(L+CR) Fruits Basket (2019)

[kk2extreme]

Feel train hits again

[Haak]

I wasn't a fan of the previous episode (thought it was boring) but this one was much better. Major props to Satomi Sato because that was a real stand out performance as well.

But I was rather surprised that they fully committed to Saki being an esper. I thought it would remain ambiguous as to whether she had powers or was just trolling. I suppose you could still interpret the whole thing as still ambiguous but now it's a case of whether she has powers or the entire cast is deluded and I don't think that's good ambiguity.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Haak

But I was rather surprised that they fully committed to Saki being an esper. I thought it would remain ambiguous as to whether she had powers or was just trolling. I suppose you could still interpret the whole thing as still ambiguous but now it's a case of whether she has powers or the entire cast is deluded and I don't think that's good ambiguity.

I mean, she seems to genuinely hear peoples voices or inner feelings in her head and I doubt that kid just collapsed on it's own, so it's probably real.

I guess it's not as out there as a family transforming into animal people because of an old story about the Chinese Zodiac .

[SeijiSensei]

I was sadly disappointed that Hana-chan's bullying turned out to be because of some superpower. Why couldn't her back story have been as human as Uo-chan's or Tohru's?

[Arya]

Originally Posted by Frontier

I guess it's not as out there as a family transforming into animal people because of an old story about the Chinese Zodiac .

Yeah, I was surprised Hana's waves was actually true powers and not just for the lol. And not just waves either but fully supernatural and almost lethal. But given the context it's nothing particularly unusual. Sure it would be interesting to know if there's some relation of any kind with the Zodiac world but I suspect it's just random power after all.

In any case it was touching to have some loving parents for a change, Kyoko aside (not enough of her this time btw). Bulling this time was particularly brutal, without them it would have been damn hard to keep going. Kudos to Megumi's prayer, he seems to have some special gift too.
This show needs more of these loving parents.

I've preferred to have cause and effect reversed, acquiring powers as result of the bullying, but whatever.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I was sadly disappointed that Hana-chan's bullying turned out to be because of some superpower. Why couldn't her back story have been as human as Uo-chan's or Tohru's?

I don't think it felt any less human if only because the bullying was so vicious and petty. Heck, it was terrible even before she accidentally hurt that boy and people knew her abilities were real and even when she never did anything with it people still shunned and bullied her.

[Kanon]

Not the most exciting episode. The fact it followed right after last week's amazing one didn't help.

[Master_Yoma]

Tooru really over thinking it just by flunking one of her tests when Saki failed them all

Rip one more door

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Not the most exciting episode. The fact it followed right after last week's amazing one didn't help.

If it helps, I thought last week was a snoozer and this one didn't do much for me either.

[Frontier]

Hanajima doesn't seem dumb so I'm guessing she just doesn't throw a lot of effort into her studies unless she absolutely has to. Either that or her waves picked up that Tohru would fail a test and she wanted to be there with her on Sunday for the makeup test .

Kyo taking care of a sick Tohru was really cute. Nice to get some relationship development between those two .

If that's what Hattori is like treating Shigure, I'd hate to see what treating Ayame is like .

Poor Shigure. His family is constantly destroying his house .

It's easy to see that Yuki is very uncomfortable about relying so much on the Sohma family when he has so much mixed feelings about his place in them. To be honest, I'm just surprised Kyo has a bank account too considering how how they view/treat the Cat .

Kagura returns! And is still her mix of pure love and enthusiam for Kyo mixed in with her brutal strength and man-handling of him. I can kind of see why Kyo is so tired of it, especially when he doesn't understand why she's so fixated on him, but it seems centered around their childhood together...

"Shisho?" Kinda of surprised they didn't translate it as "master" .

[Arya]

Yeah, I think Hanajima failed the test willingly to share it with Thoru.

The episode wasn't bad, I liked it, especially because it went back to the main plot somehow I suppose. I liked they showed us some Kyo and Thoru interactions and I grow more accustomed to Kagura (thanks to that others two annoying characters that rose the bar) even because it seems she was present at that key moment in Kyo life (the bracelet falling off) that it was already hinted before, sure bringing it out apparently is
not a nice move, but she seems truly concerned by Kyo's seclusion, kyo got hit quite hard by that (and I'm using hit not by chance, but by speculation).
They brought back even the hat, just to let it fall behind the bed.

[Norn]

I wonder though. Shouldn't they have put more focus into Kagura and Kyo? I feel like it was a nice moment.

[Kanon]

Err, that's quite a gamble Shisho made considering he's known Tohru for all of 10 minutes. He must be one hell of a good judge of character.

Kyo's true form was revealed, and I certainly get why he wanted to hide it. And what do you know, Tohru isn't completely perfect after all! She vomited after seeing/smelling his real form and admitted to being really scared of it. Of course she still accepted him regardless, and said what Kyo needed to hear. That was a very well done scene.

I wonder what exactly triggers Kyo's transformation into this. I guess it's related to his mental state, since he went back to human after Tohru calmed him down. Even turned into a regular cat afterward.

[Master_Yoma]

Well that was a lot different from the first one but still such a big impact Tohru saying the words Kyo wants to hear

[Wandering Soul]

Interesting to see that even Tohru didn't immediately accept Kyo's true form and was actually initially horrified by it.

Kyo's mother wasn't abusive or neglectful towards him, but her way of dealing with Kyo's true form and insecurities was not what he needed. She essentially brushed his problems under the rug and never actually addressed them.

[Frontier]

Toshiyuki Morikawa sounded exactly like I expected Kazuma to sound, and it was nice to see someone who genuinely brings out so much happiness and pure joy out of Kyo and loved him in-spite of being The Cat .

He's also the one who taught all the Sohma's their inhuman martial arts skills, so I actually would kind of like to see him throw down at some point .

Man, it really sucks to be the Cat of the Zodiac in the Sohma family. Not only are you treated like a pariah, but your true form is a monstrous demonic version of a cat that you transform into even without touching someone of the opposite gender. Anyone born with that kind of impediment and treated the way Kyo was treated would probably come to hate themselves and any form of pity thrown at them for their lot in life .

Poor Kagura realizing she wasn't the girl Kyo needed to overcome his issue...but we did get to see her in a yukata, which was nice .

Tohru has a very human reaction to Kyo's true form. While it didn't take her long to run immediately after him, it was obvious how much seeing it shook her up to the point where she couldn't help but throw up. But even after he violently threw her away, she didn't give up on Kyo and tried to understand and accept him for what he is. The moment at the end where Kyo returns to his human form, cradles Tohru, and finally says her name was so sweet .

[LKK]

This was the most moving episode to date for me. Simply overwhelming.

[Arya]

Yeah, definitely best episode for me, too. Yeah, a bit heavy-handed, but perfectly in line with the other episodes. If felt definitely a final episode season. If only this show had a more cohesive / stronger narrative!

I don't think to say much more. Apart from... was this Kyo side present in the first series? Since I don't remember it in the slightest, like the hat or the other big shit hints. I can't see how I could forget such a glaring kyo's characteristic
I wonder if the fact that Kyo has been kinda left out of the spot for quite a while now was a subdue way to show his inquietude. He was there but never really there. They stopped also showing him together with Yuki.

[Norn]

Originally Posted by Kanon

And what do you know, Tohru isn't completely perfect after all! She vomited after seeing/smelling his real form and admitted to being really scared of it. Of course she still accepted him regardless, and said what Kyo needed to hear. That was a very well done scene.

I wonder what exactly triggers Kyo's transformation into this. I guess it's related to his mental state, since he went back to human after Tohru calmed him down. Even turned into a regular cat afterward.

Her recovery was inhuman though. Normal people would have run at multiple instances of Tohru laying eyes on Kyo's transformation and onwards.

When looking at Japanese folklore, you would think that Kyo's form is due to all the hatred and resentment the Cat has. I believe that, like the green eyed monster, it has warped the appearance of the cat. You could say it's the manifestation of all the negative feelings the cat felt at being tricked.

Originally Posted by Wandering Soul

Kyo's mother wasn't abusive or neglectful towards him, but her way of dealing with Kyo's true form and insecurities was not what he needed. She essentially brushed his problems under the rug and never actually addressed them.

Very interesting that the show portray a parental bond that
deviates so much from the common pattern of other sohma parents.

Originally Posted by Frontier

Toshiyuki Morikawa sounded exactly like I expected Kazuma to sound, and it was nice to see someone who genuinely brings out so much happiness and pure joy out of Kyo and loved him in-spite of being The Cat .


Poor Kagura realizing she wasn't the girl Kyo needed to overcome his issue...but we did get to see her in a yukata, which was nice .

Kyo's teacher is a good character, love the execution.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Norn

Very interesting that the show portray a parental bond that
deviates so much from the common pattern of other sohma parents.

I think it's a mix of the two attitudes we're told are common:
- "you're a freak"
- "I have to protect you"