Warning! This review on Fruits Basket 2 Chapter nine contains spoilers. Yes still you have not seen the episode, I recommend you go check it out and then come back to read the review.

© 高 屋 奈 月 ・ 白泉 社 / フ ル ー ツ バ ス ケ ッ ト 製作 委員会

"My precious ..."

Fruits Basket 2 Chapter Nine begins with a Kyou monologue, his feelings begin to filter. As ordered by Akito, Kyou is summoned to the annex, despite Tooru's joy at this, Kyou knows it will not be a joyous affair. The encounter with Akito is as expected, the psychological abuse leaves Kyou in a bad state, but not enough so that he does not cling to his last hope, he finally recognizes his feelings but at the same time rejects them. After "accepting" his fate, Kyou leaves the annex and goes in search of Tooru, despite everything, he still wants to spend the remaining time with her.

A monster

This episode was loaded with a sentimentality that we can hardly forget, after 10 years from the first time I read it in the manga I still do not overcome it, we witnessed two sides of a coin, love and contempt, the role of Kyou as the Nahual del Gato is not a stigma that can be easily erased, the weight that role has is too great for a boy so hurt. Again they invite us to think of Akito as the prompter of all evil, "the villain", with his intransigence he does not hesitate to point out the faults and mistakes of others, skillfully avoid blaming him for it, after all he has sense that it is not his fault, he has manipulated them to make it so.

The attacks are harsh, Kyou's traumas originate in the death of his mother and that he understands, perhaps better than anyone, Akito himself, the root of all his sufferings is born the moment his mother decided to go on to a better life , leaving him behind with the stigma of being the one who bordered it ... for being a monster. That stigma could not be removed by anyone, there was never anyone who fully accepted him, except Tooru. Tooru's acceptance is not free, it is not that she did not fear him or did not care about his appearance, it is simply that his need to bring him back surpassed all that, but that is not something that others can understand, it is not something that Akito can see.

However, the price to pay for being saved is seeing his savior being used and insulted, Akito does not tolerate that they get out of his control and to keep them "in their place", he is able to use any method, including intimidation, emphasizing Kyou's monstrous appearance makes Akito demonstrate his superiority and forces him to abandon his illusions, in this life he is not allowed to love anyone, but this is not something that Akito should convince him, he himself already has it clear. Kyou's past gives us a glimpse of his relationship with Kyoko, a phrase that has chained his being, he cannot love anyone, especially Honda Tooru.

"I love you…"

In the heart it is not commanded, it is true that Kyou has become painfully aware that he cannot love Tooru, however that has failed to prevent him from yearning for her from the bottom of his being. This is the first true declaration of love in this story, these are true romantic feelings towards another person. Kyou does not love Tooru as a boy chasing the vestiges of a primary love, he loves her as a man who yearns for a woman.

It would be very easy to attribute this feeling of gratitude, after all except her heart, no Yet the appreciation is nowhere remotely close to what Kyou has voiced by Tooru. The mere existence of it is sufficient for him, as any man who yearns feels the need to fulfill her wishes, her happiness prioritizes her list of joys, everything around her is important and special, even something as simple as being called by name.

Although this is not an “agape” love - for lack of better word-, but a love "eros", the circumstances and their own chains have made Kyou abandon the wishes that he had vaguely raised, consequently making you decide to do things not for him but for her. Through This “abandonment” has given us one of the purest signs of love towards another, because he is not abandoning his present time with her, since the future is impossible to take the present to be filled with it. This is a demonstration of true love, for he does not intend to abandon her until he is forced to do so, Although making memories together only means more pain in the future, he he's just thinking about not leaving bitter memories before the game.

The hope to abandon, or perhaps not ...

Kyou's love isn't free either, it's an irrefutable fact that Tooru saved his heart that night that followed him even after seeing its true form, but it is also undeniable that it existed before a connection between the two. Although I would love to list the precious moments Kyou x Tooru who gave us the first season before the fateful night, I i'm going to just talk about a connection yet older, I mean little Kyou and Kyoko. Indeed, the connection that start everything is none other than the one shared by Kyoko and Kyou, I imagine it was not no surprise finding out the connection of this pair, which perhaps if we could surprising is that powerful phrase: "No I will forgive you" It is still too early to understand the true meaning of this, but for now it is clear to us that it is a heavy chain in the heart from Kyou, so heavy that she can't imagine a future with Tooru regardless of the curse and its fate.

Above we talk about the weight that the suicide of Kyou's mother in her development, although only from the perspective from the stigma of being a monster. In addition to the stigma, his mother's death woke up a terrible regret in Kyou: "Why not am I the one who died? The loss of his mother opened his eyes to an idea which is dangerous when you think about it a lot: life implies sacrifices, perhaps someone else's sacrifice. To live sometimes we need to step over someone else, and these sacrifices we cannot compensate them, we wouldn't even know how to do it to begin with. This idea is embedded in Kyou's mind and expanded with a certain incident, leaving him unable of holding on to no hope. Until she met Tooru, without noticing it she grew up strongly in her heart, she turned the light that illuminated her darkness, she allowed him believe.

Commentary final

Fruits Basket 2 Chapter nine has been a genuinely moving episode, in the second that started I was already crying, of course that was mainly because I knew what was coming and it is something that in my heart I long to see animated for more or less 10 years. There is not much I can tell you that I have not tried to express above, everything in the chapter has been overwhelmingly emotional, the animation has lived up to my expectations, the game with the colors from black to warm has been perfect, they have known portray emotions very well. But the detail that I have appreciated too much is the voice acting excellence of Uchida Yuuma, has conveyed Kyou's feelings in a superb way.

Before closing this I must express my high level of gangangism that I feel for finally seeing this moment animated, the exact moment in Kyou becomes aware of his feelings is, by far, my favorite Shōjo moment. I did not believe that the day would truly come when I would see this animated, many of my tears were surely for feeling that one of my great longings finally came true. Great and beautiful Kyou x Tooru moments await us from now on, and believe me when I tell you that I am already anticipating them.

Anyway, this has been my impression of this chapter, tell me: what did you think of this episode? What was your reaction to seeing Kyou's feelings finally exposed? Have you noticed that Akito's control is based on fear and hatred, while Tooru's help is fully based on his care and almost maternal love? If your answer is yes, then I suppose you already noticed the first symptoms of Akito's detachment of control, Yuki is the one who best exemplifies it in this episode, since he is able to answer him head-on and even lie to him. In consideration of this, what do you think Akito's next move is to avoid losing? The next episode will be another hard blow to the heart and we will finally get to know more about Akito and his role in the zodiac.

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Sweety Otaku

One of the best parts of watching anime is how many times a show can surprise you. Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. But if the Otaku know one thing, it's that anything is possible.

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