Fruits Basket Season 2 – 15
Bad parenting is hardly a headline story in Furuba, and I think one could probably guess based on what a pill he is that Yuki’s were no exception. We don’t know about the dad, but Mom is a real piece of work. The funny thing is that as awful as she is, she’s not even close to the worst Fruits Basket mom we’ve met.
If I were a better person I could probably feel more sympathy for Yuki, because he’s certainly at least half sympathetic (the back half). But somehow I just can’t bring myself to care much about the guy, which makes every Yuki-centric episode a bit of a chore. The most amusing thing about these parent-teacher conferences is Shigure trolling Sensei, but apart from that they’re pretty standard-issue Fruits Basket melodrama.
All these weeks with no Momiji or Hiro/Kisa and very little Kyou in a featured role are starting to wear on me. Furuba is certainly a series with enough good characters to make it hum, but the lens is always too wide-angle – too many weak characters, too much weak humor, too much wasted time. If only there were an anime adaptation that would slice through some of this chaff and focus more heavily on the wheat…
The God of High School – 02
Truth be told, there was never much chance I was going to stick with The God of High School, although I didn’t dislike the premiere. The execution was (and is) very good, but that can only carry weak material so far. And this is pretty inane stuff on the whole, really. It does have the virtue of not taking itself too seriously, but the resulting humor is pretty juvenile. And mostly, the premise seems to be an excuse for the violence porn that’s a staple of that sort of premise.
Nanomachines, “charyeok”, Northern Taekwondo – eh, who am I kidding, I don’t really care about any of it. The God of High School is fine for what it is, but what it is isn’t for me (which is fine).
Jordan
July 15, 2020 at 2:54 amAlthough the next couple of episodes are not going to feature Yuki in the same spotlight, however, in Fruits Basket, there are only two main characters: Tohru and Yuki. And it makes sense too because we see Yuki’s storyline being its own story without Tohru having its complete involvement in it, while Kyo’s storyline almost always has something to do with Tohru. I love Kyo, but it’s going to be hard to watch moving forward and not liking Yuki.
Austenwb47
July 15, 2020 at 6:07 amFor some reason, I recall liking Yuki more in the 2001 series. It could be because I recall the 2001 series being funnier and that may have made him more appealing, or it could just be because I was still a kid and my tastes have changed. At least Ayame was in this episode to pick things up a bit.
Guardian Enzo
July 15, 2020 at 6:33 amIt’s very interesting to try and figure out which it is that’s changed with FB, it or me – and I always conclude it’s a little of both.
With Yuki, I remember not “liking” him more so much, but finding him more entertaining. He was somehow livelier (and I think meaner, too) and a bit less of a mope.
ibtachi
July 15, 2020 at 2:52 pmHas there been any news about Kingdom? My only source of anime news is the comments section here and twitter but I havent seen any news…
This season is looking perilously dry without it
Guardian Enzo
July 15, 2020 at 3:18 pmNot a peep that I’ve heard. My fear is that it’s going to be abandoned altogether. Pierrot usually does things so on the cheap that they may be having a harder time than most adapting to the new logistical reality, and I’m sure there was almost no padding built into the production budget.
ibtachi
July 15, 2020 at 4:08 pmThat would be such a painful loss after having to wait so many years…
Theres nothing quite like it, and I was seeing a renewed interest leading up to the premiere on twitter from westerners too (possibly due to the recent mainstream successes of historical seinen heavyweights like Vinland Saga and Golden Kamuy). It really is the perfect time for Kingdom to shine.
Yukie
July 17, 2020 at 9:40 pmugh..the second episode of god of highschool was all over the place. Those literal flashes of flashbacks, sudden tonal shifts, the super long torture in the second half, the whole unfunny violent heroine trope, etc. have really soured my amusement in the first episode. The only interesting thing for me is that at least they showcase different styles of martial arts, but unfortunately it’s all cheapened by this supernatural power “charyeok”. I’ll give it one more episode, but my hopes are not high. Really pining for the rest of Great Pretender, Millionaire Detective, and Kingdom right now.