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Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 2 Review – Thought I’d Say Hello

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Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 2 Review – Quick Summary

In Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 2, “That’s an Unwavering Truth,” it was almost time for senior graduation, and Tohru Honda’s class labored to make paper flowers for decorations. The physical work didn’t bother her. She’d never complain about that! The secrets that Kureno Souma had dropped on her in the previous episode, though, began to wear her down. Who can she tell? Who does she dare tell? Meanwhile, Shigure Souma decided Kureno shouldn’t hog the spot light, so he dropped some truths of his own. Who was his target? What were his secrets? And what does it tell us about the Souma family curse?

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

Favorite Quote from Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 2

Tohru felt like she witnessed the start of some kind of major military conflict… Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

I see where this is heading. You see it, too, don’t you? Or you will in a second… Okay, I don’t want to string you along with artificial anticipation, so I’ll just tell you: Saki Hanajima gave us my favorite quote of the episode. Just like she did last episode.

See where this is heading? Yep. I have a feeling this might be a trend. But you know what? I am at peace with this. I accept the sense of inevitability.

In this episode, Yuki Souma’s fan club stole all of the paper flowers he’d made. After considering what to do, Arisa Uotani and the others in class realized they had two choices: Remake all the flowers themselves, or go after the culprits. Arisa decided on the latter course. As they stormed out of the classroom, she told Saki she needed to go with them.

“Well,” she said, resigned (07:17), “if you require firepower…”

Thinking about it, I just realized something. She might just not have my favorite quote in every episode. I mean, it’s possible she might not be in every episode!

Best in Show Moment for Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 2

Hey! Check out who’s learned to talk to Tohru! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: Shigure Needs Help… Seriously…

Good heavens, this show has some twisted, toxic, soul-killing, and intentionally manipulative relationships! How such wretched things can exist despite the Light of Tohru is beyond me. Must have something to do with the inverse-square law. I mean, reality can only convey so many Tohru-units of Positive Energy (TOPEs) in a given unit of time and space. Though that doesn’t explain how Shigure doesn’t spontaneously combust whenever he’s in Tohru’s presence…

Based on how far I recoiled from my computer screen, I should name the Shigure/Akito Shouma tryst-like thing as my favorite moment. Talk about an emotional impact! But there’s this huge energy shield in my mind with the letters “NOPE” written across it, and I’m afraid of what my brain will do if I try it. So, I’m going for a more conventional — and WAY more beautiful — moment.

I do want to offer respects to the number two moment, which was Machi Kuragi’s reaction to Yuki’s head pat. Machi is awesome. Yuki better get his head on straight before he loses her.

Yuki absolutely deserved that. Dude can be as dense as lead… Still a better love story than Shigure/Akito… Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

My favorite moment in this episode builds on the 50-plus episodes that came before it. In fact, it flowed so naturally from those moments that it gave me insight into how Natsuki Takaya, Fruits Basket’s creator, can elicit such a powerful emotional reaction to some of these scenes!

Delivery: Kyou’s Remarkable Recovery

A Moment Fifty-Plus Episode in the Making

Arisa left the classroom with Saki, who is psychic power equivalent of a US carrier battle group in a single compact and lovely package. That left Tohru in the classroom alone with Kyou Souma. She tried to tell him about Kureno breaking the curse. In fact, she felt responsible for trying to tell him warred, but that sense warred with her sense of proprietary. She tried to compromise by asking a hypothetical question. She asked what he’d think if a Souma could break the curse.

Keep in mind that Kyou thinks everlasting imprisonment awaits him after graduation. His reaction came from the pain in his heart, and let his feelings show, which is itself a profound sense of the trust he feels for Tohru. She didn’t see it that way, though. This is Tohru. She will interpret everything as her fault. Her self control faltered.

Kureno’s secret weighs on Tohru to the point she had no idea what to do. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

See how so much emotion got packed into this moment already? We know these two. We know how they think and how they react. Fifty plus episodes went into the setup for this moment. That means when Tohru’s emotions crashed and she fought not to burst into tears, we expected it. When Kyou completely panicked and had no freaking idea how to respond, we expected it. The moment was funny and tragic and inevitable, all at once.

As Tohru’s heart and mind descended into a self-recriminating spiral, Kyou tried harder and harder to apologize and pull her out of it. I give the poor guy props for trying so hard. In the end, though, even he could see the zero headway he made.

Kyou Pulled Himself Together

Then he did something beautiful.

Since words failed, he picked up one of the white paper flowers, and he held it out to Tohru. He said nothing. He just held it where her down-turned eyes could see it. When she looked up into his eyes, she saw a completely honest and deafeningly silent declaration of affection.

That gesture silenced her inner demons. For a perfect instant, the two of them were simply there, for each other. She even took a step towards him.

Behold the new high-water mark in Tohru and Kyou’s relationship! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Of course, this is Fruits Basket, so Arisa, Saki, and the rest chose that instant to return from their successful hunt. That moment, though, now stands as strong and powerful as Minas Tirith against the darkness and toxicity of the Barad-dûr (which, for the sake of clarity, is the relationship between Shigure and Akito).

The writing secret? Give us characters we love. Put them through hell, together. Threaten everything they have. Give them a moment to share. Obviously, there’s some stuff like writing skill there, too, but the formula is at least understandable!

What did you think of Shigure’s phone conversation with Kureno? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!

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3 thoughts on “Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 2 Review – Thought I’d Say Hello

  1. That Shigure scene with Akito was quite surprising. To think he slept with her mother… I’m not entirely sure I like seeing this side of Shigure. It seems quite removed from the Shigure we’ve seen before this point. He’s always had his darker moments, but this was on another level altogether.

    1. “It seems quite removed from the Shigure we’ve seen before this point. He’s always had his darker moments, but this was on another level altogether.”

      Two things stood out to me.

      First, it _did_ seem to be an order of magnitude darker than I expected from Shigure. It’s like he always kidded about being profoundly evil, and I thought it was just an affectation!

      Second, once revealed, it just _clicked_. The foreshadowing was there. The character still felt realistic with that depth of darkness.

      The writing continues to impress me.

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