#i once said beware of my furubana rants so take this

[filliteapot]

The new Furubana extra is such a good punch to all those who complained that “things went too smoothly and happily for Akito after everything” because no freaking way it could happen.

One of the things I always loved about the original Furuba was that the painful reality of the ending: the entire mess which is the Sohma family doesn’t get resolved and forgotten after the curse is lifted. There is no forgiveness of all and everything (if you thought it was a total happy end and complete forgiveness, just take a closer look at the last chapters of Furuba), old sins and old scars stay here, as well as the old patterns and habits of blaming someone else and denying your own responsibility that are not so easy to get rid of. I guess it’s more than clear that the supernatural aspect of the curse was the top of the iceberg, and even its deeper meaning such as “the bond” between the cursed ones is not everything: the curse, the bond and everything related to this always existed within this family that has way more problems than just it and is tbh rotten to the core by time the story unfolds. And when the bond is gone, it doesn’t mean that the way the family has lived all this time changes too - it has such a solid history of becoming a toxic and manipulative structure, and it didn’t affect just those who were related by some magical chain and people close to them. So, in fact, the curse breaks, but doesn’t disappear. “It had crept up beside me, wrapped itself around me, and has always been, not very far away” (c) Shiki. So, perhaps what Shiki decides for himself in the end is also the only way to fight against the “curse”: it’s keeping yourself “free of the curse” - trying to change your own life and things you are able to change, and protect yourself.

I love how Shiki describes these ways of family he had to deal with just because he is the son of his mother: "A curse of nothing being allowed to change". It’s probably the closest thing that sums up the curse for me too (since Furuba times). Moreover, this line is said in this extra chapter filled with ginkgo leaves, symbol of changlessness, an ummeasurable past (and also motherhood). I love the way Hajime defines it earlier in the story: “Expecting someone to smile and say thank you to their family, when that ‘family’ is stepping all over them -- that’s just abuse. It’s just a curse”. It’s something different from what I was just talking about, but I guess it shows that despite everyone suffered from the same thing, it was different for each of them, and they got hit by different aspects of this “curse”.

I’m glad Takaya made it more obvious. She impressed me one more time.

#fruits basket #fruits basket another #furuba spoilers #natsuki takaya #teapot and onigiri #shiki sohma #akito sohma #i once said beware of my furubana rants so take this