It’s interesting to me that it’s taken so long for Fruits Basket to acknowledge the elephant in the room. And it’s not unique to the remake by any means – as I recall the events depicted here happened in the penultimate episode of the 2001 series too (which would have been #25) . I don’t recall thinking it was odd then, but it certainly strikes me that way now. In my memory Kyou was a more consistently important presence in the buildup to this episode in the first series, but – whether that’s accurate or not – he’s barely been a presence for much of the season this go around.
For all its huge (too huge) cast and fondness (too much fondness) for idle time-filling, Furuba at its core really does come down to Kyou. I think Momiji exemplifies the curse of the Sohma in the most poignant manner, but if you distill it down to its essence, its Kyou who lives it. Tohru is undeniably the main character, but it’s really Kyou who’s the protagonist of Fruits Basket because the central theme is effectively his life story. That’s why it’s so odd that he’s so rarely been at the center of events for much of the first season (again, I remember that being a bit different with the 2001 but I don’t trust my memory on that).
Is it odd that Kazuma would place so much in Tohru that he’s willing to risk everything (from Kyou’s perspective) on her – after just having met her for the first time? Yes, undoubtedly, and I’ve never quite bought into that part of the story. Be that as it may, though, I never doubted that Kazuma loved Kyou and was trying to do what was best for him, cruel as it seemed at the time. But damn, it’s a hell of a risk when you take everything into consideration.
One could nitpick numerous other elements of this scenario – and the way it’s executed – to be sure. But ultimately I think it’s one of those examples where Takaya shows a real grasp of pathos that few mangaka could match. Basically, what Kyou wants is to be loved – which we all want – but in his case, it’s to be loved for who and what he really is. Unfortunately because fate has pissed all over him (and those who share his curse) like no one else in this mythology, that means accepting that sometimes he becomes something foul and disgusting, not least to himself. Is there a metaphorical aspect to this? Oh, you betcha.
The bit with Kyou’s mother is, in its way, just as cruel as the situation with Momiji’s mother. But rather than openly reject her son, Kyou’s mother conditionally accepts him. She says she loves him and maybe she does, but only on her terms. That means she pretends the dark side of his curse doesn’t exist, and because she’s ashamed of him (and kids are far too perceptive to ever be fooled about that) she basically keeps him as a captive in their home. In a way she’s even more cruel than Momiji’s mom, who at least allowed her child a clean break. Her presence is a reminder every day to Kyou that he’s something to be ashamed of, that the truth of him is too terrible to be shown to the world.
The drama over the reveal and its aftermath, while a bit too heavy-handed, does reveal and remind us of some important elements. It’s very clear that it’s Tohru and not Kagura who really matters to Kyou, for starters – and Kazuma’s decision leaves no chance for doubt to persist. But it’s also clear that for all that this is about acceptance, where Kyou and Tohru are concerned it’s something much more than that. It’s not enough for her to accept him for who and what he is – and that points out an essential conflict in the series’ reality as it stands at this point in the narrative.
That, in truth, is something Akitarou Daichi and the first series never really got the chance to pursue. But things have changed, there are two more seasons of Fruits Basket 2019 to come, and once and for all we’re going to see the elephant in the room acknowledged and confronted on-screen. That as much as anything was the reason why so many of us were excited at the prospect of a complete telling of this story, even as we acknowledged the not-inconsiderable flaws in the source material. This entire first season has really been a prequel building to this point – now the stakes are raised and Fruits Basket 2019 gets to show the world just what sort of series it is, for better or worse.
Aozora
September 15, 2019 at 1:12 amI never read the manga and I didn´t watch the “old” anime. But I kind of fell in love with Kyou from the first episode on. It was obvious that he was going to be an important character, so I was rather suprised with the lack of Kyou for the last 10 episodes or so. Needless to say: I loved the fokus on his character, his fears and hopes and this temporarily happy ending for him. But I also think that this whole development was somehow abrupt.
Guardian Enzo
September 15, 2019 at 1:40 amLike I said, I don’t remember him being this sidetracked for this long in the first series. In my mind he’s always been basically a co-lead with Torhu. But I don’t trust my memory on that.
dvdlegend
September 16, 2019 at 12:32 amYuki has also been sidetracked a bit as well and I would argue he is also a co-lead.
Guardian Enzo
September 16, 2019 at 8:46 amYeah, but not quite on the same level as Kyou (at least in terms of emotional heft).
Fruits Basket Fan
September 15, 2019 at 2:10 amGood review as always, but I personally disagree that Kyo’s situation with his mother is nearly as bad as Momiji’s. That’s not to downplay Kyo’s situation or perfectly valid feelings in the slightest, but I would personally prefer someone that I care about (mother or otherwise) to give me conditional acceptance rather than just outright abandon me. Speaking very much from experience here, the prospect of receiving a ‘clean break’ can be a very cold comfort. I would prefer maintaining some sort of relationship, warts and all, than having that person vanish from my life altogether.
Guardian Enzo
September 15, 2019 at 2:20 amEven if that person was so embarrassed about that relationship that they refuse let you be seen by anyone else?
I do take your point, but I think it cuts both ways in this fictional case. Kyou can never really get on with his life because he’s effectively a literal and figurative prisoner of his mother’s shame.
Fruits Basket Fan
September 15, 2019 at 2:30 amNah, you’re right. Despite what I said being how I believe in general, the “prisoner” element (which slipped my mind for a moment) takes things so far that Kyo probably would have been better off without her. There is a certain point where the toxicity of a relationship is so extreme that a clean break is better – and even though my clinginess makes it so that reaching this threshold is difficult, it’s a thing that can happen.
If she hadn’t isolated him so much, I would have thought of his mother as being a good mom who just mishandled things because she isn’t a mind reader. Kyo’s feelings of hurt are perfectly understandable, but it’s likewise understandable that Kyo’s mom had no reason to believe that her doting behavior and stream of I love yous would miss their mark. The isolation, though, is what makes her lose her sympathetic qualities for me.
Angel
September 15, 2019 at 5:20 amI found it to be the best episode of the series so far.
Kim
September 15, 2019 at 8:47 amNot only did Kyo’s mother keep him isolated from others when she killed herself Kyo is blamed for her death. Imagine how that would affect a young child.
While I think the Sohma family is fill of sad childhood stories (it’s just that type of story) I do think Kyo’s story is the saddest. Even though he does find a father figure in Kazuma the curse of the cat and how the cat is viewed is always looming
dvdlegend
September 16, 2019 at 12:04 amThe original anime was one of my all time favs, as a teen I must’ve re-watched it 100 times and I have to say that I thought this version of this ep was much much better than the original. HOWEVER, I felt the lead up to this incredible episode has been dismal, Yuki and especially Kyo have felt so sidelined in this series that I feel like Hatori and Momiji have almost as much screen time as them. As much as I liked the Uo and Hana’s eps I felt they really de-railed the flow of the series to me. Overall I’m still enjoying the show but I feel like that is because all the voids I have with this series is being filled by my memories of the old one.
Guardian Enzo
September 16, 2019 at 8:47 amSo maybe my memory was right, and Kyou and Yuki were more involved in the first anime. Which would mean yet another smart change by Akitarou-sensei.
Rasu
September 16, 2019 at 4:56 amI think you were right, since I also recall that the “cat’s curse arc” happened in volume 5, which was just after they went to the hotsprings with Momiji and met Ritsu’s mother; on the other hand I recall that Uo’s an Hana’s past happened near their volumes (17? 15?), when the relantionship with the Sohma was so much consolidated that they begin to be aware of the fact that they wouldn’t see Tohru as they did before since it was obvious her destiny will be bound to one of them and so they began to recall their past memories. I also remember that all the cat stuff happened before the horse, the tiger and the monkey were introduced, then their stories weren’t as impactful as his. After the cat’s arc, I recall the rest of the characters begin to appear after the second semester-Kyoto arc, because I was a little mad that suddenly after the cat’s arc the presence of the mouse started to fade little by little, even his past memories were showed as a single panel which wasn’t adressed properly until it was explained why he did what he did by revealing his past at the middle end of his arc.
So I guess that this time, instead of showing the best friends past near the closure of the series (when just Tohru’s, Kyouko’s, Machi’s, Shigure’s, Akito’s and the rooster’s past were left to unfold, and so they had to make time while showing their happy peaceful days before the storm) they decided to show it now so the audience can empathize more with them and understand they are not just “background characters”, leaving only the most complicated to the end so the real truth behind Sohma’s curse will be revealed with the rest of them (and handle things with the mouse ship, which by the way still makes me angry despite there were lots of volumes centered on Yuki’s new life since his explication didn’t make sense to me) which means second season will be less carefree and more heavy than this one (if we ignore Yuki’s arc), yet it surprises me that they didn’t introduce the megane maid in this season to complete this season’s vibe, maybe they want to closure Aya’s arc in one row.
dvdlegend
September 16, 2019 at 12:54 pmIt’s not even so much that they were more involved, it’s just little nuances here and there. Even when there was an episode focused on the other characters you would still have Yuki/Kyo have a somewhat memorable scene (one liner or a short comedy bit) that would just add a little bit more to their character. Which is why in the original when you saw Yuki help Torhu confront Kyo in his monster form, I know it wasn’t in the Manga but it didn’t feel out of place to me considering how they showed Yuki and Kyo relationship progressed up until this point.
I know Natsuki Takaya really didn’t like the original but the comedy in the original really balanced out heavy drama part of the show and the little quirks that were added to the characters to give them a bit more dimension by Akitaro Daichi really made the emotional parts hit harder when they happened.
Again still enjoying the show for the most part but when you take out so much comedy in a “slice of life” show from my experience it does tend to get a bit boring.
Amy3422
October 12, 2019 at 1:32 pmKyou’s mother strikes me as one of the curse’s saddest victims. She loves her son, but believes he’ll be hurt if she lets him be near people and obsessively fears his discovery. She tried to pretend that everything was fine for his sake. He saw through it, but anyone would sugarcoat for a child under 5!
And then she committed suicide, which is the greatest abandonment of all. It’s clear that she was in a severe depression (which the later volumes clarify a bit), but to Kyou’s young mind his mom would never do such a thing unless her love for him was a lie. On top of that, his horrible dad persuades him that the suicide was Kyou’s fault, which twists Kyou’s feelings even more and results in the disturbing way he treats Tohru.
And really, shame on Kazuma in this episode! He does his best with a bad situation, but his plan got Tohru hurt and could have gone even worse. I liked Shigure pointing out that they all use Tohru, even someone like Kazuma.