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EP. REVIEW: To Your Eternity


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NG_Chloe



Joined: 29 Jul 2021
Posts: 140
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 8:17 pm Reply with quote
Honestly, the series has been going downhill for me for a while now. The Knockers just aren't intimidating or interesting, and they just seem to interrupt interesting stories half the time, as soon as I'm really getting invested in Gugu or Tonari's plots, the Knockers show up and kill them.

The real problem is the series gets kind of formulaic with how it kills characters, so it's harder to get attached. The series definitely has a lot of sparks. I just wish the Knockers were used much more sparingly. If a character didn't die EVERY single arc, and if the arcs introduced were concluded rather than interrupted by the Knockers, we'd really have something

I know the Knockers might be considered concluding the plot in a sense, but I tend to feel like interesting storytelling is being sacrificed for tragedy. It's only been two arcs since March's story I know, so it's really too soon for me to whine about this. I'm just getting a little tired of getting super invested in a plot, only for the Knockers to show up with their dumb name, and lack of personality
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NeverConvex
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Joined: 08 Jun 2013
Posts: 2269
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 8:24 pm Reply with quote
NG_Chloe wrote:
The real problem is the series gets kind of formulaic with how it kills characters, so it's harder to get attached. The series definitely has a lot of sparks. I just wish the Knockers were used much more sparingly. If a character didn't die EVERY single arc, and if the arcs introduced were concluded rather than interrupted by the Knockers, we'd really have something


I've had exactly this same thought/feeling recently, too. I mean -- I've got plenty of criticism for the way Tonari And The Kids had their character work one, and for our crazy-eyed villain, but I also just think each time you repeat the same formula, it becomes harder to achieve the same effect the next time around. I grimaced at the fate of several of the kids, but that was mostly because their deaths looked particularly gruesome, not because the storytelling was half as effective as in prior arcs. The tragedy just feels routine at this point, and that's kind've... tragic (OK, I'll see myself out).

I also kind of feel like most of the kids were given only the most superficial backstory and personalities. Only Tonari really feels like much of a person. Feels like we could've spent more time figuring out who these kids are and why we should feel attached to them, and less time fighting big Nokker giants or watching Orby almost get sexually assaulted, riggle his way out of a totally ineffective prison, etc.
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jdnation



Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 1994
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 1:13 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The way she tries to force Fushi into letting her handle the “sin" of killing feels too forced and abstract by half, and don't even get me started on how her obsession eventually gets boiled down to begging Fushi to screw and then subsequently murder her. It's just…too much, in a way that is neither interesting nor particularly entertaining.


It's primarily about the irrationality of an emotion like love. Something Fushi doesn't understand, and which right now in the current manga volume (the English release anyway) comes back in a very relevant way.

So just as you are kind of turned off and confused about it, so if Fushi.

Quote:
It also doesn't do much for Fushi's character development, either, since his choice to abandon Hayase on that boat in the middle of nowhere feels less like an organic character beat and more like a convenient way to have Hayase get taken over the Nokkers.


This is because any more involvement with her or even directly killing her will leave an emotional impact on Fushi, which means that he could likely turn into her just like he can all his other selves. But he doesn't want that and wants nothing to do with her, nor to carry her 'soul' or 'transformation' with him. So the best option is to simply push away from her and leave her without risking any emotional impact that would allow him to retain her.
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The Anime Binge-Watcher



Joined: 28 Jan 2020
Posts: 82
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 6:42 pm Reply with quote
Is it just me, or does James always end up reviewing shows that start out promising only to crash and burn by the end? God of High School, Yashahime, Promised Neverland Season 2, Higehiro, To Your Eternity... dude's got some of the worst luck ever.
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GelBanana



Joined: 01 May 2021
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 6:56 pm Reply with quote
The Anime Binge-Watcher wrote:
Is it just me, or does James always end up reviewing shows that start out promising only to crash and burn by the end? God of High School, Yashahime, Promised Neverland Season 2, Higehiro, To Your Eternity... dude's got some of the worst luck ever.


I can understand people's disappointment with To Your Eternity near the end but to put it on the same list as TPN Season 2 seems a bit of an over-exaggeration.
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lingnao



Joined: 25 Aug 2021
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 7:36 pm Reply with quote
Typos on the review for episode 19: on the second paragraph, it's Jananda; on the third paragraph,
Quote:
When we first met Tonari
author meant Hayase; on the last paragraph, better than average (unless this was intentionally querky, or something).
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Piglet the Grate



Joined: 25 May 2021
Posts: 522
Location: North America
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 7:55 pm Reply with quote
The Anime Binge-Watcher wrote:
Is it just me, or does James always end up reviewing shows that start out promising only to crash and burn by the end? God of High School, Yashahime, Promised Neverland Season 2, Higehiro, To Your Eternity... dude's got some of the worst luck ever.


I would watch second seasons of To Your Eternity (Fumetsu no Anata e) and Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway (Hige wo Soru - Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou), mainly because I (and likely quite a few other persons) disagree on the relative decline in the quality of these episodes.

Edit: Changed a word from its incorrect adverb form (i.e., relatively) to the correct adjective form (i.e., relative).


Last edited by Piglet the Grate on Thu Aug 26, 2021 3:20 am; edited 1 time in total
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Everlasting Coconut



Joined: 22 Jul 2019
Posts: 290
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 11:13 pm Reply with quote
This review pretty much summed up my thoughts on Hayase. I like the idea of Hayase going after Fushi and wanting to use him, but her rapey obsession came out of nowhere and it was just cringeworthy most of the time.

Tonari's awesome though. I hope we get to see her again, but I doubt we'll get a season 2, and if we do, we'll probably have to wait quite a while.
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blahmoomoo



Joined: 27 Jan 2020
Posts: 457
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 11:49 pm Reply with quote
Everlasting Coconut wrote:
I hope we get to see her again, but I doubt we'll get a season 2, and if we do, we'll probably have to wait quite a while.


That will depend on the anime production/studio side of things. There is more than enough content for a second season.
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NeverConvex
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Joined: 08 Jun 2013
Posts: 2269
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2021 6:10 am Reply with quote
Still not really sold on Tonari, but she at least feels better humanized than earlier in this arc. I'm glad she seems to have survived so far, but I wonder if that defiance of "its own established pattern of storytelling", as James put it, will take; I really, really hope she doesn't become another Parona. I think Tonari would have felt like a more compelling character to me if her backup cast of Emotional Support Children had gotten more character development time; it didn't feel nearly bad enough when they got Nokker'd. Could have reasonably cut some of the goofy island violence, non sequitur Nokkers fights, and Hayase craziness to make room for that, in my opinion.

Everlasting Coconut wrote:
This review pretty much summed up my thoughts on Hayase. I like the idea of Hayase going after Fushi and wanting to use him, but her rapey obsession came out of nowhere and it was just cringeworthy most of the time.


She also just seemed.. really inconsistent about it? Like, there's the scene where she clearly plans to drug and rape Orby. But, by the next scene, she wants to blackmail him into letting her travel with and protect him, bearing the sin of killing for him. And by still the next scene, she wants him to kill her and become her (gettin' some real Wagner vibes..). Maybe she's just Really Bad At Communicating What She Wants, but it feels like the author wasn't super sure how to portray her crazed obsession with Orby and just ended up making her motivations kind of an unclear mess. Maybe the mangaka wanted to convey in her a sort of erratic, mad desperation, but if so, I don't think it really worked; she just feels poorly written in recent episodes, to me.

James B. wrote:
It really felt like there was a lot of buildup and pent-up rage that Fushi was meant to confront in Hayase, not to mention his own responsibility for the people who have died.


Yes! After his initial confrontation with Hayase in the arena, I absolutely thought this arc would be about her forcing him to face and resolve justified feelings of rage, anger, and violence towards her. I don't know what a satisfying resolution to that would have looked like, but it seemed like an emotional challenge Fushi had not confronted yet, and one that really demanded a human antagonist, rather than the literally and figuratively lifeless Nokkers (which, as an aside -- maybe taking over Hayase will help correct that weakness of them as villains?). It is a shame that the arc seems to have mostly left this idea back in the arena.

James B wrote:
To Your Eternity continues to be perfectly average, maybe even a little bitter than average now


Given TYE's decline, this feels like a Freudian slip. Razz
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Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1529
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2021 9:40 am Reply with quote
Now I wonder, will Tonari get killed off-camera to give Fushi some kind of additional pathos? Although she would give Fushi zero new abilities, so I guess it's the owl who will die.

NeverConvex wrote:
She also just seemed.. really inconsistent about it? Like, there's the scene where she clearly plans to drug and rape Orby. But, by the next scene, she wants to blackmail him into letting her travel with and protect him, bearing the sin of killing for him. And by still the next scene, she wants him to kill her and become her (gettin' some real Wagner vibes..). Maybe she's just Really Bad At Communicating What She Wants, but it feels like the author wasn't super sure how to portray her crazed obsession with Orby and just ended up making her motivations kind of an unclear mess. Maybe the mangaka wanted to convey in her a sort of erratic, mad desperation, but if so, I don't think it really worked; she just feels poorly written in recent episodes, to me.

I think as long as it was related to Fushi literally anything would do? Rape, murder for, being murdered by, accompanyin... anything does as long as it affects Fushi.
It might have been eaiser to see if she were completely deranged, instead of a normally calm and level-headed person with a group of henchmen at her service (seems like Yanome still trusts her) who can manipulate the masses and bark strategic orders who loses her brain whenever Fushi is close.
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Everlasting Coconut



Joined: 22 Jul 2019
Posts: 290
PostPosted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 4:51 pm Reply with quote
Episode 20:

After the mild disappointment that was the island arc (mostly due to poor direction and Hayase becoming a Yandere) it's nice to see the show end on a strong note. That last episode was just great from beggining to end, and I'm looking forward to season 2 next year.
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NeverConvex
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Joined: 08 Jun 2013
Posts: 2269
PostPosted: Mon Aug 30, 2021 4:53 pm Reply with quote
Completely agree with the mugen Coconut! The last episode of season 1 was a lovely, welcome, painful/tragic return to form.
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tintor2



Joined: 11 Aug 2010
Posts: 1804
PostPosted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:47 pm Reply with quote
I expected a really sad scene for Pioran especially.after reading this manga was inspired by the death of the mangaka's death. Having experienced a similar situation with my élders I expected to suffer a bad experience. However, in this case the anime provided a more hopeful message not only through the fact that Pioran wants to aid Fushi but even more because of how caring the Beholder suddenly became.
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jdnation



Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 1994
PostPosted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 6:50 pm Reply with quote
I was wondering on what note they'd end the first season and figured the Jananda finale was going to be it. Nice to see that they decided on this one.

That said, nokkers will be a significant part of next season's arc, and probably the whole thing, as it's a lengthy one, but the arc after that is what many of you will like as there's next-to-no battle royale. But I don't think the next season will get there, though I guess it depends on how many episodes they're going for, but considering the arc is still ongoing in the manga, it probably wont.
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