To err is human; to forgive, divine.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yoshitoki Oima
Translation/Adaptation: Steven LeCroy
What They Say
Gugu is a masked boy living in servitude and trapped by his troubled past. When the two meet, Fushi’s abilities resonate with Gugu, who always yearned to be born anew. After being taken under Gugu’s wing, Fushi not only learns what happiness feels like, but also how quickly it can disappear …
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Fushi, under the guidance of Pioran, arrives at their destination. Pioran’s ‘lover’ is an old eccentric brewer who is regarded by the locals with suspicion. However, much like the previous volume, this isn’t so much Fushi’s story as it is the boy he meets in this volume.
Gugu is a kid who has had a hard life. Living alone with his brother on the lower rungs of society, they work as laborers hoping to save up enough money to own their own property someday. He dreams about this girl he sees in the market, who gifts him a ring. Time is not kind to those dreams, and Gugu’s brother takes their savings and flees. Gugu takes pity on his life and briefly contemplates suicide, only to have death chase after him and maim him in the most comical fashion.
Gugu is given a second chance at life from the brewer, who saves his life but experiments on the boy. With his face destroyed Gugu wears a mask and works for the brewer. That family grows to include Fushi and Pioran, but reality continues to be harsh. The girl who Gugu fancied is a well-off girl who runs away from home, a life Gugu once dreamed of but she takes for granted. Gugu goes through a spurt of living as an outcast, then leaning into his monstrous looks, only to return to the brewer.
It’s a messy meandering tale that harkens to myth and legend, which seems to be a running theme in these micro-stories Fushi encounters. Gugu has very real emotional conflicts but they’re often presented comically. People in these stories are petty, cruel, self-centered and flawed. Yet they stick together. The little family of outcasts ends up surviving and Fushi learns to be more human, even though that which pushes him to grow is pain. It means all happiness earned isn’t getting him closer to his creator’s goal.
This series is still hitting hard with its tonal dissonance. Tragedy is often comic in a way that is off-putting. The series reveals in its dark depiction of life and characters are often gross in a way that is human but with the volume cranked up. It’s hard to take the messages that the series occasionally makes seriously, especially when the story works so hard to deconstruct everything. It’s absurdism taken to a level that is common in shocking seinen titles but eventually strips the actions of its players of all meaning.
Fushi is determined to stay by Gugu at the end of this volume, wanting to learn all he can from Gugu. Fushi’s creator, if that’s who the mysterious figure only Fushi can see is, wants Fushi to learn and grow so it can fight against the creatures trying to undo the world. Or so the creator says. Fushi, rather than leaving once again, stays… with the ominous words of the creator telling him that he can stay to see Gugu’s end, whatever and whenever that might be.
In Summary
New places and new faces, and new ways for Fushi to experience the joys and pains of life. The more Fushi travels the more he learns, and with the creature stalking him in the woods he’s going to need to grow and learn some more. His mysterious creator demands it of him. Yet Fushi would rather learn slowly and traditionally from the humans which have taken to him. All fatally flawed and imperfect, yet accepting of the flaws they see in the strange immortal creature walking alongside them. To Your Eternity reminds us of the one constant in its refrain, life is strange and death always awaits.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B +
Packaging Grade: B +
Text/Translation Grade: A –
Age Rating: 13 +
Released By: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: Marsh 13, 2018
MSRP: $12.99 US / $16.99 CN
