I have to be fair here. I gushed over Tokyo Revengers by calling it my possible anime of the season after watching the first episode; however, I said that knowing full well that To Your Eternity (Fumetsu no Anata e) was also going to be airing this season.
I usually tease my opening by asking “does this live up to the hype?” “can this show hold my attention?” or something else to try and get you to read my thoughts on it.
I can’t do that here. My friend and colleague here at The Outerhaven, Matt, turned me on to this manga a long time ago. After I found out it was by Yoshitoki Oima (creator of A Silent Voice/Koe no Katachi), I knew it was going to be good. I just never expected it to be THIS good. To Your Eternity, in manga form, is a masterpiece. When I saw that it was getting an anime… I jumped for joy.
So, when I was picking out what show could be my anime of the season, I ruled out To Your Eternity because, barring a major screw up from Brain’s Base… this was automatically going to be entered into my Anime of the Year nominations. I didn’t think it would be fair to automatically give this Anime of the Season when there are so many other great shows airing. So, I moved this show to my big list of AOTY nominations to shine the spotlight on another show.
So… rather than asking a rhetorical question to open this up. I’ll just say, let’s talk about what could be, one of the greatest anime of our current generation.
Let’s Go!
First Episode Synopsis
A sphere was dropped to Earth by the heavenly voice of Kenjiro Tsuda. The sphere touched a rock and became that rock. Through the weather, it experienced rain, moss, and snow. A wolf by the name of Joann is injured and dies after collapsing onto the rock. The sphere became the wolf.
After learning to walk, it makes its way back to a small village where a young boy awaits him. The boy’s tribe left to find “paradise” five years ago but they hadn’t returned. The boy looked after the village and the elderly who were left behind; however, over those past five years, the elderly slowly died one by one until it was just the boy and his wolf. Doing what he can to survive, the boy cooks maintains the village, and staves off insanity by talking to the wolf.
One day, the boy is sick of living alone and decides to venture out to find paradise and reunite with his tribe. The boy and Joann set out into the frozen tundra. After several days and finding markers left behind, he falls through the ice and into a river, cutting his leg. As he continues forward, he finds the ruins of a caravan… instantly learning why nobody returned after five long years.
Dejected and sick, the boy returns home where his infection turns to sepsis and tragically takes his life. The wolf then becomes the boy and gains a higher sense of self-awareness. In order to transform, there needs to be an adequate amount of stimulation between the sphere and the thing it wants to transform into. Seeking more stimulation, the sphere, as the boy, sets out on a journey.
Worth Watching?
YES, YES, A THOUSAND TIMES YES – This is going to be one of those series that will take you on a grand emotional rollercoaster. It is extremely rare that I am a manga reader first an anime watcher second. This is one of those rare cases where I can say that this is going to be a show that will not disappoint you. It will make you laugh and, as I did in episode one, it will make you cry.
So far, Brain’s Base has done a phenomenal job adapting the source material and through the magic of voice acting and a very touching and moving score, brings the pages of Yoshitoki Oima’s masterpiece to life in ways we could only dream of.
As I’ve said… the only way this show will fall from grace is if Brain’s Base destroys the source material and chooses to screw it up or just not follow it completely. As long as they remain faithful, this will go down as one of the greatest anime of this generation. I don’t say that lightly because I am a very hard person to please. I may be a manga and anime reviewer here on The Outerhaven and it may be my job to find the small details to nitpick about, but I’ve done that long before I ever started working for this site.
I am not saying that To Your Eternity is without flaws. There are a couple of instances where I wish Oima could have done a little better but a series like this has such a high quality that little nitpicks are easily overlooked and forgiven.
The journey the boy (named Fushi, by the way… just easier and less awkward to type out so sorry for slight spoilers) takes is going to be amazing. In the preview of the second episode, we’re going to meet March and Piroyan. I, personally, can’t wait to see this next arc play out! I’m that excited for it!
As you all know… I don’t normally gush over a series to this degree so I hope that tells you that this show is going to be something special and I hope that you take the time to give it a chance. Whether you watch it as it airs or if you binge it after the (really odd number of) 20 episodes are over, it doesn’t matter. You should make it a point to watch this show.
Period.
