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Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 3 Review – Footprints in the Snow

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Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 3 Review – Quick Summary

In Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 3, “I Hope It Snows Soon,” Machi Kuragi stood gazing at the late-spring snow. Seeing a pristine box full of perfect white chalk, she slapped it off the table. It crashed into bits on the floor. Meanwhile, Yuki Souma and the rest of student council argued over Yuki’s popularity until two girls came into the room and complained about Kuragi’s behavior to Yuki. Yuki thought there must be something more to it than what they presented, but just then, Kuragi came in and overhead them. She left at a run. Can Kakeru Manabe help him find her? And if they do, what can Yuki do if he doesn’t even understand what’s going on?

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

Favorite Quote from Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 3

Fruits Basket - The Final Episode 3: Kyou faced down both Arisa _and_ Saki. Brave man.

I have seldom seen such bravery in the face of danger. Good job, Kyou! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Remember how I made a big fuss last week about how it seemed like Saki Hanajima would own the Favorite Quote section for this season? Kinda sounded like a commitment, didn’t it? Then would you be surprised if I told you my favorite quote this week wasn’t from Saki?

Okay, I’m partly messing with you. Because Saki shares this week’s quote with her friend Arisa Uotani. By “shares,” I mean they literally said my favorite quote together.

Kyou Souma, sitting on top of a step ladder, carefully taped white and red flowers above the door. Tohru Honda handed the flowers to him. As he leaned out to tape a flower to the upper edge of the door, he noticed Saki and Arisa lounging on the stairs. The ensuing argument made him lose his balance and almost crash onto Tohru. Only Yuki’s well-placed block saved her.

Both Arisa and Saki, completely ignoring their role in the near disaster, stormed over. Arisa started the sentence, saying (14:33), “Kyon! If anything happens to Tohru…” Saki finished the sentence, saying, “…we’ll never forgive you.”

Neither of them seemed to listen to Kyou as he pleaded his case. But it didn’t run in terror, and I respect that.

Best in Show Moment for Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 3

Fruits Basket - The Final Episode 3: Machi understood Yuki's gesture.

Machi knew what Yuki’s small gesture meant. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Setup: Sometimes Subtle is Best

There are times when I try to think of how to best tell you about my favorite moment, and I feel like nothing I can say can top what the scene itself. Or even do it justice. That’s the case for this week. It’s a moment so subtle, its preparation so cleanly done, that all I can do is mar it.

But this post would look kind of stupid if I just say, “Watch the episode between two time stamps…” So here goes.

Machi stood watching it snow. A newly opened box of chalk sat on the desk in front of her. In a fit of seemingly inexplicable rage, she swept the box to the floor, where it shattered. Two of her classmates ran off to tell Yuki what had happened. Their story was she just snapped and must be crazy. Yuki didn’t buy it, but before he could question them, Machi came in and realized what who were talking about. She ran off. Manabe heard the exchange. You could see his pain.

Manabe wanted to help his sister Machi.

Manabe had heard all of this before. He’d tried everything to help Machi. But everything had failed. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

He convinced Yuki to visit Machi with him. There, they found her apartment was a complete mess. They helped her clean up, and Manabe offered to take out the trash. That left a mortified Machi kneeling on her bed as Yuki taped the cracked window.

Machi had had terrible parents. It’s Fruits Basket; parents are either saints or absolute demons, and Machi got the short end of that stick. Yuki, his soul now in one piece thanks to the Light of Tohru, perceived her pain. Trusting his insight in her goodness, instead of questioning her, he simply told her she’d done good to get to where she was.

Delivery: A Best Moment Squared

His words pierced her suffering, and she took a gigantic risk. She opened up about why her parents had thought she had tried to kill her younger brother. Yuki accepted her story, not only because he trusted her goodness but because he saw she was telling the truth. His acceptance wasn’t something she had experienced before. That moment between them would have qualified for a Best in Show moment. For any series other than Fruits Basket, that is. In this case, it was only the setup for my favorite moment.

The next day during the student council session, a random student presented Kimi Toudou with a new box of pristine chalk. She didn’t need it at that moment, so she pushed it towards Yuki — and it stopped right in front of Machi. She looked at it, stricken.

Fruits Basket - The Final Episode 3: Machi couldn't bear to look at the chalk.

Machi had to look away from the box of chalk. But Yuki was about to show her a different path. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Yuki was reading some bylaw or other. Without changing his inflection; without even pausing to look what he was doing; he reached over, grasped one of the pieces of chalk, and snapped it in two.

Yuki had intended that gesture for only one person in the entirety of creation, from this little speck of dust orbiting Sol across the length and width of the largest known structure in the universe (the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall at 9.7 billion light years across). And that person was Machi.

That is the most romantic thing I have ever seen.

What did you think of Motoko Minagawa’s confession to Yuki? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!

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9 thoughts on “Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 3 Review – Footprints in the Snow

  1. Never before has the snapping of a piece of chalk carried such meaning. But Yuki simply asking, as he taped the window, “Do you hate orderly things?” laid the groundwork. I think there’s some sort of connection there, with Yuki trapped within and Machi kept outside. Perfection ruining things. Loved the episode.

    That’s what’s so great about Fruits Basket. None of this would have happened if Yuki hadn’t met Tohru. Other reverse harems won’t let other people come into the picture, but FB makes the point emphatically, that one person is never enough.

    I’ll say it again: Fruits Basket is the gold standard for what melodrama should be. (No melodrama isn’t a dirty word. It’s just very easy to get corny with it.)

    1. “Fruits Basket is the gold standard for what melodrama should be. (No melodrama isn’t a dirty word. It’s just very easy to get corny with it.)”

      You know, you make a good point.

      My experience with melodrama has been so negative that I’ve kind of given up on it. I’ve just called what FB does “drama.”

      But it’s melodramatic, isn’t it?

      It’s redeeming the term, isn’t it?

      Man, this series is a master class in emotional writing!

  2. My wife watches this anime. Looking at it, it seems like a reverse, will he or won’t he harem. Not a complete fan of the ‘pretty boys with problems’ trope but she said its pretty good. I watched the first episode and it was a little too mushy for me lol.

    1. I’m trying to improve my own writing, and watching how this show can present emotional moments without veering into melodrama is fascinating. Maybe that’s why I’m okay with the level of mushy!

        1. Yep! Been trying for decades.

          And by “decades,” I mean 40 years.

          I wrote my first in high school. That was in the late 1970s.

          Now, I’m finally admitting that I can’t not write. So, the characters and worlds that have been nagging me for 40 years have gotten to me.

          If you’re really bored, or if you have insomnia, I have a cure!

          It’s here:

          https://www.terranceacrow.com/

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