To Your Eternity ep. 14 – Arrow

Posted on by Irina

I’m starting to really dig the narrated recaps at the begining of episodes. The fact that they are biased just adds such a great edge to everyting. And they often have some really great lines. This week, the line that struck me was that Fushi was like an arrow without a bow. I did a quick Google search and the expression doesn’t seem to exist. At least not in English.

But it should exist. It’s a great expression. Like someone or something that could be powerful but is reduced to a stick because it’s lacking direction or momentum. I knew exactly what he meant. I even thought to myself that I occasionally feel like an arrow without a bow. You’re all going to tell me it’s a super common saying, aren’t you?

There were a lot of arrows in this episode. After the mention in the opening tag, it was a repeated notif. Some arrows flew in the colosseum just like every other weapon. Fushi explicitly told us last episode that he can feel the pain of others when they are near him. He was surrounded by dozens of people dying violently and painfully. I’m surprised the free for al didn’t kill him after all. That must have been torture. The fact that he was still able to move was amazing.

I might as well tell you right now that I still don’t like Tonari. But not in a way that’s ruining the enjoyment of the series. More in a way where I can see how To Your Eternity is slowly building her up to be endearing and I’m stubbornly not having it. I will admit that Fushi being elected Peter Pan to the merry group of Lost Boys on the island against his will, did make me smile.

We saw arrows again when Fushi was practicing shooting birds at night. He’s not a very good shot. Then again, I think it was his first time really trying it out. I wonder what he was hoping to accomplish. Did he think he could shoot his opponents in the knee to avoid having to kill anyone? Of course, the Creator was zero help.

Still searching for Pyoran, which remains Fushi’s only real priority, he decided to climb the prison walls using arrows. And he was much better using them that way than with a bow. Maybe that’s what the expression meant.

There was an odd scene in the night with the licking. Not sure what that was about. But it seemed to be the same person that was slaughtering everyone in the ring the next day. Tomari and the old guy whose name I don’t know mentioned something about the woman from Yanome. For a second I thought they might be talking about Pyoran but she’s not from Yanome. Hayase is, however. And maybe it’s just me but that warrior in the colosseum did look a lot like an armoured Hayase with longer hair. It’s been at least 4 years but she might still be looking for Fushi. He did main her pretty badly.

My post was going to be titled Parona or Parona is dead. At the last second, I figured it would be a spoiler and changed it. But I think arrow suits it even better. The second I saw Fushi being such a terrible shot, I was reminded of her. In fact, her character has had a strong and consistent association with arrows. It’s really amazing the symbolic build-up this episode pulled off to subtly hint at her return. Although I guess this means she’s dead. I’m pretty sure I once said that Parona would make a great vessel.

I might not like Tomari but I do like Parona so this turned out pretty good in the end. Having Parona as a vessel makes me even more certain that it was Hayase we saw. They obviously need a round two.

I’ll leave you this week with a little bit of random trivia I just came across. On AniList, the character of the Creator is credited as “The Beholder”. Well that’s not exactly the same thing now is it. But it could be. In the eye and all that…

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11 thoughts on “To Your Eternity ep. 14 – Arrow”

  1. So far Fushi has only transformed into things he was around at the time he died. The current transformation into Parona was unusual in that way. I’m not sure “sensing death” works at a distance. It might, but that would mean he’d maintain a connection to every place he’s visited, and that’d be a big deal for someone immortal. (For starters he should be able to feel Pioran in some way or other, since she’d be a lot closer – unless Parona was actually here in the arena among the gladiators…) I’m not sure how that works.

    I’ve assumed from the beginning that the licking person was Hayase. I always wondered if she was acting on her own, and Fushi making a racket could easily have backfired on her, making her a “prisoner”. I’m not sure how the island gets their prisoners: are they a facility outsourcing site? She could definitely be nuts enough to do well in here.

    I’m completely neutral on Tomari so far; she’s a good vessel to introduce the setting, and I sort of understand where she comes from, but she neither irks me nor am I particularly indeared. I’m more indifferent towards her than anything.

    Reply

    1. I thought the limits of his transformation may be more of a rule of the universe rather than Fushi. I don’t think Fushi necessarily keeps a connection to the people he’s known or even necessarily know that they’re dead but there can’t be wo of the same person at once. I’m not sure either, but we do know Fushi can’t turn into someone who’s still alive, that’s the one ting the show has really insisted on.

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      1. *******…but we do know Fushi can’t turn into someone who’s still alive, that’s the one ting the show has really insisted on.********

        Hm, I don’t actually remember that. Was that part of the Gugu experiments? Or just something that repeatedly came up? He’s definitely never done it.

        I’m not sure I remember this episode right, but it felt like the Parona transformation ricocheted off the missing March memory, so me have accidently done something he didn’t know he could. But since I don’t remember the scenes you reference above I’m not sure how plausible this is.

        Here’s what I (think I) remember:

        The narrator says Fushi takes the shape of things that leave an impression. He first took the shape of a rock, which isn’t alive to begin with. Then moss, and I’m not sure there’s an individual here that can die. I’m not exactly an expert on the botany of moss, and I’m too tired to do any research.

        From then on, Fushi would take the shape of creatures whose death he witnessed, until Gugu, whose death he didn’t perceive through the normal senses, but felt “in the air” (he stopped short during the fighting). There was definitely some sort of connection in this scene; spirit? soul? I don’t know.

        And now he’s taken the shape of Parona, who wasn’t, as far as we know, present (though she could have been), and – as I said – to me the transformation felt triggered by an ersatz memory. This is why I’m not sure about Parona’s death (though it would definitely make sense the way the narrative is going).

        Next week, I’m fairly sure Hayase is going to meet the Knockers (info from preview at the end of the episode). Curious how she’ll react to them.

        In any case, Parona being dead wouldn’t be a huge suprise; I’d suspect Hayase having something to do with her demise. (And I’m fairly sure she got them on the boat, too.)

        So far, this is actually my least favourite arc, but it’s still hugely enjoyable, and this show’s still my favourite of the season (my second favourite being Vanitas, and then there really isn’t much contest).

        Reply

        1. When he turned into the crab he narrated to us that he can only turn into things that are dead, Admittedly he might not actually know that, I guess he could have just assumed it and be wrong.

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