To Your Eternity Episode 3

To Your Eternity Episode 3

Oniguma-sama

I guess let’s start off this review of To Your Eternity by talking about the one and only Oniguma-sama. The first thing I need to say about Oniguma-sama is that (at the start of this episode, at least) it’s alive. I wasn’t sure if that was going to be the case.

I believe it was the beginning of Episode 2 that showed us Fu (the name the Being was given by March) being repeatedly killed by Oniguma-sama. Back then, we didn’t know what Oniguma-sama was. But I figured it was possible that Fu eventually killed it back then.

If it was revealed that Oniguma-sama was dead, then that could have been big for the religion of the region. It could have meant that child sacrifices were no longer necessary. But, as we now know, that’s not the case.

Oniguma-sama from the anime series To Your Eternity
Oniguma-sama

It’s a bit unfortunate that Oniguma-sama was killed by Fu in this episode. Now that it’s dead, we’re probably not going to learn anything else about it. For example, why were its eyes bleeding? Or, why does it have spikes coming out of its body?

Obviously, the explanation for both of those things is simply that it makes the “demon bear” look more demonic. But since this world apparently has animals that don’t exist in reality, I’d like to know a bit more about them beyond just “Oniguma-sama is a demon bear.”

There are normal wolves, fish, and birds that we’ve seen. But Oniguma-sama is obviously not normal. Are there other monstrous creatures like that out in the world? Or was Oniguma-sama actually some sort of deity? We’ll probably never know.

But, Hayase did mention that they were bringing Oniguma-sama’s corpse back to Yanome. So maybe we will learn something.

The Sacrifice Ritual

Now, the biggest reveal from this episode was the fact that, apparently, Hayase and her men didn’t actually believe that Oniguma-sama was real. Last week, I said that the villagers of Ninannah seemed to believe in Oniguma-sama. But, maybe that’s not entirely correct.

I know that Hayase and her men are from Yanome, not Ninannah. So it’s possible that the people of Ninannah believed while the people of Yanome didn’t. But the fact that people from Yanome are the ones who administer the ritual makes this seem unlikely.

If the people of Ninannah were the ones who actually believed in Oniguma-sama, you’d think they’d be performing the ritual. Why would they leave it to outsiders who don’t actually believe? It doesn’t make sense — or does it?

March lying on the altar from the anime series To Your Eternity
March lying on the altar

The obvious answer here is that Yanome is using this ritual as a way to exert control over the surrounding villages, including Ninannah. Considering the preview for next week’s episode shows us that Yanome is far wealthier than Ninannah, this seems possible.

But, that only makes sense if Yanome is also taxing the surrounding villages. So far, we have no evidence for this being the case.

If there is taxation going on, then the ritual sacrifices (and Oniguma-sama, to an extent) were devised to scare the villagers into dealing with Yanome’s bullying. If not, then I really have no idea why such a ritual would exist if they don’t believe in Oniguma-sama.

Also, I think it’s quite odd that nobody knew about Oniguma-sama. It’s massive. It’s clear that Oniguma-sama has never actually taken the sacrifice, though, because it’s too big to even fit through the entrance to the altar. So I wonder how all the previous sacrifices died. Exposure perhaps? Or murder? Someone knows since there are guards there.

A Small Evolution

One thing from this episode that didn’t make much sense to me was how Fu can revert back to his wolf form. I guess he can just switch between his wolf and human forms now. I’m really not sure how I feel about that.

But also, we saw that something happened to his body while he was attacking Oniguma-sama. It seemed to me like Fu was being “stimulated” by Oniguma-sama, which is what causes Fu to take on a new form. Obviously, Fu didn’t transform into Oniguma-sama, though.

So, what was that apparent stimulation supposed to represent? My guess is that Fu gained the ability to transform into Oniguma-sama, or at least a normal bear if he so chooses. Much like how he can take on the form of a wolf, I think a bear has been added to his “inventory.”

Fu in his wolf form from the anime series To Your Eternity
Fu in his wolf form

A major reason why I think this is actually the ED. In the ED, there are prominent depictions of a wolf, a bear, and an owl. I’m going to guess that these are the three non-human animals Fu will eventually be able to transform into at will.

With that in mind, I was actually a bit surprised that Fu didn’t transform into Oniguma-sama during the fight. I thought we were going to see him transform into a demon bear as well and have an even match against Oniguma-sama.

That would have cemented the idea that he can learn to transform into things without permanently taking on their shape first. It’s one thing to say that Fu can be a human or a wolf since he’s taken on their forms before. It’s another to say he can transform into anything that stimulates him.

If I’m right about the three animals Fu will eventually be able to transform into, I wonder what the circumstances surrounding his interaction with the owl are going to be.

Conclusion

What do you think of To Your Eternity Episode 3? Do you mind that there are apparently giant monsters like Oniguma-sama in this world? Why do you think the ritual sacrifices take place? And do you think Fu can now transform into a bear? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 4 is available.

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