Rolling Review – Fruits Basket 2019 – S3 (12)

Episode Synopsis

Yuki’s curse is the last to go, and with its disappearance he’s able to tell Machi his true feelings. Akito allows herself to appear as she truly feels, and finally admits her love for Shigure. Kyo invites Tohru to travel with him. The final parts of the episode are devoted to Kyoko’s last thoughts as she lay dying after the accident.

Review:

It’s time to wrap things up here on Fruits Basket. I don’t have a ton of things to say about this episode. It almost feels like too much is going on, but I think that’s more the mangaka’s doing than the showrunner’s. It’s the finale so we need to couple everyone up. We have two separate couples getting their cathartic moments, and honestly only one of them matters.

*shoves Scott off the dock
Okay…Scott…your ship has sailed…Get off…so mine…can go now…
Ugh…you are so heavy…

In the battle of the boys, I fall on Team Yuki. Not because I think he was meant to end up with Tohru, but because I relate to him more as a character than I do Kyo. His journey from someone with a deep lack of self, to somebody who stands up for what he wants and is able to articulate his feelings was one that I resonated with. To that end, his ship sailing off into the distance with Machi felt like the final cherry on top. While the pacing to get here felt a touch…odd, I was happy with the final result. Good for you Yuki.

At first I found it strange that all the zodiac members (sans Shigure) would show up for Akito’s final statement. Upon thinking about it further, I realized it’s actually a great “show don’t tell moment” about how tightly the curse bounded these people together. Hell, despite all the abuse heaped upon her, even Rin cried with loneliness when the bond broke. I also like that there was some humor in the interactions here. The episode tries to add some levity into this otherwise painful final encounter.

Lastly, I think it was a powerful writing choice to have Akito choose not to apologize to the rest of the zodiac children. She’s caused such misery. An apology from her could only ever be meaningless to all the other characters and to us the viewers. Akito knowing that shows immense character growth on her part.

Since we’re on the subject of Akito, let’s talk about Part 2 of CoupleTown. I get that this is shojo and everyone deserves a chance at redemption, but Akito is the absolute worst. Thankfully Shigure is awful in kind so these two deserve each other. I’m glad they can chug off into the sunset and be terrible together. While Yuki and Machi are like a streamlined yacht, Akito and Shigure are like a steamboat designed to widen the ozone layer.

I don’t have any meaningful commentary about Kyo and Tohru deciding to travel together. I’m glad Tohru is able to say what she wants with confidence now. Hats off to you, beautiful cinnamon roll.

Look at you Tohru…making your own decisions. I’m happy for you.

And now we come to the last part of the episode, where I will have the most controversial views.

My husband is a big fan of horror movies. Not the splatter kind, but the ones that are psychological in nature. The ones that leave you with an eerie feeling long after they are done. The trick with psychological horror is that you need to know when to show things and when to let the audience just imagine things for themselves. Very rarely is a director able to show you something more horror inducing than what the mind itself can conjure.

I say this because I actually found it heartwrenching that Kyo’s last memory of Kyoko was her saying “I’ll never forgive you”. Yes, I know…

and that last statement was never going to be meant literally, but you know what? Death is harsh. We don’t get a magic camera that goes back and tells us what people were really thinking and feeling. I think it was a neat talking point to muse upon whether or not Kyoko really yelled angrily from the bottom of her heart in her last moments. It was way more powerful to leave us with the idea that Kyo thought this, and through his love for Tohru, was able to push beyond it. It makes his journey to self acceptance that much more powerful.

These final shots of Kyoko felt like the author needed to make sure you felt a certain way. She wanted you to know that Kyoko is okay and in Heaven now, and while the sequences + music were beautiful, I personally didn’t need this. Kyoko was an angel too beautiful for this world, so there was nowhere for her to go but up. I liked having to make my own decisions on the whole matter.

Summary:

I guess there’s someone for everyone. Even if your someone helps kill the earth with your combined toxic smog. Also in case you were worried we wouldn’t get through all the trauma these characters have gone through, remember that we can do it if we stay together.