WARNING: The following contains spoilers for To Your Eternity Episode 5, “Those Who Follow,” now streaming on Crunchyroll. It also contains discussion of suicide.
In Episode 5 of To Your Eternity, Fushi says a tearful farewell to the world's best and warm-hearted mother. March's death was a huge blow to both him and Parona. Although Fushi's face doesn't show it, his pain at losing March is palpable as he seeks revenge on Hayase and the Yanome. But with Hayase still alive and hunting for Fushi, he has no choice but to close this chapter of his journey and embark on another one.
Fushi, in the form of Oniguma complete with broken arrows, tears Yanome apart in his rage and it's only after Parona, who is carrying March tightly in her arms, calls for him that he stops and returns back into his human form. She thanks him for fighting for March, the two of them reaching a quiet understanding.
Out of the corner of Parona's eyes, she sees Hayase, broken and bloodied, lying in rubble. She approaches her and picks up a broken-off blade, a few steps away from Hayase. At first, it seemed like Parona would kill Hayase for what she did to March. Instead, she turns the blade on herself, the grief too much for her to bear.
March starts hitting Parona to stop her as the knife inches closer but to no avail. It's horribly reminiscent of what happened earlier in the episode where March wanted to do something to help Parona and ended up dying. March saved her the first time but she can't save her sister again. So she does the only thing she can do: she runs to Fushi and begs him to stop her.
At first, it looks like Fushi doesn't even realize she's there so March turns back to Parona, screaming at her to stop with her hand outstretched. Only this time, she does make contact with Parona...but through Fushi. Fushi grabs the knife and holds Parona's hand. Parona finally opens her eyes and starts: instead of his usual blank look, Fushi wears a pained expression, just like how March might have looked. And Parona knows, even without Fushi telling her, what March is trying to say: no matter how bad things are, Parona has to keep living.
When Parona returns home with nothing left but a bundle of March's clothes and her letter, Fushi places a hand on her shoulder and smiles at her, offering comfort. The first time Fushi made an expression, a bit of March shined through him. Here, this smile looks more like his own, showing that he's developing his own sense of self.
In Episode 2, the narrator said that pain promotes growth and no death is ever wasted. While this was in the context of Fushi dying multiple times because he didn't understand the concept of trying to stay alive, the quote means more now, in the context of a tragedy. Fushi has not only lost the Nameless Boy, his first friend, but also March, his mother. But he has gained something valuable that makes him all the more human in the process: with the Nameless Boy, he learned what kindness and friendship were and wanted to see the world; with March, he learned empathy and how to express his emotions.
As soon as Parona hears that Hayase and the Yanome will be looking for Fushi, she urges him to run, telling him that life isn't something "given" to him, it's something he has "to win" for himself. This is interesting since, in a way, it's not true: Fushi's life was given to him by his creator. However, with everything that Fushi has gone through and learned, he is making this life his own. Not only is he carrying the Nameless Boy's wishes but he is also carrying March's dreams of growing up and learning everything.
The emotional ending scene is fraught with symbolism: our loved ones are never truly gone. Parona sees Hayase in the distance with an arrow notched and she prepares to shoot her as well. She pulls out an arrow -- the same arrow that March pulled out of Fushi when Hayase shot her -- and uses it to fire at Hayase. Fushi leaves Ninannah as the wolf but transforms into a familiar young figure to eat some pears off the trees: March.
For more information on the warning signs and prevention of suicide, click here. If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). If you live outside the U.S., click here for a list of international hotlines.
