It seems odd to compare, of all series, Odd Taxi and Fruits Basket. But watching them back to back I am struck by one commonality – there aren’t any coincidences. Certainly the two authors couch their contrivances very differently, but they’re both the sort of stories where fate seems to tie everything together. Odd Taxi has to attempt to do that while keeping things theoretically believable (ironically), but Furuba has the crutch of magical realism to lean on. And often does, sometimes so hard you’re sure it’s going to snap – but it never quite does.
I think you do have to sort of accept that it’s literally the hand of fate guiding these events, because it’s more or less the central conceit of the entire series. And as I’ve argued from day one, Furuba is much better when it’s dealing with matters of real consequence. Since that’s an every-week thing now, the show has obviously benefitted. But what’s somewhat galling to me is that it’s this part of the series the adaptation has chosen to compress (if you read the manga you know), while seemingly keeping every banal and trivial chapter from the first two seasons that could easily have been cut. For an adaptation that was supposedly going to be so religiously faithful, this one has made a few odd choices.
Under normal circumstances, you’d think Tohru finally admitting (more or less) to Kyou that she loved him – and vice-versa – would be the headline. But Kyoko has pretty much seized control of the narrative at this stage from beyond the grave. Kyou’s self-loathing had already been explored enough that it seemed fully explained, but he was carrying a secret with him all these years – one which he’s repressed until he saw that accursed hat in Tohru’s room. Kyou may pity Tohru for loving him, but he pities himself for loving her even more.
Certainly, the events of Kyoko’s death are plenty tragic. Especially given that Kyoko was the one adult who gave Kyou healthy, normal affection as a child, even though she barely knew him. Their “breakup” was extremely silly, but Kyou was a child with a child’s emotional triggers. And Kyoko clearly never forgot the promise Kyou made to her – which makes his interpretation of those tragic events highly suspect. Certainly, it’s fair game for him to blame himself for hesitating in the moment (though a lifetime of Sohma conditioning was exerting its hold on him). But to think Kyoko would have said what he imagined – surely, there must be more to it than that.
It’s Tohru for once who has the logical take on this. That does not sound like something her mother would say. But if almost unbelievably she had, it wouldn’t change the fact that she and Kyou are in love with each other. And it still wouldn’t make what happened Kyou’s fault – not really. So Tohru has finally gotten off the pot, but now that damn cap (Yuki screwing Kyou as usual, even without knowing he’s doing it) has triggered Kyou to the point where he can’t accept her forgiveness. And he does what he’s always done, run away – though I’d argue that in the past, it was often justified.
Call it fate or plot convenience, but the timing could hardly have worked out better for Akito, who shows up with the knife (of Kureno’s fate there’s nary a peep) just as Kyou has fled the scene and Yuki has chased after him. In Akito’s tortured, psychopathic mind it would be only natural to blame Tohru for the crumbling of her perfect world – the timing certainly fits. If the final battle is Akito with a dagger against Tohru with a few clothespins, I know who I’d be betting on. But as we know by now, Fruits Basket would never be as straightforward as all that…
Ting
May 28, 2021 at 1:15 pmI feel Kureno as a character is underdeveloped. Yes his choice to stay with Akito is stupid. I wouldn’t say he’s stupid, just incredibly underdeveloped compared to the other characters. I just want him to leave the Sohma estate and Akito altogether. Whether he gets with Uo-chan or not, he’s gotta leave, especially getting stabbed by Akito. Kureno doesn’t feel dynamic as a character. I mean who would choose to stay with someone as toxic as Akito? What out of guilt for what? For being free? Then again I don’t get the plot armor involved in the bond with Akito. Feels like plot armor to me. The whole family/zodiac bond is toxic.
So is Akito in a way. I don’t like Akito and she’s frankly boring and exhausting to watch as the antagonist. She’s horrific but compared to the 2001’s portrayal, I don’t feel scared of Akito. I guess I preferred the 2001’s VA for Akito. Akito was terrifying when she was angry, but in this version, I just wish less of this season was on Akito and more on the other characters.
Guardian Enzo
May 28, 2021 at 1:59 pmTo me, I would guess the problem is more the sheer volume of her this time as opposed to the seiyuu. Though I admit I’m biased as I think Sakamoto Maaya is a top-shelf VA.
Ting
May 28, 2021 at 9:49 pmToo much Akito screen time.
Ressie
May 29, 2021 at 2:43 amI love the what the anime is doing! Why do you hate the manga version so much? It’s what the author ya know the person who came up with the story and characters wanted. Look many people adore myself included the 2001 version but it had its flaws too much emphasis on comedy even though it was funny and a abrupt ending. This time around the author is doing the version SHE originally wanted. All the characters dealing with their problems and growing into better people for it is much better than them just staying the stagnant cliches they first appeared as.
Kim
May 29, 2021 at 3:25 amThe fact that they took their time with everything else but now that we are in the final act are actually skipping content is such a major disappointment to me.
I can only guess that this series may be a victim of the production committee again. But why now that we are at the end. It’s so frustrating.
But that aside the amount of coincidences in Fruits Basket always were a bit much for me to suspend my disbelief. You do make a good point about the magic realism though. If I can accept character turning into animals then why do I have a harder time accepting that Kyo and Yuki both had a connection with Tohru as a child or that Kyo was there when Tohru’s mom died?
That all being said I do love Tohru saying even if her mom did say she would never forgive Kyo (which we all know can’t be the case) that she rejects that. I think even more than Tohru accepting to herself that she places Kyo as the most important person to her for her to say she would reject what her mother possibly may have said was a really powerful moment to me. I think more than anything that really shows how much Tohru loves Kyo.
Sadly Kyo said the one thing that would hurt Tohru by rejecting her words and saying he is disappointed in her. Of course he didn’t really mean it. He was confused and hurt himself. But yeah coincidences aside I do love Kyo & Tohru so much. And in Fruits Basket that pain has to come before we can find happiness.
Guardian Enzo
May 29, 2021 at 8:46 amI think the comparison with Odd Taxi is interesting here, because that’s another string of endless coincidences/fate with (apparently) no magical realism.
With OT, there may be a bit of a chicken/egg defense. To wit, the reason all these characters are the subject of the story is because their lives all intersect with each other. So it’s not really a string of coincidences at all.