she saved from part-time jobs for the four to stay together.
- Not So Above It All: She gives the impression of being a composed Aloof Dark-Haired Girl, but she's in fact the wackiest member of the group.
- "Not So Different" Remark:
- Takako realizes early on that she's not that different from Gin. As a matter of fact, Takako left her and Gin together alone as frequently as she could so that they could bond. It's shown that they indeed share a bond, but neither acts upon it due to Takako's death and the wedge it drove between them.
- She also finds out she has a lot in common with Hinata, especially regarding how they were treated by others. Three of Hinata's former trackmates try to apologize to her in episode 11, but Hinata wants nothing to do with them. After Shirase finds out that they felt bad for not sticking up for her when the third year athletes berated them for allowing Hinata to race when they wanted to, she tells the girls to piss off for not sticking up to her friend, that she's moved on, and they can live with that guilt of hurting her emotionally for the rest of their lives.
- Oh, Crap!: Her reaction when she discovers that Hinata's passport was in her purse the whole time in Episode 6.
- Prone to Tears: She cries surprisingly frequently, whether it be over Hinata trying to seperate from the group, penguins, or
finally receiving catharsis over her mother's death. - Raised by Grandparents: Her mother went missing on an expedition in Antarctica and there's no mention of her father. Therefore, Shirase lives under the care of her grandmother.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She's very pretty and her long black hair combined with her pale skin make her stand out more.
- Situational Sociability: Discussed when Hinata wonders why Shirase could calmly speak at the school assembly seeing her and Kimari off, only to start freaking out on camera afterwards. As it turns out, Shirase is a lot more brave when she's rubbing something in someone's face.
- Tragic Keepsake: During Episode 12, Gin tells Shirase that she thinks the reasoning for Takako disappearing may have been from leaving something behind at the inland base. When the girls arrive there themselves, they desperately search for something to help give Shirase closure, eventually finding her mother's laptop. Shirase manages to unlock it and sees all the emails she sent her mother are unread, to which Shirase breaks down, finally reaching catharsis that her mother is gone. In the final episode, she passes the laptop to Gin, to help her with her own recovery."I don't need it anymore."
- Strong Family Resemblance: She bears a striking semblance to her mother. Even moreso when she cuts her hair in the final episode.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Hinata. While Hinata takes every opportunity to rib on Shirase, and Shirase often appears very irritated with her as a result, they nonetheless get along very well and are arguably the closest out of the four girls.
- When She Smiles: At the very end and after Shirase cut her hair, Gin points out that she has the exact same smile as Takako.
- Who's Laughing Now?: Her "In your face!" moment at the end of episode 9 is her saying this to the students that made fun of her Antarctica obsession. Being able to ultimately do this was large part of what motivated her to relentlessly pursue her dream.
Hinata Miyake
Voiced by: Yuka Iguchi (JP), Kayli Mills (EN)
A girl who works at a convenience store near Shirase and Kimari's school, despite being their age. She overhears their conversations about Antarctica and becomes intrigued...
- All of the Other Reindeer: She was bullied at school because her track and field teammates threw her under the bus after they prompted her to upstage their seniors, who were trying to compete for the last time, earning her their ire. They also came up with rumors about Hinata to further shift the blame on her, and it got so bad that she had to drop out of school.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: As shown in Episode 6, Hinata dislikes people being "compassionate" towards her because it's difficult to know how sincere that compassion is. In this case, it hurts even more coming from Shirase when Hinata knows her blunder could very well ruin Shirase's only shot at her dream.
- Episode 11 has an amusing example when Hinata finally allows Shirase to pity her, providing she stick to a set of strict rules as to how much.
- Foil: To Shirase. Unlike Shirase, she initially comes off as very flighty and energetic, but in actuality, she's easily the most mature of the main cast. Furthermore, whenever Hinata is upset or troubled by something, she tries as hard as she can to convince everyone that she's fine, and generally tries not to let others know what's bothering her. And while she and Shirase have had similar problems, they responded in almost completely different ways, with Hinata eventually dropping out of school due to the bullying she received and growing indifferent to rumors and such as a result.
- Foreshadowing: One of the reasons she was OK with being left behind at Singapore, and is reluctant of spoiling Shirase's dream was put in context in Episode 11, where it was shown that she was subjected to an awful lot worse at school and track and field by her then so-called "friends" the last time she showed initiative in her own favor.
- Even earlier, in the eve of their trip to Singapore, Hinata dissuades Shirase from pursuing the people that are making up rumors about Kimari because there's no way they can disprove them. Hinata was the victim of similar rumors at her track and field team, having been forced to quit school altogether when it got out of hand.
- Four-Leaf Clover: She tends to be associated with these; the flower shown with her in the opening and ending is a four leaf clover, and her bun is even shaped like one.
- Fun T-Shirt: She always wears T-shirts with a funny image, usually of food.
- Genki Girl: Chipper and optimistic, she quickly falls in with the group's schemes and keeps them going through the snag they hit at the end of Episode 2.
- Hidden Depths: She's academically excellent in spite of her bubbly personality, and really good runner, having been in the track team in high school. It's also implied that there's more to her decision to stop attending school than she lets on. Episode 11 reveals that she was supposed to not race despite being the fastest because the third years wanted one last year to compete. However, Hinata gets called to race, and then accidentally overhears the third years berating her supposed friends, who didn't stick up for her at all.
- Hollywood Homely: According to Tamiko Shiraishi, she isn't attractive enough to be on camera for the Antarctica trip. While this could just be Tamiko being mean, Hinata's reaction and Kimari teasing her about it later implies that there might be some truth to it. This is despite her not looking too different from Shirase, who's considered to be beautiful.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Invoked. Though she expresses that she joined Shirase and Kimari out of curiosity and made quick friends with them, it's implied that even when appearing well adjusted and put together, Hinata was indeed lonely, and that what left her alone and friendless in the first place wasn't resolved when she met the girls.
- It's later revealed that she was bullied by her seniors on the track and field team because she upstaged them when her "friends" told her to, and to boot, said "friends" left her to be bullied and even made up rumours about her, prompting her to abandon school altogether.
- Innocently Insensitive: No, Hinata; it's not right of you to assume that your friends will be okay with you not traveling with them.
- The Lancer: Towards Shirase, them being the Vitriolic Best Buds they are.
- Misery Builds Character: Invoked. One of the reasons she is such a wise and level-headed person is because she was hurt emotionally rather badly in the past and would rather not be seen being affected by it.
- Never Be Hurt Again: Episode 6 hints that Hinata has something of a complex of having to depend on anyone. While the issue concerning her missing passport gets solved it's not until 5 episodes later that the series finally goes into detail of why she's so stubborn in this regard. In the past, she had "friends" that threw her under the bus, leading her to get bullied and later drop out of school.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She's the shortest of all four girls, but easily the most athletic, being the track star of her former high school, and physically strongest among the four.
- The Smart Gal: Definitely the smartest of the team: academically accomplished despite being a dropout, quick to learn new skills (she becomes the designated camerawoman by the end of the story), and always giving the wise quips along the way.
- Smarter Than You Look: At first blush she seems like a carefree Genki Girl who dropped out of high school on a passing whim, but it turns out she's been studying diligently so she doesn't fall behind academically. She also has a habit of dropping surprisingly mature insights that the others frequently mistake for famous quotes.
- So Proud of You: She expresses this when she realizes just how far Shirase is willing to go in order to keep her on the expedition, whereas she had initially thought that Shirase acted out of pity.
- Stepford Smiler: Gets frequently implied that behind her constant, jovial, barbs that Hinata is actually quite jaded. Episode 11 finally goes into more detail with it explaining how she was forced to drop out of school after getting bullied and abandoned by her former friends.
- Tender Tears: She breaks down in tears in episode 11 after Shirase says what was basically on her mind towards her former teammates when she was on the track team at high school.
- This Is Wrong on So Many Levels!: Hinata takes the ostracizing and bullying she was subjected to during her track and field ordeal with a smile on her face, but she goes ballistic after the girls that threw her to the wolves try to contact her by claiming they're her "friends". Hinata herself states that she's afraid of engaging in a conflict with them, so Shirase, who is aware of how much Hinata is suffering, confronts them through camera and calls them out in their hypocrisy, alphabetizing everything they did wrong.
- Tragic Dropout: Invoked. Though she states that she left school by her own volition due to incompatibility to school dynamics, it's implied that she left due to possible a conflict with her track and field team. See Hidden Depths for further info.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Shirase, as they confront one another more often than with either Kimari or Yuzu. Still, it's shown very early in the series that they are quickly affectionate together.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Shirase berates Hinata for dismissing her intention of keeping the group of four together as an act of pity towards her. As it turns out, Shirase will not abide for any of them to be left behind.
- Shirase also gets offended when Hinata states, in not so many words, that she came to Anctartica to escape from the people that hurt her at school, where Shirase states that it's should more meaningful than what Hinata says and does not approve of Hinata trying to let it go. As Shirase realizes that Hinata is too good and kind to confront her aggressors, she does it for Hinata herself and does not pull any punches on the hypocrites that hurt her friend.
- Wise Beyond Her Years: Despite her cheerful and excitable nature (and the fact she's the same age as Shirase and Kimari), Hinata is surprisingly mature, keeping a job and staying on top off her studies before university. She also dispenses a surprising amount of wisdom when the others need it, even if it's with sayings that she made up on the spot.
Yuzuki Shiraishi
Voiced by: Saori Hayami (JP), Amanda Lee (EN)
An actress who's been working since she was very young. Is slated to be a part of the same expedition Shirase has set her sights on as a "weather girl".
- The Ace: She's an excellent actress and presenter, basically headlining the filming aboard to be broadcasted on TV.
- The Baby of the Bunch: She's the youngest out of the four girls, being one year her friends' junior.
- Beware the Nice Ones: She usually has a somewhat calm demeanor. But she also hates it when others hide things from her, as Hinata and Shirase found out while they were in Singapore after Hinata loses her passport.
- Catchphrase: "Could just die right now."
- Deadpan Snarker: Despite her gentle image, she ends up filling this role in the group the most out of all the girls.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Invoked. Yuzu assumes that Kimari, Shirase and Hinata have been friends for years after witnessing how close they are to each other. However, they are quick to point out to her that they've known each other for about a month tops.
- Friendless Background: She was always too busy with work to make friends and even when she tried to get close to others, they soon lost interest due to her not having time for them, or because they were only interested in her fame.
- Hates Being Alone: She loves her companions, but she doesn't trust them not to drift apart as friends, not because of any callous intent, but rather because she has had no experience with friendship before. Kimari, Shirase and Hinata are the first friends she's ever had after all, so she's not keen with the prospect of losing them. Kimari explains to her that just because they might become distant, they're not going to stop being her dear friends as easily as she thinks. She's in their hearts already.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Her career as a child actress and idol have gotten in the way of forming any real friendships. She initially didn't want to go to Antarctica because she thought it would make it even more difficult to find friends, that was until she becomes closer to the main group.
- Innocently Insensitive: She at one point tries to get the girls to sign a contract to make sure they will stay friends even after the Antarctica expedition is over. The girls obviously don't take it well and Kimari even starts crying. They later explain to Yuzuki how what she did was as saying she doesn't trust the girls and she doesn't need to ask proofs for friendship.
- Living Lie Detector: As an actress with years of experience, she knows whenever any of her friends is lying, as demonstrated in episode 6 where she picks up right away when Hinata and Shirase are hiding something.
- The Load: Younger than all the other girls, the least wanting to go, the least athletic, and the last one to fit in with the group due to her abnormal childhood, Yuzuki is definitely pulling the least weight. She's also terribly afraid of heights.
- Nice Girl: She may be shy and have a bit of a blunt side (largely due to her mother's oppression and Friendless Background), but Yuzuki is overall a very kind, polite and pleasant individual who genuinely wants to make friends and cares for them.
- Only Sane Woman: The most level-headed and rational member of the group.
- Refusal of the Call: Yuzuki is initially adamant about not wanting to go to Antarctica as part of a celebrity doing a trip down there. She at first mentions that she hates the cold due to being from Hokkaido, but when the girls dig a little deeper, they find out she really doesn't want to go because it meant she'd miss valuable time being in high school, and hanging out with girls her age, since she was constantly working ever since she was four.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Inverted. She dresses girly and cute for work and the girls assumed this is her preferred style of dress since she looks good in it. They're surprised when they see Yuzuki wearing more casual, simplistic, and practical clothing when not working. Yuzuki admits she personally doesn't think she looks good in cutesy clothes and hates the aesthetic.
- Tender Tears: She cries when she realizes that Kimari, Shirase and Hinata just want to be friends with her regardless of whether the Antarctica deal goes through. And again when they show her what real friendship is like in episode 10.
- Verbal Backspace: A "mixed sentence" variant in episode 4, when she tells Kimari to "shut talking now" because they're in a tent and she wants to sleep. She was going to say "urusai" (shut up), but because Kimari is older she went back to the more polite "shizuka ni shite kudasai" (please stop talking) mid-sentence, resulting in the pretty weird "uruka ni shite kudasai".
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: She's afraid of heights.
Antarctic Challenge
Gin Toudou
Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (JP), Caitlyn Elizabeth (EN)
Captain of the expedition. A capable leader, but she is often misunderstood because she is a woman of few words. She went to high school with Shirase's mother, and was with her on the fateful expedition when she disappeared.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Much like Shirase, Gin fits the image description of the trope and seems to give the impression of being aloof at first, but then turns out to be Not So Stoic.
- Ambiguously Gay: Episode 9 heavily implies that her feelings for Takako were more than platonic. It has several flashbacks on her relationship with Takako and Shirase, while the girls ask her what her romantic type is and an expedition member in love with her realizes he doesn't have a chance. She anwers that her type is "people who are like clouds", followed by a flashback of Takako saying that she loves clouds because they are "out of reach". Nothing is said explicitly, but the way the scenes are woven together makes the implication obvious. Episode 11 makes it less ambiguous when Shirase is called, by Kanae, "Gin and Takako's daughter."
- The Captain: Naturally.
- Cuteness Proximity: She shares Shirase's love for cute penguins.
- Like a Daughter to Me: During a game of mahjong, Kanae mentions that Shirase is pretty much Takako and Gin's daughter.
- Meaningful Appearance: She has a beauty mark which befits her "beautiful but intimidating" image. Notably, it's also right under her right eye, which may be a nod to the old association between beauty marks and tragedy - in Toudou's case, her grief over losing her close friend.
- My Greatest Failure: Blames herself for the disappearance and assumed death of Takako; she's also deeply ashamed of leaving Shirase to her own devices when Takako disappeared, especially considering that Takako wanted them to be close to each other.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Later episodes reveal that she's actually very like Shirase, and they've shown to often have identical reactions to things as if choreographed. Given that she helped to raise Shirase, it's not hard to suggest that Shirase learned said mannerisms from her.
- Not So Stoic: While she initially appears to be incredibly stern, she laughs at Shirase´s screaming presentation and later on the next episode seems pretty excited to be on a ship crashing through the ocean waves.
- Say My Name: Screams Takako's name repeatedly after the latter goes missing.
- Single Tear: Sheds one when revealing the name of the Kobuchizawa Observatory.
- Supporting Leader: Leader of the expedition, but only a member of the secondary cast.
Kanae Maekawa
Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa (JP), Morgan Laure (EN)
The vice-captain of the Antarctic Challenge. She knows Gin and Takako from a previous Antarctic expedition. Kanae was originally a company woman, and her quick-thinking and fast-talking nature makes her popular with men. Kanae handles all of the negotiations for Gin, and she is rumored to be the brains of the operation.
- Ms. Exposition: She's usually the one who explains how various aspects of the expedition work to the four main girls.
- Number Two: To Gin.
Yumiko Samejima
Voiced by: Lynn
The ship's cook for the Antarctic Challenge and a self-proclaimed "Antarctic chef". Originally from Okinawa, Yumiko is acclimatized to cold weather and has a hearty, strong-spirited personality. She's always willing to talk and she acts as an elder sister figure to Kimari and the other girls.
- Brutal Honesty: She's kind enough but also doesn't hesitate to point out how unused the girls are to manual labor.
- Cool Big Sis: While she's initially against Shirase and the others joining the expedition, she ends up filling this role for them.
- Team Chef: She seems to be in charge of cooking for the expedition team. Her current job is even food service related.
Other
Megumi Takahashi
Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto (JP), Daisy Guevara (EN)
Kimari's childhood friend whom she has known since kindergarten. Unlike Kimari, Megumi is level-headed and tends not to get super-excited about things.
- Childhood Friends: With Kimari.
- Cool Big Sis: She plays the role of the reliable sister figure who looks after Kimari. Later deconstructed when Megumi realizes she has nothing but wanting to take care of Kimari.
- Easily Forgiven: Kimari never even pretends to be mad at her. Although this is somewhat justified, given that Kimari was never bothered by the rumors even before she knew that Megumi was the one spreading them.
- Entertainingly Wrong: She expresses in anger that the expedition girls are too stupid to have realized that she was sabotaging their efforts. However, it's not that the girls are stupid per-se, but that their unbending focus in their goal prevented them from even noticing the sabotage in the first place; they literally didn't care enough about the nay-sayers.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: While Megumi normally wears her hair in a side braid, she greets Mari on the morning of her depature at the end of Episode 5 with her hair down. Unlike the usual idea behind Letting Her Hair Down, this change signifies not the fact that Megumi is more relaxed but that she's showing her true self to Mari- specifically, her confession of being the source of the rumors around Mari and her friends, of her unwillingness to let Mari go. and of her self-loathing over her unhealthy attachment to her friend.
- Foil:
- To Hinata's track and field teammates. Much like them with Hinata, she tried to belittle her friend's efforts, but they are driven by completely opposite ends. While Hinata's teammates did their deeds to alienate and hurt Hinata to hide from their own mistakes, Megumi did it in a misplaced effort not to lose Kimari; also, while Hinata's teammates tried to force their way back into Hinata's life, Megumi tried to remove herself from Kimari's life out of shame. This also ties into the way they're treated by the narrative, with Kimari forgiving Megumi while Hinata's "friends" are left to think about their actions..
- To Kimari; while Megumi is pessimistic, resentful and reserved, Kimari is optimistic, genuine and outspoken. Megumi does stuff behind the curtains, while Kimari wears her emotions on her sleeve. Megumi spent most of her lifetime babying Kimari, though she realizes that her friend is just as necessary to her in the end. To boot, in the final episode, it's revealed that Megumi literally went to the opposite pole of the world in her own expedition to the Arctic by following Kimari's example to be adventurous and independent.
- Foreshadowing: As early as in Episode 7, Megumi was researching on the polar territories. While initially it's presented as her making an effort to learn about what Kimari was going through at Antarctica, the last scene in the series reveals that it was actually research for her own expedition to the Arctic.
- Gamer Chick: Likes playing video games, particularly consoles.
- Hero of Another Story: While Kimari is off on her adventure, she fulfills her promise to go as far away from Kimari as possible, and ends up on her own adventure at the opposite pole: the Arctic.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Invoked. One can certainly become erratic and desperate if the most important person in your life chose to go to one of the most dangerous places on the Earth with no experience whatsoever, and worse, even as preposterous as it sounds, they start successfully reaching their plan in spite of everything you're doing to stop them, leaving you behind.
- Manipulative Bastard: She doesn't even seem to realize she's doing it at first, just thinking she's being a dependable voice of reason, but as the show goes on, Megumi makes note more and more to tell Kimari that her dreams are too lofty and she should stick to ditching school with Megumi if she wants adventure so badly, as well as to call Shirase "Antarctica" to underline that she's a weirdo people gossip about and call names, not someone to emulate. Megumi goes so far as to actively spread gossip to try and break Kimari down to bring her back.
- Motherly Side Plait: More "sisterly" than "motherly", but she sees herself as a sort of caretaking figure to Kimari. When she goes to see her to announce the end of their friendship, she lets her hair down, signifying that she's giving up this role (in addition to the above).
- The Reliable One: She's the dependable friend who Kimari can consult for anything. Deconstructed; Megumi acted like that because having Kimari depend on her made Megumi feel better about herself. Once Kimari starts to make more friends and become more self-sufficient, Megumi realizes she now has nothing to do.
- The Resenter: She doesn't take the prospect of Kimari leaving her behind very well, so she starts trying to sabotage her efforts at every opportunity she has. She confesses to this once all she's done has been foiled, but Kimari forgives her all the same because she loves Megumi that much.
- Satellite Character: Seemingly only exists to be a "responsible sister" figure to Kimari and remind her to be sensible about her lofty ambitions of going to Antarctica. By Episode 5, it becomes clear that Megumi is actually a Deconstruction of this trope- she admits to the fact that without having Kimari to look after, she has nothing, leading her to try to get Kimari to stay by planting doubts in her mind and spreading rumors about her and her friends.
- Social Circle Filler: She's functionally there to establish Mari as a social person, but quickly fades into the background as Mari prepares for the trip to Antarctica. Aware of her own growing irrelevance and that she's inadvertently built her identity on being a helper to the usually flaky Mari, Megumi spreads malicious rumors in an attempt to keep Mari at home, but on the day of her departure confesses and acknowledges her failure. Mari rejects her attempt to end their friendship, and one of the first things she does upon returning at the end of the show is check on her, only to find that Megumi has successfully become the Hero of Another Story.
- Troll: Her text response to Kimari in the final episode, after Kimari has texted that she's back home. "Oh? That's too bad. Right now, I'm in the Arctic.".
Tamiko Shiraishi
Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara
Yuzuki's mom and manager. A so-called "stage mom", Tamiko has been working ceaselessly to make Yuzuki famous since the day she was born.
- Brutal Honesty: Tamiko outright asks Hinata whether she can be "attractive" for the camera. This hits Hinata harder than a truck, and a result, she spends most of the rest of the series behind the camera. However, it's apparent that Tamiko was attempting to belittle Hinata's efforts because she found offense at the notion that her daughter's work is so "easy" that just anyone can replace her, and not because Hinata is not cute.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Kanae introduces her to Yumiko in a brief scene at the end of Episode 2.
- Irony: Her Stage Mom attitude prevented Yuzu from having friends throughout her life, yet it's precisely because of her insistence and meddling that Yuzu found the greatest friends she could ever hope for in the form of Kimari, Shirase and Hinata.
- Manipulative Bastard: When Yuzuki continues to refuse to go on the Antarctic expedition, her mom makes a deal with Shirase that if they can convince her to go, she would use her influence to try to get them on-board as well. Fortunately for her, once they befriend Yuzuki, she tells her mother the only way she'll go is if the others can as well.
- Stage Mom: Going a step beyong most stage moms, Tamiko is both Yuzuki's mother and her agent at her talent agency. She's very strict with making sure Yuzuki does as much as possible to become a famous celebrity.
Rin Tamaki
Voiced by: Kaede Hondo (JP), Cassandra Lee Morris (EN)
Kimari's younger sister. Rin is a very steady and capable person who serves as a class officer in her school. While she worries about Kimari going to Antarctica, she is also rooting for her big sister with all of her heart.
- Brick Joke: When Kimari is over-packing for her trip to Antarctica, Rin admonishes her for the excess baggage she's taking and she removes, among other things, a potato peeler. Some episodes later, as Kimari is on kitchen duty at base, she is stuck peeling potatoes and laments that she allowed Rin to take it away from her. Cue Rin sneezing at home, peeling potatoes with said peeler.
- Girlish Pigtails: She keeps her hair in a pair of twintails, fitting her young character.
- Big Sister Worship: A rather down to Earth and realistic example. She doesn't worship the ground that Mari walks on or anything like that, but she clearly adores her sister and wants to see her "adventure" succeed. Even if she is sad to see her go.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: She's the responsible sibling to her older sister Mari's foolish sibling; she tends to be more down-to-earth than Mari, and it's especially notable during the scene where she points out that several things Mari is packing for her trip are things she won't actually need.
- Shorttank: that bucket-sized flan she holds in one hand would have to weigh between 25 and 83 pounds! (see the calculations here She's MUCH stronger than she looks.
Takako Kobuchizawa
Voiced by: Ai Kayano (JP), Cristina Valenzuela (EN)
The author of A Place Further Than The Universe, and mother of Shirase. She was one of the leaders of the First Antarctic Challenge three years before, from which she went missing.
- Ambiguously Gay: While her feelings for Gin are more debatable than Gin's feelings for her, they were nonetheless incredibly close. No mention of Shirase's father is ever made, and in flashbacks Takako is shown going out of her way to make sure that Gin and Shirase spent time together (which many have compared to a parent wanting their child and partner to get along.)
- Dead All Along: While there is a Hope Spot in the first half of the series, considering Shirase's main goal is to find where her mother is, or at least what happened to her. As the series draws closer to the end, however, it becomes jarringly more clear the possibilities of Takako being dead is more likely, simply considering how much time has passed since her disappearance. Episode 12 confirms her death when Shirase unlocks her laptop and finds the thousand emails she sent to her... Unopened.
- Determinator: Like mother like daughter. According to Toudou's flashback, she had wanted to got to Antarctica since at least high school.
- Genki Girl: Almost every flashback of her portrays her as cheerful, optimistic, and driven.
- The Lost Lenore: All but stated to be this to Gin, whose motivation to return to Antarctica was more or less the same as Shirase's: visit the place where she disappeared so that she can finally accept her death and let go of her.
- Missing Mom: She disappeared on an expedition in Antarctica, which is the event that kick-starts the story. She's presumed to be dead, but her daughter Shirase seems to still be holding on to hope that she's be able to find her.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: She was hit by a flash blizzard when she went to retrieve her laptop from the observatory at Antarctica after she made the attempt under otherwise "safe" conditions that changed for the worse in a matter of seconds. She was gone in an instant, never to be found again.
- Uncertain Doom: The big question that Shirase and Gin want answers to is what happened to Takako when she disappeared; all that is known is Gin heard what was likely her last words. It seems to the most likely case is Takako realized she left her laptop back at the inland base and went to go retrieve it in the blizzard, but possibly died of hypothermia before she could reach it, saying her last words to Gin over the radio and taking a picture of what she was looking at and tried sending it to Shirase before she died; the aurora."It's so beautiful..."
