Fumetsu no Anata e – 13-15 [Dropped]

This will be my last time writing about Fumetsu no Anata e. Several of its recent episodes have left me without a single positive thing to say, and while I’m regularly critical of anime, there’s no value in unchecked negativity. I flirted with the idea of throwing this post in the trash as well, but I’ll just throw up a warning here instead: only venture beyond this sentence if you’re as frustrated with the show as you imagine me to be.

13: It looks like Fumetsu’s new arc is going to be more goal-driven than what came before, with plenty of talk between Fushi and his hooded creator outlining a plan for the series’ future. In one corner we have an immortal dude in a black cloak who wants to preserve Earth in its current state; in the other we have the Nokkers, who seek to disturb the planet’s fragile order. The Nokkers’ location is a constant source of discussion in this episode, which shows just how far Fushi’s mental acuity has come since his orb days. He’s speaking in complete sentences, strategically picking his destinations, and asserting himself in dialogues with characters like the hooded man and Pioran. I was surprised by Pioran’s reappearance, since she’d already acted as a guide once before – her reasoning felt a bit like the series asking for a redo, but Fushi’s evolved personality gave them an all-new dynamic, so I’m alright with it. She didn’t help much in keeping her companion out of slavery, though, to say nothing of herself. Now she’s a damsel in distress on a prison island where Fushi has to win a tournament to free her? I’m getting minor shounen vibes from this plot development, and I can’t say I’m a fan.

14: This may be the worst episode of the show so far, and given how poor the Gugu arc was in its early stages, that’s saying something. Fushi’s goal at the moment is to rescue Pioran from captivity, and given that he tries multiple times to scale the wall of her prison, he must have some idea where she’s being held. So why doesn’t he try to find another entrance – say, the one through which new prisoners are taken – instead of doing any of this other shit? He may have lost his ability to transform into March, but he can still become a wolf and a firebreathing macho man, plus he’s functionally immortal, so he should be able to storm a more ordinary entrance (which must exist somewhere on the island). But nah, let’s take the scenic route instead: jump into an arena for some limp-looking death games, defeat opponents as nonviolently as possible, win tournament, become chief, issue an edict freeing Pioran. We can even pick up a ragtag band of badly-integrated child characters along the way, whose desensitization to killing can teach the audience that murder is bad! I swear, dopey lines and boring shots covered this episode like oily fingerprints. Not even Parona’s appearance could rescue it, and she’s my favorite cast member. If the next one is similarly disappointing, I’ll be through blogging this show.

15: I’m through blogging this show. Dedicating a full paragraph to this episode would leave me feeling hollow, so I’ll just say that Tonari is one of the worst characters I’ve become acquainted with all year. She jumps from exuberance to pitiful pleading to mockery on the whims of what feels like half a dozen writers, each of whom create lines for her without consulting the others. Among shows that have displayed even a hint of promise at some point in 2021, only Back Arrow can boast that level of incoherent characterization. Tonari worsens every plot in which she factors, so I have no further desire to write about them, or a show where her role seems to increase with each week.