Manga Monthly: To Your Eternity
April. One month before the GCSEs and A Levels (a quick note – good luck everyone!). A definite stressful time for people around the UK. Now, just as much as it is important to revise and relearn and practice everything you’ve studied in the two to three years of school or college, it is vital that you also take a break, as from personal experience – a burnout is not fun. So, I recommend you read April’s Manga Monthly To Your Eternity.
To Your Eternity is written by Yoshitoki Oima. People might be familiar with their popular series called ‘Silent Voice’ which was nominated in Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, to win the ‘New Creator Prize’. The English translation volume came out October 31st in 2017. The last release given for the English translation was from September 18th 2021, stopping at Volume 15. When talking about this manga, I don’t want to spoil anything that might ruin the experience because of how topics are told, the ambiguity being so crucial so that your own realisation makes you feel the emotions from the manga.
The plot begins with an orb being released into the atmosphere. This orb seems to be watched by a researcher of some sort, who becomes the narrator of the story. The orb’s first arrival on Earth takes the form of a rock before taking the form of a white wolf which dies in front of it. Whilst it explores aimlessly in this form of wolf, he meets a young boy. The boy shows desperation to find his tribe which the wolf unknowingly helps. However, after a tragic accident and a bleak realisation and an emotional moment, the show must go on.
The mystery of the orb and its existence can be described in two ways. One, being fascinating. The writer knew exactly what they were doing, gripping the reader onto questions they want to ask the narrator about this physical being. It’s seeming so alien, yet so familiarly portrayed in the art that it can’t be an alien. Two, being horrific. Just as much as its mystery is the fact that it’s so bizarre and unique, that it’s beautiful…it’s also unnerving. What if it’s evil? What if just doesn’t know it’s real purpose? What if its existence is a danger to life on Earth? Who knows…?
When we meet the boy, I can only describe him in the following – naïve, innocent and optimistic. His happens despite the cold place he lives in reflects how he doesn’t know the realities of the world. I mean, the fact he’s not given a name reflects how perhaps he’s lost his identity and his origins of the people around, only being able to refer to his tribe though memories and pictures. His relationship with the orb is special, as he befriends him almost immediately. Despite the fact it could be linked to him being so lonely, he’ll take anyone. Or anything…
This. Is. A. Masterpiece. It’s so beautiful, not only in art but also in plot. The characters all bring ambiguity and mystery and bring perhaps issues that modern society still faces today. My emotions were evoked enough to leave me feeling bittersweet. I also like the reality of how violence is show, but it’s quite graphic in the later volumes, so if you are a fan of this manga story, consider the warning. If I could, I would recommend this to everyone, but it can be quite hard for beginner manga readers to read if they are simply looking for simple stories as this manga makes you question a lot of things.