A Place Further Than the Universe is the twelfth episode of A Place Further Than the Universe.
Synopsis[]
A flashback shows Shirase three years earlier getting the news about her mother. Kanae announces a 3-week-long expedition to the inland research station, and invites the girls. Shirase has to think about it. She discusses her feelings with Gin Tōdō, while the other high-school girls leave her alone to decide for herself. She counts out the million yen, remembering all the work that it took to get it, and decides to go along. Yumiko holds an Antarctic barbecue. Eat fast, or it will be cold.
The journey begins using a caravan of snowcats. It’s a lot colder at the higher elevation inland. They see a sun pillar. Kimari tries to hammer a nail into a plank using a banana. The girls have a sing-along atop the snowcat.
They arrive at the inland station, where the team intends to build an observatory. The girls search the building for some article left by Takako, something to remember her by, and find her laptop. Everyone weeps as Shirase boots it up and discovers all of the unread e-mail which she has been sending over the years, as she was seen doing throughout all of the previous episodes.
Trivia[]
- When singing on top of the snowcat, Kimari is playing a samisen. It appears to be a makeshift instrument using an old tin can for the body.
Quotes[]
- "To act is not necessarily compassion. True compassion sometimes comes from inaction!" - Hinata, explaining to Yumiko why they are giving Shirase some space. This is another of her made-up sayings.
- “Dear Mom: I’ve made friends. I, who thought I’d be fine by myself forever, now have friends. They’re all a little weird, a little frustrating, a little broken, but I have friends who were willing to travel to Antarctica with me. We fought, we cried, we had problems, but they were willing to travel this far with me, to this place where you were. I was able to come this far because of them. Mom, what can you see from where you are? Will I be able to see the same sights that you saw? I’m going to be there soon; the place where you are. ” - Shirase's last e-mail to her mother.
Music[]
Unread Emails - A Place Further Than the Universe
Scene with insert song
The opening song does not play for this episode. Instead, the opening credits text appears as Shirase tells the story of hearing about her mother.
The ending credits song for this episode is "Mata ne".
- Vocals: saya
- Music and lyrics: Fujisawa, Yoshiaki (藤澤 慶昌)
Gallery[]
