Fushi’s Immortal Soldiers

To Your Eternity Season 2 was a very good episode because of the return of Kai, Messar, and Hairo. I like these characters, so that makes the episode good. But, what made the episode even better was how we got to see Fushi use these characters.

Before Kai, Messar, and Hairo revive, we saw Fushi using their forms. And as he did, he learned the strengths and weaknesses of each of them. For example, he found that Messar’s outfit isn’t made for fighting with a sword. But, he’s very good at standing his ground when using a handheld cannon.

He also learned that Kai’s armor can protect him from Nokkers’ attacks. And he learned that Hairo’s lack of pain allows him to fight for longer than when using other forms. All this information comes in handy later in the episode when these three come back from the dead.

After Fushi’s allies return from the dead, we get to see him use them as pieces in his strategic battle. When they die, he immediately revives them wherever they’re most needed. And because they’re immortal, he doesn’t have to worry about losing them. They can’t be taken from him like his other forms.

It was like watching Fushi play a real-time strategy game. He’s directing his pieces around the battlefield knowing he can revive them. I don’t know about you, but I thought this was interesting to watch.

I enjoyed seeing Fushi put his knowledge of both the battlefield and his pieces to use. This is something we haven’t seen from him before. Usually, he only has to somewhat consider the pieces he has. And he’s considering them from the standpoint of using them himself. Now, he’s directing multiple of these pieces around.

Fast-Travel: Unlocked

Something Hairo figured out is that Fushi’s immortal allies can fast-travel. At least, they can fast-travel to anywhere within Fushi’s domain. All they have to do is die and have Fushi revive them where they want to go. And how do they die? Suicide, of course.

Fushi’s allies need to get back into Renril after destroying a trebuchet miles away. But, the walk would take all night. And Fushi can’t teleport them there if they’re alive. So, Hairo takes Messar’s handheld cannon and shoots himself with it. Problem solved! Now Fushi can revive him back in town.

Practically speaking, this is a great idea. And we see Fushi’s immortal allies use it over and over again during the battle. But, it’s not without its downsides. For one, it can be somewhat traumatic for those who witness this fast-travel take place.

What’s potentially more of an issue is, well, the whole suicide thing. For Hairo, who came up with this tactic, it’s not a problem. He doesn’t feel pain. But, that’s not the case for Messar and Kai. And we see Messar worried about this the first time they fast-travel. He tells Kai to make sure to kill him in one shot.

I have a feeling Fushi is going to ban his allies from fast-traveling at some point. It’s important that they’re able to do it during this battle. But, after the battle, we may see him change his mind about it. It’s clear that it already makes him uneasy.

Also, this could connect to Kahaku’s statement about wanting to protect Fushi’s humanity. I’m going to discuss what exactly that means in the following section. But, I could see Kahaku viewing Fushi enabling fast-traveling as a loss of his humanity. Fushi shouldn’t treat people like disposable pawns.

Kahaku the Nokker Sympathizer

You might not think the final sentence of that last section makes sense for Kahaku to believe. After all, Kahaku is the one who said Fushi should stop worrying about saving everyone. He should let some of those people die because saving them will only put a burden on him.

However, that and not wanting to use people as pawns aren’t mutually exclusive. Not saving someone is very different than repeatedly getting someone to die for you. And, the very fact that Fushi is reviving his allies goes against what Kahaku wants.

So, here’s the big question, is Kahaku on the Nokkers’ side? I’m going to say no. He is definitely on Fushi’s side fighting against the Nokkers. But, from what he says to Fushi and Kai, we can see he does sympathize with the Nokkers’ cause.

What do I mean when I say Kahaku is a Nokker sympathizer? Basically, he agrees with the basic idea that the Nokkers stand for. He believes that death is the only way to release people from the “pain” of living. And he wants to preserve Fushi’s humanity. That second part is very important.

By preserving Fushi’s humanity, he means removing Fushi’s immortal powers. He views Fushi’s immortality as a curse that won’t let him die. So, it’s clear that Kahaku’s ultimate goal is to free Fushi of this curse — thereby killing him. But, he’s doing that out of love for Fushi. He believes this is what’s best.

Again, Kahaku is not an ally of the Nokkers. However, his beliefs and goal do align with those of the Nokkers. And it seems he may not be influenced by the Nokker in his arm, after all. It’s his religion that influences him — which makes sense.

Conclusion

What do you think of To Your Eternity Season 2 Episode 16? Now that we’ve seen Kai, Messar, and Hairo in action, has your favorite changed? Do you expect Fushi to allow his allies to fast-travel in the future? And do you think Kahaku is going to betray Fushi? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 17 is available now.

The Seige of Renril Begins

The Nokkers have finally launched their attack on Renril in To Your Eternity Season 2 Episode 15. And, they’ve come prepared for a siege. Not only do the Nokkers have siege weapons (trebuchets), but they’re using siege tactics. Specifically, they’re cutting off the city’s access to clean water.

Now, the fact that the Nokkers are so well prepared brings up an interesting question. Why did they announce their intention to attack Renril? If they hadn’t done this, they could have easily taken the city and killed its inhabitants. And, from what they’ve said, that’s their goal.

The Nokkers believe physical bodies are the source of suffering. They want to release the souls trapped in those bodies by killing them. And, this is why they don’t like Fushi. He has the ability to make those physical bodies immortal. So, why did they tell Fushi where they’d attack next?

It doesn’t really make sense. Of course, the Nokkers want to take down Fushi, as well. So, this could have been their way to ensure Fushi would be there. It allowed the Nokkers to choose the location of the battle. They may have thought Fushi wouldn’t be able to stop their siege.

However, I’m not so sure that’s the case. It still doesn’t add up. Whether they want to take a city or take Fushi, using the element of surprise is their best bet. So, could the Nokkers actually have something else in mind?

It might be that they never intended to “win” this war. Their goal might be to show Fushi how much suffering physical bodies lead to. If Renril wasn’t fighting back, all these people wouldn’t need to suffer. They could be released from their bodies and live on as spirits forever. That’s one theory, at least.

Fighting for Fushi

Partway through the battle, Fushi collapses from exhaustion. When this happens, his allies regroup to defend him until he wakes up. And when Fushi finally reawakens, he has fewer allies than he did previously. In particular, Kai, Hairo, and Messar are dead.

Of course, we knew this was going to happen. Bon recruited these three men for this exact reason. That doesn’t mean he wanted them to die. But, their deaths were all part of the plan. If they survived the battle, great. If not, that works too because they’ll revive as immortals.

The thing is, I’m getting pretty tired of Bon leaving Fushi out of the loop. I know Fushi wouldn’t go along with this plan if Bon told him. Fushi would do everything in his power to stop his friends from joining the fight. But, Bon could have forced Fushi’s hand.

How could he have done this? First, he tells Fushi about the ability to revive the dead. Next, sacrifice Kai, Hairo, and Messar (and maybe even himself). That would force Fushi to try reviving them. And then he’d learn that this is something he can do.

If he knows he can revive people, he doesn’t have to worry about protecting every possible person. He doesn’t have to spread himself thin. He can focus on protecting some and leave protecting others to his allies.

But, Bon did everything the wrong way. Now, Fushi awoke to the trauma of his friends being dead and Bon’s going to revive them behind his back.

Also, I want to mention Eko. She’s still great — she was the first one to pick up a sword to defend Fushi. However, I’m still wondering what exactly her role is going to be. Will she join the immortals?

Kahaku Goes Rogue

Toward the end of the episode, Eko shows Fushi what happened to his dead allies. One of these deaths stands out, though. Messar wasn’t killed by the Nokkers; he was killed by Kahaku. Though, in Kahaku’s defense, a Nokker did enter Messar’s body. It was only a matter of time.

Still, Kahaku’s killing of Messar didn’t seem like an act of mercy. But, that doesn’t mean Kahaku wanted to kill Messar, either. Instead, it was more like Kahaku was completely indifferent. He didn’t care that he killed Messar. To him, he just killed another Nokker that could have harmed Fushi.

So, what’s going on with Kahaku? Despite what he thinks, it’s clear to me that he’s corrupted by Hayase, the arm Nokker, or both. The reason I’m bringing up Hayase is that Kahaku has an obsession with Fushi. That’s what we saw with all the previous “reincarnations” of Hayase.

Kahaku’s apathy toward everyone else could be a result of the Nokker in his arm, though. It could be like in Parasyte: The Maxim where Shinichi lost his humanity the longer he had Migi. And, the Nokker in Kahaku’s arm seems to be becoming more human, just like Migi did.

I don’t think Kahaku was always like this. He was always interested in Fushi. But, his obsession has become worse over time. And he’s gotten more extreme in his belief that he’s the only ally Fushi needs. It feels like something is corrupting him more than this being who he is.

We know for a fact Kahaku could feel emotions at one point. When he learned of what Hayase, his ancestor did to Fushi, he felt remorse. Now, was that only because Fushi was the victim? We can’t be sure. But, it looks like Bon has noticed this change, too.

Conclusion

What do you think of To Your Eternity Season 2 Episode 15? Do you find it suspicious that the Nokkers announced their attack months in advance? Do you think Eko is going to die young and become an immortal? And what are your thoughts on Kahaku’s apathy? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 16 is available now.

Pocoa’s Quest for Love

To Your Eternity Season 2 Episode 14 was good. But, it wasn’t good because of Pocoa. As much as I liked following Eko around the city in Episode 13, I didn’t like following Pocoa. And the reason for that is pretty simple — I don’t like Pocoa.

Pocoa could be a cute character. However, she has one major character flaw. And I’m not talking about the fact that she’s rude. I’m talking about her tendency to talk “like a cat.” She adds “nya” to a bunch of her words, which is the same as if she was meowing all the time.

Catgirls are neat. I like Nekopara as much as anyone else. But, what I don’t like are girls who act and speak like cats. This is exactly why Kokoro was my least favorite character in Do It Yourself!! last season. It’s annoying.

My dislike of Pocoa isn’t the only reason I wasn’t very interested in following her around. By following Eko around, we got to experience the city from a new perspective. I enjoyed seeing how she interacted with this place foreign to her. With Pocoa, we don’t get anything like that.

Pocoa isn’t really exploring the city. She’s looking for people to entertain her. She wants to play with Fushi, she wants to flirt with Kai, and she wants Messar to find her a boyfriend. The only good thing to come of this was Kai shooting her down while being oblivious.

It didn’t seem like he understood that Pocoa was hitting on him. Considering he grew up in the church, this may have been the first time he experienced that. And while I understand that Kai is a young, good-looking guy, he has no teeth. Sorry, but I can’t agree with Pocoa’s choice in men.

The Black One’s Plan

Before the battle against the Nokkers, Bon wants to make sure his “immortals” are on the same page. He wants them to know what they’re signing up for and who’s pulling the strings. So, with Fushi unconscious, he introduces them to the Black One.

It turns out that Bon could see the Black One the entire time. There was one moment earlier in the season when he clearly saw and spoke to the Black One. But, I was under the impression that was a one-time thing. That’s not the case.

So, what did we learn from this conversation? First, the Black One could probably stop the war before it even begins. But, he chooses not to because it’s part of Fushi’s growth. Fushi grows through the people he interacts with dying. He doesn’t want to do anything to impede Fushi’s growth.

The next thing we learned is what the Black One’s plan for Fushi is. As we know, he wants Fushi to travel the world and “collect” everything he encounters. But, why does he want Fushi to do that? It turns out, he’s prepping Fushi to take over his own role.

We don’t know if the Black One doesn’t have much time left or if he plans to retire. However, we know that the reason he created Fushi was to serve as a replacement for himself. And that makes the fact that he and Fushi are opposites all the more interesting.

The Black One is associated with black, obviously. On the other hand, Fushi is associated with white. Also, we can see how Fushi is far more emotional than the Black One. Is the Black One expecting him to lose those emotions as he matures? Is he fine with Fushi being so different?

March the Immortal

The stuff with the Black One is pretty important. But, what seems even more important is that March is back. At the end of Episode 14, we see March come back to life. And now that this has happened twice, we can point to how it happened.

For starters, we know that March’s spirit has stuck around Fushi ever since she died. As far as I understand it, only those who haven’t moved on to the afterlife can revive. So, for example, since we haven’t seen Parona’s ghost around, we can assume she can’t come back.

That’s only the first condition, though. Next, there needs to be a vessel for the spirit to enter. And, again, we can infer that it has to be the body of the spirit. I’m assuming that March’s spirit wouldn’t be able to inhabit Rean’s body. It has to be March’s body.

And, the final condition appears to be that the body has to be separate from Fushi. When the princess came back to life earlier in the season, it was only after Fushi cut her body from his own. And here, we see that March comes back to life after her body separates from the rest of Fushi.

What makes this final condition so interesting, though, is that Bon figured it out. He intentionally separated March’s body from the rest of Fushi. And he did so while making it appear he only accidentally separated her crab plush.

There could be 2 reasons for why Bon separated the crab plush from Fushi. The obvious one is that he could visually trick Fushi with some sleight of hand. And it could also be that Fushi felt something get severed and assumed it was only the plush. It works both ways.

Conclusion

What do you think of To Your Eternity Season 2 Episode 14? Did you like following Pocoa around? Were you surprised to see the Black One can actually bleed after Messar stabbed him? And who do you think is going to be the next of Fushi’s allies to revive? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. I’d also like to thank Key Mochi for supporting at the Senpai tier and Rob and Pepe for supporting at the Kouhai tier. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 15 is available now.

Eko’s Adventure

The first half of To Your Eternity Season 2 Episode 13 was all about Eko. And that means the first half of the episode was good. Eko’s the best character in the current arc. Bon just hasn’t been as good since he stopped being a prince.

My biggest complaint about this episode is that the entire thing didn’t follow Eko. Even though she doesn’t speak, it’s fun to watch how she interacts with the world around her. Actually, the fact that she doesn’t speak is why it’s fun to watch her.

At times, it seems like her head is empty because of her inability to effectively communicate. For example, after Fushi tells her that her cooking is terrible, she stands there and smiles. Was it because she didn’t understand that he thought her cooking was bad? No, as we later find out. She was happy that he tried it at all.

We also got to see Eko experience new things in this episode. When she sees a knight’s helmet, she tries it on. She doesn’t know what it is, but she knows soldiers wear them. So, since she can’t speak, she mimics what she sees others doing to figure it out.

Then, she starts helping the civilians clear rubble. Nobody asks her to do this. But, she wants to be helpful and she sees this is something other people are doing. Through this, she also connects with the townspeople, in particular, an older man.

The connection she made with the man is important because it means she can go to him for help later. After she discovers what’s contaminating the city’s waterway, she goes to this man for help. She doesn’t want to bother Fushi because she recognizes how busy and tired he is.

Messar the Gamer

I was under the impression that Messar only had to beat Princess Alme in a game once. But, it turns out that he needs to keep beating her for her continued cooperation. Every time he beats her, she approves another demolition and rebuilding project.

We know this is how their deal works because Bon tells us as much. He says that every time Messar beats Alme, they can rebuild another section of the city’s wall. And I should point out that this deal only applies to structures owned by the nation itself.

Fushi & friends don’t need Alme’s permission to demolish and rebuild private residences. But, things like the city walls, waterways, and the castle itself all fall under Alme’s control. If I had to guess, the castle is going to be the final thing Alme approves for rebuilding. And this will probably come after Fushi meets whoever she introduces him to next week.

I guess I should make my prediction about who that is now. I’m betting Alme introduces Fushi to her ailing father. We know Alme is still considered a princess, not a queen. To me, that implies her father, the king, is still alive.

But, we’ve also seen that Alme is the one ruling the country. If the king is alive, the only reason he wouldn’t be the one ruling is if he’s unwell. So, we’re likely going to see Fushi meet the king and get his blessing to save the country.

The king aside, I’m interested in seeing how Messar’s story concludes. We can be pretty sure he’ll end up as one of Fushi’s immortal soldiers. But, what does that mean for his relationship with Alme? Are we going to get some emotional final game between them? Or is he just going to disappear?

Rebuilding Renril

As I already mentioned, Fushi has been hard at work rebuilding the outer walls of Renril. But, unlike individual houses, he can’t exactly hide how he rebuilds the massive walls. Luckily, Bon has a plan. Fushi’s going to rebuild the walls at night while everyone’s focused on a festival.

At first, this is a good plan. But, some of the soldiers become suspicious of the wise man’s ability to build so many houses each day. And, they eventually discover the truth when they see Fushi raising a wall.

Upon discovering Fushi’s identity, things could have gone in two entirely different directions. Of course, we know things turned out well. The soldiers and civilians alike accept Fushi for who he is. Despite what the Church of Bennett claims, they’ve seen for themselves that he’s not a devil. And Fushi has his compulsion to help people to thank for that.

In past reviews, I’ve written a lot about how Fushi’s desire to save everyone is a weakness. It’s good that he wants to save everyone. However, it’s not a realistic goal and will lead to him suffering in the long run. But, in this one instance, it led to a positive outcome.

The reason the soldiers know Fushi isn’t evil is that he helped them or people they know when they were injured. One example is when he helped the mother of the female soldier Kamu has a crush on. Fushi gave her first aid in Sandel’s form.

I’m wondering how the Church of Bennett is going to respond after the battle of Renril. Surely, word’s going to get out that Renril sided with Fushi. So, is the church going to cut them off? And how will they react to learning that Fushi’s execution failed?

Conclusion

What do you think of To Your Eternity Season 2 Episode 13? Do you wish the entire episode followed Eko’s adventures? Is Messar going to be the one with the tragic end in this arc? And how did you expect the soldiers to react to learning Fushi’s identity? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 14 is available now.

The Servant and the Princess

To Your Eternity Season 2 Episode 12 reveals that Messar and Alme are childhood friends. Alme is the princess who rules Renril, so that’s a pretty big deal. But, that doesn’t mean Messar is also the child of a noble. He’s the child of a servant.

As kids, Messar and Alme would often play a game together. I discussed the game they play a bit in my Episode 11 review if you’re interested. But, Messar and Alme weren’t supposed to play together due to their differing statuses.

Originally, Alme thought Messar was playing the game with her to get closer to her. She assumed this was his way of trying to marry her and become king. That was never the case, but Alme didn’t seem to be against the idea. She even said that if Messar could beat her, she’d grant him one wish.

It’s during this flashback that we learn why Alme keeps her face veiled. Her mother told her that she needs to hide her face from anyone she doesn’t trust. The implication here is that she’s only supposed to reveal her face to her future husband.

Throughout the rest of the episode, Alme’s veiled face is used as a metaphor. Just as she doesn’t trust Messar enough to show him her face, she doesn’t trust Fushi’s group with her kingdom. So, it’s only fitting that we finally see her face at the end of the episode after Messar wins her trust.

But, even the way we see her face is a metaphor for how Messar won her trust. He didn’t win her trust by being trustworthy. He took her trust by force by beating her in a game. And, he reveals her face by force by blowing her veil.

The Boy Who Felt No Pain

In the middle of Episode 12, we get to learn a bit more about Hairo, one of the other “immortals.” He’s the one raised by the Church of Bennett. And the reason the church raised him was that they thought a demon possessed him.

So, what does it mean that a demon possessed Hairo? It means the same thing it used to mean in our world — that he wasn’t normal. When people didn’t understand the afflictions of others, they jumped to demons. And that’s exactly what happened in Hairo’s case.

Hairo has a condition that causes him to not feel pain. This is a real disorder. But, despite how it might sound, this isn’t a good condition to have — especially for children. If you can’t feel pain, you’re not going to avoid danger very well. This can lead to more injuries.

So, with Hairo’s condition in mind, why did the church pull all his teeth? I don’t have a great answer. But, my guess is this was how they were testing if his “demon” was still there. If he cried out, they’d know the demon was gone.

Though, I have no idea if this is the case. I just can’t think of another reason for them to do this. There was no implication that he needed to have all his teeth pulled. Unless maybe his condition also caused issues with his teeth. I’m not sure. I’m no doctor.

Anyway, the woman who was raising him suddenly disappeared one day. Her replacement said that she sinned and so was punished. But, what was her sin? It’s unclear. What we do know is that her punishment involved removing all her teeth. This is where Hairo’s dentures came from. That’s messed up.

Messar’s Game

I mentioned earlier in the review that Messar and Alme played a game together growing up. And that it was through this game that Messar won Princess Alme’s trust for Fushi. But, what I didn’t mention is that this was the reason Bon recruited him.

Each of the 3 “immortal” allies Bon recruited brings something unique to the alliance. In Kai’s case, it’s his absolute loyalty to Bon. He’s someone Bon can trust with this mission. He’s not afraid to die for Bon and even death won’t stop him from serving Bon.

In Hairo’s case, his body that doesn’t feel pain will make him a very useful immortal soldier. A mortal body that doesn’t feel pain is a negative. But, if Hairo is immortal, his lack of pain will make him formidable on the battlefield. An immortal can still fear the pain of dying — not Hairo.

Messar brings his connection to the princess to the alliance. Well, that and the fact that he’s an old friend of Bon’s. But, it’s because Bon is an old friend of Messar’s, he knew about Messar and Alme. And that’s why Messar was vital to the team.

Bon knew that they’d need an in with the princess. Messar is that in. Without him, they never would have gained Alme’s trust before the Nokkers attacked. Remember, Bon and the crew knew Renril was the Nokkers’ next target. So, naturally, getting someone like Messar on the team was important.

Messar is a bit interesting because of his personal goal, though. It turns out he’s the half-brother of the princess. Instead of marrying her, he wants to protect her. And to do that, he’s willing to become immortal to fight off the Nokkers. But, what about after Alme dies?

Conclusion

What do you think of To Your Eternity Season 2 Episode 12? Do you like Messar more after this episode? Why do you think the church pulled Hairo’s teeth? And, would you get good at a game for a chance to marry Princess Alme? (Yes.) Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 13 is available now.