English Dub Review: To Your Eternity “A Rambunctious Girl”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The orb is now a boy and after dying repeatedly it finds its way to Ninanna. A girl from the village, March, is going to be a sacrifice to a god, Oniguma. However she doesn’t want to die, she wants to grow up. However it’s either her or the other girls, so she stays. She’s watched over by a warrior named Hayase until she runs during their route to the top of the mountain with the help of her friend, Parona. March runs into the orb as it’s regenerating and it walks away. She follows the boy and they spot a fruit tree where March throws him the fruits. After getting full the two sleep, but March has a nightmare about the consequence of her actions. The next morning the orb continues to follow her like a dog.

Our Take:

To Your Eternity kicks off with the sacrifice of a girl who just wants to grow up and her run-in with the immortal being that doesn’t know how to use his hands. It’s an interesting setup, and I’m curious about what’s going to happen next. The opening has a lot of overlapping images that tell a gruesome tale. The soundtrack at the beginning of the episode showing the world was beautiful. The ending’s got important items to the people that the orb encounters. It’s pretty sad when you think about how it will outlive them.

I liked the theme of life and death through the orb and March’s storyline. We get to see the orb experience life while repeatedly dying and learning from those painful experiences. It is growing to learn about what its new form needs like food. The simple details like it soiling its paints and eating like a dog solidifies the fact of its lack of knowledge.

On the other hand, we see March’s life of wanting to be a mother and playing house. Then there’s the tragedy of having that right to live be taken away because of tradition. It’s heart-wrenching from the parents saying it’s an honor while outside, but when they get into their house they truly show their feelings. March’s childhood behavior to finding out she’s going to die was raw with emotion. Furthermore, her choice to stay because of the other girls was great as well. Hayase’s comment on how mature her decision is while assuring her of life as a grownup beyond death was effective to emphasize how wrong the situation is.

The worldbuilding in this anime is great. We get the village’s culture, rules, and agriculture all in a short time. The bit of action we get from Parona’s attempt to help March was good as well. It shows that not all the villagers agree with the tradition. Hopefully, we’ll see Parona get out of being tied to a tree to help March escape.

March’s interactions with the orb are interesting. After seeing the orb regenerate its body, I’ll admit I thought she would be terrified like the guys trying to capture her. She starts off like a child following it but steadily grows to becoming the caregiver in the situation but climbing and throwing the orb the fruit. Her desire to grow up and be a mother is there at the end with her words as it looks like she’ll teach the orb how to behave like a human.

Overall this episode definitely makes the beginning of the orb’s journey exciting. As much as I want March to live, I only know that her story will end in tragedy. I am curious about how the orb will interacting with other humans when they find out about it.