Fumetsu no Anata e (Anime)

A television anime adaptation of Yoshitoki Ooima's Fumetsu no Anata e manga was announced by Kodansha on Thursday. The anime series premiered on the NHK-E station in October 2020 and will have initially 20 episodes.

A second season is said to subsequently premiere in the fall of 2022. NHK revealed the character designs through their website. Originally, it was to air in 2020 but was delayed one year due to the ever evolving and strengthening Coronavirus.

Synopsis
"'An epic fantasy saga of an immortal hero’s quest to understand what it is to live...'"In the beginning, an “orb” is cast unto Earth.

“It” can do two things: change into the form of the thing that stimulates “it”; and come back to life after death. “It” morphs from orb to rock, then to wolf, and finally to boy, but roams about like a newborn who knows nothing.

As a boy, “it” becomes to be named Fushi since encountering an overly rambunctious young girl.

Through encounters with human kindness, Fushi not only gains survival skills, but grows as a “person”. But his journey is darkened by the inexplicable and destructive enemy Nokker, as well as cruel partings with the people he loves. Fushi continues his eternal quest, bearing the pain of living with the fortitude of someone who chooses his own path.

Summary
"It", a mysterious and powerful otherworldly white orb, is sent to Earth from the infinite cosmos with no sense of self, feelings, sensations, emotions nor identity of its own. However, It is able to take on the shape and form of those around that have a strong impetus. Initially an orb, it imitates the form of a rock.

As the temperature drops and snow falls atop the moss, It inherits the moss. When an injured, lone wolf comes limping by and lays down to die, It takes on the form of the animal. Finally, It gains consciousness and begins to traverse the empty tundra until It meets a white-haired Eskimo boy.

The boy lives alone in a ghost town, which the adults abandoned long ago in search of the paradise said to exist far beyond the endless sea of white tundra. However, their efforts were for naught, and now the boy is in a critical state. Acquiring the form of the boy, It sets off on a never-ending journey, in search of new experiences, places, and people.

After dying multiple deaths, he is found in a swamp by March, a young girl aspiring to be a caring mother, chosen to be a sacrifice to appease what they believe to be a rampaging bear spirit. She names the boy “Fushi”, and befriends him, teaching him how to eat and become much less feral. He makes an enemy in the warrior maiden Hayase, who immediately becomes obsessed with having him for herself beyond death itself.

Trivia

 * Originally, the anime was to air in 2020, but was delayed to the ever evolving and strengthening Coronavirus.
 * The first season centered on The Nameless Boy, Spirit Bear, Post Spirit Bear, Takunaha  and Jananda Island sagas.
 * The second season centers on The Guardians and Uralis Kingdom sagas, set four decades later, minutes after the conclusion of the first season finale.