This episode was kind of going okay there for a while.  Nothing great or memorable but at least carrying a feeling or relevance, which was a step up.  There have been way too many dandelion fluff sidebar eps of Furuba lately, so that represents progress.  But the last ten minutes this week were literally almost unwatchable – that’s how much Kagura ruins Fruits Basket for me.  Of course if she were the only problem that would be at least workable, since she only appears every half-dozen weeks or so.  But..

I’ve been thinking about the excellent first FB 2019 ED “Lucky Ending” quite a lot lately (prompted by my Fall Preview writeup of Chihayafuru as it happens, but that’s a story for later).  Somehow its “Everything changes, everybody changes” seems especially apt for this series (and generally too, actually), and the way I relate to it.  Fruits Basket changed, I changed, and nothing has been the same.  Which change is the more important reason for that – or does it even matter?  Choose your metaphor as you like – ships, planets in orbit – but when humans and stories cross paths its a unique moment in time.  The circumstances will never be exactly the same again, so neither will our response to the story being told.

The fact is, Fruits Basket is not a slice of life series.  I’m not sure the mangaka would agree – maybe, maybe not – but I’m confident Akitarou Daichi would.  Furuba just can’t get away with fluffy asides the way something like Flying Witch or Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge can.  Sure this series could probably do with a smaller cast, but even so it really needs to focus with laser precision on the characters and events that really matter.  The start and ending of this week’s episode did that at least, but the part in the middle was like a slab of spoiled luncheon meat between two perfectly nice slices of bread.

Of all the relationships in  Fruits Basket, the one between Tohru and Kyou is as important as any.  One could argue that Yuki is co-equally important with those two, but I’ve always (including the 2001) found him as interesting as a roll of wet paper towels and besides, I would argue that’s not the case.  In any event, more interaction between Kyou and Tohru is good, and there’s been hardly any for weeks.  The way they repeat their individual patterns incessantly (maybe I just notice it more now than I did) can be annoying, but at least there’s something emotionally meaningful going on there.

Indeed, we’re heading into another of those meaningful patches of story – ones that remain distinct in my memory even after all these years, and provide an acid test for whether Furuba and I still have a working relationship.  For the most part it’s passed muster so far, and the introduction of Sohma Kazuma (Morikawa Toshiyuki) will provide another such barometer.  In a series with too many characters for its own good, Kazuma absolutely matters.  He’s critical, not least of all for Kyou’s development (which is as critical as it gets for Furuba).  I haven’t always loved the casting choices in this version, but Morikawa seems like a potential home run to me.  We’re headed into a very important couple of episodes, and they’ll tell a lot about this series’ ability to go the distance.