WARNING: The following contains spoilers for To Your Eternity Episode 4, “A Large Vessel,” now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Viewers were given a bit of a shock at the end of To Your Eternity Episode 3 when Fushi, in his wolf form, unexpectedly said "thank you" to March. Fushi is learning from his surroundings bit by bit, from knowing he needs to eat in order to survive to learning how to show his appreciation for people when they help him. He hasn't quite developed his own consciousness or thoughts yet -- this is currently more of a type of mimicry -- but Fushi is showing signs of evolving.
Despite Fushi arriving on Earth as a little orb without any sense of who he is or what anything is, he shows a remarkable sensitivity to what others are feeling. During their trip to Yanome, he stares fixedly at Parona, sensing her guilt over her sister's death. As the prisoners continue walking, March spots a family with a little girl, laughing and smiling, reminding her of her own family back in Ninannah. She grows quiet and sad, her thoughts far away -- and Fushi is the only one to notice. He doesn't say anything in either instance because he doesn't have the right words for it. The only phrase he knows is "thank you," which he already associates with appreciation and gratitude -- especially when he's eating.
As soon as Hayase realizes what Fushi is, she uses it as an opportunity to do some experimenting. She saw him regenerate after he fought Oniguma, as well as his transformation from a beheaded boy into a wolf. With absolutely no regard for his well-being, Hayase throws Fushi into an arena and pits him against prisoners, with the first being a man desperate for freedom.
Fushi gets stabbed in the shoulder with a spear, but retaliates after producing an exact replica out of his hand. As soon as the man screams, Fushi gets a shock. Writhing, the man wails that it hurts and Fushi starts copying him, his head bobbing from side to side, his words monotone. It doesn't look like Fushi feels any pain, but he's learned that saying "it hurts" is meant for when someone is suffering.
At first, it's disconcerting to hear Fushi say "it hurts" because he sounds like a broken record. It's only in his wolf form that he's shown signs of pain -- when he's in his Nameless Boy form, his expression rarely changes. But here he's voicing others' pain, rather than his own.
Fushi leads March to Oniguma, who's lying prone on his stomach. He's not moving at all, while the only audible sound is Fushi chanting "it hurts." March realizes all of the spikes in Oniguma are actually broken-off arrows. As she starts pulling them out, she strikes up a conversation with Oniguma. Even though this bear almost killed her, March's prevailing kindness allows her to empathize with him.
March gets choked up when she tells Oniguma that he can return home when he gets better, which will never happen for March -- she'll remain a prisoner at Yanome and never see her family again. She immediately apologizes to Oniguma and starts soothing him. At that, Fushi senses a change, turns to March and Oniguma, and says "thank you."
This "thank you" isn't like Fushi's usual iterations. This is him saying it for Oniguma, who isn't able to communicate with March. Oniguma's thank you has far more weighted implications: thanking March for taking care of him, forgiving him, and for being with him as he takes his last breath.
Fushi has shown that he already has fairly strong empathy without words, but now he has some language to express what he and other people are feeling. It makes you wonder about the implications this brings. As his capacity for empathy grows, the more connected he is to his human side -- but that also means he might never be able to escape from other people's pain.
