Halfway Through The Basket

Monday marked the mid-season turn around for Fruits Basket. Halfway through their final season and tears are steadily flowing.

Yes, I cried a lot during this last episode of Fruits Basket, and honestly I am preparing myself to have a nice cry fest every Monday until we finally reach our conclusion. Which is honestly fast approaching! I can't believe it's mid-season already and that the show will be over soon. Compared to last weeks mid-season review for My Hero Academia, I have very different feelings going into this review, most of which are just bitter sweet.

If I were going to have a critique for this season, it would be regarding this: It took a minute but I ended up noticing at the beginning of the season that they decided to switch the timeline around a bit (starting all the way back at the end of season two). I'm not sure how I didn't notice sooner, maybe because they made it feel natural? At first I was simply confused, then I was a teeny, tiny bit upset, but ultimately I think they have done a good job of laying out the story on this altered timeline. The flow has worked very well and we still got all our important scenes, which at the end of the day is what matters most. The reason why this isn't really a critique is because they haven't necessarily changed the scenes, just the sequence of the scenes, and that is something I am willing to give leeway on. Though I have to admit, I am curious about why they did it this way at all. At first I thought it was to give a more suspenseful ending to season two and that they would correct it rather quickly in season three, but that has not been the case. So, now I'm thinking it is because they wanted a very particular ending to the show as a whole. This thought makes me...nervous. Only a little nervous though, I still trust them to end this correctly since they have always looked out for fans every step of the way through this. So, I don't think we need to worry about this too much.

Other than that, I have to say the season has been beautiful so far. There have been moments here and there, more notably the bracelet breaking scene, where I was hoping for a change in score. I wanted something powerful and intense. I wanted to hear Kyo and Tohru's cries. But honestly, their choice in the music does make sense. Them deciding to make this scene soft and mute that is. Letting the moment speak for itself, letting the fleeting feeling of the goodbye settle in. Taking away their voices during the goodbye scenes made it feel lonely and that was the point. Letting the zodiac cry and have a moment was just as powerful as if we had heard their laments. Plus, we get our louder goodbye as we shifted to Kyoko's perspective (which is where I really lost it).

Another change to consider is the fact that the animation this season has left some of our characters looking a bit more like their manga counter parts by this part of the story. Meaning it's a bit more raw then what we've seen in the first two seasons. This isn't a bad thing, in fact it warms my heart a bit, but I was taken off guard. I genuinely feel that overall they decided to take more risks this season, and I think it will pay off in the end. There is a lot about this season that makes me feel that it will be nominated in multiple categories come the 2022 Anime Awards, which I'm sure is a goal of theirs. And this isn't even me being bias, because it's paying off right now! Myanimelist.net announced that Fruits Basket: The Final is now the 5th highest rated anime of all time. That is huge- it is honestly well deserved and I couldn't be happier for them.

All this to say- this is turning out to be a beautiful goodbye to all our characters. We have the last half of the season before we truly say goodbye, so let's cherish it. Cherish it, and know that Akito was right- that endings bring new beginnings...Hopefully that means Fruits Basket Another, the sequel series, gets animated as well.

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Thank you for joining me this fine nerdy evening for some talks about one of my favorite series of all time. Fruits Basket has always been near and dear to my heart, and is one of the primary reasons I started this blog in the first place. It is beyond bitter sweet to think their story is coming to a close when they are what started OUR story. Let's continue on and make Tohru proud. I'll be back Sunday with Rantt as well as The Mess. Until then, stay safe, stay nerdy, and stay messy rice balls.