Fruits Basket is back for its third and final season, and most likely the darkest yet. Season 2 departed from the generally more light-hearted, though still emotional first season and dove deeper into the main characters’ traumas and past regrets.

If you are thinking of starting watching the final season as it airs on Crunchyroll or Funimation, but want to refresh your memory of Season 2, we’ve got you covered with a review and a recap of the major events that changed everything we thought about Tohru, the Sohmas, and the curse.

Season 2 started with Tohru settled in the Sohma household for good. Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo prepare to enter their final year at high school, which is stressful to them for different reasons as they have to think of the future; it doesn’t help that some of them feel they don’t have much of a future… but more of that in a bit.

Tohru and the Sohmas decide to spend their summer holiday in a Sohma property by the sea and have some fun days before the school year starts. Thankfully for the show’s pacing, this time doesn’t feel like your typical “beach episode”, which we encounter in many anime shows; even in the relatively light-hearted episodes, there’s character growth and inner demons that fight to emerge.

Things get scary when Akito decides to also visit the seaside town and expects the rest of the Sohmas to attend to him, apart from Kyo whom he doesn’t want to see, resulting in Kyo and Tohru spending a lot of time alone and their bond growing even stronger.

 Eventually, Tohru and Akito meet and Tohru learns the full extend of the curse: Akito is like the god of the zodiac Circle which basically means that those affected by the Zodiac curse are supernaturally drown to him and can’t resist his will even if he abuses them. Moreover, Akito’s ultimate plan is for them to all live together with him after the younger ones graduate, and for Kyo to live forever confined, like the previous Cat before him.

Throughout the show, we’ve seen Tohru acting selflessly, always with the interests of others in mind. Learning about the curse is a turning point for her. Upon hearing what is going to happen to Kyo, she resolves to find out more about the curse, and end it. In doing so, she’s once again acting on her wish to help her friends, but for the first time, there’s some selfishness there too. She doesn’t want to lose her friends, who have been there when she needed them the most. But already, there are hints that she feels more than friendship for Kyo and wants more.

In the holiday house, Tohru meets Kureno Sohma, who always accompanies Akito and is never seen alone. She realises that Kureno must be the person her best friend Arisa is in love with. Back home, she tries to get Kureno to at least let Arisa talk to him about her feelings, but he refuses to see Arisa.

Soon, the parent-teacher conference draws near, causing different sorts of feeling to our main characters. Yuki is particularly stressed because his mother, who is normally indifferent, tries to control him in order to gain more privileges for herself. Yuki is rescued by his brother, Ayame, who is finally putting some effort in the relationship, making Yuki realise he can actually depend on him.

Yuki’s character development is truly amazing in Season 2. At first, many fans might have thought that his tender feelings towards Tohru would culminate in a declaration of love, but it turns out this is not the case. Yuki, who was abandoned and forced to live with the abusive Akito, never felt parental love. Due to that, he projected his need for motherly love to Tohru, because she was the first person to actually believe in him and have his back.

As Season 2 goes by, Yuki grows close with Machi, a fellow student council member who acts cold towards him, unlike most girls at school who try to flirt with him. He also starts to confide in another classmate, Manabe, who turns out to be Machi’s half-brother and brought up to compete with her for their father’s wealth. Seeing other people also struggling with a complicated family situation they did not choose, Yuki sees his own situation more clearly and starts to heal.

Meanwhile, Rin, who has broken up with Hatsuharu to protect him from Akito’s wrath, is trying to break the curse by herself. In doing so, she neglects to take care of herself and ends up sick in Shigure’s house, where Tohru takes care of her. Although Rin tries to keep her at a distance, Tohru perseveres and they to eventually form a friendship and bond over their mutual wish to break the curse.

This, and Tohru’s insistence to help Arisa, result in her meeting Kureno again for the first time alone. Earlier, Tohru had been told that Kureno is the rooster of the zodiac circle, but Kureno hugs her to show her that he is no longer bound by the curse that causes members to transform into their respective animals when hugged or unwell.

Kureno reveals that he’s unsure why his curse broke when the other Sohmas remain cursed. While he is now free of Akito, he still cannot bring himself to leave. When Tohru cannot understand why, Kureno reveals that Akito is actually a girl, forced to grow up as a boy by her mother, Ren. Akito was also abused in childhood, and only knows how to recreate the violence she has experienced while mistakenly thinking her bond with the zodiac members is true love. While Akito remains helpless and miserable, Kureno tells Tohru that he can never leave and be with Arisa, ending the show in a heart-breaking note.

In many ways, Season 2 was different from the first one. There were many more dark moments, and there is a sense of foreboding, a feeling that the characters can never go back to the way things were before. There was still light-hearted fun, especially in the student council episodes, but more importantly, there was character growth, development of positive relationships and hope for the future. As is always the case with Fruits Basket, problems aren’t solved magically. Trauma is still there and healing is a long, often ugly process, but the show is all about the little moments of happiness, love and hope in the meantime.

The post ‘Fruits Basket’ Season 2 Recap appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Fruits Basket by Takaya Natsuki, is one of the most popular shojo manga series, with millions of copies sold. The first anime adaptation (2001) was generally well-received but, as the manga only completed in 2006, it had to reach its own conclusion. In Fullmetal Alchemist fashion, devoted fans of the manga had to wait a long time for their Brotherhood. 20 years later, an anime remake of Fruits Basket has been made, and this time it will follow the entire manga. Season 1 finished airing in September 2019, and it was everything it should be:  emotional and well-made, with a new, modern aesthetic that still does the manga justice.  If you want to refresh your memory before Season 2 starts airing this April, go no further. Here’s what has happened so far:

Tohru Honda is an optimistic, hard-working high school girl who has been living in a tent, following the death of her beloved mother. When her temporary home is destroyed, her classmate, Yuki Sohma and his older cousin, Shigure, offer to take her in. Not long after, Kyo, another Sohma arrives and challenges Yuki to a fight. Caught up between the two cousins, Tohru accidentally finds out the family’s secret: twelve members of the Sohma family are each possessed by an animal of the Chinese Zodiac cycle. When they are hugged by a member of the opposite sex or when they feel unwell, they turn into their respective animal. Additionally, Kyo is possessed by the spirit of the cat, who is not a part of the Zodiac cycle, a fate considered worse than the others’.

This premise might seem funny and whimsical, but we soon find out this is far from the case. The Sohmas, and Tohru herself, each have a tragic past that still affects them and their relationship with others. Yuki, the rat of the zodiac has been isolated and bullied by the head of the Sohma family. At some point during childhood, he had his animal form revealed in front of many children. In order to keep the family curse a secret, his friends’ memories of him had to be erased, leaving him reluctant to come close to others again. Kyo, who has often been reviled because of the cat spirit, is obsessed with beating Yuki and being accepted in the Zodiac cycle.

As she gets to know them better, Tohru realises the two are not so different and gradually helps them develop and heal. When her relatives offer to take her in once again, only to immediately shame her for having lived with her male classmates, Tohru realises she had wanted to spend more time with Yuki and Kyo. The two boys team up for the first time to find her relatives’ house and invite her back. Encouraged by her understanding grandfather, who does not want the rest of the family to suffocate her, Tohru moves back in with the Sohmas. The idea of chosen family is brought up for the first, but definitely not for the last time.

Soon, Tohru meets more Sohmas: Kagura, the boar of the zodiac cycle, has an obsessive love for Kyo and must slowly come to terms with her unrequited feelings. Hatori, the dragon (but, in truth, a sea-horse) is the family doctor. Apart from treating the Sohmas when they’re ill, he has to wipe the memories of outsiders who find out about the curse. Ironically, he once had to erase his own girlfriend’s memories of him to protect her, as Akito, the head of the family, disapproved of the relationship and seriously injured Hatori, causing the young woman to blame herself.  Momiji, the rabbit, is not remembered by his own mother, who became depressed after giving birth to a Zodiac member, and had her memories of him erased. Often behaving like a child younger than his years, Momiji tries to stay cheerful, even as he watches his mother from afar, along with his younger sister who doesn’t know Momiji is her brother. Hatsuharu, the ox, often loses his temper and, as a child, he had been conditioned by his own family to think he is stupid. Ayame, the snake, and Yuki’s estranged older brother, clumsily tries to mend their relationship with disastrous and hilarious effects. Kisa, the tiger, was misunderstood by her overprotective mother, and after being bullied at school, is left unable to speak. Ritsu, the monkey, a cross-dressing student, is apologetic for everything and has to slowly build up his confidence. Hiro, the sheep, had to avoid Kisa because Akito forbade their relationship and is now courageously defying the head of the family while also dealing with the jealousy he often feels for others.  

Each time a new Zodiac member is introduced, Tohru soon finds there is more to them than meets the eye. Each has their own secrets and hidden depths that make them engaging, so viewers are bound to care for or identify with at least a few of them. Each is unique, but all their stories have a common thread: much of their pain is caused by Akito, the mysterious head of the family, who is not a Zodiac member, but has a god-like control over the thirteen cursed Sohmas. Shigure himself, possessed by the spirit of the dog, is the most mysterious of them all. In his enigmatic conversations with Akito he admits his motivations for taking Tohru in are darker than they seem. He cares about Akito more than anything and is willing to lie or use others to get what he wants. But what does he want? And why is Akito inflicting so much pain on everyone? Perhaps Season 2 will give us answers.

As a whole, the Season 1 alternates between darker and more light-hearted episodes, many of which are devoted to a single character and their backstory, setting up an intriguing base for the next,  darker season. Healing in Fruits Basket, much like in real life, is not an easy process. As Tohru helps the Sohmas confront their pain and grow, she too, is changed through her interactions with them without this meaning that their traumas are totally mended. Tohru’s best friends, Arisa, a former gang member, and Saki, a girl with psychic powers, also play an important role, providing a great example of female friendship and support. The characters’ bonding during school festivals, holidays or even during sadder occasions, such as visiting the grave of Tohru’s mother, is heart-warming to watch.

In the season’s climax, another Sohma shows up. Kazuma, Kyo’s foster father and martial arts teacher, believes that only Tohru can help Kyo accept himself. Soon, he brings Kyo to his most vulnerable state; his true form. As the cat, who has been rejected by the Zodiac cycle, Kyo has another, monstrous form, which has always terrified everyone, from his long-dead mother to Kagura. In one of the show’s more tense and moving moments, Tohru accepts Kyo regardless of this repulsive form and promises to stay by his side.  Kyo then returns to normal, reconciles with his foster father and resolves to become stronger and more independent. The season ends in a positive note, with many of the Zodiac members meeting up at Shigure’s house and Tohru sensing something important is about to happen during the approaching summer break.  Hiro, one of the few to not join, visits Rin, an important character in the manga, whose role has yet to be revealed in the anime. Shigure himself is notably absent. In one of his mysterious conversations with Akito, he reveals that curse could potentially break soon. But at what cost?

By the end of Season 1, most characters have come a long way. As Yuki thinks to himself: ‘there might be moments when we all want to run away, but we are fighting through it’. Each of them has faced rejection at some point: early on, Tohru mentions a game of ‘fruits basket’, in which every child was assigned a fruit, but Tohru herself was called ‘onigiri’, a rice-ball, which is not a fruit, as a cruel way to exclude her from the game. Now Tohru, her two best friends and the Sohmas are already creating their own fruits basket, in which no one is excluded or left behind.

And yet, there is a sense of foreboding in this optimistic ending. From what we have seen so far, Akito doesn’t want the Zodiac members to have a good relationship with anyone but himself, so this new ‘fruits basket’ could be threatened very soon. Will Shigure’s plan help his younger cousins and Tohru or harm them? And what about the two Zodiac members Tohru has yet to meet?

What did you think of Season 1 of Fruits Basket? What do you expect to see in Season 2? Tell us in the comments below!

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