A Place Further than the Universe

I recently made a very big decision in my life. One that will definitely leave a mark on it one way or another. It was a difficult decision to make and I was not in the best mental state at the time. I always doubted myself. Is this really the best thing for me? Would I ever regret this? And most importantly, Can I live with it? I let a lot of people down when I decided to drop out of college.But I felt like I had let myself down most of all.

It’s been nearly five months since then and I can say with certainty now that it was the right thing to do. But I could never have known that back then. I had to take that first step. And whatever happened after that I would have to deal with. It was a nice change of pace. Taking life by the horns rather than being dragged around by it. But I still wonder. What would have happened if I hadn’t made that decision? It’s a question that I happily don’t have an answer to.

‘A Place Further than the Universe’ makes us ask that question. Are you happy where you are?

Mari Tamaki is a girl who has always wanted to make the most out of her youth, but has never taken the initiative. She usually follows whatever her best friend, Megumi Takahashi tells her. That all changes one day when she meets Shirase Kobuchizawa, the very opposite of Mari. They bump into each other at the train station and the difference in character couldn’t be more evident. Mari wanders about aimlessly whereas Shirase runs into her, clearly focused on getting somewhere. It is this meeting that changes Mari’s life. Mari notices that Shirase dropped an envelope when she bumped into her. She opens it, and to her shock finds 1000000 yen, way more than what a high schooler should ever be carrying. Luckily they both go to the same school and Mari finds Shirase crying in the bathroom, distraught at losing all that money. Mari and Shirase quickly become friends and it is then that Mari finds out what the money is for.

Shirase wants to go to Antarctica.

Mari can’t believe her ears. What kind of girl would even dream about going to Antarctica? Mari looks at Shirase and all she can see is stone cold determination. Shirase is used to hearing the ridicule. The idea of going to Antarctica is just so ludicrous. But that doesn’t stop her. And it is at this moment that Mari decides to take the plunge and join Shirase on this seemingly impossible endeavor.

They meet two other girls, each carrying their own burdens, who join them on this adventure. One could argue it’s a form of escapism. I rather see it as chasing a future. Through their bond of newly found friendship, they help each other deal with the burdens they were faced with, all the while chasing one goal: Antarctica.

Shirase is trying to come to terms with her mother’s death. She died on a civillian expedition to Antarctica, but Shirase believes she can only be at peace with it once she’s been there. She wants to see the land that her mother fell in love with, and the land her mother died in.

Hinata Miyake dropped out of school following an incident, but didn’t let that affect her grades. She has two years before going to college and wants to do something special before then. However, she hasn’t completely gotten over the incident that made her quit school.

Yuzuki Shiraishi has been in the entertainment industry since she was four and due to that doesn’t have many friends. She still doesn’t understand the concept of friendship but has certainly made great friends with the others.

Each girl has their own demons to deal with, but they tie in so well with the overarching story that they never feel out of place in a story that focuses on living to the fullest.

Shirase’s story is probably one of the most tragic though. For the past three years, Shirase has written emails to her mother, refusing to believe that she is dead. It’s part of the reason she wants to go to Antarctica. She wants to come to terms with it in the most realistic way possible. She wants closure. Once they get to Antarctica, they find Shirase’s mother’s laptop. Hoping to find some memory of her in the laptop, Shirase boots it up to find all the emails she had sent to her being received only now. Long after she was gone. All the emotions and feelings that Shirase had conveyed through them, wasted. And in a way, she had received her closure. A final confirmation that her mother was really gone. It’s painful to watch, but only through dealing with that pain can Shirase move on.

Anime is a medium that usually throws reality out the window the first chance it gets but ‘A Place Further Than the Universe’ is as far from that cliche as possible. It uses proper shot composition and with Atsuko Ishizuka handling the direction, made for some cinematic moments.

This anime was a reminder to me that if we want to change our lives for the better, we have to make an active decision towards it. Because everyone has those dreams. Those ambitions. Those burning desires. We all want to do those crazy things. The things we’ll look back on and think. ” Yeah. I’m glad I did that”. We all want to make the most of our youth. And we promise ourselves that we’ll do it. One day. Some day.

But not today.

And so we go on with the dull monotony of our lives, hoping to one day break free from this cycle of meaninglessness. You wonder, there must be more to life than this. Time flies by and you won’t be young for long. And it’s a predicament we all deal with it. None of us want to be filled with regrets, and yet few act on that urge.

We have too many priorities. Too many commitments. Too many reasons to say no.

And there’s really no cure for that except to take that first step. To take that first step into an uncertain future.

And who knows? That ‘Place Further than the Universe’ may be closer than you think.

#writing #ramblings #analysis #story #anime #Literature #storytelling #Fiction