Warning! This review on Fruit basket 2 Chapter 22 contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, I recommend watching it and then going back to read the review.
“I dont want that”
Fruit basket 2 Chapter 22 begins with the continuation of the conversation between Yuki and Kakeru. Eventually, Yuki can express her feelings and get rid of this weight on her heart. In the meantime, preparations for the festival are continuing as the play is not progressing so well that it was decided to change the entire script. Yuki confronts Kyo, who has things that bind him to the past, but in the end Kyo accepts his role for Tohru.
Yuki’s real feelings
One of the moments that I expected most to be animated finally caught up with us, the confession of Yuki’s true feelings. From the previous chapter we could already see the amount of weight he was carrying. It is unfortunate, but even now there is a very negative stigma on non-romantic feelings between two young people of the opposite sex. It is common knowledge that a man and a woman cannot be friends and that other types of emotions will inevitably arise. Real or not, this idea extends to any kind of affection, including admiration and longing.
The eyes with which Yuki Tohru sees are the same with which a child sees his mother, innocent, pure and full of admiration, it is a total idealization. But this doesn’t seem to be something that others would consider normal, Yuki’s feelings are heavy because they are far from normal, and what is called “normality” is another big wish from Yuki.
The reason Yuki didn’t fall in love with Tohru is because she was an idealization of his greatest desire. He never knew a mother’s affection, so he continued to seek and long for it. The truth is that not even he himself knew about it until Tohru Kyo followed up, on that day he made his greatest discovery: what he always saw in this girl was not the figure of a woman. What he always pursued in her were the traces of an original longing.
He became aware of his own heart, but that made it impossible for him to express it because he didn’t feel that it was the right way to relate to a girl. He forced himself to change his perception, but he just couldn’t, it didn’t feel right. Because no matter what happens, the heart cannot turn where it is not pointing. It was impossible for Yuki to have romantic feelings because until she needed other kinds of affection and once she found them, she couldn’t think of changing them.
Manabe asks her if she isn’t overly rationalizing her own feelings to avoid rejection, as it is very obvious to everyone that Kyo and Tohru have a deeper bond. Something that was certainly more than a thought, but that’s not the case at all. There is no doubt that Yuki admires and envies many things about Kyo, including his love for Tohru, but it’s not out of petty jealousy and a sense of defeat that he agrees not to love the girl romantically. It’s a matter of his own heart, he’s the one who doesn’t want his feelings to be simplified that way.
Call this all lonely, because that’s exactly it, it’s sad and lonely that they reject your feelings, that you do it yourself. Yuki didn’t give up anything, he just accepted whatever was in his heart, Tohru is the one who accepted him and protected him with tenderness and understanding. To deny that all of these emotions exist would be terribly lonely because they became the basis for building their future relationships. She will never be a small figure in his life, she will always be the one who laid the foundation so that he can find his own way.
When one moves forward, the other moves back
Eventually they managed to discover the truth that weighed on Yuki’s heart the most, and the feeling of peace that comes with it is refreshing. Yuki’s growth has started to accelerate, her stresses have gradually eased. Part of this is due to the unconditional support Tohru gave him as Yuki was able to come out of his shell and open up to further experiences. One of those experiences that has brought him great strides in developing his true self was his acceptance of the position as President of the Student Council. Thanks to this, he was able to interact with people beyond his control and force him to face things more directly.
Among all those who promote the development of Yuki is Kakeru. This boy has undoubtedly become an irreplaceable friend of Yuki’s, between silly jokes and embarrassed comments, Kakeru has earned the president’s trust. After all, Yuki has a true friend, someone who doesn’t see him as a perfect prince and approaches him unreservedly. Things are starting to shine for the rat, he’s not quite well yet, but he’s definitely moving forward, he’s already left the darkness.
In contrast, we have Kyo, he is still far from releasing what is holding him back. He may have friendships, Kazuma’s love, and Tohru’s wavering heart, but none of these really matter if he can’t forgive himself. What chains this boy’s heart is not easy, the weight of the curse is much murky for him, but that is not the only thing holding him back. I couldn’t tell without resorting to spoilers, but it has a lot to do with the words I hear when confronting Yuki.
Unlike Yuki, who managed to open her heart and open up, Kyo still can’t. Because the moment he does it, he has to face all of his guilt, a very heavy burden for a teenager. Therefore, the cat does not leave its cage, needs these defenses or cannot bear the pain. If you stop blaming someone else for dropping your hatred, you need to turn it on yourself. You couldn’t live with that, loathing yourself is not something you need right now, so you choose to hate. It’s not that it really works, it’s what it takes to survive. Kyo is not yet close to coming out of the dark.
Love is in the air
I can’t leave without talking about how lovely it was to see the actual birth of a ship and of course the kyoru moment. There is one thing we can love right away, which is the appreciation of our true selves. Something that Yuki has always been concerned with, and continues to do, is everyone’s impression that he is like a prince. We know that no one does it with the intention of making fun of him, that they just idealized him and put him on a very high pedestal. But that’s not something Yuki loves because he’s not valued as that perfect being.
The reason he got close to Kakeru is precisely because he does not idealize him, but treats him as equal unlike the others. And that’s exactly where Machi shows up. We’ve already seen that she has a pretty good affinity with Yuki and knows how to interpret him quite well. Now the confirmation came to Yuki herself that the girl does not see him idyllically, she sees her true self, at least it gives us to think.
But hey, we owe the greatest fanfare to the last scene. A scolded Kyo returns to the classroom and discovers that Tohru hasn’t left because she is waiting for him. We know he loves her, but also that he has no intention of responding to that love, but seeing her waiting there for him breaks his defenses. The approach was just natural, he wanted to feel the warmth that made it real, it was there and it was because of him. His answer was more than he expected, he accepted his role for her wellbeing, the issues he deals with shouldn’t drag Tohru down. He also promised to use the remaining time of his freedom to be by his side.
It was no less for Tohru to worry about him all the time to make his integration easier. Her heart becomes more and more sincere, the warmth that Kyo gives off in her is not futile.
Final comment
Fruit basket 2 Chapter 22 was an episode full of various emotions. The conclusion of Yuki’s feelings was a really emotional moment with a pretty fun ending. Kakeru and Kimi know how to release the tension. The confrontation between Yuki and Kyo was very intense and also makes it very clear to us where they are both. I love everyone’s distinction between the two light and dark blend to appreciate the difference in the heart of both. Obviously the best was for the ending, the Kyo and Tohru scene was the most adorable.
Don’t you think Ayame always has great performances before graduation? I really loved seeing him so passionate about helping Yuki and his work. It was also a pleasure to see Mine in action again and to hunt down pretty girls to attract them. The preparations for the school play were very funny, starting with Tohru, who was very desperate not to be able to play her part well. This initial flirtation between Tohru and Kyo while I was teasing them about the script enchanted me.
Anyway, that was my impression of this chapter. Tell me: what do you think of this episode? What is your opinion on Yuki’s feelings? Do you think you can force someone else to face your burdens? In the next chapter we will have the long awaited school play, I assure you it will be a pleasure. Are you waiting for it? I’ve been waiting for her 10 years, maybe I don’t know how to count anymore.
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