Fushi (To Your Eternity)

Fushi
To Your Eternity character
Fushi's most common appearance
First appearance	To Your Eternity chapter 1: "The Final One" (2016)
Created by	Yoshitoki Ōima
Voiced by	(Japanese), Jacob Hopkins (English)
In-universe information
Alias	Johan, Orb

Fushi (Japanese: フシ) is the protagonist of To Your Eternity, a manga written and illustrated by Yoshitoki Ōima. Initially named "Orb", Fushi is an immortal creature sent by a mysterious entity labeled as "the Beholder" to Earth. He takes multiple forms when first visiting Earth and after befriending a young dying villager, Fushi copies his appearance as a response to his last request of never forgetting him. As the manga progresses, the Orb travels across the planet and is given the name Fushi by a young villager named March while other characters presented in the narrative help him interact with others, forming bonds with the people he meets while becoming more human-like.

Ōima created Fushi as a character who would often connect with readers to struggle with the idea of the importance of surviving and the dilemma of immortality. His immortality traits were created for him to adapt to multiple story arcs where she would be given freedom to create distinctive types of interactions. In the Japanese animated adaptation of the series, Fushi is voiced by Reiji Kawashima.^[1] For the English dub, the role was given to Jacob Hopkins.^[2]

Critical response to Fushi grew from lukewarm to very positive, praising the execution of his development from a divinity to a human, as a result of connections forged with the individuals he meets.

Creation[]

Manga artist Yoshitoki Ōima created Fushi. Fushi was originally going to be female, but a colleague suggested a male protagonist in order to create a different appeal. Ōima wanted to make the protagonist neutral, and said she prefers neutral female characters. Each volume cover represents a character's dream, with the first one which depicting the unnamed youth finding freedom. Volume three depicts Fushi's dream, which is to live happily and peacefully with everyone. According to Oima, Fushi does not want to forget the people he met in journey. She said that she felt some guilt for having characters die. Ōima commented on Fushi's growth over time and that, starting with its early portrayal as an animal. There are approximately 13 characters that are greatly affected by Fushi, per the series' working title of "Ash Swords of 13 People" (『13人の灰剣』), before being changed to "To Your Eternity".^[3]

Ōima wanted the reader to find himself, like Fushi, in a situation where he does not know anything. Oima wanted to write Fushi's story ever since she was young and wanted to write the character's grief. It is for this reason that she did not make any character appear apart from the hero. A common theme portrayed in the manga is death and immortality, though the latter is something she does not want to show to the readers based on her own personal view. To reinforce this impression of the unknown, she decided to draw a white universe, which is how she obtained a snowy landscape. The character of March was created to balance Fushi as, thanks to her talkative personality, she makes the narrative more chatty.^[4] The ability to take other forms was developed to give the writer the possibility to write new characters who would interact with Fushi easily.^[5]

Casting[]

Jacob Hopkins will be Fushi's English actor.

Director  [ja] expressed surprise when first reading the manga series, initially believing the young villager would be the lead character rather than Fushi.^[6] In casting the actors  [ja]'s voice quality is felt fitting for Fushi from his point of view, which the director agreed with. The first episode only had two voice actors: Kawashima and Tsuda. Tsuda felt that Kawashima was a passionate actor due to how early he appeared in each episode's recording session. Kawashima felt his character to be exhausting to play based on his multiple experiences while Tsuda thought Fushi was too mysterious.^[6] For the sixth episode, Kawashima expressed difficulties portraying Fushi's lines due to the fact the character is learning how to speak.^[7]

Kawashima said that he was familiar with Ōima before To Your Eternity as he used to read her previous work, A Silent Voice. Upon reading the manga, Kawashima was often moved to tears by both series. Kawashima received instructions from the sound director and also looked at materials about the character in order to understand the role. The actor commented on the scene where Fushi starts eating fruits delivered by March, and chose to eat fruits too in order to make the scene more realistic. Due to Fushi's poor speaking in the early episodes, he executed lines in broken Japanese. The actor often listened to the final product.^[8]

In the upcoming English dub of the series, Jacob Hopkins will voice the character, something he called "A dream come true!"^[9] In recording of the first episode, the actor expressed an emotional work not only due to the handling of the unnamed child but also how Fushi ends up becoming him in the ending.^[10]

Role in To Your Eternity[]

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Initially known only as "the Orb", sent to the Earth with no emotions nor identity. The being is able to take on the shape of those around that leave a "strong impression" on him. Starting off as a white orb, he takes the form of a rock, followed by a clump of moss, then a dying wolf. As a wolf, the being meets a boy living alone, who mistakes him for his late pet, Johan. After the boy dies due to a major wound, the wolf takes his form, driven by the youth's last wish to not be forgotten.

The wolf travels south, in accordance to the youth's wishes, until he encounters a young tribal girl named March who names him Fushi. As the girl is about to be sacrificed to a bear, per a religious agreement between her tribe and their neighboring Yanome Kingdom, Fushi and March's friend Parona stop the animal. One of the Yanome soldiers behind the sacrifice, Hayase, takes an interest in Fushi. In the chase, March dies when protecting Parona from an arrow shot, enraging Fushi who kills most of Yanome soldiers as a bear. Shortly after returning to March's village, Parona convinces Fushi to escape from the Yanome soldiers. Fushi then forms of various beings, and acquires new powers, such as the ability to create objects out of nothing. As an elder looks after him, Fushi gradually learns how to act like a human and looks after the idea of becoming independent. Moreover, Fushi continues developing more human emotions across his journey allowing him to meet new people. The Beholder, the person who sent him to Earth, often meets Fushi to test him and explains that their job is overseeing the planet. However, Fushi has no memories of Beholder so he ignores him.

As time passes, Fushi meets Hayase again whose obsession with him has developed into love. Still enraged about March's death, Fushi ignores her in the ocean. Fushi then continues living in more modern times and is followed by Hayase's descendants who are also obsessed with him.

Reception[]

Critical response to Fushi was initially positive. UK Anime Network praised the story, comparing it with Kino's Journey for the narrative's focus on a growing wanderer.^[11] Anime News Network said that while the series starts only with two characters, Fushi and the unnamed villager, Oima managed to create a moving storyline and notices how little by little, Fushi tries to be involved human interaction in later chapters. Another writer from the same site, enjoyed the bond Fushi has with the villager as, thanks to him, he learns several actions, most importantly eating.^[12] Otaku USA said that positibily compared Fushi with the cast from Osamu Tezuka's works Dororo and The Three-Eyed One but better executed due to the sensitive portrayals of the themes involving immortality.^[13] The bond Fushi forms with the villagers including the nameless one was praised for the idea of despair though another feared Fushi would be involved in too many melodramatic scenarios in future stories as he meets March.^[14][15] Voice actress Rikako Aikawa said that Fushi "received a lot of stimuli throughout his life and hoped that they viewers also do so too while watching the show".^[8]

Fushi's character arc was the subject of praise as he was close to acting like a human rather in contrast to his nearly emotionless introduction and felt the tragic tone presented in the story was effective to the him,^[16][17] with Fandom Post saying that by the sixth manga volume his constant interactions with the cast produce such reaction in the characters he meets that he "is becoming a living legend, and he may not be able to escape those that would seek to destroy him or those he cares about."^[18] Manga News furthermore enjoyed the series' time-skips as Fushi's immortality allows him to blend in with the new more modern scenarios.^[19][20] Fushi's continuous shows of humanity was given praise such as when he becomes enraged when March is killed by a soldier of a villager and kills them in response. Anime News Network further commented that the sixth episode of the anime gave him enough screentime to become the sole main character for the first time and lives up to the series' reputation.^[21][22][23] In Fushi centered article, Comic Book Resources noted that the series manages to portray Fushi's humanity properly as his inspiration is that of accomplishing the dreams of the people he cared but died across the plot.^[24]

There has been commentary on Kawashima's work as Fushi. Rie Hikisaka, who plays the role of March, enjoyed Kawashima's work and his interactions with Pioran among other characters.^[25] Anime News Network commented that the actor managed to impress him with how deadpan his lines are.^[26] Similarly, Comic Book Resources noted that Fushi became able to have complex emotions in the anime even if the actor's performance makes his line clumsy.^[24] His interactions with Gugu were also praised due to how Kawashima expressed different type of emotions while keeping his deadpan tone when he is hurt or he bonds with him.^[27]

Jacob Hopkins's work was also the subject of praise with Anime News Network, who hopes that his traits as Fushi are as developed as the unnamed villager.^[28]

Fushi has often appeared in charts involving anime characters who became popular in Spring 2021.^[29][30]

In the article "Growing Pains: How To Your Eternity Expresses the Experience of Being Human", TWWK from Anime News Network has Fushi's role and growth in the series explored. Fushi is initially seen as a typical alien like the one from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) or Starman due to the way he interacts with other characters. As Fushi interacts with humans, he learns both physical and mental pain. By the time Gugu dies in the series, the writer commented that Fushi acts more like a typical preelemintary child and be related with the viewer due to how painful is for the audience and the character to meet new characters only to have them die in their journey. The Beholder claims that Fushi needs to continue experiencing pain if he wishes to grow up which serves as a direct message to both the protagonist and the audience. The writer suggests that both Fushi and the viewer should continue contacting other people as the narrative indicates that there several multi-faceted people who provide multiple types of interactions which makes the journey of a person appealing.^[31]

References[]