To Your Eternity Episode 1

To Your Eternity Episode 1

The Being

To Your Eternity is potentially my most awaited anime of 2021. But, it’s not because I’ve read the manga — I haven’t. The reason why I was looking forward to this series so much is that it was actually supposed to air at this time last year.

This series is one of the many that were delayed due to the pandemic. But unlike most of the others, which were pushed back by a season, To Your Eternity was delayed by an entire year. I don’t know exactly why. However, I assume this extra-long delay was to avoid splitting up the cours.

As for what the series is about, it follows an immortal being that can transform into other things it comes in contact with. But as we learned at the end of the episode, there’s a prerequisite for this to happen. The other thing must have stimulated the being in some way.

The boy smiling from the anime series To Your Eternity
The boy smiling

Initially, the way this being functions is quite interesting. It transforms from a formless blob into a rock, then moss, then a wolf, and finally a human boy. But the issue is that I don’t think it has anywhere to go from there.

Is it ever going to be stimulated into transforming into a non-human after this point? I doubt it. It could transform into other humans. But determining if a new human is more stimulating than the last seems a bit odd. I don’t think this is going to happen.

And, another reason why I don’t think the being is going to transform anymore is the promise it “made” with the boy. The boy asks for it to remember him forever. If it transforms into someone else, that would almost represent erasing the memory of the boy.

The Last One

Although we’re never given a name for the boy before he dies — he refers to himself as “I” the entire time — we do learn a lot of other information about him. For example, it’s implied that he’s lived in the village in which we first meet him his whole life.

However, it’s also implied that his village didn’t always appear as it does now. In this episode, it’s depicted as a small village within the middle of a vast, snowy plain. But, why do I assume that the village wasn’t always this way? Because he’s apparently eaten vegetables before.

You could make the argument that this implies the village wasn’t always located there. But then you’d have to answer the question of why a population including elderly people would move to such a place in a relatively short timespan.

The boy hugging "Joaan" from the anime series To Your Eternity
The boy hugging “Joaan”

If we assume that the boy wasn’t born in that spot, it would mean that his people migrated there within his short lifespan. And considering it’s a barren wasteland, there’s really no explanation for why they would choose there to settle.

So, we have to assume that the climate of that location was more temperate at one time — perhaps only being covered by snow and ice for a certain period of the year. And, the reason the able adults left was that they realized their village was doomed.

Now, speaking of doom, I really liked how the series used the graves of the villagers. When the boy finds the graves of those who left the village, we as the viewers know this means they all died. But, the boy doesn’t see it that way — at least he tries not to.

Instead, he attempts to look at the positive side. If there are graves, that means someone survived to make them. And at the end of the episode, the boy doesn’t receive a grave because he was the last one.

The Journey Begins

Based on this first episode and what we’re shown in the preview for the next episode, I think I see a pattern for this show. It would seem that it’s going to be relatively episodic. And with each episode, we’re going to get a story about the being interacting with someone leading up to their death.

At the end of this episode, the boy died. And according to the preview for the next episode, it’s about a girl who’s going to be sacrificed. I don’t know if she’s actually going to be sacrificed, but I have a feeling it’s going to end up happening.

Even if we know that the characters in each of these episodes are going to die from the start, I don’t think that detracts from the story. It’s about how those characters are depicted and what their final thoughts are before their deaths that matters.

They boy (dead) from the anime series To Your Eternity
They boy (dead)

For example, before watching this episode, I already knew that the boy was going to die. I don’t remember if it was the trailer for the series or the synopsis, but that was effectively revealed in one of those. And yet, that didn’t stop me from getting emotionally invested in him as a character.

If the rest of the episodes continue on with that kind of high-quality characterization and storytelling, I won’t mind if we already know the outcome. And, even if all the supporting characters die, their deaths could still be somewhat of a twist.

Maybe at the end of the next episode, the girl decides that she’s okay with being sacrificed for some reason? Perhaps she’d rather it be her than someone else. I don’t know.

Conclusion

What do you think of the first episode of To Your Eternity? Did you know the boy was going to die? If not, at what point did you begin to suspect it? And if you read the manga, how do you feel about this adaptation so far? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 2 is available.

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