Warning! This review on Fruit basket 2 Chapter 18 contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, I recommend watching it and then going back to read the review.
“Do you want us to kiss?”
Fruit basket 2 Chapter 18 begins with Hiro and Kisa talking about the impending birth of Hiro’s little sister or brother. When Hiro realizes that Rin was close, she goes to meet her, but her physical and emotional state does not allow them to talk too much. Rin is desperately looking for a way to break the curse, but her search remains unsuccessful, not even Shigure can help her. His health deteriorates and while he visits Shigure, he cannot contain the nausea, and seeing Tohru unlocks the terrible memories of his childhood. She was having a really bad time but had Haru by her side, but that luck was cut off by Akito. The reason he wants to break the curse is because he wants to free Haru so he can find happiness.
The story ended
This is perhaps one of the most sensitive chapters in this story. Although we’ve already seen multiple characters deal with different family troubles, Rin is the only one in which they show us the harshness of domestic violence. I will not say that the other horoscopes did not suffer any violence, but none of them suffered the physical and psychological abuse that little Rin was exposed to. In reality, the harshness of her story lies in the correctness of the conversion, she did not grow up intimidated, it just happened that one day everything fell apart. Isuzu’s parents’ actions are unjustifiable, although it is fair to push our limits of tolerance, which is not fair to let off our frustrations with someone else. Not just someone else, but someone totally dependent on our protection and care.
The role of parents is to provide us with an idyllic figure of affection and protection. It is the right of every child that their well-being is always ensured by the adults responsible for them. Unfortunately, the reality is not always good; not every “responsible adult” has the ability to take care of others. Many reviews ago I spoke of the difficulty that mother or father can accept that your child will be born with a curse like the Souma.
But the case of Rin’s parents is different, they twisted and deformed love. At first they played the role of a happy family, but like all works, this came to an end and the true colors of their love came out. Rarely did they never love their daughter, they pretended as much as they could to get the benefit they had, but it was never about love.
Rin’s mother expressed her inability to find a way to love her, her father simply brushed her aside with a cold: “We don’t want youβ. With this, both have revealed their own inhumanity, a child does not come into our lives voluntarily. They chose to ignore the logical as they are disgusting as parents so they would stop being. The ease with which they wash their hands off their responsibilities is abhorrent. They hurt Rin as much as they could. The body almost takes a back seat when we consider that they have destroyed their self-esteem.
Rin’s heart
The consequences of the task are not easy. Rin continued to blame herself after the family breakup and subsequent abandonment she was exposed to. Unable to reintegrate into a new family, his only consolation was found in Haru. He was the only one who always stayed by her side and even faced the malice of her parents when they left her in this hospital. Rin’s self-esteem has been badly damaged, but Haru’s care and kindness did a great job.
Sooner than later, Rin fell in love with Haru. After all, he was the only one watching over her. While everyone turned their back on her and kept repeating that they didn’t want her, he was the one who gave her back her worth. For Haru, Isuzu is someone who is irreplaceable. The appreciation of both grew and turned into a great love, but for better or for worse, Rin’s self-esteem was not completely healed. From her point of view, she is still a blind spot for Haru. Those who should have taught her to love only hurt her, and she fears that their love will do the same to Haru.
Akito’s intervention brought his worst fears to life. Though, deep down, Rin always knew that Akito would never let them be together, especially her. Akito’s anger was a new awakening to Rin’s feelings. I just corrected what deeply she always knew: she couldn’t give Haru luck. Her determination to find a way to break the curse is her final plea to find a way to get back to Haru, which he did for her. Her wish is to free Haru from all ties, the curse, Akito and her. Because in his mind this is the best way for him to find his own happiness. Rin is still not ready to understand that it is Haru who decides where this happiness is.
Final comment
Fruit basket 2 Chapter 18 was an episode full of rawness. Slowly the threads of fate begin to weave, Isuzu and his mission come to a standstill, but he has reached the best port, Tohru. The development of the relationship between the two girls can wait. What you can’t expect is me to bring up how well the abuse problem has been handled. At no point have they romanticized it and shown in a cruel but realistic way the consequences it has for the victim.
Before I finish, let me tell you that I love Rin very much. I think he is one of the characters who suffered the most and was hurt the most in this story and despite everything he shows us his courage and strength. And not to mention the relationship between Haru and Rin, I love that the two are perfectly compatible. As an odd fact, I’ll tell you that Rin is the nickname Hatsuharu gave Isuzu, and she was the one who nicknamed him Haru. Like I said, they are both beautiful and perfect together.
However, that was my impression of this chapter. Tell me: what do you think of this episode? What is your opinion on Rin at this point? What did you think of dealing with domestic violence? In the next chapter we will give the Isuzu arc some sort of closure and possibly enter a new arc of Yuki and her relationships with the members of the student council.
