Set in ancient times, the story follows an orb that is casted onto Earth that takes the form of anything that leaves an impression/stimulus on it. From a rock, to a wolf, to a human being, everything leaves a stimulus and after their death the orb can assume their form. The story follows this immortal orb named Fushi (Japanese for "Immortal") as it travels the world, meets new people, and forms human bonds with them. The story's writing is really good albeit the last arc falls a little flat compared to everything else in the series (this is on purpose, read the Character section of this review, I elaborate there).
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Visuals
I think the visuals here are similar to Artland's adaptation of Mushishi, you have lush greens contrasted with rocky textures, and all that amazing artwork going on in the background without any complex detail, but rather this messy waterpaint style - giving you the feeling of a Bob Ross painting. Do not go in expecting it to have Studio Wit kind of animation, that would simply not work with this anime as the simplistic artstyle suits the series better than anything else. But the animation is good when it matters, the action heavy scenes while simple in nature are still animated fairly well and again while not Studio Wit or ufotable quality, they're perfect for this series in particular. The animation quality does drop in a couple episodes at the end but overall the animation holds up fairly well for the type of show this is.
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Sound
Having an OP by Hikaru Utada is a feat in and on itself, "Pink Blood" is a very vibey song but if you read the lyrics and the translation of what they're saying convey exactly what the anime is about. But apart from that the OST is absolutely fantastic, you have sad music, you have upbeat music, you have that magical score in some scenes where your tears won't stop flowing simply because the visuals, the story, and the soundtrack come together in perfect harmony. The soundtrack is well done enough that after ep12, particular tracks from the score will just punch you in the stomach and remind you of every character that left an impact on you and on Fushi just the same.
This is where the anime shines the most. The character writing in this anime is nothing short of amazing. I will only talk about Fushi since he is the protagonist and I really don't want to spoil anything because this is a series that deserves being watched firsthand.
So Fushi is an immortal orb, he has a human form, pretty straightforward. However, immortality comes at a cost, Fushi cannot die so anyone he comes in contact with, anyone he forms relationships with, bonds with, they will die, he won't he can't. That's the curse of immortality. Fushi starts off his journey as an orb that does not understand emotions, he learns pain, he learns death, then life, love, and so on. Like a child growing up and learning things, Fushi is the same - learning everything about being human from scratch. But herein lies the real problem, Fushi quickly realizes that if he comes into contact with people, they'll die since that is inevitable, they're mortals, he isn't. Fushi is an immortal that gets forms of the people that left a stimulus on him and perished, which means unlike the rest of us getting immortality and moving on by forgetting, he isn't that lucky. In an essence, Fushi is a machine designed to suffer, he must get new forms, but the only way to get them is to get attached to people, and watch them die, and then living forever with their pain. But as one of the characters puts it, nobody is truly dead as long as someone (Fushi) remembers them and carries their will and memory forward.
The side characters are also exceptionally well written, some of them will leave a huge impact on you (the viewer) and Fushi, some will not leave any impact at all. But the side character cast is splendid regardless, and all of them play a significant role in Fushi's realization of his own humanity and immortality. There are characters that you will get very attached to, just like Fushi. There are characters that you will feel were nothing more than a burden, again just like Fushi. In a sense, Fushi plays the role of a self-insert character for the immortal "viewer" since viewers will never die (meta I know). However, one must keep in mind that just because one side character was elaborated on and got their own arc, doesn't mean every side character will be the same. This is Fushi's story at the end of the day, and that means you only get attached to characters as Fushi does - which in a nutshell means that if Fushi didn't get too attached to some side character and their story wasn't really elaborated on then neither will the viewer. This is not bad writing but rather purposeful writing because Fushi's lack of disinterest in people is the same as the viewer's in those specific moments and/or arcs.
The writing in this show is nothing short of amazing, you feel exactly as Fushi feels, right from ep1. You feel confused and helpless in ep1 as you watch the side-character struggle just like Fushi, and then slowly you feel pain, sadness, anger, all these emotions that Fushi also feels. Eventually resigning yourself to the inevitable conclusion of "If I don't get attached to anyone then nothing will hurt me", this is precisely what Fushi feels in the last arc, and this is what the viewer also feels by the last arc - broken and emotionally exhausted from getting hurt. The last arc feels mediocre for this very specific reason - because it was written that way to portray the detached cold emotionally exhausted Fushi and I feel like a lot of people failed to understand that. Fushi is just like a regular person at that point, he likes some people and doesn't like other people, but most of all he does not want to get attached to anyone, which means he didn't explore those characters, and neither does the writing, hence neither does the viewer. The viewer feels exactly what Yoshitoki Ooima wants you to feel - whether you need to cry your heart out, or feel absolutely nothing about some character(s), Fushi will mirror your feelings (or are you mirroring his?). He will feel exactly what you feel, and I think that is amazing writing.
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Overall
I think Fumetsu no Anata e is an amazing show about life and death, and learning what makes humans human from the eyes of an immortal non-human being. It sports some of the greatest character writing in an anime that I have ever seen, with good visuals and an amazing gut-wrenching score to back it up. It serves as a very good interesting character study into a child learning about how and what humanity is. This show is nothing less than a rollercoaster, one that makes you feel every emotion on the spectrum that is possible, and probably leaves you a little bit wiser about humanity. The focus of the series is not side characters or the setting as much as it is simply on that orb and how it learns how to "human" properly. It is a very enjoyable show and I highly recommend you sit through the journey of this immortal orb named Fushi as he suffers constantly for 20 episodes due to his immortality.
