×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

A Place Further Than the Universe
Episode 5

by Paul Jensen,

How would you rate episode 5 of
A Place Further Than the Universe ?
Community score: 4.6

With the expedition about to begin, A Place Further Than the Universe has cranked the drama up a notch or two. The girls pack their bags and receive fond farewells from their families and classmates, but all is not well between Mari and her childhood friend Megumi. All of Mari's training and preparations have made her more independent, and Megumi isn't exactly happy about being left behind. On the day of Mari's departure, Megumi makes an unexpected confession that could change the nature of their friendship.

The gradual buildup to that confrontation takes up most of this episode, and the series does a nice job of pacing out the tension. The early scenes provide some context for Mari and Megumi's relationship, with Megumi playing the reliable friend to the more scatterbrained Mari. Even though we've seen a bit of this dynamic already, this episode paints it as a defining piece of their shared history. It's a good route for the show to take, since it offers a credible explanation for why Megumi would be upset by the idea of Mari learning to stand on her own two feet. Without Mari hanging around and depending on her, what is Megumi supposed to do with herself? Both the dialogue and the visual direction help to ramp up that tension from scene to scene, with Megumi becoming more and more overt in her criticism of the expedition while the framing of key shots places visual barriers between the two of them. A Place Further Than the Universe does some nice work presenting the conflict clearly without being too blatant.

The timing of Megumi's confession is interesting as well. The show waits until after Mari has given a little speech about how much she values Megumi's friendship, and we're left briefly to wonder if Megumi will just let her go without saying a word. When she finally admits that she's been trying to sabotage Mari's plan from the start, the confrontation comes right in the middle of an otherwise ordinary “setting off on the adventure” sequence. It's as if Megumi's messy, flawed, human emotions directly interrupt the flow of the narrative, preventing Mari from having the optimistic departure that we'd normally expect. I really like the way this plays out, as it works both from a purely dramatic standpoint and also as a clever subversion of the audience's expectations. In the midst of this heartwarming show about people chasing their dreams, we see a trusted friend and confidant admitting that she can't stand seeing things go well for the heroine. It puts a believably human face on a genre that tends to gloss over the nastier parts of characters' personalities, which gives the episode a higher level of emotional impact. The rift between Mari and Megumi is healed almost instantly, but the cut is still deep enough to be memorable.

With all of this drama going on, the rest of the cast falls back into supporting roles. Shirase and Hinata are on hand to remind us that Mari is making new friends as she drifts away from Megumi, while Yuzuki is relegated to a handful of brief appearances. It's kind of a shame that we don't get to see more of their personal preparations, especially since they all clearly have their own emotional weight to carry. We do at least get quick glimpses here and there, with Yuzuki clearing out her contacts list and Hinata walking in the opposite direction of a crowd of ordinary people in a suitably poignant manner. Given unlimited screen time, it would have been nice to see more of what emotional baggage these characters are trying to leave behind. Sadly, A Place Further Than the Universe has other places to be, namely Antarctica. Considering how much time is left in the season, perhaps it's for the best that the series is moving on.

This episode finally gave me what I wanted most out of this show: a storyline with some genuine dramatic bite. The short-lived, mostly one-sided feud between Mari and Megumi serves as an emotionally compelling reminder that even starry-eyed anime teens can be selfish and impulsive from time to time. It's a much more tangible conflict than the broader challenge of reaching Antarctica, and yet it still feels relevant to the show's theme of young people finding their own paths in life. If this is the direction that A Place Further Than the Universe is taking, then I'm all for it.

Rating: A-

A Place Further Than the Universe is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.


discuss this in the forum (183 posts) |
bookmark/share with: short url

back to A Place Further Than the Universe
Episode Review homepage / archives