This blog is dedicated to the life and memory of my big brother. I love you bro.
Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. This week has been a bit emotional for me and my family. It’s the anniversary of my brother’s death who tragically passed away last year unexpectedly. As I take the time to remember him, the one anime that popped into my mind is of course To Your Eternity. A big hit in 2021, the anime did a good job diving into what it means to lose those you care so much about and how they become a part of you and live on through you. After a successful first season the second season was greenlit and came out in 2023 under the production of Drive a relatively small studio who made a name for themselves by doing the third season of Konosuba. Was this season as good and captivating as the first season? Let’s find out. For those who have lost someone dear them, this is To Your Eternity S2.
Opening and Ending Theme
So in a surprising move the second season kept “Pink Blood” by Hikaru Utada as the opening. I’m not complaining, I loved this song and thought it fit well with the anime and if ain’t broke don’t try to fix it. I do think the opening animation for the first opening is better and conveys the feelings of lost we felt that season while the second opening seems to turn the focus on the people and the world Fushi will meet this time around.
The ending is “Roots” by Masashi Hamauzu. The song gives off a very similar vibe to this first ending but better. I do like there’s no lyrics and there’s this sense of ambiance that captures you and makes perfect sense once the you reach the end of the season.
Episodes 1-5
The second season starts with a quick recap of the series. We then go to a village where the Nokkers are attacking. Fushi isn’t even there, they’re just attacking for the sake of it. Speaking of Fushi, we see that he’s on an island where he’s been living in isolation for 40 years (I’m pretty sure everyone he’s come across is either old or dead now). He’s decided not to get involved with humanity anymore but that hasn’t stopped the Nokkers from attacking him all these years and failing (he also spent two years as a fish in the ocean. And let me tell you, it was no Finding Nemo, Shark Tale, or any third party rip-offs you see in the store bins. Scene here: https://youtu.be/Lusaz9A7_sY?si=kRTaDNmJOzYhhpZa). Once he hears about the Nokkers attacking others villages, Fushi prepares to set out and stop them. He knows traveling the ocean alone will be dangerous (you’re fucking immortal. Aside from the Nokkers I don’t think anything in this world can kill you), but he receives a visit from Hisame, the granddaughter of Hayase (Hayase found someone crazy enough to marry her and produced children? Anybody else get the feeling this was a shotgun winning or bow and arrow wedding given the time period?). Hisame reveals that Hayase is dead (I don’t believe you) and that she is a guardian who is tasked with protecting Fushi. Naturally, Fushi doesn’t trust her despite her many attempts at trying to be his friend. Then one night when she gets close to him it gets revealed that she has a Nokker living within her arm. Hisame reveals that she’s Hayase’s reincarnation (I knew it! That woman is still obsessed with getting Fushi’s seed the nutjob). The entity appears before Fushi and explains to him that even though Hisame is Hayase’s reincarnation she has no memories of her past life and this puts Fushi in a tight spot. He doesn’t trust Hisame, but can’t bring himself to hate a 9-year-old girl who has nothing to do with any of this and has no knowledge of what happened between them in the past. The next day they row to the next island where the village is at. They meet two doctors who have been attending to the villagers and know all about Fushi thanks to the Guardians who have been spreading Fushism all over the world (have you accepted Fushi as your lord and savior? Read the Book of Fushi to learn more). They enter the village where they all sit down and eat. Fushi and the male doctor get knocked out from tainted tea (oh you bitch. I knew it), but the female doctor is alright and it gets revealed that she’s Tonari (scene here: https://youtu.be/kwLrMTsd408?si=jOEB9Dkml1OgA11t).
In episode 2 Tonari tries to remove the Nokker in Hisame’s arm only to fail. The Nokker instead poisons her body and escapes with an unconscious Hisame. And just as soon as we said hello to Tonari we have to say goodbye to her, but before her death she encourages Fushi to find friends who understand him and not live his life in isolation (scene here: https://youtu.be/UmPBP1WNcqQ?si=SOP5_ym6F-P-x2FR). After Tonari’s death, Fushi leaves the town and runs into Hisame again where he tries to remove the Nokker only for Hisame to refuse. Having no other choice, Fushi hands her back to the Guardians and goes on a pilgrimage traveling from city to city and gaining knowledge. We also learn that the Nokkers would attack other areas far away from Fushi, but they were defeated by the Guardians (not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing). Speaking of the Guardians, we see the descendants of Hayase approach Fushi a number of times over the years (got to give Fushi credit for not sticking his dick in that crazy bloodline) and at the end of the episode another descendent arrives and this time it’s a boy (I bet the mom was pissed).
So in episode 3 the new descendant of Hayse introduces himself as Kahaku. He has no interest in trying to seduce Fushi and only likes women (cool. I still don’t trust you). He does protect Fushi from being captured as apparently there’s a bounty on his head. The Church of Bennett are the enemies of the Guardians who see them and Fushi as heretics. They believe Fushi is actually attracting the Nokkers to them and are trying to kill him for their own good. For his safety, Fushi begrudgingly travels with the Guardians where they go to villages to gain more supporters while also fighting against followers of the church (it’s really hard to say who the bad guys are in this situation). In order not to stand out, Fushi transforms into Peona which Kahaku likes (oh fuck~). As they continue to travel they get captured by Bonchien the young eccentric prince of the Uralis Kingdom (scene here: https://youtu.be/PcrHsJDX5Lw?si=5_S-2yFUDdpL0uGu). He takes Fushi and the others to his kingdom in the hopes of earning favor with his dad and naming him heir to the throne (no that would not be a good idea). Fushi and the Guardians are surprisingly treated well but Fushi tries to escape as he’s afraid of getting close to others (in his defense the white flags do get raised higher whenever he’s near someone. The track record speaks for itself). He doesn’t want to see someone close to him die again and is prepared to give himself to thr Nokkers should it happen again. The mysterious being tells him that it would be pointless as he would just have to start over from nothing. Bonchien does comfort Fushi and says he’s going to show him how to live (I am both intrigued and terrified at the same time).
Episode 4 focuses on Bonchien who has decided to join Fushi on his journey to defeat the Nokkers. We get to explore his past where we see his dad had no intention of naming him the king and instead go with his little brother for two reasons. First off, kind of selfish (not really selfish, but kind of). Bonchien usually spent his allowance on his family which was nice, but his little brother spent his allowance to help out the kingdom showing that he put the needs of the people before his own needs. Second, and this was the big, everyone thought he was crazy. Bonchien would often be seen talking to people that weren’t there and everyone thought he was crazy (no, just flamboyant like Freddie Mercury or Prince). In truth, Bonchien could somehow see spirits (interesting skill for a character like him) and he somehow befriended the spirit of Tonari who told him to find Fushi and he did by seeing all the spirits that were following him.
In episode 5 Fushi, Bonchien, and Kahaku are on the road with Bonchien’s knights and Kahaku’s men. They go around from village to village earning the goodwill of the people to win them over and they even defeat a Nokker with zero casualties. On this trip we actually do see Bonchien care for his men deeply and even cares for Fushi as well. There’s this one kingdom they come to where the daughter of a king is dying from illness. The king begs Fushi to save her but there’s nothing he can do for her. When the girl dies he does create a new body of her to give to the king and takes his leave where in an act I can only describe as a miracle, she comes back to life. This means that Fushi has the power to literally bring people back from the grave (the only way I can describe this is the soul is there in the area shortly after a person’s death and since it’s still around it inserted itself into the new body that Fushi made thus reviving herself). Bonchien figures this out but refuses to tell Fushi as he doesn’t know what his reaction will be or what he’ll do. As the episode goes on they arrive in another city where we discover Todo (Bonchien’s man chair) is actually a girl named Iris (she thicc). Bonchien mistook her for a boy at the castle a long time ago and she didn’t correct him because for some strange reason she’s in to this. Fushi also starts to feel love as he (she or they) fall in love with a doll and at the end of the episode. Kahaku goes all in and confesses to Fushi (I knew it! I knew it! That bloodline is thirsty for Fushi no matter what gender gets born).
Episodes 6-9
At the start of episode 6 Peona’s body straight up rejects Kahaku (your ancestor did kill her, so I can see why). Once Kahaku finds out about Peona’s fate he breaks down crying apologizing. Bonchien not wanting this to impede their process tells Kahaku to stay behind for now and get his head on straight. The next day, Fushi and Bonchien arrive at another kingdom where they’re welcome with open arms. However, a priestess from the Church of Bennett tells Fushi that the church is going to capture Bonchien and execute him. In order to save Bonchien, Fushi gives himself up. Once Bonchien hears about this he rushes to Fushi’s rescue, but once the church threatens his kingdom and people he begrudgingly concedes (an immortal for a kingdom). Todo and Kahaku overhear the discussion and rally the people to take up arms against the church who have no proof that Fushi is dangerous. So they decide to give him a test to prove this once and for all. Rumor of Fushi resurrecting the dead has been going around so they present him with the body of a dead person to resurrect. If Fushi resurrects him the church will concede that he is a messenger of God. If he fails, he’s a heretic (this seems like an unfair trial). Fushi recreates the body but it doesn’t come to life and he gets labeled a heretic. Todo gets killed, Kahaku escapes, and Bonchien gets captured as well. Fushi gets locked away in an iron cell and uses fire to bust his way out. Meanwhile, Bonchien takes this time to think about why Fushi couldn’t resurrect the dead body (may I present my previous theory?). He comes to the conclusion that because Fushi never met him in real life he couldn’t perceive them as a living thing (that’s a good theory as well). We also see Todo is still alive. Back with Fushi, his fire isn’t strong enough to melt the iron and the church submerge Fushi in magma (I think) and lets it harden to trap him completely in iron.
In episode 7 we mostly focus on Bonchien who gets placed on trial for his association with Fushi. Speaking of Fushi, we see him escape his iron prison (and on the third day, Fushi rose from his slumber) and goes to save Bonchein and Todo. Bonchein opts to stay as he knows that the church will hunt down Fushi no matter what (they know he’s not a demon. He’s just a threat to their religion). So he decides to weave the perfect lie to get them off Fushi’s trail once and for all. The next morning, Bonchein makes up the lie that he saw a demon and the church believes him. They offer to set him free if he condemns Fushi, but he doesn’t and says Fushi is his friend. The church sentences him to death and we end with Bonchein at the gallows about to get his head chopped off.
Episode 8 starts on a weird note with everyone unconscious and Bonchein decapitated. However, that wasn’t the real Bonchein, but a fake. Using Tonari’s journal, Fushi managed to whip up a sleeping potion that put everyone to sleep and then saved Bonchein, replaced him with a fake body, and escaped. They return to Bonchein’s kingdom where everyone thinks he’s dead, but his family knows the truth. Now that he’s officially a dead man, he can’t become king which he’s okay with (it would have held him down). Bonchein will now have to change his look and hide his identity to remain in the kingdom. The Guardians have also been labeled as heretics and were forced to disband by the church. Todo loses all that weight and becomes a pretty young woman which catches the eye of Bonchein. After Bonchein’s funeral, Fushi gets ready to leave but stops when he feels someone nearby in pain. We see the person in pain was Kahaku who tried to kill himself because he allowed the Guardians to fall apart (really man? You’re gonna die because you failed your crazy ancestor? Here’s a secret man, she ain’t worth a damn). In an amazing move the Nokker uses a knife to write in the ground begging for its life. We find out that the Nokkers want to save humanity not destroy it (you have a strange way of showing it) as apparently their friends are in the bodies of humans. It gets revealed that Nokkers are essentially souls and they want to free the souls by destroying the human body. They want to end the suffering of the flesh and let them go to the other side where they can be at peace. The Nokker reveals that they’re planning to attack the church (I see this as a win) and Fushi heads there to fight. Now that he knows what they’re after and what they’ll do to get it he no longer feels the need to hold back.
Episode 9 begins with Fushi fighting against the Nokkers. It was a long fight and many people died, but Fushi managed to beat them all. However, he lost five of his companions (and they were really good ones). The Nokkers set a trap for Fushi in the swamp where Fushi is completely at their mercy and has to retreat. The entity begins to teach Fushi how to use his powers better as well as give him a horse that he made from Fushi (an immortal horse? What will they think up next?). Fushi beats the Nokkers and reclaims one of his lost companions. Another Nokker shows up where this one gets killed by Kahaku and the Nokker in his arm (well now we know where your loyalty lies. Welcome to the team). The Nokkers send them a message that in one year’s time they’re going to attack Renril the largest city on the continent. They invite Fushi to the festivity (https://youtu.be/-yCgJG0-Juk) saying that if he doesn’t show up they’ll kill Kahaku and the traitorous Nokker. With this timetable, they decide to use this time to help Fushi get stronger and make bigger things like a ship. Bon supplies Fushi with a ship to use as his base and he gets to work getting stronger for the future battle.