A Place Further Than the Universe

I love how they went for broke with how convenient things turned out this episode. The moment they realize who Yuzuki is was solid gold.

I do love the character interactions this series has, they are top notch. There's real energy and chemistry in character interactions.

I did find this episode a little weaker than the last one, but I guess once Shirabe's acquaintances in the expedition specifically told her they wouldn't let her come no matter how much money she could pay, getting another source of entry was paramount even if the writing had to squish a little bit for it.

Well episode 4 is up and the girl's have started their training.

Couple of things. Who told Kimari that Antarctica is flat because that is a very big lie. Hell Antarctica has active volcanoes! And it's highest mountain is higher than the tallest mountain in Australasia (and maybe Europe depending on how you're counting). Also Kimar's dad is a wise, wise man. Sadly his eldest daughter did not inherit that wisdom. The rest is mostly getting comfortable with our leads, getting to know the expedition members and the girl's getting a crash course in what they need to know on the expedition itself.

Though regarding topography, they haven't actually specified where in Antarctica this expedition is going have they.

I doubt they're going very far inland at least. Taking high schoolers to the South Pole would be insane.

Anyway, someone needs to show the mom scene to whoever's in charge of the Junji Itou Collection at Studio DEEN. THIS is how you do anime horror.

More generally, character interactions and direction are damn near perfect in this series. Please shut talking now. Those few seconds of silence before Hinata and Kimari's reaction are spot-on.

PS: Okay, the character page is confusing. Some characters have their names in the Japanese order, others in the Western order. Personally I normally keep the Japanese order, but we must pick one.

edited 24th Jan '18 5:08:52 AM by Lyendith

Western order seems to be the de jure these days.

I'm a bit worried about Mari's mom priorities. If my child told me they want to go to Antarctica, my biggest concern wouldn't be how it'll affect their schoolwork.

I wonder who is Shirase legal guardian now anyway.

Nothing build confidence like knowing that your expedition to a frozen desert surrounded by cold ocean has a hamstring budget.

They're actually teaching them useful stuff? And they're learning diligently? I expected some wacky hijinks.

Episode 5: you could call it the Megu-chan episode… or half of it. The "reveal" about her felt a bit abrupt considering how little screentime she had until now, but as a goodbye episode, it did its job well. Shirase's Not So Above It All moments are always the funniest.

So I guess the arrival in Antartica will be the halfway point, unless they spend several episodes in Australia, which I doubt.

They might have a short stopover in Singapore, considering the stinger.

This was such an amazing episode, I absolutely loved it! The twist that Megumi is the one sabotaging Mari on every turn, and that she derived her self worth from being "the reliable one" was brilliant.

This episode did a really good job conveying that they are leaving behind things they are familiar with, their safe stable lives, and going out into the unknown.

This is a great coming of age story, I'll tell you that.

…The "foreshadowing" entry in the trope page made me reconsider my previous comment about the Megumi twist being abrupt. I should pay more attention.

Thid is Anime of the season, hands down. Everything hits on all cylinders all the time, and that emotional moment with Megumi at the end just elevated the whole series to the best of 2018 so far.

After some discussion with a friend, I'm pretty sure Megumi didn't actually spread any rumors and was just lying about them in the park. It makes it easier to forgive her if it was all (mostly) internal, after all, and there's no indication at all that people believe the way she says they do.

Yeah, that was the impression I got too. As we saw, her classmates were very supportive.

Mostly. Some of the stuff like telling the delinquent girls about the million yen must have been done by someone and when you're confessing you generally don't add extra.

^Yeah, I'm sure she told the older girls and Kimari's mother about the stuff she said she did. My point is just that Megumi lying about hearing rumors - that is, making up rumors in order to hurt Kimari while they were talking in the park, but not actually spreading them - is a hell of a lot less permanent and damaging than actually going out and telling people 'hey, I heard that Kimari and Antarctica are turning tricks in Kabuki-cho'. It was still done with the intent to hurt Kimari and break her resolve to go, but it's not a scorched-earth tactic for Kimari's reputation and future like actually spreading the rumors would be.

edited 2nd Feb '18 2:14:46 AM by RedSavant

Kimari is way too nice. I honestly don't find Megumi's apology believable because she was still going out of her way to be mean to Kimari this very episode (See her unplugging the game ealier.) and as such I don't really like her after this episode.

Why wouldn't she have been mean earlier in the episode? It wasn't until their conversation the night before that she started to feel bad about it. Like, the entire episode was about her being mean, that was the point.

Episode 6: ……

On one hand you can wonder "what was the point of all this?" but thanks to that we got a couple of nice scenes between Hinata and Shirase. Still, does the durian really taste that awful? Also, why do they punish Hinata?

Shirase being Shirase is still the best.

edited 6th Feb '18 1:02:16 PM by Lyendith

I feel similarly - one gets the sense that we spent a good deal of time worrying over nothing (which I think was the point), but I suppose stuff like this does happen - I once grabbed another man's suitcase completely by accident, and didn't even notice until we were at my grandmother's house (fortunately, we were able to recover my suitcase, and nothing especially valuable had been in it at the time). Not quite the same thing, but I think it's the same basic principle.

In any case, we at least got some Character Development out of this, so it was hardly a waste of time.

x2 Durian is an acquired taste. It’s also very divisive - you either hate it or you love it.

p.s. I actually live in Singapore. XD

edited 6th Feb '18 4:03:41 PM by HanabiraKage

Divisive is an understatement, I would say. The one time I had a chance to try fresh durian I was nauseated for the rest of the day.

It seems to be an acquired taste for Shirase at least.

The point of this episode was to get Hinata firmly committed to the team. Until now, it’s felt like a lark for her that she’s not particularly attached to, just as she’s not deeply attached to her teammates. This locks her in as firmly part of the group, and as capable of emotional honesty with them. Presumably, Yuzuki will be getting her own episode like this as well.

Why would Yuzuki need an episode to establish her as part of the team when that was the entire point of her introductory episode?

That was a damn good episode all around. I'm really liking the dynamics and the roles the girls are settling into.

And, of course, HanaKana never disappoints. That was a great scene.

I keep thinking Hinata is voiced by Nanachi, but she's not.

edited 7th Feb '18 7:09:05 AM by RedSavant