I had heard how emotional of a ride To Your Eternity was before watching it, but I only became aware of what I was getting into when I heard that the manga which the anime is based off was written by Yoshitoki Ōima, the writer of A Silent Voice.
I still find myself rewatching the anime adaptation of A Silent Voice from time to time and I always cry at certain points, whether its tears of joy or happiness.
So, I knew coming into To Your Eternity that I was probably going to end up crying… I was still not prepared.
Directed by Masahiko Murata, To Your Eternity begins with a seemingly cosmic being (Kenjiro Tsuda) releasing an orb which can take the forms of those it encounters to earth.
At first, the orb takes the form of a mere rock, until a dying wolf stumbles across it, and the orb takes the wolf’s form, then coming across the young man who the wolf belonged to.
And so begins the orb’s journey to learning what being human means in all of its beauty and suffering.
Eventually being given the name Fushi (Reji Kawashima), the orb encounters many different people over the years, from the young March (Rei Hikisaka) and her sister-figure Parona (Aya Uchida), to the masked Gugu (Ryoko Shiraishi), to the elderly Pioran (Rikako Aikawa).
Each of these characters leave an impact on Fushi’s immortal life, leading to many tear inducing moments when some of these characters meet tragic fates.
What makes it hurt all the more is how excellent these characters are.
Even the ones I was sure I was going to hate, like Pioran and Tonari (Eri Ingawa), I came to love.
Except for Hayase (Mitsuki Saiga), that crazy witch can burn in the pits of hell and you will certainly agree with me on that when you see the horrific things she does.
Although, we are supposed to despise her so she makes for a great villain.
The characters whose stories affected me the most emotionally would definitely be Gugu and Pioran.
Their stories are beautiful and tragic, resonating greatly with me.
In fact, every storyline resonated with me, that is how great To Your Eternity is.
I already consider it to be a masterpiece because of that and how it gave me so many feelings.
The only criticism I even have is that the OP, “Pink Blood” by Hiraki Utada, does spoil some big events that happen, especially later on.
This does nothing to affect the show’s quality, though, and the OP itself is great.
Along with this, the score and animation are also quite good and there was never a moment where I was brought out of a scene.
No, I was gripped from beginning to end through all twenty emotional, gut punching episodes.
I cannot recommend To Your Eternity enough.
Just be prepared to cry until you’re all out of tissues when you watch this masterpiece of an anime.
Season Two cannot come soon enough.
THE REVIEW MONSTER 