This being the first civilian Antarctic expedition,
some are saying that this brings Antarctica closer to the average person.
Now that Syowa Station has been transferred to civilian ownership,
I believe there will be more chances for things like that.
Do you intend to continue doing research like this?
Of course.
Even having become civilians,
we'd like to keep sending expeditions and doing observation...
We want everyone to learn about the wonders of Antarctica.
A Place Further Than the Universe
The Ship That Sees the Universe
Duty-Free Articles
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#Catchy #Witty #Sensational
Let's run a test.
W-Wait!
We're doing this for you, though, Shirase-san...
Let's go. One, two...
Jumping!
And as you can see, we've arrived in Fremantle in a snap!
Please, observe!
This is the expedition ship from Japan, the Penguin Manju!
This is the ship we're going to take to Antarctica!
Now, let's head inside the ship!
Now... take it, Shirase-chan!
High School Girl Yuzuki Shiraishi Challenge For Antarctic
Right! I am High School Girl Antarctic Expedition Member,
K-Kobuchizawa Shirase!
F-From here, I'll b-be making some c-c-catchy, witty, sensational reports
as I l-lead you all around Antarctica!
Miserable.
I told you I didn't want this stupid thing!
Stupid thing?! I wrote you a script because you said you wanted one!
Even so...
it sure is big.
It seems to go without saying,
but it did come all the way from over the ocean...
From Japan...
Congratulations on your long journey!
Come on up!
Kanae-san!
Welcome!
You've finally reached the starting line.
A lot of the rooms look the same,
so make sure you remember your number.
Passenger: Passenger: Passenger: Passenger: Miyake Tamaki Shiraishi Kobuchizawa Hinata Mari Yuzuki Shirase
Kanae-san!
The packages we just brought on...
I'll be there in a minute. Just wait.
A four-person room, huh?
Sounds fun, right?
There will be fights here.
Why?
Let's try to be optimistic.
But it does seem likely.
Seriously, why?
You have desks and lockers, so figure out who'll go where.
And those are the belongings you had sent from Tokyo.
Don't open them all.
We'll be carrying them to the station after we arrive.
I see!
Huh?
They're locked.
So they don't open by themselves when the boat sways...
Vice commander!
The welcome party will be soon, so until then...
Kanae-san!
Yes, I'm coming!
But what should we do?
Oh, there's also a rule: Don't step on the silver part here.
Just to warn you,
we're going to treat you like adults from now on, okay?
Figure things out for yourselves!
You know, if they see you like that, they're gonna kick you off.
It's going to sway a lot when the boat starts moving, I bet.
Maybe we should do the boat report now, while we still can.
Yeah!
Which way did we come from again?
There was a map in the brochure, right?
Yeah...
And so we open this, and...
We're outside!
We are up quite high...
Oh? Yuzuki-chan, are you acrophobic?
For real?
Why does that make you so happy?
Okay, let's go up!
Let's go over there!
I would like to die.
Let's go this way. This way.
It's the snow cat!
Yeah! So they store it in there, huh?
Okay, we definitely gotta cover this!
Shirase!
Is there a script?
Ad-libbing is a reporter's responsibility.
Filming now!
Wait!
It's so old. Is it really going to move?
They said it would be fine...
I have a feeling we don't have enough people down below, either.
Do your best!!
Civilian Antarctic Expedition Members!!
Maybe we should go help them later.
Yeah.
No rest for the wicked...
Um...
W-We're on the expedition ship.
And... there's a snow cat over there!
This is the ship's bridge.
We haven't left yet, so they let us stop by to visit!
This is the ship's captain, Mukai-san!
And the expedition's commander, Todo-san!
Worthless
This is the first civilian expedition in three years.
Could you tell us what your goal is this time?
We have several.
Syowa Station has been unmanned since the winter team pulled out,
so restoring it to normal functionality is our primary motivation.
Ow.
Thank you very much!
We'll be visiting that same Syowa Station very soon!
See you then!
Why can't you do what she does?
Thank you very much!
There's a reason she's a pro!
Well? Do you like the ship?
Oh, yes! It's so big!
Oh?
I gotta say...
I think this ship might be a little too big this time.
Captain.
Have you been to your room yet?
Y-Yes.
Take care of it.
That's the same room Takako used.
Find anything?
No. Not even a doodle.
Nothing in here, either...
I mean, even though it's the same room,
they might have changed all the equipment...
True...
Hey!
Yumiko-san!
I know you just got here, but do you have a little time to help out?
We're so short-handed...
When you're out, turn your card to red
Then there's eggs, milk, yogurt...
What about pudding?
No.
But eggs and milk... are those provisions for the boat trip?
I don't know, but...
What's wrong?
Nothing.
I just find it a little weird they're going shopping now...
Seriously.
I had this image of them dropping
this many-ton crate of provisions onto the ship...
Are you with an expedition?
Yes!
You're so young.
To think even girls like you are allowed to head out these days...
All this?
This isn't that much, actually.
The new ship that came by last week had a whole container full.
So heavy!
Learn anything?
There are quite a few...
"Not enough funds."
"Not enough people."
"The plan itself is unworkable."
"There's a new station and expedition ship anyway,
so doubling up is meaningless."
Sounds about right...
I'm turning it off. I don't have much room on this disposable SIM.
Shirase-chan, do you know anything about it?
I never even thought about that when we were coming here...
Yeah, guess you wouldn't...
Still...
I feel like things are a bit strange on board, too.
There don't appear to be enough people,
and there seem to be a lot of problems, too...
Welcome back!
How did your first errand go?
Good! This is enough, right?
Great job, great job.
Well, I'm sure the locals are used to this song and dance.
They did seem to be...
What's the matter?
Um... could we ask an awkward question?
Can we really get to Antarctica?
Yes.
Of course we will!
After all, Antarctica's not going anywhe—
Please, spare us.
Well, I don't know where you heard about it,
but I understand the nerves.
We have so few people and supplies...
Since we're civilians, we've had to make lots of cuts.
So it's true...
But...
as I said before, there's no way we're not going.
We've made all the necessary preparations.
First Civilian Antarctic Expedition
And we've taken unprecedented precautions with safety, too.
And most importantly,
the people on this ship are determined to go.
Determined...
Antarctica is an unforgiving place.
Blizzards blow at minus dozens of degrees.
The air is so dry that your lips chap and bleed.
The sunlight is harsh, so if you forget sunblock, you can really get burned.
There's no Internet, and no places to have fun.
And yet, we're going.
Preparing little by little over three years' time...
Why are you going?
Good question.
If I had to put it into words...
This time, it's to see the sky, I suppose.
The sky?
Yes...
The sky.
What do you think?
I don't know.
She sounded honest, but also like she was hiding something.
She was absolutely hiding something!
You think so?
She said it herself! They're "determined"!
They must have a serious reason!
The sky, huh? I wonder what that meant!
No way to find out, I guess...
Yeah. No matter how we try to press it,
when an adult says something like that...
We must investigate!
Which way do we go?
Good thing we're all on the same page.
Don't be like that!
You're the one who told me to go, Yu-kun!
Why? Please!
Yes, I do want to go home!
You know I want to see you, Yu-kun!
I don't even know if this expedition is gonna work out...
I'm telling you, I love you!
I've told you I love you so many times!
Nobue-san!
We're going out for a drink!
Seriously, why does it have to be like that?
Okay...
Is the fact that I love you not enough?
That's true, only two days left for short sleeves...
Yeah!
I'll have a Kahlua!
I wonder if they have cocktails...
So, what did you want?
Well, I was thinking...
I think the project itself might not be possible.
That's your personal opinion, right?
The actual details haven't even been decided yet.
There's not really anything we can say yet.
That's our Yume-chan...
You're already sloshed...
Gonna carry her back?
Hell no!
All of us crammed in together, I'd never hear the end of it!
Let's get back to the plan!
Concretely speaking,
what we're doing right now isn't part of the official plan.
In other words, that's an extremely distant goal.
But the commander and Kanae-san are obsessed with it, right?
That's incorrect.
The other members are obsessed with it, too.
That makes it even more—
You sayin' you're 'gainst it, huh?
That's not it. I just...
A real man wouldn't grumble 'bout everythin'!
Shut up!
What's wrong?
High school girls in masks!
Where?
I told you! I told you!
You don't have to say it twice.
They have some amazing plan they haven't told anyone about!
But what could it be?
You think...
Antarctic People!
Nice one!
Perfect timing!
Please, take this seriously!
What if they're planning something awful?
They could force us to go along with it...
But thinking won't get us anywhere.
Even so...
We'll have to talk to Kanae-san one more time tomorrow...
Shirase-chan, that's my plushy.
What's that?
Glow-in-the-dark paint!
Shirase.
Wanna sleep here?
You think Shirase-chan's mother did that?
Maybe so.
If I had to put it into words...
This time, it's to see the sky, I suppose.
A place more distant than the universe.
It's not a prison, a place trapped in ice.
It's a place, still unopened,
yet filled with possibilities,
Earth's greatest treasure chest.
Want to look?
I think we all got a little too worked up to do it.
As civilians?
Yeah! After the new ship is finished,
they'll be deployed to the new station,
and the current ship and Syowa Station
will be transferred to civilian ownership.
You mean...
We can become the first civilian team—
Let's do it!
That was fast!
The ship and the station were both hand-me-downs,
but we were so excited.
There are almost no civilian stations anywhere in the world,
so we came up with all kinds of plans, gathered all kinds of researchers...
We all wanted to make it a success.
Because we knew that this journey, this road that we paved,
would continue on into the future.
That's why...
An astronomical observatory?
The plan's been out there for a while.
I'd heard they were building one at the new station, too.
That's all the more reason!
We might not be able to rival their scale and amenities,
but I think being able to do the same research as the new station
is the most important thing we can do as civilians in the future!
Yes...
As good publicity, then?
She was probably hoping to find something worthwhile somewhere.
Even though she knew that feeling could be very dangerous.
Somewhere out there...
Takako!
When we came home, we found a harsh reality waiting for us.
Sponsors, afraid of the damage to their image, withdrew one after another.
And the next expedition was indefinitely postponed,
and the winter mission was withdrawn.
I know that.
But we hadn't changed at all.
Three years ago, in the place we discovered with Takako...
with your mother, we would some day look at the stars again.
It didn't matter if it took ten years or twenty.
And it wasn't just us.
Most of the members who were with us three years ago are here again now.
Our budget has been mostly stripped away, and we'll get almost no compensation,
and there are some of us who won't have anything waiting for us when we return.
And yet we all came here.
And yet we're all still here.
That's the kind of ship this is.
Hey, Gin. Want to go to Antarctica?
Huh? Antarctica?
Why do you ask?
You know, I...
I just...
love leaving my footprints in fresh snow!
Hey, it's been a while!
I'm Maekawa Kanae!
How is everyone doing?
Yes, good!
Now, it's been three years since the last voyage.
I'm sure you've all been through a lot.
Some of you have lost hair, some have gotten divorced,
some have lost your jobs...
No one got married?
Well, let's all introduce ourselves one by one!
But first...
what you've all been waiting for, let's introduce our passengers!
Come on in!
Don't look at the floor.
But...
They're in high school!
They're not Goto or Yajima in drag!
They're real high school girls!
Now, a warning they're not legal.
I'll say it one more time. They're not legal.
Toshio, you hear me?
Why'd you single me out?!
All of our members who made that promise three years ago have returned.
And with our new members, all of us here,
these members, are going to the station.
We're going to Antarctica!
All right! From right to left, let's have some introductions.
I'm Tamaki Mari. Please call me Kimari!
Um, I wanted to go somewhere new,
to make a real change in my life...
And the next thing I knew, I was heading for Antarctica.
I don't have any idea what I am doing, but I look forward to working with you!
Shiraishi Yuzuki here.
I'm a year younger than the others here, in my first year in high school.
I ended up on this boat for work.
The truth is, I really didn't want to come...
but I came here wanting to do something with other people.
I look forward to working with you!
Miyake Hinata here!
I'm cheerful and energetic.
I came here because I wanted to do something big
before I took my entrance exams.
I might be little, but I've got a big heart!
I look forward to working with you!
I'm... Kobuchizawa Shirase.
Shirase-chan...
I boarded this ship to do catchy, witty, sensational reporting!
I want to open the treasure chest of Antarctica
that my mother wrote about with my own hands!
Everyone, let's go to Antarctica together!