Have you ever heard of Fumetsu no Anata e (不滅のあなたへ)? This phrase literally means “To you, the immortal.” Fumetsu no Anata e is an anime based on a manga known here in Brazil by the English name To Your Eternity.
The anime is quite recent, it started airing in April 2021 and still has more episodes to come. The manga is from November 2016 and is still in production to this day. Fumetsu no Anata e is illustrated by Yoshitoki Ōima and has 16 volumes, while the anime has 20 episodes.
If you watched A Silent Voice or Koe no Katachi (聲の形) and liked it, you will surely love this anime too, Fumetsu no Anata e, because besides having the same author, Yoshitoki Oima, it aims to make you emotional.
Table of Contents
Plot
Fumetsu no Anata e tells the story of a lonely boy who finds a wolf during his wanderings in the Arctic regions of North America. The boy and the wolf become great friends! And since both were alone, they help each other.
But the story is not just that, because besides the environment in which they live their adventures, each has a past that will interfere in their monotonous lives.
The protagonist of Fumetsu no Anata e, the boy, is called Fushi, who is actually a kind of immortal spirit or divine entity that takes on various forms of people, objects, animals… everything that catches his attention, including as a boy and wolf.
The boy initially has no expressions, identity, or feelings; it’s as if his body were an empty box that moves. And as Fushi takes on various forms throughout his journey, he gains powers and develops better.
The dramatic part of the anime involves the enemies, so to speak, of Fushi, who are capable of stealing his forms identified as Knockers, which resemble plants. Additionally, there is a figure that arouses curiosity in Fumetsu no Anata e, which is a very powerful being, always wearing a black hood, whom Fushi claims is the one who created him.
Fushi fights hard to combat the Knockers; it has been centuries of battles to stop them, and when defeated, Fushi takes it upon himself to spread other versions of himself throughout the world to avoid the risk of these creatures returning.
Fumetsu no Anata e is not just a simple story of friendship between the boy and a wolf, but rather a way in which a being seeks to gain self-knowledge in order to give meaning to his existence.
The character discovers himself throughout the anime because as he is just a being, Fushi should behave according to the body or matter he takes on, so he adapts and learns gradually. Therefore, he is not considered civilized.
In fact, Fushi is a name that the immortal being receives after materializing as a boy when being taught and helped by another character in the plot.
Fumetsu no Anata e has several settings that depict other civilizations, cultures, and types of traditions. The anime also portrays conflicts and losses. And the character evolves and learns from each experience lived.
Reception of the anime
Fumetsu no Anata e received a good reception when it launched in April 2021 in Japan. There, the anime was aired by NHK Educational TV. The plan was to start airing in 2020, but the pandemic delayed the initial plans a bit.
The Fumetsu no Anata e manga was critically acclaimed. Launched in 2016, just a year later it was announced that the manga would be published digitally. After all, nowadays, although mangas are well accepted worldwide, it is no longer advantageous to have only printed versions. Collectors are more concerned with having these versions.
The anime Fumetsu no Anata e is becoming popular and attracts attention due to its theme of life and death. People have many questions regarding these subjects, especially whether there is life after death.
Something that may have also contributed to the anime being one of the most anticipated of the season are the criticisms that are implied throughout the story. Like the fact that the protagonist can transform into whatever he wants, even a rock, showing that we can wear masks and be whoever we want.
All the changes that Fushi makes help him become a “better” human, so to speak. But remember that the character only appropriates a body after the death of the animal or person, or simply in an inanimate object.
The idea behind Fumetsu no Anata e
Every anime or manga has a certain inspiration behind it or a story of how the idea for the story came about! In the case of Fumetsu no Anata e, it was no different!
The author Yoshitoki Oima wrote the manga to honor her grandmother, who was very ill. She was already sure that her grandmother would die, so from that came the idea to include the representation of life and death in the plot.
For those who have followed the author’s work, she tends to take things from her personal life and symbolize them in her mangas and animes. In the case of A Silent Voice (considered one of her greatest works), the inspiration for the story came from her mother, who was a sign language interpreter.
The author has won several awards with these creations such as the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize, Rudolf-Dirks-Awards, and Japan Expo. With Fumetsu no Anata e, the author has only won one award, but since the anime is recent and is gaining traction now, more awards are surely on the way.
Second season of Fumetsu no Anata e in 2022
Fumetsu no Anata e has already been officially confirmed for 2022. Currently, the anime has 20 episodes distributed over just one season.
The anime is scheduled to premiere in Japan in the autumn of 2022. But there is still no set date. Have you watched this anime yet?
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