To Your Eternity (不滅のあなたへ) is an adventure anime based on the manga of the same name by Oima Yoshitoki. The first season aired between the Spring and Summer of 2021.
In an unknown time and an unknown place a mysterious orb comes into contact with a dying wolf. The orb transforms into the wold following its passing and begins a journey that will take it to lands and times far away from its place of origin. The recreated wolf's first contact with humanity is a boy who has been abandoned by his tribe, left on his own in the arctic wastes, the sole resident of his village. The boy does not know the wolf before him is a replication of his pet and companion and welcomes him back with love and warmth. The boy soon desires to reconnect with his people and sets out across the ice shelves. AN accident proves fatal for the boy and he returns to his home to die. After his passing the recreated wolf realizes it can assume the boys body now as well. It transforms into this new shape, one that has had an impact on it, and resumes the boys trek across the barren landscape. The journey proves perilous and difficult, but the transformed boy learns that it can not be stopped by death or damage to its form. After a short period it will restore its self to the previous form, allowing it to continues on its course.
After an unknown amount of time the transformed boy succeeds in leaving the arctic region, finding its self in a lush forest. In the forest he comes across a young and wild spirited girl named March. Marsh's small tribe are forced to offer up their children to be used by a stronger neighboring peoples as sacrifices to a massive bear they consider a god. Marsh, with the help of an older girl from her village, Parona, has succeeded in escaping the Yanome people as she was about to be few to the bear, Oniguma. The transformed boy helps her to escape the pursuers. Even though he is older than her, March realizes the boy before her struggles with basic functions and helps him find food among the trees. AS she rests with the boy, she realizes that her baby sister will most likely be sacrificed in her place and decides to return to the Yanome.
The woman, Hayase, leading the small band of Yanome warriors finds her first, drugging Marsh and bringing both of them back to the sacrificial altar. With everything back in place they prepare to leave until Parona returns, attempting to rescue the young girl again. This time the bear has arrived as well and Hayase stays to watch the spectacle. In the ensuing battle, the boy is killed, returns to live, transforms back into the wolf and succeeds in dealing a fatal injury to the bear. Hayase decides to bring the three captives back to the capital of her land, with unknown intentions. On the long journey Marsh gives the boy the name Fushi and continues to teach him as if he were her new born child. In the city, Hayase treats the three to wonders they had never before experienced, ultimately drugging them during a meal. The three awake to find themselves imprisoned, Marsh and Parona in one cell and Fushi alone.
Curious about the nature of Fushi, Hayase begins to experiment on him, having him killed multiple times, trying to understand the nature of his apparent immortality. Fushi makes a new friend, in an elderly woman named Pioran who joins him when Parona attempts an escape. The bear god has died while in the care of the Yanome and Parona believes that if she returns with a piece of it to their village, they will be able to stop the sacrifices from continuing. As they make their escape, Marsh shields Parona from a volley of arrows, sacrificing her short life for the older girl. In rage and fury, Fushi realizes he is able to transform into the now dead bear god and ravages the pursuing forces, allowing them to escape. They make the somber journey back the village, where Parona tells Marsh's parents about what happened and her death.
Suspecting the return to their village, Hayase has taken a group of soldiers to the village to ambush them and capture Fushi. The trap is sprung but Parona in turn sacrifices herself to allow Fushi to escape into the woods. As he travels, alone again, he encounters the old woman Pioran again and the two continue on together. As they journey together, she teaches Fushi how to speak, as he only learned a few words during the events with the Yanome. Pioran wants to return to her homeland, an area called Takanuha, which is currently at war with the Yanome. As they reach their destination, Fushi is attacked in the night by a strange orb like creature, which steals his memories and ability to transform. At this point the being who created Fushi long ago appears to him. He tells him that the creature he faces is his enemy and the enemy of all life, a being known as a knocker. Each time the nokker succeeds in killing Fushi it will steal the memories of the form Fushi had taken at the time of the death, stealing it from him. Fushi creator tells him that his purpose for existing was to preserve the world and the things with in it but if the knockers steal all of her memories they will win.
After defeating the knocker and retrieving the memories it stole, they arrive and Pioran's hometown and find her old boyfriend, known only as Booze Man. Booze Man allows them to live in his house and help out with his business making and selling alcohol. A young boy named Gugu helps the old man out as well after he was saved from death by him. Gugu has grown up on the streets, living hand to mouth, doing whatever work he can with his older brother. His older brother though has abandoned him and life has been rough for the young boy. He fell in love with the daughter of a rich merchant in town but has never been confident enough to really approach her. To make things worse, Gugu was almost killed in an accident, crushed under a massive log. He survived it, but was horrifically mutilated. Booze Man helped nurse him back to health and provided him with mask to hide his disfigured head from the public. The rich girl, Rean, frequently comes to the Booze Man's shop, but does not know the boy in the mask is the same street urchin she has encountered before.
Fushi and Pioran settle into a carefree life with Booze Man and Gugu, a number of years pass and both boys have grown in body and spirit. Fushi has adapted well to living as a human and has learned to speak and act quite naturally. Tensions grow between Gugu and him when Rean begins to show signs of affection for Fushi. A group of men attempt to kidnap Gugu, only to be rescued by Fushi, who transforms into the bear god. With his secret revealed, the two discuss Fushi's nature as an undying being meant to preserve the memories of the world around him. In time, Fushi has grown to understand some of the aspects of his ability and how he is able to replicate things he is close to at the time of their death or destruction. He promises that he will preserve Gugu in the same way, ensuring he is never forgotten. That chance comes sooner than either would like when the village is attacked by a group of nokkers.
In the battle Fushi is killed and discovers that when he restores himself back to the shape of the boy from the arctic village, he is restored back to its younger form when he died. Gugu is killed in the battle, protecting Rean. In order to protect the girl, Fushi takes Gugu's form and lies to her, saying he needs to go on a long journey. Realizing that the nokkers are drawn to him, Fushi decides to leave the town and head away from large groups of people. Against his wishes, Pioran join him as he travels to new lands. In the next village they are immediately captured and sent away to an island populated only by prisoners. Fushi is distraught when he becomes separated from the old woman, fearing for her safety as the grim reality of his new home sets in.
The island is a land ruled by the strong, where the weak are exploited for anything of value. He is determined to rescue Pioran once he learns that she is being help captive on the island. He encounters a band of children lead by a girl named Tonari. He is not confident that he can trust her, especially after he reveals his immortality during a gladiatorial competition. The competition is help to determine who will be making decisions for the island as a whole and Fushi see's this as a way to rescue Pioran. During one of the bouts he unconsciously turns into Parona, informing him that she has died. Fushi is reluctant to continue killing combatants, causing the audience to revolt. During the melee nokkers attack the island, leading Fushi to shift into protection mode as he once again battles his persistent enemy.In the final gladitorial battle he faces none other than Hayase, who is trying to recapture Fushi for her own mechinations. In the form of Parona, he allows himself to be defeated by Hayase. She in turn spins a story about how she brought the immortal being into sentience and crowns Tonari as the leader of the island. Fushi agrees to go along with Hayase's plans in exchange for all of the children to be removed from the island, Tonari included. Hayase wants to carry Fushi's child, believing that it will allow her to create a lineage of immortals.
All of the children are drugged as their ship sets sail but Tonari is able to overcome its effects. She heads back to the island, attempting to rescue Fushi. Her efforts are cut short when the nokkers return again and begin taking over the dead. In the end all of Tonari's friends fall prey to the attack, becoming reanimated corpses themselves. Fushi rescues both Tonari and Hayase from their own death, concocting a plan to defeat the nokkers. Fushi leaves the island with Hayase, once again leaving Tonari in charge. On the way back to the mainland she pledges her undying love to him. This angers him and he leaves her to her own designs.
Reconnecting with Pioran, Fushi and the old woman head off into the wilderness, settling down on a remote tropical beach. Pioran is suffering from dementia and soon she passes but not before she is visited by the Black Man. She asks him to allow her to be useful to Fushi after her death. Fushi morns the loss of his companion and settles into a decades long isolation until a nokker finds him, which he destroys easily. It appears his sanctuary is compromised after decades of isolation.
The story continues with Season Two.
No comments:
Post a Comment