The anime To Your Eternity (or Fumetsu no Anata e in Japanese), adapted from the manga by Yoshitoki Oima, began airing in April 2021. As soon as the first season ended, it was immediately announced that a second season was scheduled for October 2022 (as you can see below). The final episode of the second season was released today, and I have a lot to say about this season. (WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!)
Let’s start with what I enjoyed most about Season 2. As much as I was looking forward to the new season, I confess that I was hesitant to start it; in fact, I didn’t start watching it until it had already been airing for over a month. This is because nearly every single episode of Season 1 made me cry, so I expected Season 2 to be equally as devastating. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Season 2 only made me cry about three times instead of at least 15 times like Season 1 did. I had gotten used to every new character dying a heartbreaking death as soon as I got attached to them, but as Fushi grew stronger and more in control of his powers in this season, he became better at protecting his friends. I found it reassuring to know that characters like Rean and Booze Man died of old age, especially after seeing so many tragic and untimely deaths. Fushi, however, disagreed with this sentiment. After all, Pioran died of old age too, but her death devastated Fushi so deeply that he decided to turn into a crab and spend years living at the bottom of the ocean so he didn’t have to witness any more of his friends die. I don’t think Fushi’s time in the sea was meant to be comical, but I can’t help but laugh when I think about it, just because turning into a crab to avoid human beings is such a mood.
Anyway, I think it finally became clear to me that this season would be a little more hopeful when Bon escaped his execution. When I saw him being led to the guillotine, I thought, “Oh boy, here we go again…” But he survived! Fushi saved him just in time, and he was able to start a new life. They even explained the situation to his family so that they didn’t have to mourn him. This made me particularly happy because Bon quickly became my favorite character in this anime. I am a simple woman: I see a character with a purple color scheme, and I love them. But Bon turned out to be much, much more than just another silly purple guy. Some might argue that his significant character development from a spoiled, eccentric dandy to a selfless and reliable strategist was too abrupt. In my opinion, though, realizing his father never intended to let him be king (despite it being his birthright) because nobody takes him seriously, then being suspended over a crocodile-infested canyon alongside a starving orphan boy, and then being sentenced to death, was enough to sober him up right away.
Eko is another new character that I absolutely adored. It was sad to see her lose her brother, but at least Fushi was able to understand her when he transformed into her brother. I kind of wish Fushi made more of an effort to learn the language of the clay pot people rather than relying on her brother’s form to communicate with Eko, but I guess he was kind of busy trying to save the world and all.
Now for the less-positive feedback. My biggest criticism against this season is that the ending sequence gave away major character deaths. As happy as I was to see Bon escape his execution and Eko survive even when her brother didn’t, I was worried that their second chances at life would be short-lived. In addition to there being so much death in Season 1, seeing that Tonari lived to be middle-aged only to watch her die as soon as she’s reunited with Fushi showed us that a second chance at life didn’t necessarily mean the characters were going to last much longer. Yet what made me really suspicious was the ending sequence. When the ending theme plays after every episode, we see a translucent Eko waiting under a tree and gradually being joined by other, also translucent characters… many of which are already dead. In fact, all of them are characters whose ghosts Bon has seen following Fushi around. This would imply that everyone gathered under this tree has died. The longer the season went on, the more I began to suspect that maybe this was a red herring; within the final few episodes of the season, however, we do in fact witness the deaths of every character from the ending sequence. Fortunately, Fushi does eventually bring all of them back to life using his newfound ability, but that doesn’t change the fact that the ending sequence straight-up spoiled the fact that they all die. Tag your spoilers, To Your Eternity! Sheesh!
Something else I disliked about this season was the Guardians, particularly Kahaku. I despised Hayase (for obvious reasons), and I despise her descendants too because none of them are any different from her. For six generations, their sole purpose is to “protect” Fushi, but really they only want to own him. In fact, her granddaughter Hisame tells Fushi that it is the goal of Hayase’s female descendants to bear Fushi’s child. The idea that these little girls dream of being impregnated by an immortal being that their ancestor was obsessed with… It’s frankly disgusting. I was worried that Kahaku would try to make Fushi pregnant while he was using Parona’s form, but I knew there was no way Fushi would let that happen to Parona’s body. We especially see this when he becomes physically ill after Kahaku confesses his love and embraces him (as seen in the image below). I honestly don’t care that Kahaku sacrificed himself for Fushi’s sake in the end; I still loathe him and his whole family line. Fushi should have killed him, or let someone else kill him, when he had the chance.
This season also left me with a lot of questions:
1. Why did Hairo have his teeth removed as a child? I know that he was able to endure it because he doesn’t feel pain, but just because it didn’t hurt him doesn’t mean it made sense to do it. Other than seeing his fake teeth on the ground to show that he had been killed, I didn’t understand the point of that part of his backstory. Having an abusive past is one thing, but having his teeth removed just didn’t make any sense to me.
2. Why didn’t Fushi bring everyone back to life, especially Parona, Alme, and Eko? In episode 20, he said that he wanted to bring Eko back in a world without Nokkers, but then why did he bring back the others in the first place? He knew they would be helpful in the battle against the Nokkers, yes, but then it doesn’t make sense that he didn’t bring back Parona, who is a formidable archer. It also wouldn’t make sense for him to wait until the world is at peace to bring back Alme, because her brothers would be happiest to have her back now while they’re still alive, and Fushi himself said it might take a hundred years until the Nokkers are all gone. Plus, although Fushi couldn’t possibly have known how Messar would die for the last time, if he had brought Alme back to life, Messar likely wouldn’t have led a life of excess that ultimately ended with him overdosing.
3. Speaking of revivals, will Fushi bring back Eko and March now that he’s regained consciousness? I feel like they’ll be so out of place in a modern world that it would almost be cruel to bring them back, especially since March chose to die a second time. Hopefully, we will get an answer to this question in the next season.
Overall, I enjoyed this season much more than Season 1. I especially appreciated that it caused less tears! At the same time, one of the few moments that did bring me to tears this season was also one of my favorites. I broke down sobbing when it was revealed via Bon’s ability to see ghosts that the spirits of all of Fushi’s dead friends follow Fushi around. I have experienced far too many deaths in my personal life over the past couple of years, so the idea that my loved ones might be lingering around me at all times was hugely comforting.
I’m honestly not quite looking forward to Season 3 because I really love the fantastical pre-modern setting, and from the final scene in Season 2 (as well as the fact that Fushi is holding a bubble tea in the promotional photo below) it seems Season 3 will take place in present day. Hopefully I will be as pleasantly surprised with Season 3 as I was with Season 2.
Parona wasn’t used in the fight because she had been stolen along with Fushi’s other vessels. Alma couldn’t be brought back because she chose paradise instead of becoming a spirit- Fushi can on resurrect someone if he has access to their spirit.
The one thing that bugged me was why was March alive all those years? She showed up alive during the battle before Fushi new about his powers and said she spent years looking for him but didn’t look any older. Yet everyone ages after the fight. That’s basically the only plot hole I found.