#and i was like “okay. so how *does* shigure view kyo?”

[the-sage-libriomancer]

Shigure's relationship with Kyo drives me crazy. he doesn't hate Kyo in the slightest - in fact, he pities Kyo, and not in the condescending "oh you poor little boy, cursed to be a horrible, disgusting monster" sort of way that everyone else does. Shigure pities Kyo for the reason he should be pitied: he's just a kid caught up in a system so inhumane it can't possibly be survived without some seriously unhealthy coping mechanisms.

and it drives me crazy because - listen, Shigure is the only zodiac member who's emotionally aware enough to see the other zodiac members as exactly what they are. he knows Yuki is a severely traumatized kid who projects all of his self-hatred on a single convenient target. he knows Akito is really a scared little girl with a raging god complex (literally) and no concept of a healthy relationship. and he knows Kyo is a regular-ass human being who doesn't deserve to be locked up for the rest of his life just because some arbitrary system says so. he KNOWS it's stupid. he KNOWS it's ridiculous and unfair. and he has to share a house with Kyo knowing that Kyo is living with a sword over his head, hating himself and hating others in perfect tandem because he has no other way of coping with the insane amounts of negativity he's had to deal with his entire life.

but the thing about Shigure is that he KNOWS all of this, and the same time he doesn't really CARE. he feels sorry for Kyo, but an apathetic sort of pity, a disinterested "this is how it is. such a shame." sort of pity. in some ways he's worse than the other zodiacs because he DOES see Kyo as a person, someone he likes being around even, but he still considers Kyo below his attention because all his focus is on Akito and breaking the curse. and sure, once the curse is broken Kyo will theoretically be set free with the rest of them, but that's more of a coincidental side effect than anything. despite being in a much more dangerous and precarious mental space AND comfortably in Shigure's reach, Kyo is about as much a priority for Shigure as Ritsu or Momiji.

and it drives me CRAZY because i think Shigure does start actively caring about Kyo as the series goes on, but it's hard to tell when that happens and to what extent. when Kazuma told Shigure he planned to reveal Kyo's true form and Shigure said he was going too far - whose sake was it for? was Shigure trying to protect Kyo, who would be hideously traumatized/emotionally scarred by such a cruel betrayal? was he trying to protect Kyo and Tohru's relationship, which was still formulating and might, under such severe testing, ultimately end up damaged beyond repair? was he only trying to protect Tohru, who wasn't ready to be burdened by such a horrible aspect of the curse so soon, or perhaps simply didn't deserve it? or was it all for the sake of himself, trying to protect his still-forming plans of using Tohru's positive effect on the Sohmas to break the curse?

Shigure cares about Kyo, but they're not close and Kyo clearly isn't a priority. he treats Kyo like a person - offering him genuine advice, teasing him like he teases anyone else, even speaking up on his behalf once or twice - and yet he's too entrenched in the long game to spare much active interest in Kyo. for a very long time, he doesn't care about Kyo the way he cares about Yuki or Tohru, and it's never made clear when exactly that changed. and the thing that gets me about this whole situation is that right from the start, Shigure is in a position where he can meet Kyo at his level - as equals, just one human being to another - but he doesn't, because Shigure is a chessmaster, Shigure is someone who observes and calculates, Shigure never steps in unless one of his chess pieces makes a wrong move and he absolutely has to.

it drives me crazy. Shigure drives me crazy. this series drives me so so crazy.

#i think my point here was “shigure sees kyo as an actual human being but still treats him badly” #which is kind of the point of shigure - it's why he's such a gray character #he plays with people's lives like they're toys #but this post actually originated from the realization that shigure doesn't hate kyo in the slightest #(honestly i don't think the majority of the zodiac actually *dislikes* kyo. i think they're just too used to dehumanizing him) #and i was like “okay. so how *does* shigure view kyo?” #and then i thought about it more and went progressively more insane #tbf i think shigure knew he was being immoral in the way he treated kyo #he's incredibly self-aware and knows exactly what he's doing #he just chooses to do it anyway. that's why he calls himself “despicable” #i think the fact that kyo clearly suspects shigure has something more going on under the surface probably didn't help either #it's a very interesting sort of complex #anyway. them #fruits basket #shigure sohma #kyo sohma #analysis #edited for your convenience #(<-capitalized all the names bc it was driving me up the wall)

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

What are some of your favorite manga of all time?

Oh this will be one of the easiest asks I've ever received! You've got me all hype, anon!

Fruits Basket

Wanna get me to talk for hours? Mention Fruits Basket. This was the first manga I ever read back when I was still in elementary school and I've never grown out of my love for the series. I will always have a spot for this manga but it's honestly perfection to me.

I love the characters, the messages, the themes and the emotional depth this manga has made me feel over the years? I honestly wish I could experience Fruits Basket all over again. This is without a doubt my favorite shoujo manga of all time. I love all the characters, I love all the ships. Some of my favorite characters off rip have to be Tohru, Shigure, Hatsuharu and Arisa and Saki. But make no mistake I adore Yuki and Kyo and so on and so forth.

This series does such a great job in such a complicated subject matter concerning neglect and abuse in a way that humanizes the abuser without using said humanization to justify their shitty actions. You leave those moments understanding how that person became how they are but can still completely acknowledge how terrible they are. How you don't have to forgive that person for what they did. And that, if you do forgive that person, that doesn't mean you're just letting bygones be bygones and being kumbaya with them. You can forgive and forget or you can forgive and never forget and that's okay. Your forgiving and moving forward for yourself, not them. And that's one of the things I really liked in the series.

Fullmetal Alchemist

Another series you can get me talking for hours about. You will catch me watching video essay after video essay analyzing this story. I was so into FMA during middle school, one of my moms even bought me the games and made it habit to occasionally buy me the volumes! This is without a doubt, the best shounen has to offer. Quality female characters? Amazing action scenes? Stunning romance? Banger after banger with so many panels I can still recall perfectly.

My favorite volume is definitely volume 15! Because of the manga, Brotherhood is my preference when it comes to the anime adaptations. It has all the homies in it. Another series I wish I could just start from the beginning again with no memory of the source material. These brothers and their friends have altered the chemistry of my brain.

NANA

Still believe that one day Yozawa will grace us with her beautiful art and storytelling all over again. NANA was my first ever jousei read and my dive into jousei as a whole. Until that point all I had consumed were shounen and shoujo so the maturity of the series was one I wasn't expecting. I consumed this series when I was about in early to late middle school and it was so much fun to read.

Now that I'm in my late 20s, holy hell is this hard to binge the way I used to because the themes, the struggles of the character and the realism of those struggles are hitting a little too close to home now. So I can only do NANA in small doses now haha. I even got both of my moms into NANA. Which isn't too impressive when one of my moms has watched the anime of every manga I've mentioned on this ask, but my other mom is NOT an anime fan and she loves NANA so much.

Children of the Sea

Oh my goodness, you definitely oh it to yourself to read this manga. It's not a long a read by any means with only 5 volumes and 43 chapters but it was such a pleasure to read. Maybe this bias comes from someone obsessed with the ocean (which my url definitely implies) and the life teeming underneath the surface but wow this was truly an experience. I watched the movie first and then read the manga, and I'm not sure if that'll shape anyone's viewing experience differently but I do wish I had read the manga first. But both are truly great to check out.

If you want a story about a girl meeting two boys raised by dugongs, this is the story for you. One of my favorite aspects of this read were the side stories labeled Testimony of the Sea. It adds so much to the story without even directly influencing the plot as you see all the strange phenomena that take place in the sea leading up to this mysterious event drawing in our protagonists and what will continue well after its conclusion.

Skip & Loafer

Currently ongoing and a series I was not expecting to like as much as I did. I'm one of the people who got into sukirofa after the anime dropped. 2 episodes in and seeing the absolute beauty and grace of how the staff handled the protagonist's transgender aunt, I had to give this a read and I do not regret in the slightest. This is such a great series and a perfect example how one utilizes 'don't judge a book by its cover'.

Characters you meet at first glance? It only takes a chapter or two before their layers are peeled back and you see how much went in to crafting them and making them more complex than meets the eye. A perfect example of this is the character Mika.

But my favorite chapter has to be ch 29 where you learn what made Nao decide to come out and transition. If you haven't read this series, I won't spoil it, you have to read it for yourself. Prepare for a monthly update schedule, because once that day of the month pops up, it's amazing to see how the sukirofa fandom comes together to scream on twitter and tumblr.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

The series that gave birth to the greatest hater in anime history. Araki truly drinks and leaves no molecules every time a part comes out. Another ongoing series I didn't expect to like as much as I did. But it's become a series close to my heart since diving into it after I got over my initial hesitance with the art style. Honestly JJBA's art style really grows on you, especially as you see Araki's art and writing develop so spectacularly.

You get equal parts continuous story and standalone adventure. You do need other pieces of the pie, but each part still feels so rich and in-depth and bright and colorful. You don't feel like the new JoJo and characters introduced are extensions of previous existing ones or usurpers that have stolen the panels away from other characters. It's like watching a torch be passed down from JoJo to JoJo, generation to generation (which it technically is since this story follows the descendants of the JoJo that started it all, Jonathan Joestar).

Araki's biggest source of writing inspiration came from how he felt watching Prince concerts. How the story of the concert would suddenly flip and give you a whole new experience. I feel he truly has that down with JJBA.

Concubine Walkthrough

Can't believe I even forgot to add Concubine Walkthrough, so take this quick addendum. This is one of the best manhwa I've ever read in my life and not enough people talk about it. I'm working on a post right now all about why I recommend it.

If you're a fan of sci-fi, romance and want to read an otome isekai romp that subverts your expectations? Please read this manhwa. It's The Matrix mixed with historical Korean fiction (and of course, otome isekai at its finest).

I loved loved LOVED the philosophy behind the story, the themes. The discussion of what reality is and choosing what reality means/is to you. Just because your entire life is a simulation, does that make your entire life up until that point irrelevant? Simulated it may be, your joy, your pain, your love, all of that still felt real, right? There were so many things I never considered about that very topic until I read this series and I feel like more people should give it a go. It's not that long a read (only 128 chapters for the main story with some extra bonus content on the side), please please PLEASE read Concubine Walkthrough if you haven't already.

#look she's answering #anon #animanga thoughts #fruits basket #furuba #fma #fmab #fullmetal alchemist #skip & loafer #スキップとローファー #NANA #jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #concubine walkthrough

[miraiq]

[ 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 ] : sender and receiver are finally about to kiss, but are interrupted. (Tohru x Kyo~)

For You I Would Prompts | Accepting!

He's.. not entirely sure how they got here-- quite honestly his ears are so stuffed full of fuzz that the buzz ringing in them is the only thing his brain is able to process.

Now, Kyo is well aware that Tohru can be a bit of a clumsy person- hell, tells her that often enough that he couldn't forget that fact even if he wanted to. So it is no surprise that she had found some way to trip herself. It's a good thing the ginger had been near by, as he immediately reached out to grab at her arm to prevent said klutz from introducing the floorboards with her face (again)-- or maybe not a good thing, because in attempting to do so, Kyo had also taken the tumble with her, banging his knee up pretty harshly in return for his kind hearted efforts- a mild pained sound hissing through clenched teeth.

Kyo's about to make some quizzical remark on how in the world had she managed to trip herself on air, but the moment he looks at her all words die on his tongue. Guess that saying about a cat getting your tongue still applied to a cat himself. The brunette had landed on her back, and he was hovering over her, a hand planted beside her head to keep himself from fully crushing her under him- Mouth flaps about like a fish out of water, struggling to form a coherent thought. An almost out of body experience jolts through him at the registration of what they must look like from an outside point of view. This sounded like some cheesy cliche straight from one of Shigure's romance novels (yes he reads them, he gets bored at the house and has to do something to entertain himself okay)-- and it's happening for real- right here, right now.

No fucking way..........

Kyo goes to move himself immediately, but he feels resistance against the arm that wasn't propped up near her face- the one he had initially used to attempt to stop her fall.. her hand was holding it tightly. A few quick blinks to the appendage then he goes to meet her gaze, to find her gaze unavailable- her eyes squeezed shut, lips stretched into a fine line mimicking a grimace. Tohru's likely in pain from the fall, possibly hit her head-- wouldn't put it passed her to have done so, explaining her displeased expression.

Mentally smacking himself back to the moment, he starts to ask if she's alright, if she's injured or anything of the like.. when she does open her eyes, and looks directly at him- brown eyes shimmering with the faintest of tears hanging on, refusing to fall as if she was trying to fight off the pain.. and she looks just as stunned as he feels, her awe mirrored in his own expression. The ginger wants to kick himself the moment he feels his eyes flicker down to her mouth, then jump back up to her eyes. He's sure that it's his fault that he hears a tiny noise of confusion come from her chest, but Kyo can't completely bring himself to fight against the feeling that simmers in his heart as his takes the most minute movement to bring his face closer to hers. It would.. be so easy.. to just...... press their lips together. He should probably ask first-- but something just feels too natural and he's following the flow of his instincts.

" Tohru... "

The audible gulp the lad gets in answer from the brunette sounds so good to his ears that he falls further into that instinctual feeling, moving just that bit closer to make the distance smaller and smaller. Oh but as if the world would be so kind to him. He can feel Tohru's breath against his lips when---------------

Poof.

He only stays laid out across her torso long enough for him to understand why the ginger was no longer face to face with the lass, before he scrambles off and walks out as calmly as he can without looking like a complete idiot. Well........................ Time to go dig himself a hole to crawl into, thanks- and now Kyo can with the help of his tiny cat paws.

Kyo is never going to be able to look Tohru in the face ever again.

#( kyo ic. ) #musingmemories #( musingmemories; tohru. ) #( v; the curse of the zodiac. )

[yunsoh]

alrighty season 3 ep 2 thoughts. this post got ridiculously long so the rest is under a read more:

- literally i love every single time we see akito sleeping in this long and empty room. there’s something very encompassing about how empty it is + how the angle emphasizes it, especially when we can clearly see she’s sharing her bed 

- shigure and tohru’s moments alone are always soo so sweet. their relationship so far is very much one where there’s a lot of affection between them (which ofc makes one of their biggest scenes together during the final act feel especially hurtful even though it’s a side of shigure we’re well aware of by that point -- it’s just something that tohru up until that point hadn’t witnessed, much less been directly confronted with. but i’m getting ahead of myself lmfao moving on)

- actually related to the above love tohru asking “wouldn’t i just be interrogating him?” and “the things kureno told me make me feel like i’m looking into a deep, dark well” just ahh i do love this background progression of shigure and tohru’s relationship and how it reaches a head when they have their talk about kyo later. 

- this is perhaps unintentional but: having this shot of machi noticing yuki + clearly having some new feelings about him overlaid with/directly followed by momiji and tohru, where we still know momiji has an unrequited crush on her. yes it makes me laugh a little but it’s also fitting because at this moment in time yuki does not have a crush on machi in return + sees her only as a friend.

- it’s been mentioned but it bears repeating. why are they not progressing momiji’s height whatsoever lmaooo. funny because yuki and kyo have had gradual changes but they’re really just trying to make this growth spurt reveal super jarring huh. also holy shit he looks TINY next to haru in this shot. next

- the one kid in class asking hana to fuck the priyuki girls up but she’s like “actually i really don’t care” LMAO........ love her

- ugh i really love this moment with yuki.......... i think it’s been a while since we’ve seen the general student population (not just the prince yuki girls) still treat him in a revering way, now also in part because he’s the student council president but definitely still because of his reputation as the prince. this was something that was so deeply ostracizing to him early on in the series, and does still remind him of his loneliness -- but that loneliness isn’t crippling to him anymore, because now he does have friends who like him and who he can have fun with. 

i’m going to write a bigger post on this later probably because this is a really important progression point in how yuki understands himself to exist in his school’s ecosystem + how his self-esteem is still developing.

- additionally i just want to say that this scene isn’t yuki suddenly falling for machi, or really something to be read as mutually romantic between them -- machi i think absolutely has a crush on him at this point (because he is. the only person who is actually nice to her and considers her existence aside from kakeru but moving on) but yuki’s perception of her at this moment is heavily tied to how he thinks of himself as a friend + whether he’s a worthy enough person to befriend. the fact that machi shatters those doubts for him in such an overt way is important.

- anyways machi is rly cute here i loooove that she’s comfortable being more expressive around him even though it’s mostly out of embarrassment LMAO...... she’s learning how to display her feelings and trusts him with that..... cute.

- also of note yuki putting his hand on the top of her head which is like... he’s trying to convey that he feels they have (or are starting to have) a trusting friendship with each other but it’s like. a bit too much for machi to handle omfg. honestly this goes in hand with way back when ayame patted yuki’s head in praise which was clearly something yuki didn’t receive much of as a kid, and i’m assuming machi also rarely if ever received that same sort of praise. what i’m saying is they’re both trying lmaoo

- also as usual shimazaki’s deliveries are spot on yuki is soooo fucking cute in this scene. “what? seriously? they’re even worse than the ones i made” he’s so casual and funny with her it’s so good

- okay the timeskip to sunset makes me laugh it makes it seem like tohru and kyo have just been waiting in that room alone for hourssss

- ugh how sexy would it have been if the brief flashback to kureno + the music overlay had been cut out here. like tohru seeing the birds and then turning to ask kyo what he would think if someone’s curse had been broken would have gotten the message across just as well + i think would have been more emotionally impactful.

- tohru’s expression here though is so good just. ugh. will say this point in hers and kyo’s relationship is just so tasty because he really is her most trusted confidant but she’s also so aware of anything that could be construed as him rejecting her or pushing her away, which now that she’s getting especially wrapped up in the family’s secrets...... it’s a thin line she’s walking w wanting to protect him but not wanting to push him away bc he’s resigned to what will happen

- this visual is so weeeeeird aoghjksd the screen being framed by her bangs. what. why

- hmmmm in general idk if the flower scene hit very well. it felt kind of awkward? kyo and tohru both seemed really stiff which is weird because literally just a minute ago they were animated pretty well tbh

- this post is already so long and i only JUST started the akigure part of the ep....... i’m so sorry

- machi and kyo both handing off white flowers to yuki and tohru respectively and then we’re hit with shigure giving akito a red flower instead. obviously because akito is symbolized by red camellias + to refer back to her memory of shigure giving one to her, but also just basic color symbolism -- white being more indicative of purity and new beginnings, red being something both passionate, evocative, dangerous.

- oh we’re back to the kids. it is not in fact akigure time yet. 

- i loooove this tohru outfit so much she’s so cute in it. also ig it bears mentioning because i didn’t say anything about it last time, but the reboot hinting more directly to the audience that something bad happened to rin, rather than just her disappearing entirely, is def more overt than in the manga. that short scene of ren intercepting rin in the last ep was chronological yes, but in the manga we don’t see that happen until after we know that akito’s been keeping her in the cat’s room. so just by tohru mentioning that she hasn’t seen or heard from rin in a while, we’re clued in that something bad to her must have happened because of ren. which i don’t think is a bad decision honestly -- since ren is set up as the antagonist for this season, it might make viewers assume that ren did something bad to her, only for it to be revealed that it was akito and that akito is still becoming more and more unhinged. but that also ren is unhinged. disasters.

- “i’m sorry, i’m afraid i do have parents” this rly is just the mid-20s mood isn’t it

- mitsuru fucking hissing at shigure i cannot

- nakamura’s acting during this phone scene is so goooood oh my god. the LOATHING. honestly this alone just makes me crazy abt the insanity that is akito + kureno + shigure like jesus christ. 

- kureno’s pitiful little “nii-san” after shigure obliterates his entire life. there we go

- honestly it’s funny how shigure’s expression looks when akito yells at him for sleeping with ren because for a moment it looks like he has NO idea what she’s talking about but then. nope. he fucked her mom.

- do like the little detail of akito pointing as she tells shigure to get out, but when he leaves he just turns in the opposite direction. like truly he has never followed orders to the t once in his life.

- this shot of ren is so fucking absurd oh my god. pls get ur male gaze directing out of here.

- “i... thought you forgot” man the way this is delivered feels really striking. i think because akito is never caught off guard in a way that surprises her in such a quiet way, or in a way that leaves her plainly vulnerable. like her vitriol towards him has to do with the fact that she feels he’s abandoning the bond they used to have (and ofc they bond they have through the curse), and that memory of him does act as a linchpin. 

- it’s primo bitchy shigure hours. primo akito meltdown hours.

- this shot is soooo foreboding wow. straight up darkness. tho i kind of wish this shot was used instead for the “i want to crush her to a pulp” line, or at the very least that the shot for that line was just framed differently

- god they’re so fucking awful for each other. purely just a disaster duo. shigure taking control of the conversation + dismissing akito’s meltdown and emotional manipulation leaves akito feeling the only way she can have control over him is through seducing him since no other method works. the convo that has with her accusing him of sleeping with a lot of other women + her not knowing how to handle the fact that he slept with ren, and ofc the convo it has with her misogyny and how she views herself. they have this really vitriolic push and pull for control because akito doesn’t know what to do when she loses any control at all, and shigure’s grasping at what little control he can have considering how their power dynamics work with the bond -- walking away when she’s being manipulative, refusing to coddle her. like shigure’s wish for them to be on an equal playing field without the curse is a pipe dream because their relationship is just so, so damaged as is and is so heavily informed by what has already happened between them. takaya why did you have them end up together for realsies why did you--

- what is with the reboot team making akito break down the walls and doors all the time lmfao. bro the structural damage caused by this little 90lb disaster.

- i think i understand why they took it out (like maybe it would have been too overt with how they’ve set up the audience to expect something bad happened to rin after running into ren) but man they really just didn’t adapt one of the most haunting parts of the series huh. like this shot of rin being trapped inside the cat’s room right beside shigure thinking “i’ll be waiting for you” maaaan man!!

- okay addendum: apparently she is in the room. in hindsight i did notice this but it did not register as a person because i thought it was just a glare on the window 😭

#fruits basket #fruits basket spoilers #holy shit this post is long i'm so sorry LMAO..... i had so much to say

[sotohruebestie]

I’m feeling anxious about Monday so today I’ll break down two of my favorite Kyoru scenes, one is from season one and the other is from season two. I’ll start by analysing them individually and then I’ll compare them.

This scene is from episode 10 of season 1. Shigure just confronted Kyo about the possibility of him and Yuki getting along and he spiralled. Kyo then runs away and Tohru follows him.

I’m obsessed with this scene. I love how Kyo’s physical language is screaming fear, it’s like he really is trying to protect himself from an imminent threat.

While talking about this scene, I feel like it is necessary to point out one parallel and one contrast. This scene is very similar to true form in my opinion: Tohru just saw a version of Kyo that might be (and actually is) upsetting or disappointing to her. Tohru admits that she did want Kyo and Yuki to be friends but she also says it is okay for him to hate Yuki, just like when in true form she said that she was scared of how Kyo looked but she wanted to be with him regardless of that. Kyo is very conscious of the way he is and the way he acts and Tohru keeps providing him with what he needs: unconditional acceptance.

Another thing I like about this scene is how Tohru goes down to Kyo’s level before starting to speak to him. This scene in set on valentine’s day, and Kyo just met Kagura (who’s also the one who started the discourse). Kyo and Kagura’s relationship started on a very unbalanced dynamic, since Kagura felt superior to Kyo from an early age because of the fact that he’s the cat. There’s a clear contrast between Kyo’s relationship with Tohru and his relationship with Kagura, because the first one was even from the very beginning. They’re always on the same level. They could’ve tried to depict Tohru like an angel who came from above to give Kyo what he needed most, but that’s simply not how their relationship is and I love that.

Last thing I have to point out about this scene is how far from each other they are. They’re close but not as close as in true form for example (where we get the hug): here they still don’t know and understand each other that well. I think the anime (and of course the manga as well) did a great job in showing how their relationship developed on a physical point of view.

We’re on episode 16 of season 2 and this scene is just adorable. Tohru just came back from the Sohma estate and she’s worn out and upset because of the things she learned, so much so that she goes on the roof.

I interpret her going there as a way of asking for Kyo’s comfort since she knows very well he loves to go there. In this scene they are very close, they’re wearing their pyjamas and just look like two people who are extremely comfortable around each other. I love how distressed kyo looks when he thinks that Tohru might like someone, and how he brushes it off and stops showing her his eyes. Then he says the famous line (and lie): “if you do find someone...I’ll be there to help you out”. I am obsessed with the concept of Tohru’s body displaying feelings she doesn’t know she has. She starts crying without knowing why.

Here is the moment where I start talking about Iwami (tohru’s japanese voice actor) and don’t stop. She’s perfect for the role. When Kyo says that one line, Tohru says “okay” and you can hear the sadness in her voice while she does, and then, when kyo says he wishes for her to stop crying, Iwami delivers the same exact word in such a different way. Tohru is a really repressed character and she’s great at hiding her feelings, Iwami is great at delivering changes in her tone.

I love how the scene ends with a close-up of the starts, since the recurrent theme in this episode are wishes.

My last note is about the ost, I’m usually not a fan of music placements in Fruits Basket but Momiji’s violin in this scene was a great choice both thematically (he’s playing birth of wishes) and because it simply fits really well. I just wish the volume wasn’t so high...

I love seeing Kyo and Tohru’s relationship develop, and these two scenes definitely show that very well if you compare them. Kyo has become much more gentle with her, and she’s slowly starting to be confronted with just how strong her feelings for him are. They’re so close, comfortable and open (even against their own will in a way, but that’s just how strong their feelings for each other are).

They really invented mutual pining...

#kyo sohma #tohru honda #shigure sohma #kagura sohma #yuki sohma

[turtlycute]

do you have an anime watch list for beginners like the best animes of all time

Hello Nonny, thank you so much for your question. This is going to be a long post so get comfortable.

Like any anime lover, I have my own ideas of what some of the best animes for beginners might be. Unfortunatly, a lot of the "best of all time" type anime is not really the best for newer viewers. Like for so many others, my first animes were epic series like Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Sailor Moon and Inuyasha. These all hold special places in my heart and are all fun nostalgic or first watches.

The anime genres I tend to gravitate towards now are slice of life, comedy, drama, romance and shoujo with some sports, supernatural and mystery animes thrown in. So, keep that in mind as you read this list. If those are not your kinda things, then this is not the list for you. A lot of shows on this list are classics or highly popular in these genres. I've also choosen anime that comes in both English sub and dubbed versions because, for beginners, dubbed is sometimes easier to follow and enjoy. Subbed or dubbed, there is no judgment here as long as you are enjoying what you watch. Finally, I tried to stick to anime with mostly 1-3 seasons only. There is nothing wrong with the more epic long running series and many of these fall under "the best of all time" heading but seeing that an anime has 100+ episodes can be kinda daunting for a novice viewer. Now to the list...

First of all, if you are just wanting to try anime but, not wanting to commit to a whole series, I would recommend starting with a movie or two. Some classic films I would recommend would be Totoro, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle from Studio Ghibli. Some more contemporary films like, Your Name, Weathering With You, A Silent Voice and Wolf Children, would also be great anime starting points. These films are staples for any anime collection.

Now, as for anime series, here is just a list of 10 that I think quality animes and would be great beginner watches.

Ouran High School Host Club:

Haruhi Fujioka is a scholarship student at the elite Ouran High School. One day, Haruhi becomes accidentally indebted to the school host club. Now she must work off her debt by playing the role of a male host to the female student clientele. Hilarity ensues.

This reverse harem show is a much loved modern classic for a reason. It's full of fun characters and lighthearted comedy moments with just enough drama and romance to keep you coming back for more.

Maid Sama:

Misaki Ayuzawathe is the first female student council president for a previously all boys school. Now, her life is busy with maintaining top grades, keeping the male students in line, recruiting more girls to the school and keeping her part-time job at a maid cafe a secret. When one day Takumi Usui, the most popular boy in school, discovers her secret job, Misaki finds herself doing everything she can to keep him from revealing the truth to the whole school.

This shoujo has enough of comedy, romance and drama to satisfy anyone's appetite.

Fruits Basket:

After finding herself orphaned and homeless, high schooler Tohru Honda makes a new home with classmates Yuki and Kyo Sohma along with there guardian Shigure Sohma. But the Sohma's have a dark secret, they are under a curse that causes them to change into animals from the Chinese zodiac when hugged by members of the opposite sex. Now, Tohru must keep their secret as she learns more about this family and their curse.

There are actually 2 different versions of this show. Many people would recommend that you start with the completed classic 2001 version but, I'm going to say it's okay to skip that for later and dive into the 2019 reboot and ongoing series. The newer series is so beautifully animated and has a more detailed version of the story than its predecessor. This shoujo is full of drama, comedy, romance, supernatural mysteries and inspirational moments. You'll definitely need a kleenex box when watch this one.

Kamisama Kiss:

One day high school student Nanami Momozono finds herself abandoned by her father, penniless and homeless. After she saves a mysterious man in the park, he offers to help her by giving his home to her. She soon discovers that this gift home is really a rundown shrine and she has magically become local land god. Now, she must learn to juggle her school life and her new position as a land god. Luckily for her, a reluctant fox familiar named Tomoe comes with the shine and has to give her assistance with it all.

This classic is part shoujo comedy and part supernatural adventure. I definitely recommend this in the English dub if for no other reason than to enjoy J. Michael Tatum's voice work as Tomoe.

The Morose Mononokean:

Hanae Ashiya spends his first week of high school with a mystery illness that has left him feeling increasingly weak. He eventually discovers that the cause of his illness is a large fluffy creature that has attached itself to his back. When Hanae comes across a flyer advertising an exorcist who expels youkai, he decides that exorcism might be just the thing to remove the creature. The flyer leads him to the Mononokean and a magical tea room which suddenly appears. The Mononokean turns out to be a fellow classmate, Haruitsuki Abeno, who reluctantly helps Hanae but, demands that Hanae work as his assistant to repay him for the exorcism. Now, Hanae spends his free time working to learn about yokai spirits and how to best help the yokai that live in the mundane world.

This supernatural comedy is just fun to watch, with enough drama to keep you interested. It really has that classic Saturday morning anime adventure feel but, for a slightly older audience.

The Devil is a Part-Timer:

Just as Demon Lord Satan, a.k.a the Devil has nearly conquered the world of Ente Isla and destroyed his enemies, a hero named Emilia corners him and forces him and his top general to escape through a portal to modern day Earth. Emilia, of course, follows him determined to finally defeat the Devil. But now they all find themselves on Earth with no powers, they must discover how to survive even if that means the Devil must get a part-time job at Mc Ronald's just to pay the rent.

What can I say about this show... It starts out with an almost stereotypical supernatural action/adventure anime feel only to turn into a comedic slice of life with a little romance and the ocational fight sequence thrown in. This show is one of the best examples of how versatile anime can be and a great way to get a little taste of a lot of genres.

Death Note:

High school student Light Yagami stumbles upon a supernatural notebook that allows its owner to kill by simply writing someone's name down. Light soon sees the death notebook as a way to reform society's ills by killing criminals and undesirables to create world without crime. Once the police discover that a mysterious serial killer is targeting criminals, they bring in the worlds greatest detective, L, to find and capture this serial killer. This begins a epic battle of witts between Light and L.

This classic anime is a lot darker than anything else on the list but, it's definitely worth mentioning. It was one of the earlier animes I watched and I'm still a fan to this day. It falls mostly into the categories of thriller, supernatural, mystery, horror and crime drama. It is also another one that I'd strongly recommend the English dub over the subbed version. So, if you want to take little walk on the anime dark side, this is a good place to start.

Yuri On Ice:

After a disastrous performance and coming in last place at the Grand Prix, ice skater Yuri Katsuki is thinking about retiring. That is until his skating idol and living legend Victor Nikiforov shows up to his home offering to be his coach. Now, with Victor's help Yuri works to rebuild his career and fight his way to a gold medal at the Grand Prix Final.

Yuri On Ice is my all time favorite anime so, of course it's going to make the list. So much about the struggles and perseverance of the characters in this sports anime is inspiring. Then, when you add in a little romance, flashy skating routines to a great original soundtrack and the drama of competition, everything about this show gets a gold medal.

Free!-Iwatobi Swim Club:

Haruka Nanase has always had a strong connection to the water and a passion for swimming. As he starts high school, Haruka is reunited with childhood friends from a youth swim team, Nagisa Hazuki and Makoto Tachibana. The three decide to start a school swim team. Now, they must recruit a fourth member and train to be able compete in their first swim meet. Watch to see these guys bond as a team and friends and as they pursue their goal to compete at Nationals.

There are a lot of great sports anime out there but, this one is a good one to start with. Free! exemplifies so many standard tropes within this genre and does in an engaging way with an easy to understand sport. There are multiple seasons and movies for this series but, the first season, Free! -Iwatobi Swim Club, is satisfying enough as a stand alone.

My Roommate is a Cat:

Subaru Mikazuki, an introvert writer with social anxiety, adopts a stray cat after a chance encounter. Together they both learn they are not as alone as each of them believed.

This slice of life anime is sooooo relatable, cute and funny. If you're looking for something that's low key and will make you feel all warm inside, than this is the show you should start with.

Here are some honorable mention animes to also consider: Toradora, ReLife, Princess Jellyfish (I just love this show and think everyone should watch it), Black Butler (if you're willing to sort out the correct viewing order it can be worth it), the classic Avatar: The Last Airbender (yeah, yeah, yeah is it anime or isn't, doesn't matter it's a great gateway) and Kakuriyo- Bed and Breakfast for Spirits

So here are some of my top favorite anime for beginners recommendations. A nice mix of classic standards and a few newer shows that really show off specific genres. These are just my opinions, I'm sure there are many other animes that should probably make this list. As always, if anyone wants to add to this list or make some different suggestions please feel welcome to add your own favorites in the comments or as a reblog. Thank you Nonny for the ask and I hope you find this list helpful.

#my anime list #anime for beginners #ask box #anon ask #anime watch list #totoro #spirited away #howl's moving castle #your name #weathering with you #a silent voice #wolf children #ouran high school host club #ouran koukou host club #maid sama #kaichou wa maid sama #fruits basket #fruits basket 2001 #fruits basket 2019 #kamisama kiss #the morose mononokean #the devil is a part timer #death note #yuri on ice #free! iwatobi swim club #my roommate is a cat #long post #anime recommendation

[eternalpassions]

Or you could maybe understand that this was a story written in the 90s/early 2000s and give her a little grace? Haru is clearly bi. Ayame is… whatever he is. I think this implication that Takaya is homophobic is a wrong one.

I do not get people who apply the values of today to how life was 20 years ago. Things have changed

Hey anon,

There’s a lot to unpack here. First, I’d like to start off by saying “it’s for the times” isn’t a valid reason to absolve someone of their biases or prejudice. Because whether it was then or now, those prejudices are still in the writing

Would you really absolve someone of their prejudice just because it was “okay back then”? Let me list of examples. Back then people wouldn’t get punished for being sexist or racist. Does that make it okay? Hell no!

Because they weren’t punished for holding such prejudices, does that make them any less racist, mysoginistic etc.. No!

It’s not about applying the values of today. I’m going to call someone out on their prejudiced views whether it was back then, or now lol

It was “okay” to be racist then, does that mean it was right? It was “okay” to be sexist then, does that mean it was right? So why would homophobia be any different. Just because being homophobic was “okay” then doesn’t mean it was right!

Furthermore, I would argue that their isn’t any valid representation and if there is, you can still see her prejudice in her writing

For example, you mention Haru being bi. As a bi person myself, I don’t see this as legit representation and I would even go as to say I find it insulting. It’s insulting because his “feelings” for yuki are treated as a joke within the narrative. So I find that mocking as a queer person.

Ritsu started off as a character who liked to dress in feminine clothing, so perhaps you could argue they were trans. But again, her prejudice shows in her writing. By the end of the story, Ritsu ends up male presenting and was made to have “grown out” of how he used to present himself. And it’s hinted he ends up in a heterosexual relationship

Ayame’s supposed attraction to men is treated as a joke. Him and Shigure flirt but it’s treated as a joke. And I know he can be bi, but it’s a bit suspicious he was another character that ended up in a heterosexual relationship (which I found forced but that’s my opinion)

Yuuki’s non traditional masculinity is treated as a joke. He’s made the butt of a bunch of jokes throughout the story for being a more feminine looking male.

Kyo (I know you guys love him but fuck him tbh) even called yuuki a “sissy” which is an offensive term that can be a homophobic slur. Yet nobody cares, nobody bats an eye. But I do. I don’t forget lol

See so even in Natsuki’s questionable representation, her prejudices still show through.

And ofc the biggest homophobic prejudices that shows through (which I already mentioned) in how she depicts a relationship between a middle school 14 year old and a teacher’s assistant in his 20’s and calls it romantic. And she still stands by that relationship to this day showing how she made an art with Katsuya’s face and is allowing a spin off about the gross relationship

.. she does this yet did not try to include some legit represention within the story. No once did she include a same sex relationship, yet she made a pedophiliac toxic relationship canon. See how her prejudice seems to be im favor of heterosexual relationships?

And no, this story being from the 90’s doesn’t absolve her of her prejudice. It wasn’t okay then, and it’s not okay now. Especially how she continues to endorse and support the pedophiliac toxic relationship she wrote.

Especially coming from today’s context, I am not going to stop calling out that prejudice! I know you guys love this story. I personally only find some characters interesting, and I think it’s highly overrated lol. But loving something doesn’t mean you can’t criticize it. Especially for me since I do NOT love fruits basket lol

The story almost “queer baits” but by the end of the story everyone is in heterosexual relationships.All to make the story digestible to a heterosexual audience by the end. It’s in the writing and I don’t think it should be barred from criticism because “life was different back then” Does that make prejudice okay because it was back then? Something to think about

Nobody’s perfect. I’m sure she had no bad intents (I hope) and she probably did the best she could for the time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t criticize the media you consume. That doesn’t mean the biases aren’t in the writing or that they are absolved. They are worth acknowledging and discussing

Thanks for your question ;)

#anons #asks #fruits basket #anti fruits basket #might add more #don’t even get me started on arisa lol

[bluecoloreddreams]

(Disclaimer: this contains spoilers for the Fruits Basket and Fruits Basket: Another manga, as well as taking into consideration tidbits from Takaya’s twitter.) 

So, okay, first of all we have to address the YMMV aspect: Some people don’t like this ship. As long as they’re respectful, I have no beef with that. I’m well aware that some people cannot/choose not to make the distinction between “real life” and “fiction”— I have the luxury of this choice, so some of the “problematic” ships/character aspects within Furuba don’t bother me (for the most part). It’s fiction, and I’m aware of this.  

Again, some people cannot/do not make this distinction, and that’s none of my business because that’s their personal life. I’m aware that people dislike aspects of Akigure, and that’s fine. 

Personally? I’ve been reading Furuba since like, basically the dawn of time. I was reading scans on, like,  MSN groups. I remember a friend at church (of all places) telling me about the Akito reveal because I was behind on updates. It’s literally engrained upon my shipping heart at this point. 

(Headcanons ahoy! Like literally, this is all headcanon/my perspective on the series as a whole. YMMV/YKINMK/Dead Dove, the whole works, if you know you know

YES I wrote it like it’s an actual research paper because I have No Chill At All, please forgive me. It’s long and pretty rambling.) 

Addressing the first elephant in the room: Given my limited interactions with the fandom, my impression of Akigure from a generalized fan POV is that it’s pretty divisive. Every episode she comes up there are “I hate this kid” comments and I cry

Akito is a favorite of mine, and it’s impossible for anime-only’s to make a deep, informed call on her character. On the other hand, a lot of manga-readers dislike her too. 

So, why am I talking about whether or not people like Akito as a character? 

I’m of the opinion that it impacts people’s ability to view her character arc as one that deserves a happy ending. That she doesn’t deserve to have love, happiness, or forgiveness, all of which are given to her when she and Shigure finally end up together on equal footing. (Do I think the way it’s rushed in the original Furuba ending? Yeah, but hey. Sensei had like a huge ensemble cast to wrap ends on. Now there’s Furubana to look to and it’s just chef’s kiss.)

There’s a mental aspect in this, involving the dichotomy between “reality” and “fiction”. 

There is absolutely zero argument that are a lot of things that Akito does that uh, listen, if it was IRL she’d be in jail! Jail for terror baby! Jail for life! 

Fortunately, Fruits Basket is a work of fiction. These characters aren’t real, they’re idealized brushstrokes of human nature created to move a plot and a message along. 

That’s why Akito and Shigure work as a couple and as characters: 

They’re both incredibly deep characters that get passed off as one-dimensional by a lot of people (and the original anime, woof). Some of it is again, because anime-only fans just don’t have the whole story, since Akito’s arc is one that builds gradually until it hits a point where all hell breaks loose, which we are a ways away from. 

So what’s the message that their relationship and characters are supposed to pass on? 

Well, it breaks down into two categories: world building and thematic arcs. The latter is more important and what I’ll be focusing on, while the former is just a little spice that I, personally enjoy, and won’t really talk about in depth. (It’s that the magical realism in Furuba sets up the idea of soulmates, it’s just…. Something I enjoy and it’s really heacanony, so I can’t really justify spending more words on it!) 

When discussing Fruits Baskets in any capacity, I feel like we must first keep in mind the thematic “lessons” of the series: 

There is an inherent loneliness in living as a human being, since loss, grief, and hurt are indelible parts of the human experience, and learning to cope with these feelings in a compassionate manner is a life-long lesson 

People react differently to the loneliness of existence, and their reactions are based upon their personalities, their upbringings, and their own choices 

Everyone is capable of change and learning, if they choose to do so, however: 

Personal agency is taught, but in the vacuum of positive reinforcement, the ability of a person to choose to be compassionate is stifled or outright inaccessible

Therefore, if you are not taught to deal with your grief and existence outside of others, your ability to connect may become warped, manipulative, or abusive, and this is not the fault of the child but instead the parental figure 

Eventually, you will be aware of your actions, and then it is your burden to choose—some people do not take this choice (the head maid, Ren, Kyo’s bio dad, Rin’s parents, Sawa’s mother in Furubana)  

Abuse has long lasting effects on the psyche and can be physical, emotional, and/or mental in nature and must be dealt with in order to grow as a person

“Dealt with” does not mean that it goes away, but that it is acknowledged and given a positive outlet (Yuki’s garden, Aaya’s shop, Rin’s art, Momiji’s violin playing)

Forgiveness is not linear

Forgiving yourself is a long and arduous process, and happens independent of other people’s forgiveness

This is really brought to the forefront in Fruits Basket: Another, when Shiki talks about how his mother interacts with the rest of the Sohma family. It’s shown she’s done what she can to make amends, but recognizes that while she can individually hold relationships with certain family members, as a whole, it's best if she allows them to be away from her. 

This is a whole tangent on its own, but there’s a certain blanket of casual forgiveness given to Akito by the entirety of the shown Zodiac in Furubana, in that they trust that she’s raised a kind and thoughtful son and allow him the grace of his own family. 

Again, in Takaya’s tweets post-series that acknowledges that Akito’s friends with Uo-chan, despite her relationship with Kureno (and it shows a depth of awareness on Kureno’s part that he stays away

People flourish in environments where love and positive reinforcement is given freely, even when people are in the wrong

This doesn’t mean that no one is ever scolded: see Komaki and Kakeru, Kisa and Hiro, Hatori chews out Shigure all the time, but never ceases being his confidant 

So okay, that’s A Lot. But every single character in Furuba follows these themes in their own manner, because the series is about healing and learning how to heal from abuse, neglect, and isolation. Someone’s gonna have to be doing it. Point blank, the end, to tell a story there must be conflict, and boy howdy, there’s a lot of conflict in Furuba. Every personal thematic arc in the series ends up tying into a romantic one, because Furuba is a romcom drama. 

There’s a loop that goes “personal betterment”->”crush”/”friendship”->”conflict”->”personal growth”/”relationship growth” in the series for every character. That’s the bread and butter of Furuba. 

But anyway. To the question: 

I love them because they work, they’re both their own people with their own narrative focuses, motivations, conflicts, and flaws. Both Shigure and Akito are believable in their own right in the context of Furuba, and I think Takaya did wonderfully in crafting a story where their personalities mesh well and give each other reasons to better themselves.

To talk about them together, you have to talk about them separately. 

I’m gonna start with Shigure because, truthfully? 

I just want to lament about how often he’s simply passed off as either comic relief or absolute trash. He’s so underestimated! 

“He’s a joke of a grown man… He is reliable and I trust him.” (Another, v. 3)

He’s incredibly intelligent when it comes to interpersonal relationships, which is why he’s able to do what he does. He’s also incredibly kind—no one made him take in Yuki or Kyo or Tohru. He could have just went “ah, I’d prefer not to” and moved on. But he didn’t, made up some bullshit so Haru would feel like taking in Yuki was a transaction, and let me just tell you, I am the same age as Shigure and if you gave ME three teenagers to be the guardian of?! It would be a full on disaster.

He’s actually incredibly trustworthy (if he wants to be), insightful, and a genuinely good guardian despite his jokes and wisecracking. 

He forced Kyo to go back to school, knowing full well it would be good for him. He lets a whole host of children run rampant through his home. Kids who actually enjoy his presence. He’s shown as having a good familial relationship with Rin (who tries to warp that for her own means), Kisa, Haru, and Momiji. His advice to Tohru is genuine, insightful, and ridiculously helpful. 

Shigure is good with people. He gets up at the crack of dawn to drive Shiki to see Sawa in Furubana. He’s who Mutsuki and Hajime immediately go “holy shit you need to do something about this” to when they find out Shiki’s getting nasty notes about Akito. He’s who Shiki goes to when Sawa fell down the stairs as a child. As much as Shiki and the others make fun of Shigure, he’s obviously someone who’s trustworthy. And that’s not some new development, he’s always been trustworthy in regards to those he loves. No one asked him to show up to Tohru’s teacher conference, he volunteered. Like this dude loves people, he’s the dog spirit after all, and rightly so. 

Does he have his own motivations? Of course! But so does everyone else in Furuba. He’s a complex character, man! 

He laughs and jokes a lot because he’s projecting this image of a laid back, doofus. When you think about who he’s friends with, the whole middling goofball act makes a lot of sense. Just like some of Ayame’s over the top behavior is a defense mechanism, I believe that Shigure casts himself as a generally unappealing man to keep himself safe from advances when he was in school, but also to temper the wildly unequal personalities of his other two friends. He’s the sort of person who would just go “eh, whatever makes it easy”, and that’s just how he is. 

He doesn’t mean the creepy school girl thing, it’s a bit and I think the only people who don’t realize he’s running a bit are Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru who are absolutely too stupid to realize he’s playing them for reactions. He thinks it’s funny. 

Anyway:

When the older Zodiac had the dream of Shigure, Shigure is the only one who made the active choice to seek out that feeling. His soul was touched, and he decided that he wanted that and only that. This doesn’t necessarily mean he went full Jacob from Breaking Dawn, but it does mean he acknowledged there was a bond, and he wanted it. 

When you get into the technicalities of the curse, it’s mentioned that their Zodiac spirits influence how they interact with Akito, and that going against her can cause physical and emotional pain. Yuki cries when meeting her, and it’s mentioned that that’s just the normal reaction for the Zodiacs. 

It’s hard to say how much of their early interactions are influenced by the curse, but it’s obvious that Shigure has genuine fondness for her. She wasn’t always absolutely broken, as shown in Yuki’s backstory, and was a precocious child, one who sought affection openly. 

Shigure has an indulgent personality, and is shown to love being adored. Guess who loves him! Akito! Guess who wants lots and lots of affection! Akito! 

Their personalities are very well matched as they get older: They’re both intelligent and coy. They both have fairly sharp tongues when needed, and have no qualms about doing whatever it takes to get what they want. 

Shigure wants Akito to be independent from the curse. He’s made it clear to her he doesn’t want to be her father, he doesn’t want to be her friend, he wants to be her lover. Those are boundaries that Akito’s never been given before, and his frankness with her and his jealousy with Kureno is something she agonizes over, simply because she’s never been given any sort of serious interpersonal boundaries, or repercussions for her actions. He’s always kept himself separate from her, because of those boundaries, even when they were children. 

That’s important. It opens the door to the idea that her actions have consequences, and is a persistent nagging in the back of her mind. 

“Even though you hadn’t realized it, I was waiting for that day.” (ch 101)

For the bulk of the series, the only person who sees Akito as a person separate from the curse, and sees a future where she can grow is Akito. He has an extraordinary amount of patience for her, and forgives her for a lot. 

There are only two incidents that Shigure cannot forgive: Her sleeping with Kureno, and at the very end of the series, I’m of the full opinion that if Akito had pushed Tohru off the cliff, Shigure would have been done with her. Look at that expression, that is the look of someone who is toeing the line of throwing away all his hopes and dreams. If she really had pushed Tohru, I just...... The series would have taken a much darker tone. 

OKAY that’s enough about our favorite terrible author! (Okay, an aside, Shigure, please share your work ethic, you goof off so much but you’ve published so many things…how…)  

ONTO AKITO! 

“I’ve  finally realized… she hated her own shallowness all this time, from the very start.” // “It’s frightening because you have no choices.” (ch 121) 

A lot of people dislike Akito because she, for the bulk of the manga, is violent, manipulative and just downright unpleasant. And that’s fine, but it’s not the point of her arc or the themes of the manga.  (It is, however, the point of Rin’s: you don’t have to forgive everyone.) 

She’s not the only violent person in the series. If we as readers can forgive Uo-chan and Kyoko, or even Hana-chan for her moment of violence, why can we not extend the same grace to Akito? 

Violence is often shown as a knee-jerk reaction to fear and sadness: Kyoko, Uo, Hana, Kyo, Rin, and Akito all react violently to negative situations and feelings. Even Kisa reacts violently when she’s at her worst, biting both Haru and Tohru when she’s in her tiger form, which is shown to actually cause pain like a real tiger would. (It’s played for laughs, but has anyone been bitten for realsies by a house cat? That hurts! How much more would a house-cat sized tiger hurt!!!) 

Out of all of them, Hanajima and Kisa are the only characters to show immediate remorse, because they have what the others don’t: A positive support system. Once positive role models and support systems are in place, all of the others begin to learn how to react differently and ease out of the knee-jerk reactions that were ingrained in them. 

It’s made explicit in the manga that you have to be taught how to react positively, you have to learn and choose to be good, to be friendly, to love yourself outside of others’ perceptions of yourself. Look at Yuki’s arc. Look at Uo-chan’s. Kyoko’s. 

Yuki sums it up nicely in the last chapter of the manga, where he tells Tohru that she taught the Zodiac how to become human. She allows them to grow into people who can make the choice to be loving, compassionate individuals. 

Just because Akito doesn’t interact positively with Tohru for the bulk of the manga, it doesn’t make it any less true: 

Akito is kept in a juvenile state of being: No one teaches her to suck it up, that the world exists outside of herself, that other people are people and not things. In fact, she’s actively encouraged to act the way she does. She’s incredibly broken, between the maids of the Sohma estate just… allowing her to do whatever the fuck she wants and her absolutely jacked up relationship with Ren and Akira. She has no moral compass at all. No one bothers to teach her that her actions have serious consequences. 

She knows, in a roundabout way that hey, these people don’t like me. There’s a serious mental dissonance between what she latently knows—these are all people with no connection to her other than the bond of the curse. This is why Tohru is able to break through to her at the climax of the manga: 

She knows she’s wrong, but no one has ever told her she’s wrong but understood why she’s doing it. Akito just didn’t have the words to explain herself. What do children do when they cannot communicate? They lash out. Kids will bite, scratch, yell, kick, fall to the floor and have screaming tantrums out of frustration. Eventually, most kids learn that there are other ways to express frustration, and move along. (Not all, though, but most.)

Akito was taught that this is acceptable, allowable, and is her right as god. She is actively broken and kept that way through the neglect of the Sohma family maids, Ren’s abuse, and how Akira framed her role in the Zodiac. 

I can go on and on and on and on why the way Akito was treated for her role in the Zodiac by her parents and the rest of the Sohma estate was just awful. I hate it, it’s terrible, she never had a chance to learn and grow and be the genuinely thoughtful woman we know she grows into. 

She doesn’t force her path of forgiveness onto others and is fully cognizant of what she did, the repercussions of her actions, and lives her entire life after the curse breaks trying to right what she did wrong. 

“Even if she gets hurt, she says she deserves it. She tells me not to let it bother me, but… I’ve always, always loved her so much.” (Another, ch. 13) 

Tohru opens the door for Akito. She extends her hand, offers her friendship despite having seen the absolute worst of Akito. She tells Akito that everyone is lonely, everyone wants bonds, and acknowledges Akito’s worst fears, that Akito herself is selfish and dirty for wanting something assured and unending because she, Tohru, herself is dirty and selfish. Tohru knows what Akito has done, knows she’s injured some of her beloved friends, had plans to lock up Kyo, hurt Hatori. 

Tohru still forgives her. One of Tohru’s striking traits in the manga is that she is suffering, every day, she struggles with the grief of losing her mother and the fear of being alone in the world. Through nothing but her own empathy and realization that loneliness is universal, she’s able to forgive people. She forgives Akito and cares for her, and through Tohru, Akito is introduced to the realization that she’s been wrong and that maybe, she shouldn’t be forgiven. 

Shigure also forgives her, and this is the crux of their ship. 

To me, that itself is wildly important. 

They’ve always circled around each other, and Shigure has always been waiting for Akito to be able to come to him again, in full control of her life and choices. He wants Akito the woman, not Akito the god. 

He’s been waiting for the day Akito can meet him as an equal. Akito wants it too, and has wanted him to turn and see her for a very very long time. But she’s been terrified, the entire time, that when he does see her as herself, Shigure won’t like what he sees, and will leave. She’s aware of what she’s done post-curse, she’s aware of the impacts it will have on the former Zodiac members, and she’s aware that once the “bonds” of god and the animals is gone, there may not be anyone left for her.

Neither of them are under any illusions at the end of the series: Akito knows she has to atone for what she did, Shigure knows she has to learn to grow into a person who can function alone. They both know that there are people who are against them changing the oppressive structure of the Sohma family. 

Neither of them care. There are things that they want, together, and it’s enough. There’s a whole new world for them to explore and learn about. And in Furubana, this is shown to be a lifelong effort on their parts: 

“She said after meeting me, she learned so many things for the first time. She smiled happily as she said it.” (Another, #13) 

To close, I’d like to take a moment to talk about the curse and Shigure, and how he set things in motion. 

Without Shigure, the curse would have devolved on its own, yes, but the circumstances would not have allowed for the freedom the Zodiac had at the end of the manga. It would not have ended with Akito being able to learn and live freely. Allowing Tohru into the Sohma family cracked open a door to compassion and kindness none of them had ever experienced before, because the Sohma family seems to exist in a vacuum of stability and love. 

It wasn’t that Shigure knew instantly that Tohru was kind and loving and thoughtful, if anything, his read on her was “completely normal, albeit strange, teenage girl who obviously has a rough life”. But she was normal, she was from outside the Sohmas, and he knew that was enough. No one in the family was stepping up to change the status quo and how stifling and abusive it was, so he did it himself. 

He did it because he loved Akito. 

Not because he felt bad for himself, or Hatori, or any of the others, but merely because he loved her to the point of manipulation. It backfired in his face, because he got a big ol’ dose of “loving and respecting” juice from Tohru, but he still got the end he wanted. 

What I mean to say is best summarized in  chapter 123: 

“It would be nice to live in a kind world, without any troubles, without any fear, without hurting anybody, without ever being hurt, only doing the right thing. I wish I could reach this kind world by the shortest path possible. … “That’s wrong”, or “that’s stupid”: If it’s someone else’s life it’s so easy to make such irresponsible comments. ...It would be great, but it doesn’t exist. … Little by little, walking one step at a time, is all you can do.” 

We get to experience the roughest part of the path with Akito and Shigure, we got to watch them be terrible people who were lonely and in want of love struggle and learn how to get up and move on. 

They tease each other, Shigure is thoughtful of the distinction between “the person Akito was raised to be” and “the person who Akito is”. He’s seen her at her messiest, and she’s seen him at his most jealous. They still chose each other, despite the hurt they caused each other, and others. They make up for it, reflect, and live a life that demonstrates that they have learned. They have friends who are thoughtful and loving and would not hesitate to drop everything and help them, lend an ear when they’re frustrated, help them not to make the same mistakes. 

And then we get to see them be wonderful, kind, thoughtful, loving parents in Furubana. 

We got to see their adorable, kind, compassionate child be friends with the children of the people Akito hurt, because everyone in the former Zodiac’s family collectively decided “never again, no”. 

Their child adores them. Shiki in Furubana #13 radiates love for Akito and Shigure the same way Mutsuki and Hajime do. 

They are genuinely good parents, even when they tease Shiki, and I think that is testament for how good they are for each other and how much they’ve changed as adults. 

I think that’s enough of a reason to ship them, don’t you?

#Mitkun writes stuff #fruits basket manga spoilers #fruits basket another #fruits basket spoilers #akigure #fruits basket akito #fruits basket shigure

[yukisohmasmokesweed]

Thoughts on Shigure??

so many. always. i am constantly having thoughts about shigure. 

so i read fb in 2005/2006 when i was in 5th/6th grade and maybe a few more times throughout middle school. then i didnt revisit the manga again until just after i graduated college and i read it over and over again with the express purpose of understanding shigure. shigure is seriously layered and complex and contradictory and his motivations are not easy to parse out but thats why i love him so much. personally i think shigure is the most interesting character in fruits basket and maybe one of the most realistic. 

on the surface he’s this somewhat goofy, somewhat antagonistic guy. i do think his more comedic side is genuine, and if he hadn’t grown up in the environment he did he might be like that more often. however i also think that it’s somewhat of a facade—or, that he knows that he’s an eccentric and weird guy and uses that to his advantage to confuse people or make himself seem less involved than he is. i think shigure is very aware of how he comes off to others and a lot of what he presents is a curated version of himself. some of the only times in the story that i believe he’s being completely himself are his scenes with hatori, where he tends to be meanspirited as well as self-deprecating. hatori is one of the only people he feels comfortable enough to confide in and hatori knows him well enough that i don’t think the constant jealousy jabs really hurt all that much anymore. side-note: they are GREAT foils. other than the obvious of hatori being an overly-serious straight man to shigure’s too-casual lighthearted shitposting, hatori is also incredibly resigned to his situation as well as being a very genuine person and shigure is very, very motivated and conniving. it’s not as obvious a contrast as tohru and akito (which makes sense as the respective protagonist and antagonist) but i always enjoy their scenes together as two people who grew up together and have a wildly different experience and reaction to the curse.

he’s good at reading other people and can predict how they’re going to react to him. i like how this aspect of his character goes hand in hand with his comedic side and his manipulative side; like, he knows exactly what to say to get the kids riled up in a funny way, like flirting with tohru in full view of yuki and kyo because he knows it’ll get a reaction out of them, but he also knows exactly what to say that will motivate the others to start questioning their roles and drive them away from the sohmas and towards others (namely tohru), like when he neggs kyo about refusing to get to know yuki. shigure is incredibly intelligent and good at reading people, which is definitely a virtue in a family of people who are very secretive and repressed.

another thing i really like about shigure is that his motivations are entirely self-serving and he is totally okay with that. he’s driven by jealousy and selfishness and is incredibly self-aware of that fact. i also think that’s what allows him to manipulate people that he genuinely cares about; he’s got a warped sense of morality and he knows that and doesn’t feel the need to justify his actions because of that. it’s a really interesting way to write a character and an excellent contrast to his partner-in-crime akito, who is maybe the least self-aware person alive and is driven by entitlement and fear. shigure has very few boundaries he won’t cross to get what he wants, even at the cost of hurting himself and the people he loves.

speaking of: shigure cares about the people around him, which i think is one of the most compelling parts of his character. i think his motivation to take yuki in was partially to separate akito from him and start driving a wedge between them, but i also don’t think he would’ve taken in an emotionally damaged teenager if he didn’t care a little bit, even if it was just pity at the time. he loves tohru very much (who wouldn’t) and i find their relationship very sweet. he’s also very much in love with akito even if their relationship is beyond fucked up and unhealthy. he has a lot of love in his heart but he’s also a selfish manipulative dickhead so it’s hard to tell sometimes, but he does.

i’ve always liked shigure but i definitely had to be an adult to fully appreciate him. all of his lines have so many layers to them and his scheming is so subtle and effective that i can watch his scenes 20 times and come away with more every single time. it is also a bonus that he is very hot and sexy and he could come over whenever! i love shigure and he’ll live in my heart forever as the first character i ever got frustrated enough in not understanding that i reread specifically for them and i’m glad i did, he’s incredibly interesting and was actually one of the reasons i started becoming interesting in analyzing media the way i do now.

#*wipes my forehead* WHOO! I LOVE A MAN! #meta??? #Anonymous #takes a huge bong rip #longpost #ask

[kyosohmastan]

Can you do a onesie fic? 😁

I don’t know if this is the same anon who requested a onesie fic earlier but if it’s not, I hope you catch this too. Anyway this is a Kyoru onesie fic. 💓 Hope you enjoy~

Title: It Makes Me Happy

Rating: T

Words: 1,284

Tohru came home from work, tired but ready to make dinner as it was part of her usual routine. She shouldn’t have been too surprised by the ruckus. You never knew what you were going to find when you entered the chaos that was Shigure’s house. But that made her home exciting to her.

Within the kitchen, she could hear Kagura giggling and Kyo yelling profanities. That was nothing new. However, he sounded really distressed and that worried her. She put her school bag down by the door and entered the kitchen. Kagura was still laughing and squealing while Kyo stood across from him in...an orange cat onesie? Tohru nearly fell over and swooned. The boy she’d been unconsciously crushing on for ages was before her in such an adorable getup. 

She smiled, clapping. “Oh my goodness, Kyo-kun. You’re so cute!”

He turned around, his face redder than she’d ever seen it. That was saying something because he blushed a lot. 

He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out, but his fangs did. He quickly turned his gaze away from her and muttered a “Dammit” as he ran out of the kitchen and out the front door.

Tohru turned, finding him already gone when she did. “Ah, wait! Kyo-kun, don’t go!” Guilt hit her since she laughed at him. She remembered when Yuki told her that guys don’t like to  be called cute. What was she thinking? She had offended him.

Kagura cried behind her. “Aw, I just wanted to see what he would look like in one. He doesn’t have to get so worked up.”

“Um...maybe I should go check on him,” Tohru said, and she was happy too.

“No I’ll do it!” Kagura said, on her way out of the kitchen before Shigure popped out from behind the corner and blocked her way. “What?”

The dog grinned in the way that Tohru recognized as mischievous. “Let’s let Tohru-kun handle this.”

“Huh?! But I said I could-”

“Go on ahead,” Shigure said to Tohru, ignoring a whining Kagura. He followed up by whispering, “No one else can get to him like you can.”

Tohru blushed, not particularly agreeing, but she heeded his advice. “Okay. I’ll be back as quick as I can to make dinner.” 

She headed back out of the house while Shigure called “Take your time!”

She didn’t know where he went. She hadn’t caught him in time as he left to see where he was going. Maybe the roof? That was his favorite place. She backed away from the house far enough to where she could see the top of the roof. There was no sign on Kyo there. 

His second favorite spot to be alone was by the lake in the forest. That was her best bet. She made her way there through the forest illuminated dimly in the twilight. As she peered through the tree trunks and branches the closer she got to the clearing, she saw his outline hunched beside the water.

She maneuvered out of the forest and as she got a clear view of him, she found that he had removed the onesie. It was thrown beside him. He only had his cargo pants on. No shirt. Her cheeks heated, and she tried to compose herself before facing him. She breathed in and out deeply then approached him. “Kyo-kun,” she cooed.

He jumped, snapping his head back to see her. “Geeze…”

“Oh no, sorry I scared you.” She frowned, tucking in her skirt behind her before sitting beside him. “I was worried about you so I came looking.”

He sighed and turned forward again. “I’m fine. Just had to get away from her.”

“I understand,” Tohru laughed faintly. “She is a little crazy. I’ll admit. But she really does love you.”

“That doesn’t justify her insanity,” he replied.

She wondered if that’s truly why he ran away. Maybe he was just saying that to ease her. In her mind, she still thought the reason was because she offended him.

She frowned again and fiddled with the hem of her skirt. “Are you sure you didn’t run off because of me?”

He brought his legs to his chest, finally looking at her curiously. “What do you mean?”

She took his naivety as a good thing and sighed. “I thought you ran away because I hurt you by calling you cute in that onesie.”

He furrowed his brows and shook his head. “You would think something like that.” He bopped her head with his fist, and Tohru found the gesture so endearing, it made her smile again. She was relieved. “That’s not it. I ran off because I was embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed?”

“That you saw me like that,” he added. He hid his face in the crook of his arm. “You saw me looking so pathetic.”

Tohru shook her head although he couldn’t see her. “No! You didn’t look pathetic. Like I said, you looked cute! You know how much I love the cat from the zodiac, so when I saw you like that it...it made me happy.” she hung her head, her heartbeat increasing after every word.

He lifted his head, his blush mimicking hers. “I heard you. It’s just my own insecurities getting in the way, you know.” He let out a harsh breath. “And I made you worry for no reason. I’m sorry. I don’t think about the feelings of others sometimes.”

She never wanted to hear him say that again. That was far from the truth. “No, that’s not true. You’re very considerate about everyone’s feelings. Yes, you’ll have slip-ups like that. We all make mistakes. But your kindness outweighs all of that. I swear.” She was frantic to make him feel better, especially when he was upset with himself for reasons that were untrue.

He chuckled. “Only you would say that.” 

She found that familiar softness that was so rare on him, and she treasured it. She smiled at him in return. He was always so cute. Not only in the onesie. But at that moment, with the coming moon highlighting his tan skin, he was beautiful. 

His attention went to the onesie behind her. “It makes you happy?” He asked.

“The onesie? Y-yes. Because you look adorable in it.”

He huffed as he stood up and picked up the fabric. He slipped it back on, zipping the front and putting on the hoodie with the cat ears.

She stood and smiled wide at him. “Aww.” She laughed and clasped her hands. “Very cute. I wish you’d wear it often.”

He rolled his eyes. “I still think I look ridiculous.”

She hesitated at first before placing her hands at the collar of the onesie upon his chest. “I love it. I love the cat so much.” She looked down so her hair would hide her blushing face. She indirectly told him she loved him. And as she thought about it more, she found it to be true. She loved the cat but more than anything, she just loved him.

“Well...I’ll wear it every once in a while for you,” he said.

When she looked up, she was glad to see his face lit up with a grin again. “Okay!” she giggled. She snatched her hands away after the tension of touching him got too great. “We should probably go back so I can make dinner.”

“Yeah,” he replied, taking her hand which caught her off guard for a moment. He pulled her through the forest. “And so I can chase Kagura off.”

She gripped his hand back, savoring the feeling of touching him. Maybe one day she’d have more courage. But right then, it was enough.

#fruits basket #kyo sohma #tohru honda #fruba #furuba #fruits basket fanfic #fruits basket fanfiction #kyoru

[mrsmarymorstan]

Please write that fic/meta about how the Zodiac spirits chose who to possess and how this relates to Shigure's attachment to Akito.

Okay, so I’ve been thinking about this which is part of why it’s taken me so long to put things into words. First up, we need to establish some lore for the series. I preface this by saying that I am PRO-CHOICE! So this is just lore concepts as interpreted by canon: 

1) Life begins in the womb, for the sake of this let’s say 6 weeks because the heart is considered important in fruits basket. 

2) Fetus’ have souls. 

3) The Spirit’s influence occurs between 6 weeks and 32 weeks, meaning that they are present for the majority of the fetus’ developmental stages. This means that the spirit of the zodiac can pass on innate biological traits such as Yuki’s poor lungs and Kyo’s hair colour. We also know that these are genetic changes, since Hajime and Riku both possessing the “unnatural” hair colours of their Zodiac Animal. (Although Hajime’s is more a combination of Kyo and Tohru’s colour, Riku still has white hair with black roots). Life beginning with the first heartbeat would also allow for Ren to not know she was pregnant at all before the creepy gathering of children crying at her stomach, without it being a case of egg meeting sperm, especially as ACTAUL conception can happen up to 5 days after conception. 

4) Anyone baring the Sohma name can help conceive a Zodiac Child, regardless of whether they are on the “inside” or not. 

5) There is no order to Zodiac Births, and having a child whilst there are still “missing” members of the Juunishi is no guarantee that the child will be possesed. We know that there is usually a few members missing from the Juunishi and that this is the first time the whole Juunishi has been gathered in living memory. (We’re told that God and the Rat haven’t been born in a long time, so them both being born is considered cause for celebration) 

6) The Cat is ALWAYS born no matter what, and so Kyo was most likely concieved sometime after Kazuma’s grandfather’s death. 

7) Soul Mates and other mysticisms exist. Assume that you can insert Fruits Basket into the same world as “Your Name” and you’re golden. 

OKAY now onto my own personal meta or what have you. 

The zodiac spirits choose who they will inhabit not at random but rather based on what they know of those people’s souls, and the influence of that spirit encourages that side to them. Selecting Sohmas is just a way of narrowing down the playing field. They perhaps contain some sort of spiritual connection to the Zodiac that allows for easy possession. However, choosing who to poses is a selection process that comes down to existing key character traits. 

We know that, when allowed to be himself, Yuki isn’t a shy soft spoken boy, but rather incredibly cunning and devious, much like the rat is painted at in the original story. He’s also incredibly loyal. We see the Rat as the first to drink from the saki cup, and the last to break away from their host body. This fierce loyalty is something we see in Yuki as well; he’ll stand by those he loves, no matter what. We see him risking his own mental health by entering the Sohma estate just to check on if Haru is okay, and he’s even been known to rush to Ayame’s defence! 

I believe that the Cat Spirt always chooses someone who has a kind soul, and encourages that kindness. Things like bitterness and spite are born out of how the Juunishi view the cat, and that is where the Monster Form comes from, the spite and disgust of the Juunishi wanted to turn the cat into a monster and so they became a monster. Although I can also see this monster form being made as a defence mechanism from past Cats but that’s for another post lol But with regards to Kyo and his own soul, we see at the end of the manga that his ability to smile and laugh is his “true” nature and I think that is the nature that lead the cat to choosing Kyo when he could equally have selected Yuki or Haru. 

In terms of Shigure’s attachment to Akito, I think it comes down to the fact that it was the Dog Spirit produces better awareness than others. Dogs are loyal, yes, and that element is certainly true to Shigure but he’s also only really loyal to those who he grew up with. I do believe that if Hatori HAD actively tried to stop him, he would have listened. 

So when we talk of how Shigure fell in love with Akito when she was still in the womb, I think it’s more that Shigure detected his soul mate was interlinked with the soul of God. He was just perhaps a little too young to fully understand that since he would have been, what? 8 at MOST? That is to say, that in the dream Shigure had, he didn’t JUST dream of the soul of God like the others did, he ALSO dreamt of Akito’s soul. He knew that his soul mate was entangled too closely with the soul of God and the only way to free them was to break the curse, which he took a “by any means necessary” approach to. The Dog might have selected Shigure for his loyalty and his intelligence, but Shigure’s own soul still provided other traits like cunning and determination. To some extent, I think Shigure is the most disconnected to his Zodiac Spirit and I think that does come down in part to how he was able to, very early on, distinguish between himself and his possession. 

It’s still very weird, but I think in this particular case you need to think more in terms of mysticism than in terms of reality. 

#Fruits Basket #Furuba Meta #Furuba Manga Spoilers #Akigure #Shigure Sohma #Akito Sohma #Kyo Sohma #Yuki Sohma #Akito X Shigure #Anonymous

[singingforthepromises]

fb manga lb - chs 90-95

I’m only going to be reading the manga up until this point for now, assuming that this is where s2 will end. I want to leave the rest of the manga for after the season ends so I still have something to look forward to during the break between seasons 2 and 3. With Covid, I’m assuming it’s going to be quite a while before we get the last season. So I want to enjoy this journey for as long as possible. If they end up going beyond this chapter, I’ll make sure to read further, but for right now I think this is a good stopping point, unless you guys think they’re going to adapt more or leave off somewhere else? O: 

We going into Kyoko’s backstory now apparently!

“I feel like imprinting all of her images into my brain, and forgetting everything else not related to her.” OH MY GOD. MY HEART?? This is peak romance. Kyo only wants to hold onto his memories of Tohru while he’s in confinement. 

Poor Kyo getting messed with lmao leave the boy alone

No, but... imagine how Kyo feels right now in this moment? Tohru has the DVD, the memories of Kyo in the play tangible right in front of her. I’m sure that Kyo is thinking of his future, of the fact that once he’s confined Tohru will never see him again, and having these DVDs will be a comfort to her. He doesn’t know that she’s trying to pursue a way to break the curse. So having this DVD, for Tohru, in Kyo’s eyes, is the best possible way for him to stay with her. I’m reaching, yeah, but that’s just how I’m choosing to view it rofl. 

He’s thinking about Kyoko I’m upset.

Kyo, sweetie... stop punishing yourself, please. You are allowed to be happy, you are allowed to wish to be with Tohru. You are allowed to think of her mother. Fuck what Akito told you. :( 

I can’t wait until Tohru learns that Kyo knew her mom. I don’t think she’d be the type to blame him for what happened to her. As it is, I don’t feel that Kyo had a ‘role’ in her death, anyway. He didn’t outright kill her. Perhaps he saw it, maybe he could’ve stopped it, I don’t know. But I don’t think it was his fault. Kyo has a massive inferiority and guilt complex (which is understandable after all of the abuse he’s suffered) and he’d blame himself no matter what, though.

Young Kyoko is something else rofl. But of course, she had a terrible past too. What awful parents. I think I can count on one hand the number of actual good or decent parents that this series has. 

Oooh is this Katsuya? He definitely looks like an older version of Kyo lmao.

This age gap though is kinda... yikes? I wonder if the anime will try and lessen it a bit. I don’t think they will, though, since it was mentioned that Kyoko never went to high school. 

Kyoko’s parents fucking S U C K.

GO OFF KATSUYA!!

I meaannn... marriage is so odd for a young girl Kyoko’s age, and it has a big “:/” factor, but...at the same time, if he marries her, she’’s no longer under her parents, and he can provide for her. 

Wow, she’s already pregnant with Tohru! O: 

omg baby Tohru is the CUTEST!

Katsuya was such a good dad though I’m upset.

Tohru was gonna have a sibling sfjsjfsjfjsfj she’d be the best big sister!

Oh this is just depressing. T__T

Poor Kyoko. She’s still so young, and is trying to grieve and raise a daughter.

omg she really was about to kill herself to be with Katsuya. T__T

Tohru is just the purest girl and I love her so much.

I love it so much that Kyoko told Kyo this story. 

Oh, Kyo, honey that isn’t what she was trying to say at all. :(

omg is he remembering?!

Oh, great, now Kyo’s hallucinating and suffering from ptsd. I hate it!

HE’S IMAGINING SOMETHING BAD HAPPENING TO TOHRU BECAUSE OF HIM IM OUT IM DONE ;A;

“Tohru, she.... she wouldn’t... to me... like me...” YES SHE DOES YOU ADORABLE IDIOT.

 “After seeing that dream, it means I can’t go near her anymore.” stop. Stop right there, bby. 

This hurts.

omg is Yuki involving himself in them cooking now too? I love it!

YUKI AND MACHIII YESSSS. I’m excited to see where they go!

Poor Machi. </3

Machi sees through Yuki’s walls in the same way that Kyo sees through Tohru’s. <333 And Yuki brings Machi out of her shell. 

omg she’s embarrassed lol 

lmao Kakeru getting protective + supportive at the same time hahahha

OMG KYO AND TOHRU ARE SLEEPING OVER AT KAZUMAS SJFJSFJSJF

Yuki is... going to the main house? I’m shocked tbh and nervous

LMAO YUKI AND SHIGURE ARE REALLY OUT HERE BEING KYORU SHIPPERS

KDGKDKG RIN IS HERE TOO!

hahahaha Kyo and Rin were jealous of each other’s relationship with Kazuma. XDDD

Poor Hatori XD

I don’t like that Yuki is visiting Akito. :/ Something bad is gonna happen. 

“I forgive Akito too!” .... uh...??? Yuki, honey, I really respect that. But I’m confused? 

AKITO JUST THREW A FUCKING VASE AT YUKI

“I definitely will not come back to your side.” Oooh. Was Yuki giving Akito one last indulgence? 

I love Yuki’s growth so much. Maybe it’s because of my own abuse, but while I am proud of Yuki’s capability to forgive, I know I couldn’t - because I still haven’t. And Akito hasn’t done anything to try and deserve that forgiveness yet. Also, Yuki is just shedding off the blame others had and taking it all upon himself which is... wrong. How he was treated by others, as a child, was not his fault. I hate that he feels he has to forgive Akito because he thinks he’s the one at fault. It’s okay to be angry and hateful of your abusers? 

OMG that scene between Hatori and Yuki was cute af though. 

“Kyo, you’re so cute!” IM

“Do you have any wishes for the new year?” I’m sad af.

Tohru’s wish is for them to break the curse!

Awww Rin and Haru are soo cute!

#fruits basket #fruits basket spoilers #fruits basket manga

[ffamranxii]

I just finished Fruits Basket Another and I have some Feelings, okay? Under the cut, because spoilers.

THE CHARACTERS

Hoooo boy let’s unpack here. Furubana is about Sawa Mitoma, a nervous first year in high school. She firmly believes that she’s basically human trash, and resolves to take up as little space in the world as possible, and that’s not even me paraphrasing. She says within the first few pages she wants to take up as little space as humanly possible. We find out that she’s the daughter of an extremely abusive mother - emotionally abusive. Sawa’s mother never hits her, but she’s also never once nice to her in any of her appearances. She isolates Sawa from any and all friends, she constantly drags Sawa down, and she’s rarely even at home, even back when Sawa was a little girl. How long has Sawa been looking after herself? Sawa is what Tohru could have become if Kyoko had been involved with a gang member rather than Katsuya. 

The main trio of characters is rounded out by essentially the same trio as before: Mutsuki Sohma as the son of Yuki and Machi and Hajime Sohma as the son of Tohru and Kyo. Visually, they look nearly identical, which is why I chose that ^ picture. But they could not be more different. Sawa is every Sohma insecurity rolled into one, and the Sohmas are what their parents could have been without the curse and the constant abuse. Hajime is one of the oldest of the cousins, smothered with love and affection by his entire family, and is lovingly referred to as Dad and Papa (which annoys him), being one of the few in the family who cooks, cleans, or is, y’know, responsible. (Good job, Kyoru! Teach your boy right!) He is unwillingly elected student council president, and manages it easily. Unlike his father’s life, things come easily to Hajime, but he doesn’t let that make him conceited. He’s a down to earth character who trades biting remarks with Mutsuki. Mutsuki, on the other hand, I love. I adore. I want to erect a shrine to this boy. Poor Yuki, his wife hath birthed him a miniature Ayame. Mutsuki is trouble under a beautiful exterior, subtle snark and gentle teasing, but over the top in other aspects (like his thing that was once a desk and complete inability to do the most basic of tasks like buy laundry detergent, his utter willingness to let other people do things for him). He is also a deeply caring individual, and has an extremely close relationship with his cousin Shiki which is the complete opposite of his father’s relationship with Shiki’s mother that I nearly cried right there while reading volume three.

Kinu Sohma is the daughter of Hatori and Mayuko (a pairing of which I am not fond), and I actually was not fond of her until volume three, at which point she became a treat. A college student, Kinu seems to have no real ambitions or life goals (much like many college freshmen), spends much of her time sleeping, and only really sweeps in at the last chapter to comfort a very distressed Sawa in the way only a fellow woman can, delivering a wonderful speech right up with Kyoko’s Words Of Wisdom about how no one has the right to treat you badly, even your own family. No one has the right to abuse you, demean you, hurt you. That is a curse. She actually uses the word curse, and it makes me wonder what her parents told her of the Sohma curse, if Hatori ever mentioned how Akito used to be, or how Shigure was such a piece of shit about the seahorse, and it made me love Hatori all over again, for teaching his daughter such a powerful thing. Volume three also gave wonderful interaction between Kinu and the entirely deranged (but perfectly appropriate) Hibika Sohma, the daughter of Ayame and Mine. Just like Hatori is the only one who has any sort of control over Ayame, Kinu is the only one who can reign in Hibika. I believe these two are the oldest, out of all of the cousins, because in volume two, Hibika just fucking jets off to Paris with no warning, at the top of one of her tiny tophats instead of setting up her parents’ second store, because she needed inspiration to create new dresses. I don’t think a high school student could do that. Hibika may possibly be the oldest (Kinu is still a minor at 19 [Japan’s age of adulthood is 20]), because I don’t think a minor could do that either. She’s obsessed with Sawa and playing dress up with her, something Kinu is able to reign her away from doing with ease. She’s only the tiniest bit toned down from Ayame. I love her.

Michi Manabe is the daughter of Kakeru and Komaki and is sometimes at odds with Hajime. My biggest complaint with Furubana is that she is not in it enough!! Despite not being a Sohma proper, Michi is included in nearly all Sohma activities and all the Sohma cousins know her. She and Mutsuki were raised as siblings and address each other as such, which is precious because awww, but also because Kakeru has a deep sibling bond with his half sister as an adult, Komaki (who I view as another Tohru in a way, from how she was introduced) made an effort to keep Yuki and Machi in their lives and comfortable, and Yuki and Machi both created a family unit with the one family member who wanted Machi around, a bond so strong that their children saw each other so much growing up that they refer to each other as siblings. How precious is that?? Poor Hajime is probably the only voice of reason Mutsuki ever had in his life because you know Michi is to Mutsuki what Kakeru would be to Ayame. God I need a Kakeru-meets-Ayame-centric episode right now. Yuki would DIE. Riku Sohma is one half of the twin siblings born to Haru and Rin, and while he looks like Haru, this boy is a lot like his mother. He doesn’t have the anger issues his parents have, not really (except for instance of punching out Hibika’s brother), but he can be a bit spacey, he’s very serious and literal, and he likes to sleep. Everywhere. This family and their sleep. It kills me. He also gets himself a cute little girlfriend, and because of his crush on this girl and his watching of her, he notices her wanting to reach out to Sawa, and Sawa makes her first friend (mostly) on her own in nearly her entire life! On the other hand, Sora Sohma, his twin sister, is cute and spacey, a bit ditzy, and looks like their mother but is 100% Haru. She has nicknames for everyone in the family, and never calls anyone by their actual name. She’s my second favorite character after Hibika. Sora reminds me very much of Usagi Tsukino: instead of seeing a person, Sora sees a friend.

Poor Chizuru Sohma should’ve been Yuki’s kid. Honestly I’m surprised Ayame and Mine don’t have more kids, given how passionate I’m sure they are. And while Chizuru loves his father, he does declare the man crazy (as does every other character, minus Mutsuki, who says he’s “the most terrific of all uncles”) on more than one occasion. Chizuru is the more responsible of the Ayame/Mine Sohma children, setting up the Ayame II shop essentially on his own until Mutsuki offers Sawa’s help as a part timer (because remember, Hibika decided to go to Paris for the week).  He hates that others view his family as eccentric and him as normal and especially hates when they comment on it, and he tends to be a bit foul-mouthed and outspoken. A bit like Hiro. Poor kid. Rio Mosca is Saki Hanajima’s boy and he is NOT KAZUMA’S SON AND THIS MAKES ME SO SAD. His parents’ love story is rather cute, however. His father is a foreigner (Italian, given that his surname is Mosca), and the two met on a plane, making this a cute little callback to when young Megumi prayed for a someone for Saki to “get on a plane and meet her.” Mina Sohma is the most precious baby and is the daughter of our boy Momiji! Although, look at her - could she be anyone else’s child? She is sweet and cute and seems to be without Momiji a lot - Momiji inherited his father’s business (which seems to be international?), and he travels all the time. Mina has a great talent for batting and rather than be privately tutored and follow her father all over the world, she stays behind in Japan to play baseball for her school. Her dream is to take over the family business from her father like he did from his. It seems Momiji’s terribly tragic story ended happily, as it seems he reconciled with his father enough to inherit his business... (more on this later). And then we have Shiki Sohma, who is surprisingly the son of Shigure and Akito! :O Shiki seems to inhabit two worlds, much like the Sohmas of Furuba. On the one hand, he is part of a generation who was raised by those healed by Tohru Honda. Loving, caring parents who love and adore their children. He has friends who care deeply for him - his best friends, despite all being in different grades, are Chizuru and Rio, and they all play Go together in the school club. His family are all deeply committed to him - Mutsuki especially is close to him, as seen in the first volume where Shiki was teased at but not seen, as Mutsuki called him to come to the house where he, Hajime, Kinu, and Sawa were having a hot pot with Michi, Riku, and Sora.  His parents both are and aren’t the Shigure and Akito we know from Furuba - Shigure is still the immature jokester and Akito is still the serious head of the family, but they both love their son immensely, totally and completely in a way that Akito remembers being loved as a child by her father, in a way that Shigure’s parents probably loved him. On the other hand, in volume three, it is shown that, being the son of the head of the family, and living in the Sohma compound, with the old servants, the “old timers,” and Ren, subjects Shiki to some truly horrific abuse the likes of which no other second gen Sohma child has had to go through. Shiki would greet guests who would give him gifts, only to find that within those gifts were notes badmouthing his mother. Ren attempted to stab him as a small child, something the old Akito would and has attempted on the first gen Sohmas, and it’s implied the only reason was because Shiki was Akito’s child. Akito threw herself in front of Ren’s knife and took the blow for her boy. Shiki is a quiet and withdrawn child, one foot in each of these worlds, and seemingly paralyzed over how to act. Much like Sawa, especially once she meets the Sohmas.

Remember I said we’d come back to Momiji’s happy ending? See that woman in the top left? That’s Momo Sohma, Momiji’s sister. In Furubana, Momiji has reconciled not only with his father, but with his sister as well! Momo appears to pick up Momo from the Sohma house; she is Momiji’s assistant and Mina seems to stay with her sometimes when Momiji is out of the country. Momiji has his family back!!! Speaking of families, Hinata Sohma, Hiro’s little sister, is all grown up and makes her own appearance in the third volume (and is a slight alcoholic, lol). She also mentions brothers - did Hiro did another sibling after his curse broke?? Megumi Hanajima makes an appearance as a teacher at Kaibara High School, and this is my second complaint about Furubana - there is not enough Megumi!! He grew up sexy! Second best glow up in the series after Momiji! It’s Megumi who tells the romantic story of how Saki met her husband on the plane. Also making an appearance is Makoto Takei, former student council president, unwilling witness to Haru’s natural hair color explanation. He is now a teacher as well, and Sawa and Riku’s homeroom teacher. He’s also still in love with Yuki, and lets Mutsuki get away with anything. He is often at odds with Ruriko Kageyama, the daughter of Motoko Minagawa of the Prince Yuki Fan Club. Ruriko has inherited her mother’s obsession, though unlike Motoko and Makoto (god those two would’ve made a great obsessed couple), Ruriko loves ALL Sohmas. I don’t understand how the worship of an entire family to stalker levels is an official school club but whatever. Ruriko is actually pretty cool, and while she’s pretty strict, she’s also on somewhat friendly (like, “person I talk to at school but nowhere else” type friend) terms with Sawa. 

THE STORY

I feel this can best be summed up in five sentences and in reverse: When Sawa was little, she fell down the stairs. She was found by Shiki, who simultaneously called an ambulance and fell in love with her. Her piece of shit mother sued Shiki because he was rich as shit. Ten years later, no Sohmas harbor any grudges against Sawa, her mother is still a piece of shit, the Sohma children are full of Tohru-and-Kyoko wisdom passed down from their parents, and try to help Sawa. And also they all hardcore ship Shiki/Sawa. The end. 

No seriously, that’s the story. It’s beautiful. I wish there was one or two more volumes, a cameo featuring the adults, it would be perfect. Could you imagine the terrible awkward jokes Shigure would make? “Honey look, Shiki’s in love with the girl he pushed down the stairs as a kid. Was marrying her one of the terms of the lawsuit? Hahaha.” And Akito would just be like “....baby, you and Sawa go outside while I smack your father, you don’t need to see this.” And the two go outside and we then see Shigure fucking fly through the paper door and a loud “YOU FUCKING MORON” follow him out with the classic -_- “did I say something wrong?” Shigure face. And Shiki is just a fascinating color of ruby fire about the cheeks and mumbles, “so yeah... that’s my father....” and Sawa is a similar color and staring at her shoes like “he seems nice...” and Akito opens the ruined door as though she didn’t just beat the shit out of her husband and calls out to them, “come and have tea, your father had to step out for a bit. Sawa, dear, I’d love to hear more about you. would you prefer jasmine tea or green,” because Akito has done a complete 180 and become a decent human being since becoming a mother and Shiki is EVERYTHING to her and if her son loves this girl then GODDAMNIT SO DOES SHE. 

#fruits basket another #furubana #fruits basket #furuba #fruits basket spoilers #furuba spoilers #i just finished the series and i don't know what to do with myself

[yunsoh]

true form thoughts

- for starters: i’m so happy with how this episode turned out. just beautifully directed, beautifully scored, beautifully made. just wonderful. now onto chronological thoughts:

- really loved that little moment between kazuma and yuki. i think i forgot that kazuma also trained him lmao, which ofc sends a little pang down my yuki loving heart. but it was nice :)

- also really liked this internal line from shigure: “even you choose to entrust everything to her?” it kind of calls back on his conversation way back with hatori, putting into question how tohru really fits into his whole scheme. (also, side note: got some choice views of shigure’s absolute trash bedroom lmao)

- loved the way this scene played out (at least in the sub -- not sure how it happened in the dub):

like just.... really poignant. really drives home kagura’s part in this, and her relationship with kyo. kazuma knows, and she knows, that she won’t be the one to save him in the end.

- the ENTIRE scene between kyo and kazuma speaking in the rain. i mean, just the tension of the shifting camera angles, the score.... it made me like, horror-movie nervous. so beautifully done. 

- the overlay of kyo’s mom saying “it’s all right. because i love you” -- and the scenes quickly panning to yuki, kagura, and shigure -- “that’s why i don’t want others to see you ” -- and it panning to tohru. chills. i wanted to cry ah.

- i really liked that they changed it so that tohru was standing behind kyo this time, rather than kyo spotting her over kazuma’s shoulder. and the way that kazuma reached out to cover his eyes -- it makes me wonder if kazuma wanted kyo to know that tohru was there or not. this little change in direction 1) made kyo seeing her that much more jarring, and 2) puts into question how kazuma wanted this to pan out. he of course wanted her to see it, and was essentially testing her, but for kyo to realize that she was there.... hm. 

- i mean.... the transformation scene. straight up scary. especially considering what we’ve seen so far in the series -- we’ve seen a lot of darkness so far, but this is really the first time we see something very mystical and inhuman (physically inhuman, anyway) occur. and tohru’s face after seeing him? choice.

- actually thinking about it, in the manga they didn’t show him actually transforming. and boy, here they made it really intense. like, we see that transforming into the true form isn’t just a cute, poof thing like transforming into the animals -- it’s painful. it’s like his body is being ripped to shreds. which makes you think, how absolutely terrifying and horrible it must have been for him to transform as a child, and how traumatic it must be to even think about removing those beads ever again. not just because of the emotional damage, but the physical pain. 

- okay. let’s talk about the landslide real quick. there’s something very, very poignant about seeing kyo create a landslide and then knock tohru off of it. those who have read the series and know what happens later probably had a similar stomach-lurching reaction that i did -- not because he hit her so hard (seriously, how tough are tohru’s bones? does she drink a lot of milk?), but because of the sweet, sweet foreshadowing. to create a landslide now and injure her in order to reject her, versus later when he basically sends her to a landslide where she gets injured, not by his hand but still caused by his rejection of her? fucking ouch. fuck. ing. ouch.

- actually, rewatching this........ tohru’s neck should definitely be broken?

like? that water’s shallow as hell and he smacked her so hard she dove head first into it. i’m not entirely sure that kyo’s the only inhuman being here lmao.

- the scene where tohru is thinking to herself that kyo will never return home if she doesn’t help him, and the door slams shut is really reminiscent of the new year’s episode, where hana asks kyo and yuki if tohru is really okay being home alone for the holiday, and the door slams shut on tohru waving them goodbye.

- i like that they changed kyo’s dialogue when he transforms back -- instead of saying to tohru “you don’t have to love everything. it’s okay if you were scared” (as in the manga), he instead says “it would have been fine if she didn’t love all of me, or if she were scared of me,” and continues to speak about his mother rather than tohru. this really drove home for me that, while kyo looks at tohru differently than yuki sees her, he still does find in her that missing maternal love that he wished he had received from his own mother. 

- just. ugh. the hug scene. the way he twines his hand into her hair and presses his face into it. like he’s holding onto her for dear life. the fact that we saw him cry! man. just beautifully done.

- and, of course, the way they played the ending theme over the last minute of the episode. it sent straight chills down my spine. 

- “i know i shouldn’t, i know i don’t have any right to... i know it’s a mistake to be by your side. so why can’t i help wanting to treasure you this time, to never leave you?” again, hits very hard for people who know what’s to come later. with the context we have now, we can take this as him wanting to treasure her more than he had in these past months of them living together. but it’s really him speaking about his whole history with her -- the guilt he carries, that feeling that he shouldn’t be allowed to be near her, much less accept her love. it’s reminiscent, too, of a later scene where he realizes his love for her, and he says: 

“i’ve never done anything but hurt people. why didn’t my mother just kill me? she should have killed me. so why am i alive? shamelessly forcing my existence on people, even now. so why am i still looking for her?... i’m sorry, shishou. now i understand. but deep down inside, i knew, really. i knew. just like there is despair in the world, there are people who will hold their hand to you... she won’t ever come back. i couldn’t fulfill [that promise], but even so, it blossomed in front of me. it kept blossoming. a small, small flower. a tiny flower, precious... i want to be near you. until the time when i must go away. i want to be with you until the end.”

#fruits basket #a long one but. wow. wow! #there's ofc other things to talk about but these are my immediate thoughts #fruits basket spoilers

[papers4me]

fellow fruba friend here! What are your expectations on what each of the four main characters will achieve or gain at the end?

hi fellow furuba friend! by the main four, I suppose you mean yuki, kyo , tohru & shigure! All the traumatized characters in furuba deserve all the best & everything good given to them. They are all genuinely broken souls & I love them all. However, not everybody will actually be given everything for realistic reasons.

(1)-I’ll start with the easiest: Yuki. Yuki’s wish was stated so early in SE01, ep12 & ever since things have been moving so straight forward towards his goal: discovering his own self, finding friends who accept him w/o a mask & finding love. As Se02 is heavily focused on him, he got all that & more. it is very clear that the writer has decided that Yuki is the character that will get everything:

He opened his lid, faced akito & his fears & started laughing more.

He is shedding his mask & the prince persona.

He realized his familial feelings to tohru.

He accepts & supports tohru/kyo as couple & doesn’t feel envy/sadness.

He faced his mother calmly & decided his future. Altho he doesn’t need her any more, it is clear that he is civil with her & doesn’t blame her. She thinks of him as a tool that helps her glows & I’m sure she views his success as part of her & in the future, she’ll proudly say that’s my son if he was brought as a topic in any social gathering. My point is, given yuki’s stance to forgive the past, he won’t cut ties with her.

He completely forgiven his brother & is proud of him publicly.

He got a friend who is a mix of the two person yuki envies the most : kyo & aya. Also, kakeru is very designed to fit yuki in every way, so even if yuki never got anymore friends, kakeru is the one for life.

Altho yuki’s story could still be good without romantic love in canon as it can be hinted as sth he’ll get once he’s in college, he is getting a romantic love now with someone who doesn’t pity him nor admires him, sees the real him. Someone whom yuki can be a “tohru” to her & “support” her & be a “kyo” to her in the same way he’s been observing kyo & envying him for being the only one to see the real tohru. Yuki will be the only one to see the real machi.

What more can I say...What more can the writer give yuki.. I’ve been thinking hard... but I duno...perhaps sth to do with kyo & their views of each other.

I’ll leave number #10 open cuz I’m sure there’s more the writer will give him..but I duno regarding which character...um... shigure? The writer has been impersonating yuki so much in Se02 & giving us direct lessons thro his voice as much as I wish she tones it down as this disrupts the flow of a story, making yuki speaks on behalf of other characters whose voice has been blocked, it also doesn’t trust the viewers/readers to “learn the lesson” without directly given to them. So I’m positive 100% there will be more yuki telling us learned lessons us especially after critical moments similar to some of SE02 big eps.

(2)-Kyo: Kyo is always given one ep of inner thoughts per season. However, each ep is big & so influential for both his character development & the story’s plot as a whole. His thoughts were essentially blocked at first for mystery reasons due to his involvement with kyoko but ever since Se02, ep9 it was exposed that he knows her, it’s now blocked for building the “climax” reasons. However, the writer is skilled in writing kyo as a character that is easily read, someone who doesn’t know how to act, so you can decipher his feelings from his actions. I don’t mind him not giving inner thoughts if his actions can replace that & communicate his feelingsto the viewers  which is so well-done with kyo but badly done with tohru,(but more on tohru later). what I expect for kyo... it is hard to say!!! It depends on how the writer will solve kyoko’s damned “ I won’t forgive you” words!!! Cuz i see this as one of the most difficult plot twists & obstacles. Kyo’s issues are different from yuki. It isn’t abt self discovery, warmth, or finding friendship or love. It is abt having a right to live, guilt & believing that he isn’t harmful, kyo knows that there are few ppl who loves him but to him these few ppl are the most important ppl in the world, he doesn’t want to hurt them. His life experiences has taught him that his loved ones always end up dying in his place. he carries immense guilt & self-loath. So what to expect... i duno.. Moreover, kyo being the opposite of yuki, so I don’t think he’ll be given everything even if he, just like yuki, deserves everything good. There are things in kyo’s life that cannot be fixed.

Kyo will for sure open his lid, but it will be ugly cuz he’ll have to confess abt his mom’s suicide & him witnessing/being involved in kyoko’s death. He’ll have to tell tohru kyoko’s devastating words & her last painful moments. I duno what to expect beside pain!!!!

“forgiveness/ or lack of ” is kyo’s theme!! will tohru forgive him?? I duno! I find it hard to believe tohru-my-mom-is-my-idol” will do that unless sth changes. But It really doesn’t matter if tohru does or doesn’t, cuz kyo himself will NEVER forgive himself!! There’s comfort in being punished. ppl with genuine hearts & conscious, don’t like escaping punishment for their wrong deeds. If kyo believes truly that he’s at fault somehow, he’ll want to be punished.  

Kyo has stated that “ I won’t take anything away from you anymore” thinking abt tohru. He has given up on her cuz he believes he took her mom from her. His thought process is very realistic & his actions are very logical & matches his trauma, so I don’t know where this will lead to.. I know the writer won’t be cruel with him more than his story already is, but it is so complicated!!!! He can’t accept tohru’s love!! she shouldn’t!!

Unlike yuki’s mother, kyo’s father refuses anything regarding kyo & doesn’t even consider him human. He pushes forward for his imprisonment. I don’t see the writer giving kyo’s father the tiny redemption moment she gave yuki’s mom. Nothing will make kyo’s dad be proud of kyo as he considers kyo to be the cause of all his misfortune. Kyo’s dad is the person kyo shouldn’t & mustn't become. However, kyo got another father who truly loves him & is already proud of him. I love that the writer didn’t cut off kyo’s attachment to his bio dad simply caz he got shisho. Kyo’s dad is a huge reason of why kyo is traumatized. it is not the curse itself. it is the toxic broken home. Every toxic thought in kyo’s mind is imprinted there since early age intentionally by his dad & unintentionally by his mom. So how do I expect kyo will overcome his mom’s gohst & his dad’s demon? I duno too! T_T. ..XD.

his mom & kyoko are dead. If kyo believes he’s the reason...how he’ll ask forgiveness?? I love the theme of dealing with broken things that can’t be fixed. The writer will forever be one of my best authors if she convinced me that she can handle such tough theme.

I feel like I’m repeating I duno a lot, but yeah kyo’s story could go so many directions!!!! but I have trust that wherever it goes, it will be as satisfying as yuki’s. The writer has chosen to put kyo’s behind for epic climatic showdown, it will be thrilling, painful, dramatic & so satisfying. kyo will not be furuba’s tragic ending, the writer showed she prefers ’s optimistic & positive paths despite the trauma. Besides, kyo is tied to tohru, no way such kind soul will be crushed twice by losing her mom & her first love.

(3)-Tohru: The female protagonist with everything individual & personal abt her pushed until Se03 with the most minor foreshadowing & the most trivial symbolism. lol..She doesn’t have eps of inner thoughts abt her own issues like yuki & she doesn’t have big influential eps abt her like kyo... what did she have so I can predict: (a) the nightmare which tells us tohru is still grieving her mom’s loss & (b) the little flashbacks where it shows sth bad traumatized her when she was a baby & it involves her mom locking her? or sth. (c) tohru telling rin that she has things she can’t give up. I don’t have predictions for tohru. I have wishes. I want her to want things for herself. screw the curse, the sohma’s issues, the mom-tohru, the savior-tohru, the supporting-tohru. All that is typical tropes done many times already. Give me a unique female protag who can be kind, but is hurt by her own kindness, someone so altruistic & realizes that I can choose my self first!!! it is okay to be first for once!! Give me someone who even after showing the world I’m okay & optimistic is NOT okay & optimistic but is actually scared & lonely despite all the love surrounding her by the ppl she “saved”. a female protag pursuing her OWN happiness shrewdly but kindly in the most epic combination! This is the tohru I want. how she’ll decide to forgive kyo? I duno. I’ll cheer if she did & I’ll cheer if she didn’t. both situations suit tohru’s mindset.

(4)-Shigure:big giant I duno...lol.. I need to understand this dude first!! He’s the most intriguing. 

#Fruits Basket #Anime Only #asks #anyamyomus friends #Lovely anon #fellow furuba friend #anonymous friends #responding paper

[yuchinari]

Hello. I've read your post on how you could psychologically view the characters of Hatsuharu, Yuki, Shigure, Akito. I found it very insightful and interesting. I wonder, how would you analyse Tohru's psychology? She is so much deeper than what can be first assumed, what is still yet assumed by the newcomers at this point in the remake. I'd love to have your opinion.

Sorry for such a late response, I’ve been so busy and honestly I’ve been putting this off because I could write a whole essay about this

But long story short, Tohru REEKS of resilience and kindness.

The reason I also didn’t include Tohru in the post was because I’ve seen a couple of other posts and videos describing and delving into Tohru’s character more already. She’s not just a perfect character with no flaws nor just a Mary Sue like new anime watchers would misconstrue. In fact, you can finally start to see the cracks of it in this second season, when Kyo asks her what she’s going to do after high school. Tohru starts freaking out and desperately asks Kyo to please change the subject and talk about him instead. And I rly think that’s the first we see that Tohru is not perfect nor has it all together as we/and she likes to believe.

The thing with Tohru is *and major spoilers ahead* puts a lid on her feelings, similarily to other zodiac members (yuki). She doesn’t suffer from any disorder like the others, but she does have feelings that she bottles up for the sake of herself. And she’s vaguely aware of it because she knows if she opens that up, she’s going to lose something and she’s not ready for it.

A major part of this stems from Tohru’s reaction to her mother’s death. Yes she cried, and mourned, but she’s still holding onto her and it’s done with so much light and kindness that people don’t realize that some of it is a little odd and covering up something more. Like she brings her photo into a hot spring, and while it can be seen as her loving her mother, is that really the actions of someone who’s really let her go?

Tohru’s whole thing is she’s afraid of letting go of her mother, she’s afraid to where she even lets grandpa call her “Kyoko-San” because that is something both of them realized they did to remind them that Kyoko did exist. She even thought of her dad as a bad person, because she was scared of losing her mom, despite remembering him kind. She has trauma.

Tohru’s problem through the first season is she’s not “selfish” enough and doesn’t put herself first and chastised for this by Kyo and others. But in fact, she’s already had a selfishness and she finds that this makes her “dirty”. Tohru isn’t perfect at all and she’s had her own weaknesses and fears that make her that much more easy to see the hurt in others as well.

But along with all of that, Tohru represents the epicenter of “healing” for the whole story and the characters. Despite these inner flaws and fears, she’s led by everything her mother left her with: that kindness is strength,

how it is to live in a warm safe home,

how it is to love someone and be loved so much

and believing in others despite the doubt and darkness in the world.

She teaches and shares all this warmth with the zodiac members she meets without even trying most of the time.

Tohru’s built up so much resilience from all her adversaries- from living in a tent, losing her dad, losing her mom, teased by classmates, being mistreated by family members- by sticking to her beliefs, pushing herself to do her best and always gives 110% even if she shouldn’t.

Which is another thing others try to help her with, which is often over-doing herself and giving herself a fever.

Despite thinking her selfishness makes her “filthy”, she’s seen as strong and so deserving of love by Kyo. This is her opening her lid and getting accepted for it, regardless. Welcomed by it- because it’s a thing she couldn’t even share to her mom. And that’s part of the healing for her.

“It’s okay to be discouraged. It’s okay to be selfish once in a while. It’s what we deserve.” -Kyoko

So to reiterate, while Tohru is not a perfect person and has her own weaknesses, she’s built up so much resilience From it. And this is the character viewers might misjudge without realizing why she’s strong. She would not be who she was without her mom. And furthermore, without meeting the Sohmas. and she shares this strength with everybody she meets by what she was taught. Which all align with how she is. Kindness and willingness to understand.

#sorry for such a late response #i actually lost half of this response and was very mad about it for a couple hours lol #Tohru Honda #fruits basket #fruits basket spoilers #fruits basket 2019 #meta #analysis #ironically posted after tohrus bday