And Universe wraps up the best way it can. This finale, in truth, feels more like a victory lap where the plot can be simply summarized as the girls enjoy their last days in Antarctica before heading back home. Almost all the cast makes an appearance in some ways, and the girls have a chance to reflect how much this trip mean to them, how much they mean to each other and how much they have grown since the start, and of course, many goodbyes along the way. The first half turns out to be the most cute girls do cute things moments out of this entire show, where our girls go through the routine, enjoy the thousand year old snowcone, and play baseball with the rest of the team. There isn’t much arc for the girls anymore, consider that they have all gone through some kind of conflicts and have grown ever since. But nearly the end of the journey, Mari voices her (unreasonable) request: should they stay over during the winter as well? Of course, she knows better and Hinata quickly points out why they need to return to their world: they still have their own lives back in Japan, but nevertheless, all of them don’t want this journey to end. So they make a promise. A promise to go back here again, and a promise that their lives will cross again when that time comes.
Shirase, after the tearful arc last week, really grows up this time. She’s both mature enough to give a heartfelt speech to the expedition team (that brings the cold Gin to tears), the speech about the place further than the Universe make people face-to-face with their own selves, the thing that she had indeed experienced. In addition, Shirase manages to loose herself a bit. She manages to smile. A bright and worry-free smile, unlike her creepy smile at the start of the series. Shirase has always been a bit broken character, but now she’s truly embraces it and let her Mommy issues finally to rest. She moves on to the next stage, stressed by the way she cuts her hair short. At the end on their way back home, Universe proves once again they still have some tricks left to play. The aurora view is truly mesmerizing and otherworldly, but the emotional bang comes from the unsent message her mother left, probably hours, or even minutes before she disappeared. The view of the Southern night sky come into display, and for that very moment, I bet Shirase’s Mom felt that it was all worth it. And now the girls all know that for sure. A bit too much of a coincidence, perhaps, but it’s still well earned.
As the girls head back home, like Yuzuki afraid they may not have the time to be together again. They will go back to their normal lives, with some new old worries and some plans to overcome. But now they depart each other with the understanding that they had shared something unique to each other, and that won’t never change. The last moment, Universe finishes with a nice, pleasant surprise: Mari’s friend Megumi is in the up North Arctic now, enjoying the aurora just like Mari did. Isn’t it nice to see a side character still grows and matures outside the scope of this narrative? As a whole, while Universe doesn’t really win me over, I don’t deny they are pretty good with building up and resolve their little arcs, and the trip along them to the end of the world is pretty rewarding. The full review will come up soon so stay still, folks, and thank you for join in with me for the ride.
