Akito’s Redemption

I have to start off this review by saying that I wasn’t expecting Akito’s redemption to happen so soon. There are still four episodes left and most of the Zodiac members’ bonds are still intact. I thought this would happen after all of the bonds broke.

This brings up an interesting question. What’s going to happen with the rest of the unbroken bonds? Are they going to remain as they are currently, just without Akito using them against everyone? That seems like it would defeat the purpose of Akito’s redemption.

Or, perhaps the bonds will dissolve on their own as Akito stops relying on them. Maybe Akito even has the ability to break the bonds herself and will do so willingly. Regardless of how it happens, I still think all of the bonds need to break to complete her redemption.

The whole point of her character arc was her coping with the fact that she was alone by holding onto her bonds with the Zodiac members. Now that Tohru (yes, I’m going with this spelling this week) has shown her that she can forge her own bonds, Akito has to get rid of the Zodiac bonds.

Speaking of Tohru helping Akito, I think the scene pictured above was my favorite part of the whole episode — and maybe even the whole series. I’ve seen a lot of people saying how much they like the Kyou x Tohru kiss scene. But I don’t think that compares to Tohru befriending Akito.

I’d be content with the series ending without Tohru and Kyou being together at this point. Previously, I thought that Tohru choosing Kyou or Yuki was going to be necessary for the series to have a good conclusion. I no longer think that’s the case. Tohru’s character arc has effectively ended alongside Akito’s.

Tohru Died

Something that surprised me was that Tohru actually accidentally fell off the cliff and was injured. I didn’t see that coming at all. There were two scenarios I was thinking could happen, and neither of them were that.

Originally, I thought Akito was going to push Tohru off the cliff after initially reaching for her hand. I figured the outstretched hand was just to bait us into thinking Akito was redeemed and that she would then shove Tohru.

Of course, I thought that because I wasn’t expecting Akito’s redemption to happen this week. And, after getting pushed off the cliff, I thought Kyou would show up to catch her at the bottom — perhaps in his monster cat form — at the last moment.

Now, once we saw that the cliff crumbled below Tohru, my original theory was thrown out. When that happened, I immediately realized that this actually was Akito’s time to be redeemed. But, I still didn’t expect exactly how that redemption came about.

I thought we were going to see Akito grab Tohru’s hand and pull her to safety. Yes, that would have been cliché. However, I think it would have worked well for Akito’s development. That would have been the first time in her life she saved someone rather than hurt them.

Even though that’s not what happened in the end, I still think it worked out well for Akito’s development. This was probably the first time she truly cared about someone else since her father died. And, I don’t think her concern for Tohru was out of place. The whole series has been leading up to this moment by showing us how much Akito fears being alone.

Kyou gets the Girl

As previously mentioned, a lot of people were pretty happy about the kiss between Kyou and Tohru. But when I watched that scene, the only thing I was thinking was, “Kyou, is this really the best time for that? She needs medical attention.”

I get that he wants to show Tohru that he loves her too. But I seriously have to question his timing. Tohru has a knife wound on her arm and she just fell off a cliff and is now bleeding from her head. This isn’t the time for your first kiss.

If he wanted to tell Tohru he loved her at that moment, fine. But kissing her? I’m not sure about that one. That can wait until later, can’t it? Maybe, like, after she’s gone to the hospital and been treated by a doctor? I can’t be the only one who thinks this.

It was also pretty strange that neither Yuki nor Kyou actually tried to help Tohru. Yuki called for an ambulance and warned Kyou that Tohru might have a head injury so he shouldn’t move her. But neither of them tried to stop her bleeding or anything from what we saw.

Kyou, you have a perfectly good shirt that could be used for that. Yeah, he shouldn’t move Tohru, but applying pressure to her head wound probably wouldn’t hurt. Or bandaging up her arm to stop the bleeding since the cut is near an artery.

Perhaps Kyou really thought Tohru was going to die no matter what he did to help her. If that’s the case, I guess he wanted to get in a kiss while he had the chance. So, in that regard, good for him.

Conclusion

What do you think about Fruits Basket The Final Season Episode 9? Did you like how Akito was redeemed in this episode? Or do you think her redemption was too simple? And what was your favorite scene of the episode? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤️ down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 10 is available now.

Kyouko Honda

Fruits Basket The Final Season Episode 8 may just be the best episode of Fruits Basket so far, all seasons included. Why? Because we got to see Kyouko Honda: Twin-tails version. I know I’ve been simping for Rin, but Kyouko’s looking pretty good.

The only reason Kyouko isn’t in contention for best girl of the series is that she’s dead. It’s unfortunate, but I do have to take some points away from her for that. I like my best girls to be alive (generally). Obviously, if you’ve seen my ranking of the Monogatari girls, you know that’s not a hard rule.

Aside from the whole twin-tails thing, I do think that this version of Kyouko is my favorite one we’ve seen throughout the series. It seems like every time we get a character’s flashback involving her, she’s a slightly different person.

I’m not sure if it was intentional for everyone’s memory of Kyouko to be slightly different. Well, I guess it was probably intentional, but I’m not sure what the intent was. Is she different to each person because that’s how she actually was? Or is this everyone’s interpretation of what she was like?

For example, when we got the flashback of Arisa and Kyouko, that was a very different Kyouko to the one in this flashback with Kyou. And the Kyouko in the flashbacks with Tooru is also different but similar to the Kyou version.

Kyouko is always depicted as exactly the type of person the other person in the flashback needed to meet to have their life changed. The only thing she always has in common is that she accepts the other person for who they are rather than try to change them.

“I’ll Never Forgive You”

Last week, I pointed out that it was very unlikely that Kyouko told Kyou that she would “never forgive him” with her dying breath. Despite Kyou saying that’s what happened again this week, I’m going to stand by my original claim.

Tooru did point out that it’s pretty unbelievable that her mom would say something like that. She doesn’t deny that it’s possible, though, which I found odd. I don’t think it’s necessarily odd that Tooru wouldn’t deny it, but it’s odd that the episode ended with the doubt there.

As I’ve mentioned, Kyouko is someone who always accepted those she came in contact with regardless of who they were or what their circumstances were. And since she’s been dead since before the series began, she’s in a position to almost be deified in how people remember her.

So, it feels a bit strange for her character to effectively be assassinated like that. If Kyouko really did say that to Kyou, then that completely changes the image we have of her. I just can’t believe that her character would be thrown under the bus like that by the author in the end.

I’m expecting that in the next episode, or maybe the one after that, we’ll find out the truth about Kyouko’s final words. I’m not sure how we’ll find out, but it seems like a reasonable expectation. Either Kyou didn’t hear everything she said or he misheard what she said.

For example, maybe she said she’ll never forgive him for not becoming Tooru’s friend. That still sounds kind of bad as her final words, but maybe the intent was to push Kyou towards Tooru. Or maybe she just said something else entirely.

Tooru and Kyou

We’re now at a point in the series where Tooru has confessed to Kyou, Kyou has acknowledged her confession, and Yuki witnessed the confession as well. There’s no more guessing as to how the romantic lives of these three are going to end up.

We’ve known for a while that Yuki has gravitated toward Machi instead of Tooru. And the fact that he appears to be rooting for Tooru and Kyou at the end of this episode by chasing after Kyou reaffirms this. Yuki is chasing after him to tell him to go back to Tooru.

What’s interesting to me about this whole situation is that Kyou ran away because he doesn’t want to be forgiven by Tooru. He knew that Tooru would forgive him. But he doesn’t want to be forgiven because he views his inaction on the day Kyouko died as unforgivable.

However, as I just said, he knew that Tooru would forgive him before he said anything about his involvement in her mom’s death. He knows Tooru isn’t the kind of person to not forgive him — just as we know Kyouko isn’t that kind of person either.

Perhaps this is the path to Kyou learning that Kyouko didn’t say she’d never forgive him. Perhaps we’ll never actually learn what she said, but Kyou will simply realize that she couldn’t have said that, just as he knew Tooru wouldn’t say it.

Kyou running away here is just a copy of the first time he ran away from Tooru, which I believe was back in Season 1. He’s going to run away only to later realize that Tooru isn’t going to give up on him that easily. Oh, and Tooru is probably going to get injured again, but this time by Akito.

Conclusion

What do you think of Fruits Basket The Final Season Episode 8? Which version of Kyouko Honda is your favorite? Do you think her character is going to be redeemed after being dragged through the mud by Kyou? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤️ down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 9 is available now.

Blood on Kyou’s Hands

In case you were wondering, no, there isn’t a review of Episode 6. The last Fruits Basket The Final Season review was of Episode 5. And while I’m skipping over Episode 6 to Episode 7, this review is still going to include some references to Episode 6 content.

Right at the start of the episode, we’re hit with a scene partially shown in Episode 6 of Kyou as a child talking to Tooru’s mom. This is followed by Tooru’s mom dying on the ground with Kyou standing over her. Apparently, some people think this is a big reveal.

I couldn’t give you an exact episode when this was brought up earlier, but I’m very confident that it was. As far as I remember, this was hinted at whenever Kyou first saw the hat that Tooru keeps in her room. Way back then, we got a brief flashback showing that Kyou was connected to Tooru’s mom somehow.

Even all the way back then, I was under the impression that Kyou had something to do with the death of Tooru’s mom. And I don’t really see how I could have come to that conclusion without a similar scene to the one from this episode being included then.

I’m not sure how Kyou was involved (I don’t think we’re supposed to know at this point). However, I think it’s probably pretty fair to say that Kyou’s understanding of what occurred isn’t the same as what really occurred. I doubt he actually caused Tooru’s mom’s death.

I’m also certain that Tooru’s mom didn’t basically curse him with her dying breath. I think this is all just a product of Kyou’s trauma. He clearly blames himself, but I doubt she did.

Akira Souma

Something I’m not sure about is whether Akira Souma has been shown in the series before this episode. I believe his name was previously mentioned by Ren — and maybe by one of the servants as well. But, I think this is the first time we’re seeing him.

In Episode 6, it was mentioned that this is the first time (at least in many generations) that all of the Zodiac members were reincarnated at the same time. At the time, I wasn’t thinking that Akito, the “God” of the Zodiac, was included in this.

I guess I just assumed that there was always a “God” reincarnation. And going along with that, I’ve also assumed that the “God” reincarnation was always the head of the Souma clan. That may end up being the case, but I noticed that as far as we know, it’s not necessarily.

It would obviously make sense for the “God” reincarnation to always be the future head of the clan. But as far as we know, none of the other Zodiac members are tied to specific clan branches. For example, the previous cat wasn’t directly related to Kyou.

So, what do you think happens if the “God” reincarnation isn’t a member of the main branch of the clan? Are they adopted into the main branch? Does it not matter? I think it could definitely cause some internal conflict between the families that make up the clan.

After all, if a branch family suddenly has the “God” reincarnation, won’t they think that gives them the right to be the ruling clan? I always assumed that Akito was the head of the clan because of her reincarnation status. But as we saw, her father wasn’t a reincarnation and was still the head.

Another Bond Bites the Dust

At this point, I’m a bit lost as to what determines which Zodiac member bonds are broken. I explained my theory in the previous episode review. However, Hiro’s bond breaking in this episode went against everything I thought.

With that said, I do still have a (tenuous) explanation for why Hiro’s bond broke when it did. You see, it happened just as Akito was going to attack her mother, Ren. And as far as we know, Hiro is the only Zodiac member with a good relationship with his mother.

So, I could see his bond being severed by Akito due to this conflict in their views of their mothers. The big issue here is that it kind of contradicts Haru’s situation. You’d expect that this would mean his bond would have broken by now considering Akito literally tried to kill Rin multiple times.

There’s something that I’m even more confused about than Hiro’s bond breaking when it did, though. Hiro never mentions that his bond with Akito broke and it’s assumed that the bonds can’t be broken. And yet, Hiro’s mother knew that his bond had been severed.

Is that just supposed to be their mother-son link that allows her to recognize that? I really don’t understand. Nobody else whose bond has broken had anyone else realize it. Kureno’s was hidden from everyone until recently and nobody knows about Momiji’s except Kyou, whom he told.

Oh, and speaking of Kureno, I almost forgot that Akito stabbed him. It was implied that Kureno died. However, I doubt that’s the case. I think Akito is going to have a sort of redemption in the end after all the bonds are broken. And for that to happen, Kureno and the rest of the Zodiac members need to be there.

Conclusion

What do you think of Fruits Basket The Final Season Episode 7? Did you also already know that Kyou was involved with Tooru’s mom’s death somehow? Or did I just pull that out of thin air? And do you think Kureno is going to survive? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤️ down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 8 is available.

Winners and Losers

Before I started watching Fruits Basket The Final Season Episode 5, I was thinking about how the romance aspect of the series has shifted over time. It used to be a battle between Yuki and Kyou for Tooru’s love. But, Kyou’s become the clear winner.

To be fair, from the very start of the series, Tooru stated that she was always interested in the cat of the zodiac. So it should really come as no surprise that Kyou would beat Yuki in that regard. But for a while there, I thought it could have gone both ways.

This week’s episode only cemented that when Yuki was going to tell Machi about the zodiac curse. And the current OP actually hinted at this development all along. In the OP, we see a shot of Kyou followed by three images of Tooru and a shot of Yuki followed by three images of Machi.

If we take the events of this episode, the OP, and the ED into consideration, we can see some clear winners and losers in the love department. The pairings I expect to see by the end of the series are Kyou and Tooru, Yuki and Machi, Haru and Rin, Hiro and Kisa, Shigure and Akito, Kureno and Arisa, Hatori and Mayuko, and Ayame and Mine.

Good for them. But some of these couples mean that there are losers as well. With Kyou and Tooru inevitably becoming a pair, Momiji loses out, which is what Episode 5 was all about. But, I don’t really feel bad for Momiji; there’s someone who deserves my pity more.

The original best girl of the series, Kagura, is truly the biggest loser in terms of romance. She’s loved Kyou for years, and this is how he thanks her?

Who’s Next?

Obviously, the big twist of this week’s episode was that Momiji became the second zodiac member to break free from the curse. I would have expected Haru to be next considering his connection to Akito has started to fray. But, no, it was Momiji.

In my review of Episode 4, I theorized about how the curse is broken. And with Momiji’s breaking of the curse, my theory seems to be on the right track. Momiji’s curse was broken after he wished he could start a brand new family with Tooru.

Again, why Momiji’s curse broke while Haru’s didn’t likely has to do with how they view the Souma clan. Haru and Rin are both within the clan and so breaking free from the clan isn’t necessary for them to be together. For Momiji, being a zodiac member of the Souma clan has taken his immediate family from him.

Momiji doesn’t simply want to be with Tooru. He wants to start a new life with Tooru that’s separate from the Souma clan and the zodiac. That’s why I think his curse broke while Haru’s only weakened. Haru still has a meaningful connection to the clan, and therefore Akito.

But, who’s going to be next? Surprisingly, I don’t actually think it will be Haru now — and because I think he and Rin will break free at the same time, I don’t think it will be Rin either. I think it’s going to be Yuki. And yes, I realize that may be bold.

Sure, someone random like Kagura or Ritsu could be next. But, considering how Yuki’s development has been going, I think it will be him. Not only has he finally stopped worrying about Akito, but he now has Machi as well. That’s a powerful combination.

Curse 2: Electric Boogaloo

Going along with Momiji’s curse being broken and the revelation that he’s also vying for Tooru’s affection, we learn that being free from the zodiac curse isn’t always a positive. Even being free from the curse can itself be a curse in some ways.

First of all, Momiji’s status as a zodiac member was something that connected him with others. He had a connection with every other zodiac member through the curse even if they can’t actually feel that connection. All of them feel their connection to Akito, but since nobody knew Kureno’s curse broke, they clearly don’t feel a connection to each other.

Even so, that connection was important to Momiji because, as I already mentioned, he has no immediate family. Sure, they exist, but he has no real relationship with them. Without his zodiac member bond, it’s as if Momiji is really on his own now.

Additionally, Momiji mentions that breaking free from his curse is more painful for him than it is for someone like Kyou who’s still bound by it. What did he mean by this? He obviously had a point since Kyou didn’t want to accept it despite knowing he was right.

Well, what Momiji was saying that now that he’s finally free from the curse, he can be with whoever he wants. In his case, that means Tooru. But, this is painful because despite finally being in a position to be with her, he can’t actually be with her because she loves Kyou instead.

And Kyou’s acknowledgment that Momiji is right is basically saying that Tooru’s affection is more important than the curse. They’d both rather be cursed if it means having Tooru than not be cursed but living without Tooru.

Conclusion

What do you think of Fruits Basket The Final Season Episode 5? Do you think all of my final relationship predictions are right or wrong? Who do you think will be the next one to break free from the curse? And is Tooru’s love worth being cursed? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤️ down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server so you don’t miss out on any future content.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

There’s no review of Episode 6. But my review of Episode 7 is available.

Raging Cow

I’d like to start this review of Fruits Basket The Final Season Episode 4 off with an apology. In my review of Episode 3, I said that Machi (or Kagura) might be the best girl in the series over Isuzu. After this new episode, I have seen the error of my ways. And for that, I apologize.

It’s clear now that Isuzu is the definitive best girl of Fruits Basket. I can’t imagine anything else happening in the series that would change my mind. Isuzu arguably has the best character design of the series, she’s cute, and she has a great relationship with best boy Haru.

And I think it should come as no surprise that Haru’s and Isuzu’s relationship is the one I’m most invested in. Not many other characters are actually in relationships, to be fair. But there are a decent amount of potential relationships in this series.

What makes Haru and Isuzu so good is the lengths they’re willing to go to for each other. Isuzu has been trying to figure out how to break the curse for years simply so Haru can be free from it. And Haru is willing to physically fight Akito if it means protecting Isuzu.

When you consider that even Kyou, an outcast of the Souma clan, doesn’t directly defy Akito, it shows just how big of a deal it is that Haru and Isuzu are willing to for each other’s sake. Most of the Zodiac members have accepted their fate, but not those two.

Also, I liked how Haru didn’t go into his “Black Haru” personality when he confronted Akito. He was still entirely in control, which is important to note. He tends to go into blind rages somewhat frequently, but not when it’s about Isuzu.

Breaking the Curse

Obviously, in this section, I’m going to be discussing how the Zodiac curse could be broken. But, I’d like to preface this discussion by mentioning that I don’t really remember the circumstances surrounding Kureno’s curse being broken.

From what I remember, Kureno’s curse broke as he was simply watching a bird fly overhead. Akito wasn’t directly involved in his curse being broken. However, it seems to be implied that it broke because Kureno was dreaming about being free from the curse.

That seems like a very simple way to break the curse. And if that’s all there was to it, I’m sure we’d have seen other Zodiac members break free from the curse by now as well. However, after Haru confronted Akito, we got a shot that seemed to signify his curse was starting to break.

So, what do the actions of Kureno and Haru have in common? What did Kureno do that went beyond what Haru did? And why doesn’t this apply to any of the other Zodiac members as of right now? As always, I have a theory.

First, what Kureno and Haru have in common is that they defied Akito’s will. However, despite defying Akito’s will Haru still kept his connection to Akito in the back of his mind. He wants Akito to leave him and Isuzu alone, but he didn’t dream of a world in which she doesn’t even exist as Kureno did.

And, this brings us to why the other Zodiac members haven’t had a similar strain placed on their relationship with Akito. No matter how much they may hate Akito, Akito is always in the back of their minds. That’s why people like Kyou and Yuki, whom Akito tormented the most, haven’t broken the curse.

Akito vs. Ren

Previously, I’ve questioned whether Ren Souma is a “good guy” or not. Akito is clearly the main antagonist of Fruits Basket. And since Ren is Akito’s mortal enemy (her mother), you’d think that means Ren wants to take down both Akito and the Zodiac curse.

Episode 4 destroyed any notion of Ren being good. It was revealed that she not only used Isuzu in an attempt to achieve her own goals but she’s also always hated and looked down on Isuzu. It’s unclear exactly why that is, but it probably has to do in part with Isuzu being a Zodiac member.

Akito also seems to hate Isuzu the most of all the Zodiac members, Kyou included. So maybe there’s more to it. Maybe their hatred of Isuzu has to do with how Isuzu looks somewhat like Ren? Has it been confirmed who Isuzu’s parents are yet? Could she be Akito’s younger sister?

If Isuzu isn’t related to Ren or Akito, then maybe they both just hate her because she’s pretty and they view that as a threat to their rule over the clan. Or maybe they just don’t like that Isuzu doesn’t listen to authority. Honestly, it could be anything.

What’s a bit strange about Ren and Akito is that they both treasure the same object — a box that contains the cremated remains of Akito’s father. Or, at least, that’s what I assume is in the box since Akito said “father” was in it.

This is the object Ren wanted Isuzu to steal for her. But it’s unclear exactly what’s so special about it. I could understand Akito treasuring it because it’s what’s left of her father, the person who told her she was special. However, Ren wanting it that much too makes me think there might be more to it.

Conclusion

What do you think of Fruits Basket The Final Season Episode 4? Have you come to acknowledge Isuzu supremacy? How do you think the curse can be broken? And why do you think the box Akito has is so important to both her and Ren? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤️ down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 5 is available.