Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 7 Review – Quick Summary
In Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 7, “That’s Right, It’s Empty,” Kyou Souma experienced a hellish nightmare, where he was suspended between his mom beckoning him to stay with her in the house “forever” and a bloody and ghoulish version of Kyouko Honda, Tohru Honda’s deceased mother. Worst of all, Kyouko told him she would never forgive him. Not forgive him for what? What was that about? Meanwhile, Akito Souma’s hold on the Souma family frayed even more. Will Akito take a step back and reevaluate her situation? Or will she behave as she always has — with thoughtless and extreme violence?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 7
Hiro’s little sister had no idea what the fuss was all about. I hope she never has a need to know. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
This episode went dark. I don’t mean a cartoonish dark with devils and demons. I mean psychologically dark — the kind of darkness that seeps in under your guard and envelops you when you least expect it. So I chose a moment that was diametrically opposed to that darkness. My favorite quote was an almost unconscious statement of love, hope, and understanding. Best of all, it happened exactly when the character needed to hear it.
We get a shot of Hiro Souma holding his baby sister. I don’t think we’ve seen that before; I don’t think he could hold her before without going “poof.” He looked so thoughtful, and his sister so peaceful, as he stood there. It was a scene of normal familial affection, and it stood in such contrast to what we’re using to seeing in this series that it took my breath away.
The reason he could hold her now was because his curse had broken. His mother sensed it, and when she came into the room, he said he felt complicated. But she seemed to know exactly how he felt, and she knew exactly what to say.
In stark contrast to what parents in this series usually do, his mother comforted him when she said (17:58), “Goodbyes make us lonely.” Then she hugged him.
I think the examples set by so many other parents in this show made such a simple, natural act feel like a beacon.
Best in Show Moment for Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 7
At least one of the maids has had enough of the head maid’s maddening support for Akito. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: Akito’s Labyrinth of Insanity
Back in the mid 1980s, I read a book whose impact I still feel to this day. GK Chesterton, one of my favorite theological/philosophical writers who also does incredible fiction, wrote the book The Poet and the Lunatics. The lunatics in this book often appeared comfortingly normal on the outside, only to show their insanity in unexpected and deadly ways. Like the lunatic who thought that the fishes ought not to be trapped in the aquarium. So he smashed it. Well, I guess that technically, the fish were free — for the remaining few moments of their life.
The role the poet played in that book stuck with me. The mind of a poet sees the world in a very different way than I do. The poet sees in metaphor. I might see a beautiful sunset, where the poet might see the indigo at the edge of the fading night and gathering darkness and almost get lost there in the representation of something very non-specific — or maybe very, very specific. This poet in particular acted almost as a Sherlock Holmes, but for philosophical of theological forms of insanity instead of mundane crime.
This show has presented a terrifying level of madness. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
The poet had an ethereal tether connected to the rational world. No matter how far the poet strayed into madness, no matter how dark or confusing the path, the poet could always follow the tether home.
In this episode, Akito went somewhere I don’t want to follow. I don’t want to understand why Akito plunged a knife into Kureno’s back. I’m not a poet. I don’t have that kind of tether. So even though some of those moments were the most powerful of the episode, I’m not choosing one as my favorite. But I thought I should tell you why.
Delivery: Rebellion Even Within the Staff!
Instead, I want to focus on a moment that I can get my head around. You know the head maid? She has two defining traits? First, she apparently has no name. Perhaps she is an evil being incarnated in this space time before… Never mind. She has no name. Second, she should be given Great Enabler of the Decade award, because that reprehensible bag of flesh keeps egging Akito on!
Remember in this episode when Akito almost believed her father Akira when he said how much he loved Ren? Akito teetered for an instant on the verge of sanity — and the Great Enabler viciously said that Akito was the be-all and end-all of the Soumas. Her father had meant that he loved only her! This series would have been a lot more dull to watch if Akito had been a normal human being, but I think it would have been much more pleasant for the Soumas in the zodiac!
What would the Soumas’ lives have been like if Akito had been allowed to understand her father’s dying words? Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Well, in this episode, the Great Enabler tried to give Ren a dressing down for bringing a knife and daring to threaten the Great Divinity-Ship-Person. Another nameless maid who apparently still retains a human heart and sensibilities had had enough. Almost screeching in rage, she said to the Great Enabler (18:25), “You’re one to talk! Your charge tried to kill his own parent! And you gave him that silly box! The poor family head is so innocent he believed in it, and now…”
Not only are the bonds breaking. Sanity is breaking out in the Souma household. Boy, is that going to change things!
What did you think of Arisa Uotani finding the dead bird? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!
Fruits Basket – The Final Episode 7: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Fruits Basket: The Final – Episode 7 discussion
- The Otaku Author: Fruits Basket (Episode 57) – That’s Right, It’s Empty
- 100 Word Anime: Fruits Basket: The Final Season Episode 7 Impressions
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
Not all the parents suck; the ones that do just stand out. (I mean, Kagura’s parents seem pretty decent, too, and Ritsu’s mum was fine, as far as I remember. There are quite a few I know nothing about.) But, yeah, that really was a very nice scene with Hiro.
And Kureno had it coming. I can’t say I’m surprised. I remember saying over at Derek’s blog that Momiji’s reaction to the breaking of the curse is what Akito needed to hear, and that Kureno is an enabler. And of course they were both aware. I found it really chilling (and not at all surprising) that Kureno told the maid to go after Akito, while he was basically bleeding out. The Maid had her own priorities, though. It’s certainly not the ending I’d have wished for him; he seemed a decent chap. But it doesn’t seem like a fate he particularly resented. Yeah, “tired” just about sums it up (it’s moments like Arisa finding the dead bird and speaking that line that feel a little too constructed for my taste, but I don’t mind too much, since it makes meta-sense).
“Not all the parents suck; the ones that do just stand out. ”
I may have overstated it a bit — but the terrible parents have certainly driven a lot of the narrative.
I wonder if Kureno will really die. Like you said, he’s a decent chap, but he’s done his share to keep Akito in “power.” Not that I’m suggesting that’s an offense that deserves the death penalty.
I’m curious who Akito scampered off to stab next.
Akito’s self-absorbed, aware that she’s living a lie, and frightened. She’s also very impulsive. If anyone else gets stabbed, I suppose it’ll be because they run into her, not because she seeks them out. She’s very rarely taken any initiative in the show. Most of the time her tantrums and “punishments” were reactive. She went to visit Yuki at school once, and paid her “respects” to Tohru once. Anything else? Also, she’s probably at her most volatile right now. Smart move of the maid to go get help for Kureno rather than go after Akito as directed.