Fruits Basket (Episode 14) – That’s a Secret

It’s been one year since Tohru’s mother passed away. She’s planning to visit the grave with her friends, Yuki asked to come with her, while Kyo decided to tag along.
What did you watch?
Things have been interesting for a while now, but episode 14 of Fruits Basket took it to a whole other level. At least it’s given me plenty to think about and planted the seeds of some crazy speculative ideas for the story. Remember, I’ve not seen the original or read the manga, so I’m basing everything off of this series. There will be spoilers and wild theories beyond this point…

What happened?
This episode consisted of two major parts. In the first, Tohru is at work cleaning with Momiji. She asked him about his family and discovered that his mother is German and his father is a Soma. He even has a little sister called Momo. The real surprise was that his mother has no idea who he is. She’s had her memories erased after she struggled to come to terms with the zodiac curse.
In the second half of the episode, Tohru goes to visit her mother’s grave with Yuki and Kyo. They meet Arisa and Saki. Kyo is notably uncomfortable and seems even more on edge than normal. He even asks Saki about her ability to see waves and whether she can see ghosts too. The episode ends with Tohru asleep on the porch. Kyo bends down over her and whispers into her ear that he’s sorry!

What did you think?
Where do I begin? This episode was utterly heartbreaking. Seeing what Momiji has given up is devastating and the way he was treated by his own mother is awful. Maybe, it’s understandable that you might freak if your newborn baby turned into a rabbit, but he must have been five or six when he had to choose to let her go.
Now they used the Momiji to make a point on how Tohru has remained strong despite losing both her parents, but I think they were showing us more. My theory is that Tohru and Kyo are siblings. It stands to reason that Tohru’s mother could have been a Soma. We know that she didn’t associate with her own family. Maybe he memories of having Kyo were erased, but maybe she found out. I feel like there’s definitely something more to it.

What was your favourite moment?
It’s hard to pick a favourite moment in this one. There were a lot of very interesting and emotional moments, although mostly not in a good way. I think the discussion between Kyo and Saki was the most interesting moment in the episode. He was obviously worried about offending a spirit with his presence at the cemetery.

What was your least favourite moment?
This one is a little more clear cut. That was having to watch a young Momiji see how his own mother felt about him and the option of having her memories erased. So sad! It’s not something I’d wish on anybody.

Who was your favourite character?
If only for what he’s been through and still manages to give off such a cheerful and positive vibe, it has to be Momiji. Poor Momiji!

Who was your least favourite character?
Amazingly, this goes hand in hand with the last section and that would be Momiji’s mother. Sure, I get that it’s a crazy and unimaginable situation, but to do that to a child is unforgivable.

Would you like some more?
I feel like the first twelve episodes have been focused on building the world and revealing the Soma family. Now, it’s starting to get really interesting as more and more details are revealed. I can’t wait to see just what is what and how everything fits together. For someone that doesn’t usually watch this genre, I can say without reservation that this series is excellent.

Other posts in the series
- Season One
- Episode 1 – See You After School
- Episode 2 – They’re All Animals!
- Episode 3 – Let’s Play Rich Man, Poor Man!
- Episode 4 – What Year Is She?
- Episode 5 – I’ve Been Fooling Myself
- Episode 6 – Perhaps We Should Invite Ourselves Over
- Episode 7 – Spring Comes
- Episode 8 – See You When You Get Back
- Episode 9 – Yuki Was My First Love
- Episode 10 – It’s Valentine’s, After All
- Episode 11 – This is a Wonderful Inn
- Episode 12 – You Look Like You’re Having Fun
- Episode 13 – How Have You Been, My Brother?
- Episode 14 – That’s a Secret
- Episode 15 – I Wouldn’t Say That
- Episode 16 – She Said Don’t Step on Them!
- Episode 17 – This Is for Uo-chan!
- Episode 18 – What’s Important Is…
- Episode 19 – I’m So Sorry!
- Episode 20 – I Can’t Believe You Picked It Up
- Episode 21 – I Never Back Down from a Wave Fight
- Episode 22 – Because I Was Happy
- Episode 23 – You Look Well…
- Episode 24 – Let’s Go Home
- Episode 25 – Summer Will Be Here Soon
- Season Two
- Episode 26 – Hello Again
- Episode 27 – Eat Somen with Your Friends
- Episode 28 – Shall We Go and Get You Changed?
- Episode 29 – I Got Dumped…
- Episode 30 – Wait for me, tororo soba!
- Episode 31 – Are you really this stupid?
- Episode 32 – Let’s Start the Watermelon Splitting Contest!
- Episode 33 – Well, It’s True
- Episode 34 – My Precious…
- Episode 35 – Who Are You?
- Episode 36 – All Mine
- Episode 37 – You Cried for Me
- Episode 38 – Sure Thing
- Episode 39 – I Should Just Die…
- Episode 40 – See You Later
- Episode 41 – Ask Him For Me
- Episode 42 – You Will, I’m Sure of It
- Episode 43 – Do You Wanna Kiss?
- Episode 44 – There’s Just No Way!
- Episode 45 – Are You Okay?
- Episode 46 – There Was, Definitely
- Episode 47 – That Isn’t What I Want
- Episode 48 – It’s Cinderella-ish
- Episode 49 – Here You Are
- Episode 50 – I’m Different Now
- Season Three
- Episode 51 – I’ll Hold Another Banquet
- Episode 52 – That’s an Unwavering Truth
- Episode 53 – I Hope It Snows Soon
- Episode 54 – I’m… Home.
- Episode 55 – I Mean… You Know, Right?
- Episode 56 – It Was So Foolish
- Episode 57 – That’s Right, It’s Empty
- Episode 58 – I’m Disappointed in You
- Episode 59 – What’s Your Name?
- Episode 60 – I Just Love Her
- Episode 61 – Goodbye
- Episode 62 – You Fought Well
- Episode 63 – See You Again Soon
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Where is the Hana merch, my visa is ready.
I know, right. She’s awesome.
I have no idea how any of the Shouma family are still sane. Seeing what they go through on a routine basis makes Ayame and Shigure’s attitudes understandable.
And I’m with you and Dewbond: If they want my money, they know what they have to do!
Yeah, I can’t wait to get to the bottom of this. There has to be a reason that they all put up with this crazy situation. I want to know if the curse is ongoing for example when one with curse dies does someone else born into the family take it up. So many questions. Thank goodness it’s going to be 63 episodes long or we’d never get all the answers.
All praise Queen Saki!
Momiji’s part of this episode broke me and then that ending! I’ll be honest, I was thinking along the lines of ‘wait, did Kyo have something to do with Tohru’s mum’s accident?’, but I never even thought about them being siblings and it makes so much sense! If that’s not the reveal then I’m writing an alternate universe where that is the case.
Yeah, my first thought was the accident too, but given what they’d told us about Momiji it seems like there must be a connection. Then there’s the fact that Tohru’s mom is called Kyoko… Kyo… ko… I could be wrong, I probably am, but I feel like there’s something there.
[…] The Otaku Author: Fruits Basket (Episode 14) – That’s a Secret […]
[…] episode, it was probably for the best. There’s been no progress on my theories from the last post, so I’m just going to have to wait and see if Kyo and Yuki ever step up and tell Tohru […]