General Impression: Sora yori mo Tooi Basho

Synopsis

Mira Tamaki is a high school girl who one day finds an old diary and realizes that she has done none of the things that she had aimed to do upon reaching high school including going on a journey without a plan. When she attempted to fulfil one of those goals she had failed, but a chance encounter with a girl involving dropped money leads her to things changing for her as she learns of Shirose and her goal of travelling to Antarctica.

First Impression

The biggest strength to be found with the episode is in how it made the main protagonist so relatable in just a few scenes. We’ve all gone through a moment where we want to try something new but end up being unsure about it and this episode showed it in a way that helps the viewer connect to the character. What’s more, the way that the episode introduced the concept of them travelling to Antarctica held a solid transition in linking the characters together. The dynamics of the characters alone bring a whole lot of potential for the series.

In regards to the issues of the series, the most notable one would be that the episode seems to try just a little too hard in terms of building up certain scenes. The other is that the comedy work of the series. Basically, the comedy of the episode has its moments, but other times… not so much. So not counting the build-up work of the episode, it was a pretty solid introduction for the series.

General Impression

Friendship is a concept that is far from new in the anime verse, there are very little anime that don’t promote the strength of friendship or family, but the way that this series tackles it brings a nice change in dynamic given that it’s combined with the concept and theme of journey. Usually, anime with the set-up of a group of cute girls travelling together equals a rather light-hearted theme, but this series takes things on a little differently.

There are still moments of cuteness over the girls but what makes the series so interesting outside of the character dynamics and concept is the way that it handles its drama. While
there are points where the drama could have been toned/worked out better, the way each character’s issues were addressed in different episodes made for some interesting development not just on their part but also on their friendship.

Initially, the issue lied in the comedy work and how the episode seems to be trying a little to hard in drawing the viewer into the story and showing how deep it could be. The series could have done better in terms of pacing. A good build-up is always nice, but it just seems like the series dragged things out a bit and had a little too much filler moments. While not completely bad, the story structure could have been better.

b>Conclusion

This was a series that took on the concept of friendship, a journey and finding yourself in a way that hits a lot of good points. There were moments when the comedy and drag could have used some work but for the most part, the character and their dynamics made up for it. The series could have been panned out better but when it had its moments, it worked it out rather well. Overall, this was a series that had good heart but could have been worked out better with more focus on developing less on the technical points of the journey, or at the very least limited the episodes on it.

Rating:8/10