Fumetsu no Anata e

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.

To Your Eternity is beautiful. Not because it is a masterpiece, but because it is a journey. A journey about an empty shell. A journey that delves into the brutal yet alluring qualities of human life. A journey filled with both joy and pain. The show starts off with one of the most beautifully condensed episodes, giving a taste of what it has to offer. It's emotional soundtrack compliments the intention of every scene, leaving a memorable impact for viewers. Brain's Base does an exceptional job in creating animations that fit the melancholic yet captivating setting. The subtle themes brought into the show only compliment ... the uniqueness of the story; What is the meaning of life and death? What makes humans, humans? To Your Eternity is not something you simply watch, but feel. If you're looking to go on an adventure, look no further.

[Spoiler warning for 6 episodes]
To start off, I just want to say I am glad I started watching To Your Eternity. Its beautiful.

Story (10/10) -
The premise of this new series is one of the most creatively unique I have seen. Your average anime might have a completely realistic setting, or a completely surreal one, with a magic system and its whole world shaped by it. To Your eternity places an orb, a character of such a surreal world, in the real world. This premise is so creative, unique and inspiring, as it as so much potential, with its world, its inhabitants and the themes which ... can be explored through the characters, and learning about emotions. I love this premise, and I really hope they pay it off well, as they have so far.
The first episode. What can I say about it. When I think of a perfect episode and pilot, this is what I mean. Not many things make me as emotional as this did. The amazing writing within this helped me connect so well so fast, it was truly amazing. Though it was quite predictable, it doesnt matter. Its the beauty in how one episode can make me connect so well with its story that resonates with me.
After this first episode, the story we follow is interesting as well. However, since the arc has not finished airing as yet, I dont know how it will turn out. My expectations are high though, yet I'm sure the show ill exceed them.

Art/Animation (9/10) -
The episodes look amazing. I love the white aesthetic of the first episode, and the colours look even better in the next few. Nothing feels forced, incomplete, or even just competent. Even in the animation, everything feels purposeful, intentional, and looks beautiful. Even subtle movements and reactions are captured well. I love the overall look.

Sound (8/10) -
It amazing that the lowest score in a criteria I'm giving is an 8. The score and the opening song are engaging and add to the ongoing action and episode overall. Though there is nothing groundbreaking, the sound mixing does a great job of making me feel part of the world, and I like the overall sound.

Character (10/10) -
The Orb/Wolf - This character has the most interesting premise. As an emotionless inanimate object turned animal turned human, it is amazing to see its reactions to human emotions, and I'm sure itll be touching to see it understand and learn to feel the same.
The unnamed boy with white hair - What can I even say about him. His character was what I got attached to at the start. The endless optimism in a dreadful and tragic situation is a character trait I love, and because of it, I really enjoyed his character. I was actively dreading his death from the first few scenes we spend with him. I also loved how he appreciated his pet wolf, especially as it was the only thing who gave him company. I was invested in this relationship as well. His motivation came from many things including the search of paradise, his tribes unwillingness to let him come, and later on, his tribes remains. These factors and its effects on him were beautiful, and strikingly real and heartfelt. I was so invested in him, knowing he would most likely die, in such a short period of time. This just shows the masterful writing behind his character, and the show. I cannot wait for more of this.
March (and also her 'sister') - I am already invested in her character. She is young and immature, but genuine and fun. I love her empathy towards the orb/wolf in their interactions, as well as her impatience to grow up. I think they established her character very well, and she has the potential to have an amazing character growth arc. Her elder sister is engaging too, and I like her, despite her not being as well established.

Enjoyment (10/10) -
I consider the pilot episode to be a masterpiece. I expect this show will turn out to be a masterpiece. I think its obvious that my enjoyment is 10/10. I have enjoyed every second of this show, have felt what it wanted me to feel, and look forward to it with great expectations.

Overall (10/10) -
I think it might be a bit unfair to give it an overall 10 instead of a 9, as the show is not even complete yet. However, I know an amazing show when I see one. This has the potential to be one. Not only is it enjoyable, but it seems as if every person working on it is giving it their all, from writers to animators, to produce this, I'm sure to be, masterpiece. I cannot recommend it enough.

I hope you found this review helpful.

To Your Eternity is a story about life. The struggles, the memories, the people we meet.

As a whole, To Your Eternity initially does a solid job at presenting such events and ideas, from what I have seen of it in the past, it plays well with this whole journey concept it has going for itself. It doesn't feel half-hearted, the characters are believable, and for the most part, it was something to look forward to as you sway your way into the oncoming episodes. This, however, is true until it isn't. The latter half of the story sure goes on the same initial path as ... the first, however, with a substantial objective of the former half somewhat achieved (basically intelligence acquired), the story had to drive itself around a new fundamental for storytelling, which it did, but the result was lazy writing. It was evident that the writers didn't even try to fish out new ideas and instead resorted to "generic" ideas, generic isn't bad, but I'd say a poor shift is. The characters themselves felt like they were for the wrong demographic too, with random shounen-esque ideas coming for the sake of "there was nothing else to do", when in fact, the initial dark side would come and go when it was conveniently called for. It's a sad downfall, but it isn't one of a catastrophe, just one that didn't hold up to what some could consider an "initial lie".

The audiovisuals are relativity consistent, you know, they looked nice and sounded good, as they should, the general. That is until the latter half where if you are astute, you'd notice the drop in animation quality, it shouldn't hinder overall experience, in fact, it will only hinder if you care about it too much, however that is not to say it passes as a fault in my eyes. Maybe there were some background issues going on around this one, I don't have the information on me to come to such a conclusion, but considering the work ethics of studios, I think an educated guess shouldn't misinform people too much, though it's not like that's directly related to the final product anyway.

Overall, it's a fun and interesting experience, that had its faults, sure, so much so that I could not possibly call this a masterpiece or those other fancy words I am too dumb to understand. The anime got me thinking about the themes it had for itself, mostly relative in its anime universe, not superimposed onto a reality. But it does get you some thought as to, what you would do if you were in the same position. Is immortality a blessing or a curse for humans? Well, that's for another time.

Note: Spoilers in the marked section. There will be no spoilers where there is no warning.

Laughter, sadness, pain, anger, fear, and hatred. These are all the emotions that a typical human being should know to make someone truly humane. At first, a human is born in the form of a baby, crying is the first form of emotion they experience. Then later they experience all sorts of different emotions. To your eternity is exactly that except, the protagonist we'll be following is actually an orb. That's right, it's an "it'. That is, it doesn't experience any form of emotion but it does stimulates ... them to experience all sorts of different things an emotions.

To your eternity is a beautiful experience. One that you haven't experienced this type of enjoyment from any other anime. It starts off with the maker sending an orb to the Earth to preserve resources.

The orb first takes the form of non living things. Then a wolf passes by who is at death's door and "it" takes the form of the wolf. Yes, that's the first living being he has taken the form of. Babies in real life, first experience the emotion of "crying" but that's not the case for the orb. The first emotion he experienced was "pain" which he later overcomes it.

[Spoilers]
People refer to the first episode as the "Nameless boy" arc but it isn't because he doesn't have a name, it's just that there was no one out there to call out his name.The nameless boy's optimistic whom we first meet is so unreal that it's sad. He knows that his family is dead that is why he has drawn all the images of his family's faces on his wall or there would be no reason to. He knew he and his best friend Joan(the wolf) would die too that's why he also drew both of their faces. The boy basically went to an early suicide the moment he set foot to go to the so called "Paradise" but the thing is, outside of his Island, there is no such thing as "Paradise" which you'll see later why. He wants to meet new places and nice people but the boy is just being delusional because what's out there is just a cruel world. The part where he said "Remember me" gave me literal goosebumps and that was a powerful scene. The nameless boy then dies and the wolf then takes the form of the boy.

People will say it isn't right to take the form of the dead but I say that if he takes the form of the boy, he'll carry on the wish the boy had and that is, to meet new places and learn different things. Some may also say that the nameless boy deserved to know that Joan died but I say it is a small mercy bestowed upon him when all the suffering he has been through.

[No spoilers]
It then meets March who just wants to be a grown up. This is kind of like a first world wish at first glance compared to the nameless boy but then again, she is just a child who is innocent

I love the realism that is showed in this series. It shows that the author isn't afraid to show dark themes it has. This series gives you a gist of realism that the society was back in the past which I'm amazed because this is the think that today's battle shounen seem to lack of.

Gugu's arc is literally beautiful. His brother is a scumbag who leaves him in a middle of a crisis. He meets a girl whom he is in love with. Both wishes what each other wants. So you can say both of their wishes are connected in a certain way which makes this arc even more beautiful. You may find Reen super annoying but you'll most likely grow on her by the end.

The Soundtrack in this Anime is phenomenal. I get goosebumps everytime I listen to it. It feels like, the music is describing Fushi's entire journey. Literally the most unique soundtracks I've heard.

However, every show has it's faults and To your eternity is not an exception in this one.

The problem by which the show suffers from is the places where Fushi visits isn't connected by anyway. In other words, the arcs are disjointed, thereby not leading to an overarching grand finale. Even Assassination Classroom didn't had any overarching arc like To your eternity but at least it led to an overall grand finale but To your eternity is making it seem like, the story isn't going anywhere. Sometimes, an arc is episodic, sometimes an arc is like 4 episodes, sometimes an arc is about 12 episodes long. It doesn't know what it's trying to be.

Another problem where it suffers from is that, it's repetitive.

The only way Fushi develops is if someone dies and he uses those characters as a tool for him to survive. This is a huge pet peeve of mine if the author uses character death's as the only way for character development. In my opinion, that's called poor writing. Sometimes, I feel like the author is playing with our feelings it's like she doesn't care about our feelings at all.

The deaths in Jananda Island also felt meaningless and forced. There was literally no need for the characters to die as they contributed nothing to the plot. Maybe it will make Tonari independent but the end of that arc literally showed that the villagers will continue to support her so she's not all alone.

Even with it's faults, that does not make me to not like To your eternity. In fact, it was one of the most memorable and quite unique Anime I've ever watched. Fushi learns what it means to be a grown up when met March, he learned what it's like to have a family when he met Gugu and he learned what it's like to have friends when he met Tonari. He'll surely learn all kinds of emotions as the story progresses, but he'll never learn "something" which will make him truly human and that "something" is called Death

A foreword for this extensively long review: this review will have some spoilers, and I've tried my best to keep it vague as best as possible not to sway off all who read this and wanting to try the anime for yourselves. You have been warned.

"At first, it was an orb. Not just any typical orb. It could change itself by imitating the form of all that may and does exist. I decided to throw the orb upon this land to observe the various mutational forms of this immortal to see how it tries to adapt to the environment around it. There is but one ... enemy I'm worried of, and it's these shape-shifting monsters called the Nokkers who appear to grasp more intelligence than the Orb. This is my account of the journey with the Orb." - The Beholder, voiced by Kenjirou Tsuda

“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world. Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent. The world is everything that is the case. The world is the totality of facts, not of things.” - Ludwig Wittgenstein

What makes a human, truly human? This is always the question that always rings in our minds when we encounter a self-heart talk realization. Is it compassion, empathy, logic, our consciousness? Empiricist David Hume believes that all human ideas have roots from sense impressions. Meaning, even if we imagine a creature that does not exist, your imagination of it still consists of things you’ve sensed in the real world. This is in part of using different mental processes that are fundamentally part of being human: Resemblance, Contiguity in time or place, and Cause and Effect. It's our own perception of truth, that each of us, no matter how different, exists. When humans seek truth, they come into moments of realization. Small moments of realization lead to a sense of happiness of fulfillment. Big moments of realization, on the other hand, are truly what makes us human. It is when we experience these crucial consciousness-altering experiences, that we can finally say, with certainty, what it means to be human. And this is certainly the case for "Fumetsu no Anata e" a.k.a "To Your Eternity".

To say that the adaptation of the now-renouned "Koe no Katachi" (a.k.a. "A Silent Voice") author Yoshitoki Ōima's next big thing is a masterclass of a work, is a gross understatement. There is some truth and not to that, that puts it shy of a modern great anime in the making. And watching this "pulling heartstrings" worth of some powerful gut-wrenching writing, Yoshitoki Ōima sure knows how to concoct a well-thoughtout story with great well-endowed illustrations that are brought to life in a substantial way from Baby Steps director Masahiko Murata and the production team over at Brain's Base to adapt this unusual full 25-minute (including OP, ED and next episode previews), 20-episode run covering the first 6 volumes (totaling 54 chapters) of the manga on nowhere else other than NHK Educational TV (because that's a channel catered specifically to the kids, and it serves as a learning lesson just like most programs there). You need not a big Brain, but a good foundational Base to understand this deep rabbit hole of a "feelings" show. And somehow...also inputting the Baby Steps that's similar to a newborn child birthed and graced onto Earth in an utmost sentimental way possible. See? No pun intended.

Some background info out of the way: Following the insane success of "Koe no Katachi", to which "Fumetsu no Anata e" is a complete 180 tonal shift on that, this is the story that's dedicated to the loving memory of Yoshitoki Ōima's deceased ailing and sick grandmother, taken as an influence to one of the characters in this story. You have to remember that coming off from "A Silent Voice" (which is largely a story of characters who are confronting their past), with "To Your Eternity", Yoshitoki Ōima herself penned a fantasy story, one that is devoid of its freedom while capturing the supernatural part of beings being immortal so as to give them a recourse throughout its learning journey to focus on the future, what lies ahead for the characters going forward. A little unknown fact is that Yoshitoki Ōima's first outing into the manga industry is creating the illustation art for Tow Ubukata's Mardock Scramble, and this serves as a tie-in to an exploration with the poignant themes of death. Also, did you know that Fushi (the Orb) was never meant to be male? That's because the author herself drew Fushi when she was young, the design had stuck ever since before everything began, and when it came time to deciding on Fushi's character, Yoshitoki leans on her preference for having neutral protagonists and natural female characters, coupling the suggestion of a male protagonist for a different appeal into the mix.

As for the overall setting, it's literally just that: the protagonist Fushi, or the Orb that "knows nothing", being sent onto the Earth to figure out what to do in such a blank state of mind. One thing that Fumetsu doesn't shake away is the themes of death and immortality that's portrayed in the manga. And towards the anime adaptation, it has done the perfect translation onto the small screen, bringing with it the abject emotions like when you're reading the manga for the very first time. The snowy landscape that's seen in the very beginning is why Yoshitoki Ōima has chosen to reinforce the blank state themes to create a white universe, a permanment reminder that "everything is as white as snow, but not as clear cut when outside of its comfort zone". And that comes in part of Yoshitoki Ōima herself, having to watch similar documentaries like it to capture the notion of a single being, that's practically being left out in the world to survive with limited resources and skills under very difficult and intense circumstances. And we see that reflected in the anime, where the immortal Fushi strives to take on different forms, slowly learning about the beings it transforms into and their abilities in supposed forms to learn to adapt to whatever the situation calls for. In both high and low, good and bad moments, not forgetting about its own humanity that's bred overtime, learnt from the direct guidance from The Beholder confrontation with mysterious shape-shifting beings called the Nokkers which increase its intelligence levels with every preceding battle with the immortal.

The characters in Fumetsu are actually based off of real-life personalities. Fushi itself (because his origin is "the Orb" first and foremost) is based on one word: Survival. Therefore, to integrate the Orb into the story, Yoshitoki Ōima had to think of practical reasons that would subject it to difficult circumstances, and the decision was made to have 3 elements affect the immortal: climate, disease and Man's natural carnivorous animal enemy, the polar bear. These 3 elements serve as the obstacles to the human will, and Yoshitoki Ōima's reasoning is to further elaborate that people living in the wild have to live with and show the process of overcoming these inevitable challenges. Also, notice that I did mention that Fumetsu's story is dedicated to the author's deceased grandmother, she is the inspiration for the basis of Grandma Pioran's character, and having to juggle with inevitable death is a guilt trip all by itself. Every volume of the manga features a story where that person makes a significant change in Fushi's life, and in the anime we get 6 of them in this pairing: The nameless boy and his dog Johan; March and Parona of Ninnanah; the Takunaha arc of Gugu and Rean; Hayase of Yanome; and the Jananda arc of Tonari. A fun fact that in the complete manga package, Yoshitoki Ōima's story would see Fushi meet approximately 13 people to intersperse his life with them, so much so that this story had a different working title as "Ash Swords of 13 People". Kinda begs the thought that this title would sound too hard to be pronounced or related, so I'm kinda glad the title was changed for speakeasy reasons. Out of all the characters that the author herself liked to draw, March is the favourite due to her short stature, and that she likes drawing children simulated in confined places (you can see that aesthetic in the anime a lot). The feels are real.

Brain's Base's production translation onto the small screen is somewhat of an odd ball by itself. Being close to a 2-cour (23/24 episode) run, you certainly can't expect that the production will hold up with its glistening factors of consistency. To shed more of what Fumetsu tries to illustrate with its many overlaying and underlying themes of juxtaposition between regular human beings' communion and death incarnate that's true to Yoshitoki Ōima's writing style, that's supported with her lushly drawn panels in the manga, it's a no-brainer that it's certainly asking a lot for to keep production at a steady and consistent pace to reflect the manga as well as it should. And despite the low-quality visuals that go hand-in-hand with shows that have a 2-cour run, I'd say that Fumetsu still arguably looks better than most recent 2-cour shows I've seen (barring the obvious Shounen ones obviously), and it's just as preposessing and fanciable going hand-in-hand alongside the incredible story of feels. Not the best of Brain's Base shows I've seen in recent times (in regards to 2020's Kyokou Suiri a.k.a In/Spectre), but it's serviceable enough.

The music in Fumetsu...really is in a whole other ball park. Let's kick off with the OP and ED, because I feel that this NEEDS to be mentioned. You should know who Hikaru Utada is: even I'll admit that while the recent Evangelion movie (3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time) didn't exactly set the world on fire to bring Hideaki Anno's legendary franchise to a resounding close, her ED "One Last Kiss" is where it's at that did just that. And adding to her music composition of a catalogue is yet another song, titled "Pink Blood" for the OP. While the song is still largely pretty good (though IMO "One Last Kiss" is still the better song and the ultimatum gold standard), I have to preface that if you're just starting out to watch Fumetsu, DO NOT WATCH the OP as it is 100% COMPLETE spoiler overload for anime-onlies about the show's entirety, and being a manga reader, I can attest to the fact. On the ED side, you may not know who Masashi Hamauzu is, but other than the instrumental ED "Mediator" being yet another amaze-balls, his talent being that of being hired in Square Enix by the legendary Nobuo Uematsu to work on some games (e.g. FF7, FF13 and SaGa Frontier 2 to name a few) and then succeeding him as lead composer when Nobuo Uematsu left in 2004, this guy has some rich music composition of an astounding career that's not just limited to Final Fantasy OSTs.

Both sound and music directors Takeshi Takadera and Ryou Kawasaki have ostensibly different track records on the shows they've done credited to their name, but there is one thing that you most certainly CANNOT mistake their talents for: quality. The former having worked on shows like Cross Game and Yowamushi Pedal, and the latter being the prominent figure on Shoukoku no Altair and the more recent Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia, and you can feel the union between directors who know their craft well and delivered full-time on the show itself. The OST in Fumetsu just takes your breath away being a beautiful, mesmerizing, yet solid work all throughout as you watch the show, and not once did any insert track feel misplaced, but added to the overt expressions of the anime to its full degree. Seriously though, focusing on Ryou Kawasaki, this man doesn't get enough credit for his outstanding work in Fumetsu, and the anime's music department is a rock-solid stellar masterpiece of work.

Love it or hate it, "Fumetsu no Anata e" a.k.a "To Your Eternity", to the Average Joe, depending on who you ask, can be an easy 2021 masterpiece AOTY or an egregiously overrated and over-hyped series. And I acknowledge both sides of the coin to the fact that as good as the anime adaptation can be, the manga is still leaps beyond the anime in terms of the same heart-wrenching feelings and emotions that just has no words being that great of a standalone source material. Nonetheless, Fumetsu is a series that I won't beckon you to "go watch immediately because it's just that good" for a recommendation, but you only need two things to be prepared (or not) to binge this all the way through: a steel-cold heart and a stacked tissue box, because this show will break your heart in tears for as many times as it could nilly-willy. And contrasting to "Koe no Katachi" a.k.a "A Silent Voice", Fumetsu will not remain silent with a voice of help, but it'll call you with the voices of methodical humanity that'll leave you wanting for more. What a wild rollercoaster of a ride that this show has become, and I would not have wanted it in any other way possible.

Watch it until the Jananda Islanda Arc and it's a masterpiece 10/10.

Spare yourself the pain/anguish/anger/disappointment of going further as well as the following seasons. Just pretend they were never created or existed in the first place.

The format of the review forces me to write more info about the anime, so here it is.
I have watched it fully and S2. I constantly regret my decision. I'll try to erase my memories up to the Jananda Island Arc. I cannot put into words how bad the anime gets. It's like looking at a sex joke made between coworkers on a sheet of toilet paper passed ... between stalls. I still can't believe it was made by the same person/persons. It is mind-numbingly horrific. One of the biggest shocks and disappointments of my life was that such a good idea was pissed and dumped on, for no reason, at all, at least from what I can tell (tho probably someone sold their idea or themselves for money).

That is all.
I have spoken.

P.S.: After (unknowingly) watching the rest of the anime and giving myself free cancer because of that, I can't in good conscience give it 10/10. That's not to say it doesn't deserve it. It only means that I acknowledge the existence of cancer called the Jananda Island Arc and the "ending".

Rating: 6/7

I know the series is not over yet, but the way it is going now I will have to give it somewhere between a 6 or a 7.

I had high expectations with the first 3-4 episodes of the anime and was excited with the initial premise, but as with many other anime these days , it has kind of fallen flat as the series has progressed.

The mystery of the main character to start off with was very intriguing but the more that becomes revealed, the less and less interested I become.

The main villain of the story so far is still shrouded in mystery ... but there is not much that drives me to care about it. The main character really has no desire or drive for anything and it makes becoming attached to "it" very difficult. Aside from that, the small amount of time spent with the side characters that are introduced and their lack of overall development really makes it hard to care for them or their absence from the story in anyway.

As for the art and animation, it too has really taken a dive over time. I'm not sure whether it was a budget issue or not, but there has been a definite quality drop from the first few episodes to the current episode and while it is not horrible in any way, it just makes it that less exciting to watch.

I do hope it gets better as the series goes on ,but with 8 episodes remaining, I'm a little worried about how the pacing will turn out.

All in all, I think this is a decent anime to save for a rainy day when you have run out of great ones to watch, but not anything truly special.

SPOILER-FREE ANIME REVIEW


Yoshitoki-san's recent Manga, Fumetsu no Anata e is by far one of the "Anime of The Year" candidates for me, along with Mushoku Tensei. Though it hasn't got much popularity as the other animes this year. It provides a good supernatural story that's sure will become more interesting as the show continues.


Story:
As the title says 「不滅」, It's about an Immortal being in a form of an orb-like thing that's unknown aside that it can take the shape of something. A creature without an instinct nor personality. It landed on a stone and take its form as an actual copy. As time passes by ... it takes a form of a wolf that's been wounded after it died suffering in a harsh blizzard. The unknown being gained its instinct as an animal. To live, according to what your body needs. It was then discovered by a Boy from a nearby village and decided to take the being and been named "Joan". He followed the boy throughout his exploration of finding his co-villagers. The nameless boy got an injury from their expedition and has nothing like medicine to cure his wound. Joan's just observing him as he's currently on the edge of his life. After the boy passed away, The wolf took over its form as a Human. However, being a human doesn't mean he's already like one. The thing is still the same as it is in a form of a wolf, aside from that it can stand by its feet. As the story progress, he learns how to act like and become a human, that can talk, decide for his own, has the emotions, feelings and it's own personality.

Side Note: Pretty much after the first episode, I think the show went downhill. Maybe because others especially the anime-only watchers think it has more to offer of the tragic events seen in the first episode. It's still an amazing show with its unique story and shows the side of drama in the supernatural genre as the protagonist learns about living as a human.

Rating: 9


Art/Animation:
Brain's Base is the studio responsible for this adaptation. They're famous for other franchises like Durarara! , Baccano! and My Teen Romcom SNAFU 1st season adaptations. And I can say they did a pretty great job on this show. They made it more into the side of drama thing to capture the emotions in this show. They've improved a lot and adapted the material with good overall animation. The Colors are stunning and show a nice tone for the scenes.

Rating: 8


Sound/Voice Acting:
Audio production in this show is Awesome. The music perfectly fits in every scene it is played. Whether it's a fight/thrilling scene or the Dramatic tune of the story. The Sound Effects are also great.
Personally, I love Tsuda Kenjiro's role as the Observer or Fushi's creator. His narration of the story is so satisfying as expected from his low-tone voice. Gotta give some appreciation as well to the soundtracks here like the OP and ED

Side Note: The Opening song by Hikaru Otada "Pink Blood" is Perfect for the Anime. Although it is great, I wouldn't recommend seeing the OP clip as it shows many spoilers throughout the show. But if you don't mind seeing those and appreciate the beauty of the music, Just enjoy listening to it every time.

Rating: 9


Characters:
Aside from the Protagonist named Joan and later becomes "Fushi", The side characters from different areas are really interesting and well written. March reminds me of Dororo in the show with the same name. She's a child tribe girl with a good mother-side and always full of positivity. Parona, an acting big sister to March who always wants to protect everyone she loves and cares about. Pioran, an old lady who's a criminal when introduced and sooner after being with the short time with Fushi she thinks that living her life right now that she has a shorter time to live would give her satisfaction. Gugu, a young boy who's already been working despite being a child to provide their daily needs with his brother but ended up being his face got smashed after involvement in an accident and after surviving the fatality he's now forced to wear a helm to hide his scary-looking face. And Tonari, a resident of Jananda that helps Fushi to rescue Pioran from the ones who deceived them. All have been pretty impactful on Fushi's character development through the Story. They're all helpful and become a very important part of Fushi's life.

Rating: 9

Enjoyment:
I'm pretty much sure that I love this show. It's on my candidates for the Anime of the Year as I've said. The first episode caught me off guard and immediately went to the manga just after seeing it. It is a very great show nowadays that mostly doesn't focus on things without comedy, school life or romance in it. I'm thankful to the staff especially the Author Miss Yoshitoki for Introducing her to another work after giving us the intense psychological impact on Koe no Katachi.

Enjoyment: 10

Overall Rating: 9

When I saw the first two episodes, it was a definite 10 for me. Nothing evokes such strong emotions in me as animals and I was hoping it would be a mix of beautiful animal friendship story and sick anime shit (Since I didn't read the description).

Unfortunately, I was disappointed and had to lower my rating to an 8.

It wasn't what I had hoped for, but still undoubtedly good.
Why was it good? There are already thousands of other reviews about it here, most of which I would agree with. Think of these arguments here right now.

Even though I like the anime very much, ... I'd rather go into a few negative points:

The first one is the story.
Unfortunately, it takes a little while before it really gets rolling. There are always small leaps forward and something important happens out of nowhere, but then nothing happens for several episodes.
The second point is the characters.
There are quite a few of them, mainly children, who eat up your last nerve, both because of their manner and because of their appearance and voice.
Each of these characters is very well designed and contributes to the story and character development function of the anime, but it still doesn't change their annoyance.

With that being said, decide for yourself whether it is worthwhile for you to watch the anime, but you already have my recommendation to do so.

It’s said that the Cognitive Revolution occurred between 70,000 to 30,000 years ago, allowing Homo Sapiens to communicate in unprecedented ways. As far as we know, we are the only species that can talk about things we have never seen, touched, or smelled. Abstract concepts like ‘gods’ and ‘nations’ are born from the ability to think and theorize beyond the material world. Incidentally, many scholars argue that this is what separates us from other species, it’s what makes human beings ‘human’. To Your Eternity takes another approach at answering some of these questions about the nature of humanity, attempting to uncover the unifying experiences that ... make us human.

To Your Eternity’s premise is ambitious, and while this is the show’s greatest asset, it also ends up being its undoing in some respects. The notion of an immortal entity being cast unto Earth in an arbitrary manner sparks a great deal of curiosity (for me at least). Like most other living beings, the immortal entity’s purpose for existing isn’t entirely clear. In this sense, there’s something quite compelling about watching a being that’s able to transcend the laws of nature attempt to familiarize itself with humanity. Fushi is detached from the material constraints that ordinary human beings experience, but upon gaining consciousness, Fushi attempts to assimilate to the world. This provides a very interesting character study. As viewers, we watch Fushi engage with the world and observe almost every level of human experience. Fushi’s role at the start of the series is that of an observer with a negligible impact on the surrounding environment, but as the show progresses Fushi begins to increasingly interact with the world he comes to know. This allows the anime to dissect fundamental questions about our nature. Confronting your mortality, the fight for survival, finding purpose in your existence, these are all some of the themes that the series explores.

Unfortunately, Fushi’s relationship with the world and the ways in which his immortality are fleshed out don’t always add up. There are lots of times that Fushi has the ability to help those around him in much simpler ways than the show seems to present. His development is not always realistic and it appears to be overly stunted by a sense of naivety. I think Fushi would overcome this naivety far quicker than the anime postulates. This ties in with my main issue regarding the storytelling, which is that the writing seems to be quite formulaic. There’s a very clear course of events that the story and characters must follow, making some situations seem out of the norm. Every story has an intended beginning, middle, and end, but the ways in which these events are told can feel natural to the viewer. In the case of To Your Eternity, it was difficult to suspend disbelief and see the course of events as the natural flow of things, rather than a story with a preplanned ending in mind. The deaths of many of the characters seemed avoidable, and on one hand this is what eats away at Fushi and causes him to grow, but on the other hand it creates a slightly forced narrative that’s not entirely grounded in reality.

Story: 7/10
The story is promising, it introduces a compelling premise that gives way for the dissection of human nature rather eloquently. However, the execution of said premise is not as good as I would’ve hoped. After a while the storytelling becomes a little systematic; it lacks an organic quality that the beginning of the story had. It feels like there’s a preplanned course of events that the characters must follow, even if certain actions don’t always fall in line with what we’d expect from them. Despite this, I think the story still poses interesting questions about humanity and delves deeper into the human psyche than the average fantasy anime. Ultimately, this could’ve been executed better.

Art: 8/10
The art style is nice and the animation sequences are good too. It doesn’t stand out but it also has no real flaws.

Sound: 8/10
The sound is pretty good as well. Although I got tired of the opening theme song quite quickly, the soundtrack as a whole was good. The voice acting was also good, I especially liked the narrator’s voice.

Character: 6.5/10
The character’s suffer a little bit from the rigid storytelling. I also think that some characters could’ve had more development such as Mia, Opa, Uroy, and Sandel. Additionally, I thought some characters were poorly written. For instance, the Booze Man’s character arc seemed incomplete and his relationship with Gugu was odd, the show tried to make him redeemable without much explanation.

Enjoyment: 7/10
I enjoyed this anime but I had a hard time wrapping my head around certain plot points that were left relatively unexplained. I haven’t read the source material but I didn’t feel like the anime did a very good job at establishing the degree of ‘fantasy’ the world of To Your Eternity is subject to. At first, it seemed like Fushi was the only fantastical entity, but then the introduction of the Nokkers, Onigashima, and other events (like the Booze Man somehow placing all this alcohol inside a little boy) aren’t really explained. It’s not clear the extent to which the more ordinary characters are familiar with fantastical entities either. This made certain aspects a bit confusing, taking away from my enjoyment a little bit. Nonetheless, it was still a pretty interesting anime and if a sequel ever comes out I’d probably watch it.

Overall 7/10

This is a particularly compelling show. The first episode is a masterpiece which is worth watching on its own merit. The rest of the show can't quite follow on from that but its still very strong.

The story unfolds slowly and is well told. It has kept me gripped all the way through even though its changed quite significantly in several places. It's intriguing and engages in excellent build up as the stakes rise.

Ultimately its a show about characters and there are several strong ones. Some take a while to really come into their own but a bit of patience will reward you greatly.

It starts of as a absolute masterpiece... But after 11 or 12 episodes the show goes from 10/10 to 6/10..

This show has very interesting and unique characters and makes you care about them and all characters are fully-fledged due to the show's slow pacing...
It doesn't have many cliches and feels original and unique..

MC has to face many consequences for his actions and decisions.. he has to live with this pain but...

Despite all this.. the show ruins itself #spoiler after Gugu's death... After Gugu dies instead of realising true nature of the world and having a character development ... He gets caught by ... some random people and he again turns into the same dumb and innocent princess minded ... Everything before the island arc was absolutely a masterpiece in my opinion but due to that I have hope that this show can have a great season 2 if it makes up for the unnecessary and boring island arc..



I rate it 7/10

I'm impressed!
I can start this review in this way without thinking twice, impressed and amazed. This anime was a big surprise for me, it was like I received a stimulating shock with this new story premise.

How can I say, the story itself is captivating and very interesting, the storyline gets you stuck and the story flows as you try to imagine the future and the development of each character.
The creators of the story managed to transmit such harmony between characters and developments to the person who watches it that it gets to be impressive.
Well the story follows an "entity" that becomes a stone and changes ... over time, passing through phases, it seeks to know the sounds, the smells, the happiness, the sadness and so on.
But what captivates me the most is the characters with such originality, the work delves into a very interesting theme that is immortality, you see a person spend their life beside an immortal while their loved ones are gone and you stay.
The story has an incredible premise, the songs, the arts are all a work of art, I was impressed with such quality, it was a long time since I was impressed with an anime like this.

First off, HOW DARE YOU.

Second off, HOW DARE YOU!!!

This anime is gorgeous, enthralling, heartbreaking, joyful, and pain all in one. I have laughed my butt off, cried my eyes out, and been absolutely sick to my stomach with pain.

The story starts with an orb created by an unknown entity. The orb embarks on a journey to find its purpose in the world and experience life, eventually becoming known as Fushi. As the titles states, Fushi is immortal and unfortunately the people he meets are not.

I'll re-edit my review when I'm done watching, but I'm halfway through and Fushi's character development and journey are amazing.

“What does it mean to be alive?” A question as old as humanity itself. Yet, not one that’s often tackled in anime. Fumetsu no anata e, the latest work from my favourite mangaka Oima Yoshitoki, is an eloquently crafted tale of self-discovery, grief, loss and healing. From beginning to end, the anime is a gripping and engaging story full of important life lessons, loveable characters and mystery that keeps you wanting to come back for more. Now that it’s over, my only complaint is that we only got 20 episodes instead of a full second cour, but the future is very bright for this ... series.

I’ve been a massive fan of Oima-sensei’s since Koe no Katachi. Over the past few years, I’ve been outspoken on social media about just how much that work of art changed my life. I was at my darkest moment when I read the manga and watched the anime film, and I have not been the same since, for the better. So when I found out that she was working on another story, I went into it with an open mind, hoping that it would be half as good as Koe no Katachi. I wasn’t disappointed at all. While the story starts out a bit slow and details remain confusing until you’re a decent way in, Fumetsu has this way of pulling you in more and more, week after week.

We have a front row seat for Fushi’s development. I love how the story details him going from an empty vessel essentially to a full blown person by the end of the anime. That emotional roller coaster of a ride is full of ups and downs. When things go wrong for the characters in the story, it feels like we’re suffering right along with them. Speaking of which, suffering and overcoming suffering is one of the most prevalent themes of the series. Unfortunately, Oima-sensei is a bit of a sadist and does not shy away from introducing and subsequently killing off loveable characters. While I personally think a few were gratuitous, loss and death are apart of life. Like it or not we will all lose people we love one day. How we deal with that is an important part of life. While it’s hard enough for you or I who are fully functioning humans to process this, imagine the difficulty with a being like Fushi who’s unable to really comprehend human emotions at the beginning of the story. This process is one of the most enjoyable aspects of Fumestu for me. Being able to create characters that not only grow themselves, but facilitate the growth of your audience is a true talent that few have.

The mysticism and supernatural aspects of the series are done in a really unique and engaging way as well. Drawing on Japanese and indigenous Russian folklore is a really nice touch that we don’t get often in anime.



Brain’s Base did a great job of bringing the story to the screen. Oregairu was the last thing by them I’d seen, and their job with the first season of that series was less than stellar. Luckily, they’ve done a much better job this time around and the production quality is great. I think this is one of the best 1:1 adaptations of a manga I’ve seen in some time, which I guess is to be expected considering the studio has not made much as of late. Art and animation are solid with pacing being the biggest highlight. Utada Hikaru has been one of my favourite artists since I was a child and “Pink Blood” is the perfect OP for Fumetsu and is one of the best of the year.

Fumetsu is one of the only series I’ve seen hyped on MAL and other websites in a while that I feel truly deserves the praise it gets. It’s a beautifully written story with a great anime adaptation that is full of things we can all benefit from learning.

Fumetsu no anata E gets 10 out of 10.

The first thing that you should know about To Your Eternity, is that the rest of the series never reaches the hights its first two episodes achieved. TYE is a show with an excellent couple of episodes at its beginning, and a good one at its very end. The episodes in the middle of this vary from decent, weird, frustrating and just okay.

TYE is the story of a mysterious life form called Fushi, who is created as an orb and then assumes various forms until he gets a human one in the first episode. From then on, the series tries to explore his journey ... in life as a human, along with what it means to be one, and how Fushi himself deals with his own immortality.

Did we need enemy lifeforms to battle for that? Probably not. I understand why the Knockers were introduced, to give a supposedly undefeatable being like Fushi a challenge, but TYE shines most when it deals with natural, everyday struggles of life and death and not supernatural threats. The story is divided in arks, and the plot's MO quickly becomes apparent: The people Fushi meets die and he assumes their forms in order to not forget them. The tragedy of the deaths of those people quickly loses its impact because you can see it coming a mile away. It gives off the impression that the story just loves to torture its characters and kills them off when they could have lived just fine, only to have Fushi assume their forms.

Also, the production values collapsed (save from the last episode) in the final big ark of the series. Characters were off model, the animation was minimal, even the story-boarding and the direction didn't seem to make much sense. In some episodes it's really unnatural to watch.

Nonetheless, all the characters were likeable and relatable. Even Hayase was a compelling villain and I would have liked to see more from her - not a single redeeming bone in her body, but she posed a more believable threat than the knockers, for various reasons. March was cute, Parona was strong, Pioran was funny, Gugu was precious and Tonari... ok Tonari wasn't that good at the beginning, but at least she stopped being annoying towards the end. Fushi himself is quite nice, as we can see him going from a blank slate similar to an infant to shape up his character through his experiences and the people he comes across.

When it comes down to it, I'd say TYE was an enjoyable ride, but nothing too outrageous. If the story had taken another turn and left the knockers out it could have possible been a much better and more mature philosophical experience, but that still doesn't mean it wasn't good to watch as it is. Final grade is a 7.

If you are not of strong heart, skip this anime and never look back.

Fumetsu no Anata e or To Your Eternity is a story made by creator of Koe no Katachi(Silent Voice) and in its first 5 episodes it made me feel double the pain i felt when watching that movie.

This review is a short one and won't have any spoilers.(oh yeah..nice animation and the sound is cool (I HATE THE OPENING OF 5TH EPISODE))

If summary doesn't give you enough stimulus to watch this, then know that behind this summary is an endless pit of sadness and pain, know that if you see any new ... character that you like, be prepared for worse(whether or not something bad happens), know that this show in its 5 episodes has caused me more pain than Silent Voice and many many other, know that the writer doesn't hold back(if you want fairness, proper judgement and characters getting what they deserve you won't get it), know that you probably wouldn't be able to stop watching it no matter how much you hurt from this show, know that this journey will be a real one for both Fushi and us.

Have a good day :)

I will preface this review by saying that episode 1 was a masterpiece, easily 100/100 and one of the best episodes of any anime I’ve ever seen. It perfectly introduced the world, the themes and the concept. This paired with a brilliant OST and a heart-breaking story made it basically the perfect episode, so I had extremely high hopes for this series coming off of episode 1.

I thought that the drop in quality and enjoyment was pretty much instant. The moment I got into episode 2 I didn’t like the setting or characters as much, but it was still solid and I enjoyed it ... quite a lot, even if it was no longer an anime of the year contender or even a contender for one of my all-time favourites, as I thought after episode 1.

The next sad scene was sad but not nearly as much as the ending of episode 1, and the second arc ended pretty soon after it started and it didn’t overstay it’s welcome.

The third arc was originally my least favourite but once it finished it grew on me and I consider it the second best arc now. The pacing was pretty slow and not much was going on but in retrospect it was cosy and devastating when it needed to be.

The fourth arc was another drop in enjoyment and quality. The animation got worse, the characters got barely any screentime or development, I didn’t even know their names, so this time around the deaths made me feel nothing. It stuck the landing pretty well at the end of the arc, but overall it was pretty forgettable and I wasn’t invested in it at all except for Fushi’s personal struggles.

I might say that one bad arc doesn’t make the rest of the series lower scored, but when that arc is over a third of the entire series then there is a problem.

Hayase as a villain was… fine I guess. She wasn’t hugely captivating but I didn’t think she was awful. She was certainly more interesting than the Nokkers, which I grew pretty tired of as the series went on since they were just inevitable and had no personality or anything interesting about them. They were just something that Fushi had to deal with when they came.

The characters weren’t a particularly strong point overall. I only really liked and got invested in Fushi and Gugu since we saw their growth from the very start and they are generally likeable. The ways Fushi used his abilities were creative and the early fight scenes were actually very good, such as the first Nokker fight. Fushi never felt too overpowered but he was never completely outmatched by his opponents. With both Gugu and Fushi it is great to see them gradually becoming who they grow to be, and the events that shape them as a person, so I grew attached to them a lot more than the other characters.

Finally, the last episode was a good way to end it, even if it felt a little too fast paced overall. If it were made up of 2 episodes it could have been even more emotionally painful, for example if Pioran losing her sense of who she is was explored better.

Overall, even though it peaked in its first episode I enjoyed the rest of the series and I will be watching season 2 as it relelases.

(HOOD REVIEW)

You know when you always skip a song and then one day it plays and it turns out to be one of the best songs you ever heard. This is that anime.

My new number one anime ! This is literally the game of thrones of anime 🥹
BY FAR the most emotional roller coaster i ever seen in any anime type shit, as a grown man why am i tearing up watching this anime . The character development is SO PHENOMENAL. What it lacks in actions it makes up for with the story line ! If you looking for an anime that’s different ... then the typical action shonen ! This is the one !