Fumetsu no Anata e

An Orb, known only as It, is cast to Earth to be observed from afar. Capable of changing forms from beings whose reflections It captures, It first becomes a rock and then, due to the rising temperature, moss.

It does not move until one snowy day, a wolf at death's door barely crosses by. When It takes the animal's form, It attains awareness of its consciousness and starts to wander with an unclear destination in mind. Soon, It comes across the wolf's master—a young boy waiting for his tribe to return from a paradise abundant with fish and fruit in the south. Although the boy is lonely, he still hopes those whom he holds dear in his memories have not forgotten him and that he will reunite with them one day.

The boy wants to explore new surroundings and decides to abandon his home with It to find the paradise using the traces his tribe left behind. However, with a heavily injured body and no sight of his elder comrades, what will become of the boy?

Fumetsu no Anata e illustrates the story of an immortal being experiencing humanity, meeting all types of people in many places throughout time.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Fushi Main

Kawashima, Reiji Japanese

Gugu Supporting

Shiraishi, Ryouko Japanese

March Supporting

Hikisaka, Rie Japanese

Parona Supporting

Uchida, Aya Japanese

Pyoran Supporting

Aikawa, Rikako Japanese

Kansatsusha Supporting

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Joan Supporting

Dalton, Tonari Supporting

Inagawa, Eri Japanese

Hayase Supporting

Saiga, Mitsuki Japanese

Cropp, Rynn Supporting

Iwami, Manaka Japanese

Ozawa, Juukou Producer

Murata, Masahiko Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Takadera, Takeshi Sound Director

Onoue, Kouki Episode Director

Reviews

Aug 30, 2021

Stark700

Recommended

Anyone who has read or seen Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice) will recognize the name, Yoshitoki Ooima. To Your Eternity is her latest work that combines her artistic talent woven into a mesmeric story. To describe To Your Eternity is not simple. It's more than just a supernatural drama. It casts an emotional journey following an unique character And without a shadow of a doubt, To Your Eternity is among one of the best series I've seen this year.

When I first read the manga before the anime adaptation, I had anticipated various degrees of emotional drama. The author has been known to amplify human ... emotions to tell and show a story. By doing so, she's able to communicate to the audience why characters are motivated by certain actions. That's no different when applied for To Your Eternity. The most prominent example applies to Fushi, a being with immortality who can transform into people and creatures. What's fascinating about Fushi is that the more transforms, he becomes more human. As we come to learn and understand about Fushi's character, we can draw upon how he changes. From interactions to his own personal motivations, Fushi is perhaps one of the most complex characters in the series.

And that is to say, To Your Eternity is somewhat of a niche show. It's atypical even for a supernatural drama. Following Fushi's journey shows how alienated and ignorant he is about humanity. From the beginning, his attributes mirrors those of an animal. He is curious about the world around him but fails to understand certain elements. As he witness more realistic events in life (namely death), Fushi begins to understand the concept of humanity. And because he is immortal, death is not something he fears or even truly understands. Fushi initially reminds me of Doomsday, a character from the popular Superman comic books where what kills him makes him stronger. In this series, he adapts with death and revives even more after being killed over and over. But unlike Doomsday, Fushi becomes more compassionate and understanding about himself around others. And as every episode ventures on, we get to see his character evolution by embracing the essence of humanity.

Throughout the show, Fushi meets and develops meanginful relationships among with his companions. The most prominent among these includes Gugu, Pioran, Tonari, and March. They act as surrogate family that shapes his character the more he interacts with them. In fact, he even received his name from March and without her, Fushi would be nameless. Being one of the kindest characters in the show, she accepts Fushi for who he is without judgment or prejudice. And thanks to her influence, we can say that Fushi matures into a more human character. Similarly, he develops a brotherly bond with Gugu and a sisterly relationship with Tonari. Both of these characters makes profound effects in his life as he grows to care and protect them. And because of his immortality, Fushi shows fearlessness when defending his companions. Perhaps the most guidance Fushi receives is from Pioarn, as she becomes his personal mentor. With her guidance, Fushi begins to learn the human language and how every action has a consequence, something he had been igornant of since his very existence.

Unfortunately for Fushi, not everyone he meets is an ally or friend. These include the dangerous Nokkers (supernatural creatures in their world) he encounters or the obsessive Hayase. The latter evolves into a more twisted character, a polar opposite of Fushi's evolution. Indeed, Hayase represents the dark side of humanity. The way she fascinates about immortality and developing a twisted love for Fushi is what seperates her from any human character in the show. In later episodes, you can just see how far her obessesion carries with her beliefs. That being said, I think To Your Eternity is able to strike its character cast with such fascinating and colorful personalities. Every relevant characters brings an important part to Fushi's development, whether it's to shape him into more human or make him into a understanding character to us.

Regardless how much you understand this show, it shouldn't take long for your eyes to see the unique aspect of the anime's animation quality. Brain's Base has been know for some of their noticable work including My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU and Durarara!! In this show, they take on the approach to illustrate a fictional setting filled with emotional drama. The background scenes and chereography for its world fiction connects with its story tone. However, it is the emotional expressions of the cast that brings out the anime's drama at its finest. This is achieved through animating the behaviors and emotions for the characters. In particular, Fushi is the show's greatest achievement at showing human-like feelings. And lastly, the anime is known for some of its more mature content namely the violence and occasional sexual tone. This shouldn't distract the audience from the anime's overall presentation but it's still noticable in some episodes.

To Your Eternity's stellar soundtrack also cannot be ignored if we look at how it synchronizes with its overall supernatural drama. From emotional melancholy to cherry orchestra, it's impressive how the soundtrack can further enhance the anime viewing experience. Fushi's voice also evolves from its toddler-like stuttering to a more mature human voice tone throughout the show. We can't ever forget how much of a character Fushi changes and it reminds us how important that change is.

This is an anime of the year candidate and I'm not joking. Even if you came into the series as a fresh viewer, it's going to be an unique experience for a supernatural drama. Let it be known that To Your Eternity sells its story exactly how it wants to with its creative character cast, unique storytelling, and ultimately, a show that touches upon the deepest elements of humanity.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Aug 30, 2021

g1l

Mixed Feelings

To Your Eternity is not a great anime, nor is it necessarily a bad one. It’s stuck at an awkward in between, with interesting themes and a refreshing story being weighed down by clumsy and often boring writing. The blend of adventure and drama sets it apart from other anime like it, and as disappointing as some moments in the series can be you can understand why many people will find them emotional.

There are three main arcs throughout the 20 episodes, four if you count the first episode. Each one offers a new cast with new experiences for our immortal main character, Fushi. On their ... own the arcs aren’t bad, however after watching them back-to-back you will simply stop caring. The fact that the cast is always changing means you won’t be with any long enough to care about what happens, and the ones you do find yourself caring about are quickly forgotten as a new cast and setting is shoved in your face. Any sense of emotion or excitement offered by the first episode loses its touch almost instantly. You already know that something bad is going to happen everywhere Fushi goes, and it becomes a matter of when the bad thing happens rather than what will happen. Now this predictability on its own isn’t a bad thing. If it is backed up by interesting and planned out characters, it won’t matter how unoriginal the actual scenarios are. The thing is though, every single character throughout the show is flat, bland, and honestly just plain boring to watch. It’s like the writer imagined one specific sad scenario in their head and ran away with it, forgetting the very basics of what makes a story interesting and engaging. It takes multiple episodes to get to an overall underwhelming outcome, and this repeats itself for three whole arcs. I’ll repeat myself here, at some point in the series you will simply stop caring.

One thing I can give it credit for is how the growth of Fushi is shown. It honestly feels like with each new episode and event Fushi grows in some way, and these additions to his character will impact how he acts and speaks onwards. It never feels like he hits a wall with character development, and it is much more interesting watching Fushi grow than a typical melodrama character. There is obvious planning and care behind his character, and you can see it greatly pay off in the long run.

Now onto what I would consider the worst part of the whole series, the “antagonist,” though I would probably describe as more of a mindless opposing force. It is introduced as a mysterious entity that interrupts Fushi’s adventures and forces him to grow stronger. Great right? Now there is something to move the plot along provide areas for character growth. Except that that’s all there is to it. Every time this mysterious opposing force appeared I wanted to groan. There is obviously something more to it, this is made obvious early into the series. Don’t expect find out what though, the show is too busy dabbling with other ideas to expand on it at all during the 20 episodes. Thankfully, there is a human antagonist with a bit more personality and depth. They’re still messily written but for what it’s worth the episodes that they appeared in were some of the most engaging for me. If it wasn’t for their awkward placement in and out of certain arcs, they probably would’ve been the highlight of the series.

I tend not to worry about art or sound too much, but I think Brains Base did a solid job with both and I have no major issues. That said, there are no real times where either of these will stand out and leave a lasting impression. The visuals and audio are just consistently good throughout all 20 episodes.

Overall, I think To Your Eternity does a good job at experimenting with and expressing its themes and ideas, especially surrounding mortality and what it means to be human. If it wasn’t for the repetitive and disconnected plot as well as the poor character writing this series could have easily been around an 8/10. I would recommend at least giving the anime a try, though be prepared for the plot to become predictable and repetitive straight from the very first episode.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 2, 2021

Fotsuan

Not Recommended

It is fundamental to express emotions in order to make a work of fiction great – that’s something the anime industry knows very well. Sad and depressing emotions are frequently seen in anime works, but the real key to success is to combine them with pleasant and hopeful emotions. Thrill, suspense, compassion, excitement and enjoyment; all of them are important to form a good show. Fumetsu no Anata e has its unique style, which most people like – considering its global appeal and popularity - and others do not. But this style is what really prevents it from standing close to “top tier” anime, and ... that is a fact.

Fumetsu no Anata e started off with an amazing opening episode; full of emotions, beautiful character interactions and plot twists. It felt romantic and succeeded in piquing the watchers’ interest. This episode was the prologue arc, and then a chain of longer character arcs followed. What went so wrong that made this anime’s content controversial? That’s definitely the repetitive use of the pattern Ooida Yoshitoki used in every character arc. And after giving it some thought, I reached the conclusion that this pattern I’m talking about might work in a novel, but not in a TV show. So it is not necessarily the writer’s fault.

The pattern promoted mostly depressing emotions and failed to emit the ones I mentioned before. As the series moved on, everyone was able to make a successful guess on how the story would proceed, which led to the loss of enthusiasm, thrill and enjoyment. The protagonist’s character development made sense, but in the end, that was all that happened in these twenty episodes. What only mattered was how strong (mentally and physically) Fushi would become, after a row of unpleasant and heartbreaking events.

Nevertheless, a character alone cannot make a top tier work of fiction. When it comes to the world build up, what is understood is that it concerns Fushi and only himself. People live in an underdeveloped society, but the mystery revolves around the supernatural element of the series; which is something he has to solve alone. The main villains’ character and motives (Nokkers) are not exactly shown yet, but it seems they are simple and exist to end our protagonist’s journey. As for Kansatsusha, it is not yet known if there are other creatures like him or why he behaves the way he does.

The soundtrack of this anime is mostly atmospheric (“Emotional Suite”, “Pink Blood”, “Mediator”). It is not something special, but it fits well the atmosphere. The animation looks nice and fits the atmosphere as well. The prevailing colours are purple, brown and green. The voice acting is sometimes good and sometimes bad. Tsuda Kenjirou’s narrating is great.

To conclude, Fumetsu no Anata e is a fantasy/supernatural anime whose main purpose seems to be to indicate how people can become stronger by facing hardships and moving on with their lives. To convey this message, it uses many short arcs which include a lot of tragic events and sad human emotions. It also shows human behaviour under difficult circumstances, people’s hope, people’s narrow-mindedness and other characteristics you may find out by watching.

My personal advice is to not expect much even if you love the first episodes. Because I loved them as well, but my final score was 3/10.
Thank you for reading!

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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