To Your Eternity “The Children’s Dreams” Review
To Your Eternity “The Children’s Dreams” is the sixteenth episode of the To Your Eternity anime. Taking a slight detour from the tournament Fushi got into the final round in episode 15. Tonari and her gang talk about their futures. With Fushi included. Tonari’s story is told and Hayase is back to make everyone’s life hell.
Growing for the future
This episode definitely hammers home Fushi’s growth and lack of it. And how he’s just not cut out to survive an island of people who make themselves weapons. This is evident during the campfire scene when his idea of having future plans is “defeat the Nokkers on my own.” Yes he’s changed enough to accept that he’ll likely bring nothing but death to his friends but he’s still quite naïve thinking that’s even realistic or plausible. The duality of Fushi is shown even more when he breaks into Pioran’s cell and promises to break them out there by winning the tournament. To anyone with an ounce of common sense it’s clear that’s a pipe dream and not going to be as easy as he thinks, if it’s doable at all. But he childishly never questions it.
This isn’t a bad thing. it just goes to prove just how much Fushi still needs to grow.
Two Sides Of The Same Coin
Tonari’s story is one that is, deliberately in my opinion, completely opposite to Fushi. Coming from humble beginnings since the age of 7 all she’s known is pain and heartbreak. Her father was blamed for the murder of her mother and, showing the same naiveite that Fushi shows now, she chooses to stick by him and go to the Island with him. She sees the killing from age 8 onward and learns very quickly that these people just want to satisfy their lust for power.
With that lesson learned she’s even more distressed when she can’t find the body of her father in the mass grave. It’s only afterwards when her father staggers towards her after being poisoned. That she realises he’s the same man she saw in the arena with the eyes of a maniac. She lives on. Finding friends in Mia. Then Uroy, Sandel and Oopa. Whilst killing and cruelty with a small amount of friendship is all she’s known, all Fushi has known is loyalty and shelter and needs to learn that cruelty isn’t necessarily only shown to cruel people. He knows physical pain but has yet to mature enough to understand and cognize emotional pain.
That’s where Hayase comes into play.
Learning to hate
During the final round of the tournament it dawns on Fushi that his opponent is Hayase. He’s mad at first but not fuming. He’s more confused and angered at her total lack of humanity than anything. He finally realises what Tonari and everyone else has been saying to him all this time when he becomes Parona and Hayase goes into great detail of how she butchered her. He loses his temper massively and goes wild constantly changing forms to try and kill Hayase. But Hayase is smart and knows he’s emotionally very young. Using her much cooler head to her advantage she out-manoeuvres Fushi every time. and eventually downs him with a dart laced with western morning glory. The same trick she used to knock him out with before.
Fushi’s immaturity and rage lost him the match and now the future for everyone is uncertain…
