To Your Eternity 1

What a unique manga! the first volume of 'To Your Eternity' offers a creative take on complex themes such as war, survival, and choices. The art style is accessible and engaging, and the different stories (that all are connected) are fresh and touching. Some of the stories really surprised me with the direction they chose (not all happy ones). The world is bleak but not without hope, and this volume did an amazing job in getting me invested in the story it told; as well as interested in picking up the next volumes.

I've been following this ever since its serialization first started in Japan, and boy, am I glad to see it get an English version. It, I assure you, is nothing short of brilliant. I could go on for days about why it has the best first chapter I've ever had the pleasure of reading, but as that would be spoilerific, I'll try to be more general about it. This volume serves as an introduction to the themes and motifs of the series, the chief one being the fundamental human fear of being insignificant and forgotten. This is made apparent from the very first line the boy utters, remembering exactly how long his wolf had been gone - an impressive feat, considering that he lives alone in the middle of nowhere. This theme receives quite a bit of emphasis and support throughout the rest of the chapter, setting a tone for the entire series (and it'll get further development in volume two, believe me). The rest of the book starts the first main story arc of the series, a Kafkaesque story in which themes of maturity are explored. Only a small taste of it is presented here in volume one, as the majority of the arc ends up in volume two, but even the brief glimpse we're provided here is enough to confirm your suspicions that Oima is about to take you for another wild ride. March's mannerisms have a nice, healthy escalation from "young child" to "young child trying to act grown-up," as we can see from how her initial (and justified) outrage at the Yanome's decision develops into a mother-like love for Fushi. And the best part about all this? It's shown, not told. The greatest asset of the medium of manga is its visual aspect - just ask anyone who saw Shouko's smile in A Silent Voice. Parona's motivations, for example, are expressed not through narration - or even dialogue - but through actions. What we SEE her do. Of course, there are certain things that have to be expressed in words, but for the most part, this is a very visual series. And now the big thing I wanna talk about: the translation. See, I'm kind of a translation geek. I love dissecting them, analyzing them, and even producing them. In fact, I actually compared this side-by-side with the Japanese version of volume one for this express purpose. Now, professional manga translations can be hit-or-miss at best, so I was understandably quite worried about this aspect of this release. Kodansha generally flies under my radar in terms of translation quality, since bigger fish like Yen Press take up most of my attention, so how would they fare with this modern gem? The result turned out to be better than I could have ever hoped for. The translation was astoundingly good. The boy's dialogue was nice and vibrant, and the translation correctly hit every theme therein. March sounds exactly like she should. Hayase's stiff politeness comes across very well, the slight off-ness of her speech producing a distinct contrast with the other characters. Heck, they even did the "otonashii" joke fairly well. If I had to give one complaint, it would be the rigid adherence to Japanese names for things in a setting that quite clearly isn't Japan. Rather than leaving "Usajiro" and "Kanitaro" be, then explaining them with a TN, I might have localized them as "Hoppington" and "Crabbers," or something. And "Oniguma" could easily have been "spirit bear." Of course, then again, that would call into question the validity of using "Fushi," so that's ultimately just a nitpick. All in all, this book deserves all of your money. Not only is the story incredible, but the translation here gives you probably the best experience you could ask for.

I have been wanting to start this series for so long since I discovered the anime series last year. to this day it is still the saddest thing ive ever watched. I shouldnt be surprised though becasue it was created by the same person who made a scilent voice and thats an emotional journey as well. to your eternity is the story of a beinging who is not of this world who wanders taking on the shape of all they form connections to once they die. the start of the series they have absolutley no concious or ability to think and as time goes on they slowly gain skills but it is extremly slow moving. The main draw to this series is that fact that there are so many characters the mc meets and the emotinal and complex conctions that are made. It is incredibly raw and heartbreaking at times but so worth the watch/read. I can't wait to read the rest of this series soon and I'll definitley be treating myself to a rewatch of the anime when I'm done!

Came in perfect condition!

4.5 Stars and interesting read not at all what I was expecting but gripping. I’m unsure whether I will continue the series as the ending of this is open but this story itself could be enough.

Very Good

This was absolutely amazing. I saw the anime trailer and immediately knew I had to know everything about it (the scene where ‘it’ goes from a corpse to a live human made me super excited for it). I can just tell that this will be an amazing story. The art is wonderful and the characters are super interesting! I highly suggest it! It is one of my favorite manga already. I can’t wait for the anime! It’s also really nice that there are translation notes! I feel like the translations are so much better when they have translation notes. Anyway, although there was a little damage to the cover, the story and art are amazing. I’ve read it so many times in the one day I’ve had it.

It's a good book definitely recommend

They loved it, it was a gift.

Pedí el título debido a que en México ya no tienen el número 1 en Panini, así que decidí pedir la versión en inglés de editorial Kodansha, el tomo es un poco mas grande de los publicados en México y eso es algo agradable para quienes sufrimos de la vista o usamos lentes, para los que les interese es una historia muy recomendable.

Just Great the way it is. This is fabulous, I am fascinated by the deep storytelling in both of Yoshitoki Oima's work.

It was a really good start. It's is dense and it talks about a lot of dense subjects, but it's really good and makes us think. Also it has a beautiful art.

Came perfectly packaged and loved it.