To Your Eternity “Awakening” Review
To Your Eternity “Awakening” is the twelfth episode of the To Your Eternity anime. Following on from the accident at the end of episode 11. Gugu and Fushi have to fight the Nokkers, who have adapted and evolved. Whilst Fushi hasn’t, making this a fight with deadly consequences.
Choices Have Consequences
Fushi and Gugu must fight the Nokkers, but the core is imbedded in the ground and they’ve hijacked the entire area. Maybe Fushi forgets but this is something that he doesn’t react to or make a priority. He fights the stone bear but neither he or Gugu can make a dent in it. Gugu manages to pry open the rubble with spears to get to the soft insides but the core migrates somewhere else before Fushi can destroy it.
Thinking the Nokker has run away they let their guards down and Fushi, as March, gets crushed by rubble re-animating itself. Rean shows up and runs up to Gugu, insisting they get out of there now. But before they get a chance to do anything the house collapses and the focus is shifted to Fushi. He manages to get himself out from below the rubble but he’s feeling pains that aren’t his own in his hands. Turns out they’re Gugu’s pain as he holds up the rubble using his back and keeping Rean safe between his arms above her. Rean and Gugu have a moment of last words. Before suddenly the pain Fushi felt is gone and he knows what it means. He can become Gugu now. Gugu must be dead.
Saying Goodbye
Fushi fights as Gugu blowing fire uselessly against the Nokker. Denying to himself that Gugu is dead. But he’s eventually sent flying with one hit into the river below. The core separates itself from the useless rubble and migrates again. Heading east. Fushi is encouraged by The Creator to follow it but chooses to go back to the accident site and help move the rubble to find a passed out Rean and a dead Gugu. Gugu’s brother carries him to his burial site near the house he lived in and there Rean makes her way to see him as soon as she wakes up.
Fushi panics and becomes Gugu. Telling Rean that he had died not Gugu. The two promise to go see the flowers together after he’s done “shopping” after she had said a prayer at “Fushi’s” grave. She goes to give hime the ring back. But he gives it back to her asking her to keep it as a memory of him.
Eventually Fushi leaves forever. After saying goodbye to Booze Man and Pioran. The episode ends with Rean’s father finding her laying on the flowers. She tells him she loves someone so she isn’t getting married and the person she loves is far away. But she’s sure he’s with Fushi. Pretty much verifying that she knows Fushi was lying.
Review
I loved this episode! Whilst I was almost certain Gugu would die this episode it didn’t depress me so much as make me hopeful for Fushi’s future. I miss him but the tone of the episode was bittersweet rather than straight up heartache and I enjoyed that. The episode makes a note to show that Fushi’s choice to ignore The Creators warnings were almost if not 100% of the reason Gugu is now dead and he’s so weak. Which kinda make me wonder if he had a hand in any of it, in order to force Fushi into a corner. I doubt it but it’s just a thought.
The fact that Fushi is immortal but still the weakest of all the people he knew has finally dawned on him. And it’s finally dawned on him that his actions and choices have consequences. Fushi needed to learn that. Even if it was the hard way.
