REVIEW: ‘To Your Eternity,’ Episode 13 – “Aspiring to Go Higher”

To Your Eternity is a shonen fantasy anime produced by Brian’s Base. Feeling responsible for not saving Gugu, Fushi wanders the countryside, not knowing where to go or what to do next. While the black-clad man has his purpose for the immortal, Fushi isn’t sure if he wants to walk the path that has been laid out before him in To Your Eternity Episode 13.

Guilt. This is the next step in Fushi’s development as an individual. While he has suffered loss before, both from the death of the nameless boy as well as March, he has never before felt guilt over them. But now, he sees himself as responsible for not saving Gugu’s life. The struggle to accept that we cannot control everything that happens in our world is a universal experience. No matter who you are, even if it is a shape-shifting immortal, things will happen outside our control. And how we deal with these struggles is a critical aspect of how we develop as people. Hopefully, we have the fortune of not facing these things alone.

Following a brief exchange with the black-clad man about what Fushi’s goals should be, To Your Eternity Episode 13 sees Fushi discover that someone is following him. It is quickly revealed that this someone is his old friend Pioran. Seeing as her original purpose in traveling to Booze Man’s shop was to find help for Fushi, she has decided that she should continue to travel with him. One last journey to round out her life with.

Terrified that the Nokkers will return and Pioran will get caught in the crossfire, Fushi initially refuses, going so far as to attempt to drag her back to Booze Man’s. But Pioran is adamant that she will accompany Fushi, and he eventually relents.

Pioran’s role as the constant in Fushi’s existence is one of the best narrative decisions the series has made. Her lifetime of knowledge and experience is helpful to Fushi. Since she has seen so much of Fushi’s development, she seems to see him more as the child he is mentally than the powerful being he is physically. Her stubborn kindness will be good for the wandering immortal.

As the two travel, they eventually settle on a destination that should prove adequate for what Fushi’s next goal is. But, like every previous step along the journey the two have taken together, unexpected forces are going to make this far more complicated than it should’ve been.

The art in To Your Eternity Episode 13 delivers Fushi’s emotional journey beautifully. His struggles with accepting what has happened, along with facing the unknown of what to do next, are captured beautifully in Fushi’s still developing emotional expression. The animation continues to do a masterful job of balancing the need to allow Fushi to express himself well enough to draw in the audience while keeping the fact that he is still learning how to express those emotions present within the animation.

To wrap it all up, To Your Eternity Episode 13 delivers an emotional episode as our star character must not only put himself back together but also take the first steps towards what is to come next.

To Your Eternity Episode 13 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.