Fruits Basket Episode 7

Fruits Basket Episode 7

Spring Comes

This was the first episode of Fruits Basket which really followed some of the other Souma clan members rather than Yuki and Kyo. While those two did make an appearance at the very end of the episode (asleep), they were missing from the rest.

Instead, Momiji, Hatori, and to some extent Shigure were the Souma clan members in the spotlight. This was also the first time we, and Tooru, got a good look at the Souma clan’s main estate, which turns out to be a sprawling plot consisting of many buildings.

In fact, there are actually a lot of Souma clan members who simply have nothing to do with the zodiac. They don’t even have knowledge of the zodiac curse which their family members have. This is the first thing I found strange about the Souma complex as I’ll be calling it.

So there are probably 13 Souma clan members with the curse, and they make up only a fraction of the total Souma clan. And despite most of the clan not knowing about the curse, they still obey the Souma clan rules, such as living on the family’s property.

We’re also shown that while two zodiac members can hug without transforming, the same isn’t true for a zodiac member and a non-zodiac member even if they’re both Soumas. So why are the non-zodiac Soumas still kept so close?

My guess is simply that anyone born to a Souma could be inflicted with this curse, and so as a way to control all of the zodiac members, Akito needs to ensure that they’re all born under her watchful eye (I’m pretty sure Akito is a girl at this point).

Hatori and Kana

But the fact that the Souma clan is all kept in one place causes a bit of an issue: marriage and childbirth. Since a vast majority of the Soumas live within the same compound and are restricted from relationships outside the family, it means there’s probably a bit of inbreeding.

This became clear when the name of Hatori Souma’s former girlfriend was revealed to be Kana Souma, his relative. We don’t know how closely these two are related, but it doesn’t seem like they’re close enough for it to be an issue in the biological sense.

However, this also illustrates just how large the Souma family and complex really are. They’re in the same clan and live in the same complex, and yet they don’t seem to have previously known each other. Also, after they break up (which they do), they don’t appear to see each other frequently despite their aforementioned proximity.

Kana Souma from the anime series Fruits Basket
Kana Souma

So why did Hatori and Kana break up and what were the effects of their split?

They requested that Akito allow them to marry, but Akito refused and went into a fit of rage. I’m not entirely sure why since they’re both members of the clan, but either way, that’s what happened. During her rage Akito also injured Hatori’s left eye.

This injury is what really started the decline. Kana blamed herself for Hatori’s wound and ended up becoming depressed as a result. So, in order to relieve Kana from her troubles, Hatori sealed away her memories of their time together and made her think that he had rejected her from the start.

I think it was mentioned that two years have passed since then, and Kana now has a new fiance. Hatori still cares for her, but he knows that they can’t ever be together because it would only cause her pain once again.

The Souma Curse

There’s also some talk of a Souma clan curse in this episode, although it doesn’t seem to be in regards to the zodiac curse. But, before I get into this other curse, let’s briefly touch on the zodiac curse and how Hatori is affected by it.

So what’ zodiac animal is Hatori? He’s none other than the dragon, which I think I may have said would be the case last week. But I’m not going to pretend and say I always thought that. Originally I predicted Akito would be the dragon, and I believe I chose the Ox for Hatori.

However, even though he’s the dragon, he doesn’t actually transform into a mythical dragon of any kind. In fact, he doesn’t even turn into a komodo dragon. No, instead he turns into a seahorse and refers to himself as a sea dragon (he’s definitely a regular seahorse though).

Hatori Souma from the anime series Fruits Basket
Hatori Souma

Of all the zodiac animals so far, Hatori’s has to be the worst and most inconvenient. It doesn’t appear that he’ll die due to being out of the water, but he definitely can’t move on land while transformed.

But what about the other Souma clan curse? We still don’t yet know what it really is, but Hatori and Momiji seem to have a working theory. They believe, or at least Hatori believes and Momiji relays to Tooru, that the curse of the Soumas is that they bring misfortune to those they care about.

This is why Hatori warns Tooru to get away from the Souma clan as soon as possible. He doesn’t want to see her get hurt in the same way Kana was. And, although this seems like it’s probably just in Hatori’s head, perhaps this really is the Souma clan curse. Maybe this is why Akito doesn’t want the family to deal with outsiders; because she was once hurt too.

Akito’s Plan

Speaking of Akito, it should come as no surprise that she has some plan in motion that involved Tooru. We don’t yet know what it is, but we can assume it’s supposed to result in some of the younger Soumas, like Yuki and Kyo, no longer being able to trust outsiders.

Interestingly, while Shigure knows that Akito is up to something, he tells Tooru to her face that the Souma’s don’t have any devious plans involving her. Perhaps he was telling her this so she doesn’t worry and leave again, feeling like she’s causing problems, or perhaps he’s working with Akito.

I’m pretty sure it’s the former, but at the same time Shigure does seem like he’s the kind who’s just good at manipulating people. Still, it’s a bit strange for him to simply dismiss Hatori’s idea that Tooru should take care of herself first, and instead insist that everything is fine.

Maybe Shigure simply doesn’t believe in that particular Souma clan curse. We know he believes in some Souma clan curse, but maybe it’s not the same one Hatori believes in. Maybe there is no Souma clan curse and instead Akito has been lying to each of the clan members to get them to stay in line.

Conclusion

What did you think of this week’s episode of Fruits Basket? Do you think Hatori did the right thing when he suppressed Kana’s memories? Do you think there even is another Souma clan curse besides the zodiac one? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

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