WARNING: The following contains spoilers for To Your Eternity Episode 4, “A Large Vessel,” now streaming on Crunchyroll.
In To Your Eternity, the sacrificial ritual that the anime's Ninannah citizens participated in -- overseen by Yanome -- could be assumed to be simply part of their customs. And while, yes, it is indeed part of their tradition, there is something much more insidious behind the ritual: Yanome desperately wants Ninannah's lands. Their greed and sense of arrogance over Ninannah is deeply entrenched in colonialism, and their strategy in seizing control over its lands and culture is horribly manipulative.
The first thing Yanome did in To Your Eternity during its quest for power was reaffirm the ritual's authenticity. Out of the approximately 40 settlements in Ninannah, they congratulate the chosen village and make a big show of bringing along a shaman to pick the girl who will be sacrificed. Yanome brings supplies to the Ninannah people and showers them with praise for upholding the ritual and thus "protecting all of humanity from Oniguma."
It's all a lie though. The old shaman who chose March to be sacrificed was a fake, merely part of a plot by the Yanome people to weave this illusion of a ritual when the reality is that they're murdering innocent little girls. By taking advantage of Ninannah's strong belief in their old traditions, Yanome is slowly inserting itself into the people's culture and gaining their trust. What seems like a mutual relationship is a form of power and psychological manipulation -- and it wouldn't be long before Yanome completely took over Ninannah.
But why Ninannah? Aside from its lush lands, Yanome most likely chose to conquer this particular location because it sees the people as being far less 'civilized' than its own. Ninannah's citizens eat with their hands and think chopsticks are better used as head-scratchers, while their land is made up of a cluster of settlements, rather than designated into districts and streets.
Under the guise of being a tour guide and treating them like guests, Hayase brings the trio of March, Fushi and Parona around town -- though their chains say otherwise. She treats them like beasts with ropes tied around their throats and holds them like a leash. She doesn't see them as human, least of all Fushi. Granted, Fushi isn't human in the first place, but she doesn't see him as a being -- only a means to further advance Yanome's future.
Hayase looks down on Ninannah, clearly seen when March wants to write a letter. Although March doesn't know how to write, she finds a scribe to write out how she misses her parents and to reassure them that she's doing well in Yanome. Hayase says it's futile anyway since the Ninannah people cannot read or write. The way she says it is highly condescending as if reading and writing is the only way to communicate. Hardly perturbed, March sidesteps that obstacle by slapping her handprint on the paper which conveys all her feelings.
While they're eating dinner, Parona and March are the only ones eating with their hands with Fushi eating straight out of the bowl and Hayase daintily eating her bowl of noodles with chopsticks. Like a mother, March encourages Fushi to use his manners and eat with his hands. Hayase, with an air of superiority, tells March to "mind her manners" and use the chopsticks. It's patronizing as Hayase lacks respect for the Ninannah culture. March ignores her and, basically giving Hayase the child's version of the middle finger, tells Fushi to eat however he likes.
Even though Ninannah has yet to come fully under Yanome's control, the process is already underway in To Your Eternity. Hayase says "It seems that Yanome's culture hasn't been correctly conveyed to Ninannah." This is how colonization begins: an enforcement of the colonizer's culture resulting in forced assimilation. When the roof of Fushi's mouth is stabbed by the skewer, he switches gears and uses his hands to pick it up. Upon seeing that, Hayase turns smug, thinking this is a prime example of Fushi becoming "civilized."
Parona's determination to return home to prove that Oniguma is dead will not only signal the end of To Your Eternity's cruel ritual -- it may also be the beginning of the Ninannah people freeing themselves from Yanome's control. But with Hayase's eyes set on Fushi and knowing how calculative she can be, that may be more difficult than they imagine.
