Fruits Basket The Final Season

Season Overview

Fruits Basket The Final Season (フルーツバスケット The Final) is the culmination of the Fruits Basket reboot that began airing back in 2019. It’s the best season of the three, which is exactly what you want from a conclusion.

If you pay attention to anime rankings, such as those on MyAnimeList, you may have seen that this season of Fruits Basket actually topped the chart for a bit. Yes, it was even rated higher than long-time #1 Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

As of the writing of this review, Fruits Basket The Final Season has slipped down to the #5 slot. But, that’s still extremely impressive. I never would have imagined that this series would do so well despite how well-known it is.

Now, I said that this was the best season of Fruits Basket, but what makes it better than the first and second seasons? The simple answer is just that it builds upon them. By the time we get to this season, both the characters and plot of the series are much more complex.

In this season, there are no more character introductions, we know who all of the zodiac members are, and the story can shift to being more about character interactions than unraveling the mystery. While I enjoyed the zodiac member reveals early on, I much prefer the character growth we get in this season.

The Final Season really reminds you that, at the end of the day, Fruits Basket is a romantic drama anime. Yes, there are supernatural aspects to it, but they don’t really matter. What you’re actually here for is to see how the relationships between various characters play out.

And, while I won’t say it’s my favorite romance or drama anime, Fruits Basket is certainly good.

Destruction of the Zodiac

Throughout most of the series, the zodiac curse was something that hung over (most of) the zodiac members. It was always there in the background, but it didn’t really affect their day-to-day lives. Instead, it was Akito specifically who had a negative impact on them.

The relationship between the zodiac members and the curse changes throughout The Final Season as characters are freed. It’s hard to understand what the zodiac curse really means for the members until it’s broken and we see their reactions.

It’s always been depicted as a negative force. But as we find out, it wasn’t all bad. Once their bond is broken, the members all feel like an important part of who they are has been severed. It was a curse, but it also brought them all together.

Because of how the zodiac curse was broken, it also wasn’t as if at one moment everyone was bound by it, and the next they weren’t. There was a staggered release from the curse. So we got to see the differences between members who were freed and who were still bound by it.

This dynamic specifically comes up with respect to Kyou and Momiji, the latter of which has his curse broken first. With those two, we get an interesting discussion of which is better: To be able to love or to be loved.

Since Momiji’s curse breaks, he’s able to be with the person he loves, unlike Kyou. But the person Momiji loves (Tooru) is in love with Kyou. So which situation is better? They both lose out in different ways. I’m really not sure which situation I’d prefer to be in.

I guess Kyou’s situation is technically better. But Momiji’s situation has an obvious solution: Just find someone else who loves you back. Easier said than done, I know.

Loose Ends

Considering how high Fruits Basket The Final Season has been ranking on aggregate charts, I think it’s overrated. And I mean that in the literal sense. I think it’s rated above what it should be rated, but I don’t dislike it because of that.

There are many small issues I have with this series. Individually, they aren’t a big deal. However, once they’re all added together, they start to chip away at my overall rating. I’m not going to get into those issues here, though.

Instead, I want to focus on two of my biggest complaints about the series, both of which happen to fall into the category of “loose ends.” The Final Season does a lot of things right, but wrapping explaining how everything wraps up neatly isn’t one of them.

When you consider how the zodiac curse was a part of the story from the very first episode until maybe the second to last, you’d think that it would be explained well. In fact, many aspects of it are. But one thing that was never actually explained is what causes the curse to break.

At the end of the season, it’s kind of implied that Akito allows the remaining bonds to be broken. But we’re never given a good reason for why some bonds were broken earlier. Why was Momiji’s bond broken and not Haru’s? I had theories, but none of them worked 100% of the time.

The other loose end is Ren Souma, Akito’s mother. She was brought into the series as this figure who opposed Akito and who could potentially have been the “final boss.” But once she learns the box Akito received from her father was empty, Ren drops off the face of the Earth.

I’m almost positive that she’s never seen or mentioned again after that. I kept waiting for a better resolution to her inclusion in the series, and it never came.

Conclusion

Fruits Basket The Final Season is a 7/10 from me. I also gave the previous season a 7/10, so let me be clear that this is a higher 7/10. However, I don’t think it was quite good enough for 8/10 territory. Generally, an 8/10 or higher is something I would rewatch, which this isn’t.

The OP of this season might be my favorite of the whole series. I don’t think the song is the best, but I like the visuals the most. Overall, it’s better than the others. As for the ED, I don’t think it had the best song or visuals of the series, but it was fine.

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