Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 11 Review – You’re Already Holding It

Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts

Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 11 Review – Quick Summary

In Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 11, “Goodbye,” Tohru emerged from the hospital to find Saki Hanajima and Arisa Uotani waiting for her. Before they could escort her home, she glanced over to see someone else who had come to see her: Kyou. Before she could even think about it, she dashed away. Kyou, determined not to let her get away again, gave pursuit. Once he catches her, will she flee again? Why did she run? Meanwhile, Akito reflected on her life and the unraveling curse. Can she adjust to a new life, where people will come and go based on their desires — and not a compulsion? How will she navigate such a world? And just why do all of the Zodiac members seem to have it in for the Cat?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

Favorite Quote from Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 11

Tohru’s sad? This… this can’t be allowed! But even in her sadness, she reaches out to Akito. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

I often joke about Tohru being the non-combat form of Tanjirou Kamado from Demon Slayer. They both share an essential core of goodness. There’s a quote in this episode that not only sheds light on that goodness. It redefines what “good” means so that it is no longer tainted by centuries of abuse.

What abuse do I mean? Consider, for a moment, the history of religions — any kind of religions — over the last 6,000 years. Once one group considers themselves “good” and everyone else “bad,” look at how “good” people think they can treat “bad” people. From burning “bad” witches to the Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day to the Crusades. It’s a history of pain, terror, and death — made acceptable because it’s perpetuated against “bad” people.

Or just look at the incarceration rate in the United States…

My thinking of Tohru’s core as “good” was imprecise. She corrected my understanding when she answered Akito. Akito lamented that Tohru was pure and pretty compared to her. Tohru answered (08:24), “Please don’t sort people into categories based on things like that, and use them to keep your distance. Whether it’s ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ doesn’t matter… It doesn’t change the fact that you’re hurting a lot.”

The empathy that drives Tohru to reach out, even to someone who tried to stab her? That’s real goodness.

Best in Show Moment for Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 11

Awwww. They hugged! Wait… They hugged? Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: If You’re Going to Serve a Well-Known Dish…

Have you ever watched the Food Network show called Chopped? It’s a competition where the host, usually Ted Allen, gives three ingredients to skilled chefs. In a fixed period of time, those chefs have to make those three ingredients sing. Sometimes, they get easy ingredients like steak. Other times, they get insane ingredients like toothpaste. Okay, maybe not toothpaste, but I’m not sure some of the ingredients are even edible! Yet the judges expect the chefs to produce gourmet-level meals regardless.

You might be wondering why the hell I’m talking about Chopped in a review of Fruits Basket – The Final, episode 11. I do not blame you. But there’s a really good reason. Please, do let me explain myself.

Oh, look. A confession scene! How special could it be? Well… Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

There’s a rule of thumb this show uses: If you’re going to serve a basic dish like fried eggs, they’d better be the best damned fried eggs humanity has ever produced. If you do something basic, then you better deliver something exceptional.

Fruits basic just gave us a fried egg. And it made the gods weep with joy.

Kyou said he loved Tohru. Tohru said she loved Kyou. They hugged. Yawn, right?

Wrong.

Delivery: A “Basic” Confession Scene

Kyou told Tohru that he loved her. After he had chased her across the freaking city! After she had panicked and run away from him. And only after he had overcome all of the feelings of unworthiness that his entire lifetime had beaten into him with relentless abandon.

Tohru said she loved him, too. But only after she begged him to convince her that he really wanted her by his side. Only after he convinced her that he recognized her beauty and worth. She came out and asked (05:26), “Does that mean… You’ll let me stay by your side? I-I can hold your hand, and be with you?”

Only Tohru could ask that. With any other character I can remember, going back to the Instructions of Shuruppak, the question would have come off as self-indulgent. For Tohru? It was a heart-breaking plea born of a lifetime of doubt and feelings of unworthiness.

Tohru couldn’t bring herself to believe Kyou could love her. Seems that the Light of Tohru warmed everyone’s hearts — except her own. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

And then, they simply hugged. Mundane, right? No. He hugged her, knowing he’d vanish in an orange cloud, and end up a cat nestled in her embrace. But he didn’t vanish. Fruits Basket didn’t give us a boring old emotional hug. It gave us a hug that signaled the end of a curse — and the restoration of the role of the Cat as the original optimist, the one who had seen beyond the ends of the curse into a brighter tomorrow.

That’s it. That’s now my pinnacle of confession scenes. The bar’s set. Man, I do not envy romances that come after!

What did you think of Tohru seeing Rin again? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!

Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 11: Other Posts

Other Anime Sites

• Reddit: Fruits Basket: The Final – Episode 11 discussion
• The Otaku Author: Fruits Basket (Episode 61) – Goodbye
• 100 Word Anime: Fruits Basket: The Final Season Episode 11 Impressions – An Unforgettable Episode

This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)

• Fruits Basket – The Final – Episode 1: I’ll Hold Another Banquet
• Fruits Basket – The Final – Episode 2: That’s an Unwavering Truth
• Fruits Basket – The Final – Episode 3: I Hope It Snows Soon
• Fruits Basket – The Final – Episode 4: I’m… Home.
• Fruits Basket – The Final – Episode 5: I Mean… You Know, Right?
• Fruits Basket – The Final – Episode 6: It was So Foolish
• Fruits Basket – The Final – Episode 7: That’s Right, It’s Empty
• Fruits Basket – The Final – Episode 8: I’m Disappointed in You
• Fruits Basket – The Final – Episode 9: What’s Your Name?
• Fruits Basket – The Final – Episode 10: I Just Love Her
• Fruits Basket – The Final – Episode 11: Goodbye
• Fruits Basket – The Final – Episode 12: You Fought Well
• Fruits Basket – The Final – Episode 13: See You Again Soon