#shitty colleauges

[woppy-my-beloved]

And I got called the Damon Herriman Dark Room girl by my coworkers.

I'm fucking done.

[kanra-watches-anime]

My thoughts on A Place Further Than the Universe 04-06

After some ups and downs - both in-story and regarding my feelings about the show - I feel that Yorimoi is now headed into a strong second half.

However, I first want to apologise once more for being late with this, but I honestly wasn’t able to watch the newest episode until today due to my cold. And while that hasn’t passed completely and my nose and throat are still in subpar condition, at least my head feels relatively clear again, so let’s hope that I can catch up on what I missed quickly!

Now back to Yorimoi. I have to admit that episode four was one of my least favourites so far, even if I had little issues with the content itself (the training segments were actually really cute). This is mostly because I was surprised by how easily the “How do we get to Antarctica?” conflict from the previous episodes was solved. I just didn’t anticipate for Kanae and Yumiko from the expedition team, who had earlier refused Shirase so adamantly, to give in so quickly. I thought not wanting to take Shirase’s money really was just an excuse to not take her to a dangerous place (especially considering how they probably feel about the disappearance of Shirase’s mom, who was also their friend and colleauge), but now that it’s the money of Yuzuki’s mother it’s supposedly okay? As much as I want the girls to go to Antarctica, this just seemed a little too easy for me, at least after how the situation was presented earlier in the show.

Episode five then went and ramped up the drama considerably, focusing on Kimari’s friend Megumi, who turns out to be rather unhappy about the new direction Kimari’s life has taken. Watching the earlier episodes, it got pretty obvious that Kimari has depended on Megu a lot, but with her gaining new friends and a new passion, this has started to change and Megu suddenly has to deal with the realisation that she might be the dependent one after all. And while I can somewhat understand her feelings (though not on a personal level), I was a little surprised to find out that she was the one who put obstacles in Kimari’s way, e.g. by telling her mom about her Antarctica plans or telling others at school about Shirase’s money. Eventually, after spending some time with Kimari and her new friends, Megu, however, does come to realise that this was pretty shitty of her and decides to come clean to Kimari and end their friendship. Kimari, of course, doesn’t just accept that, even if she’s shocked after hearing about what Megu has done. I’m not sure if I could’ve done the same in that situation, especially if the friendship in question was already unhealthy to begin with, but I hope for the two of them that they can start anew once Kimari returns from her trip.

Honestly, I also wasn’t super fond of this episode, mostly because I don’t feel like we needed an episode about Megu? I think I would’ve enjoyed some more training and preparation for Antarctica more. But while we didn’t get that, we still headed into what was my favourite episode of Yorimoi so far next.

In episode six, the girls stop in Singapore for two days before taking the next flight to Fremantle, Australia, where they will board the ship that’ll take the expedition team to Antarctica. I felt like this episode contained all of Yorimoi’s strengths and used them to the best of its ability. The girls exploring Singapore together was not only enjoyable to watch, but also once again instilled that sense of adventure in me that is such an important part of Yorimoi as a whole. This episode made me hungry to go and see more of this world and take in sights, sounds, tastes and smells that I have never experienced before. On the other hand, we also had some dramatic aspects with Hinata apparently having lost her passport, but in comparison to the previous episode, they don’t feel as forced and/or unnecessary and actually add to the story in my opinion.

Even though we still only get very vague hints at Hinata’s past, this episode managed to give her character some much-needed depth while also giving some spotlight to Shirase and showing how much her character has developed during this first half of the show. I actually got a little teary during Shirase’s rousing speech to Hinata at the airport (though she probably gave a good frighten to the poor lady at the ticket counter), which was delivered with much zeal by voice acting star Kana Hanazawa, who once again proves why she’s one of the most popular seiyuu in the field.

All the voice actresses of our four main girls are doing a great job at making them come to life, which is a big reason why they have grown so much on me. It wasn’t the instant kind of love that I felt for the Yuru Camp girls, but by episode six at the latest I knew that I had grown incredibly fond of our four young explorers. I also have to point out how well-written the banter between our girls can be and especially episode six had me cackling and clapping at various moments.

With that being said, I feel like the best of Yorimoi is yet to come, now that our protagonists only have one more stop to go until they’re on their way to Antarctica, and I’m excited to see what will happen next on their journey!

Bonus:

I cannot end this without mentioning the height difference between Shirase and Hinata in the header pic... They’re just so cute...!!