A Place Further Than the Universe

Episode 9

I'm not generally the type to bask in “I told you so” moments, but I'd like to point out that I ended last week's review by saying, “Bring on the penguins,” and this episode totally has penguins in it. It also has an amusing little story of unrequited love and some compelling moments of personal triumph, which are more important than my penguin-themed gloating. The love story involves a young crew member's crush on expedition captain Gin, while those moments of triumph are preceded by an emotional conversation between Gin and Shirase. Did I mention the penguins?

Joking aside, this is another strong episode for A Place Further Than the Universe. Much of this week's screen time is devoted to a range of big emotions, although there is still some room for comedy. Most of the humor stems from a goofy young crew member named Toshio, who drags the main characters into the ongoing saga of his unrequited love for Gin. The show gets good mileage out of the girls' exasperated reactions to Toshio's ramblings, and throwing Yumiko into the mix is a smart move. She works well as an impatient voice of reason to balance Toshio's romantic idealism, and the two of them have good comedic chemistry both with and without the main characters. While this storyline is kind of silly, it helps open the door to this episode's more serious content. Toshio's crush on Gin prompts the audience to look at her as a person rather than just the leader of the expedition, and that perspective turns out to be important later on.

The girls' newfound quest to investigate Gin's love life brings back a familiar topic: the emotional distance between Gin and Shirase. While that gap closed a little with their conversation a couple weeks ago, both characters are quick to admit that they still don't know how to act around one another. Their reasons for avoiding each other in general and not talking about Takako in particular are believable and well presented. Gin projects her own feelings of guilt by assuming Shirase holds a grudge against her, while Shirase is afraid to acknowledge the mixed feelings she has towards the woman who came back from Antarctica without her mother. The fresh backstory in this episode makes that rift all the more compelling, as we see that Takako wanted Gin to act as a kind of mentor for Shirase. There are some very raw emotions bubbling under the surface here, and just getting these two characters to open up about their feelings seems like a big step forward. It's alright that their reconciliation isn't quite complete, since that's exactly what I'd expect from two real people. After that confrontation, it seems natural that things would still be a little messy between them. The image of them together on the bridge provides just the right amount of closure without trying to wrap the storyline up on an artificially tidy note.

As all of this plays out, we also get a deeper understanding of the regrets and vulnerabilities that are haunting Gin in the present. The scene of her calling out to Takako over the radio is familiar by now, but the revelation that Takako actually responded is a powerful one. It gives Gin a set of last words to fixate on, leaving her constantly wondering if there was more she could have done to save (or at least find) her friend. That forces a subtle but important shift in the way the audience sees her; we now get the sense that Gin is actively haunted by memories of the last expedition, rather than just motivated to make up for a past failure. That lingering regret, along with some possible doubts about her own ability to lead the new expedition, is also visible in the image of Gin standing alone with her emotions on the ship's deck. All of these cracks in her armor help to humanize her and add depth to her character, making it more compelling when something finally goes right.

That leads us into the icebreaking sequence, which once again does a nice job of detailing a specific challenge on the long list of obstacles faced by the crew. After all the series has done to paint its cast as a group of underdogs, it's satisfying to watch them smash their way through the ice. It works naturally as a visual metaphor for the characters fighting through both the natural and human roadblocks that have stood in their way during the journey. That moment of action is followed up by a more personal moment of triumph as Shirase and friends finally step out onto the Antarctic ice. Their unison leap from the stairway is a neat touch, and Shirase's reaction is on point for her character.

This is the kind of episode that I've been hoping A Place Further Than the Universe would deliver for a while now. It's compelling across the board, and much of its strength comes from the framework laid by previous episodes. It helps to justify the direction the story has taken up to this point, as these small victories wouldn't be as satisfying (nor would they feel as well-earned) if the show had simply hopped over to Antarctica after a week or two of exposition. The audience is able to savor this moment of arrival because we've seen each difficult step the characters have taken in order to get here. I'm not sure how the series can follow this act up, but I'm looking forward to seeing what the remainder of the season has in store.

Rating: A

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