English Dub Review: To Your Eternity “The Last One”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

An orb that captures the reflection of things is cast to the earth. A mysterious figure observes the orb. First, the orb takes on the form of a single rock then a patch of moss until a snowstorm covers the land. The orb takes the form of a wolf dying from a wound and learns to walk. It experiences the pain of a wound and the coldness of the snow. The orb meets the wolf’s owner, a young boy without parents. The orb experiences new things with the boy as they live in the house.

The boy and the orb start their journey to explore new things like the rest of his family. He falls into the river and comes out of the hole injured, The boy patches up the wound, and continues forward. However, he finds out that everyone is dead at the end and that there is no paradise. The boy makes the decision to go home. However, on the way, he falls ill and gets worse as time goes on. The boy asks in his last moments to remember him and the boy passes away. The orb transforms into the boy and heads out into the world as the narrator states the requirement for the orb to change: stimulation.

Our Take:

To Your Eternity starts off with the tragic tale of a boy and the orb that watches him in the form of his pet wolf. The narrator played by Cory Yee is really soothing as he narrates the orb’s journey from rock to the wolf. The animation is good with the boy’s journey through the snow and his movements in the lighthearted moments.

This first episode is heartbreaking with the boy’s story. For starters, he’s been alone for a long time. He’s never seen fruits or vegetables and only knows about them because of the tales from his uncle. His hope that his parents have come back at the sound of ringing bells only to find the empty house is sad and he masks his sadness with the joy of finding food.

The boy does most of the talking. It’s obvious halfway into the episode that he’s truly talking to himself since the orb doesn’t give him a reaction. The orb merely observes most of the time and only reacts when the boy is in danger. Through his dialogue, anyone can tell that he’s an optimist with his hope of a paradise at the end of his journey. The drawings on the wall and his monologue about not wanting to alone build the reason why he wants to venture out in the first place.

The montage of the boy’s journey with the orb/wolf is nice. The scenes were effective at displaying how independent he is at that young age. It is also a stark reminder of how he’s had to survive alone. Furthermore, the boy’s true thoughts on his home leak out with the mention of rotting at home. It was a nice surprise to hear that and adds a layer to the boy’s character.

Then there’s the last arrow marker and the evidence of broken carriages as the real reason why they didn’t come back. His optimism remains even when the truth about his people is in front of him. He understands that there’s nothing for him now and decides to go back. Personally, the fact that we don’t get the boy’s name emphasizes his identity as the only person from the village until the end. All those scenes build up to the orb’s transformation to become the boy and travel to experience the world like the boy wanted.

Overall it was a good beginning to the orb’s journey to experience the world as the boy.