Fruits Basket (Episode 39) - I Should Just Die...

Tohru’s grandfather has injured himself and just as the parent-teacher meetings are about to start. Luckily, Shigure is ready to step in… Meanwhile, Yuki has been doing some thinking about Haru and Rin.

What happened?

Yuki is still struggling to feel like he deserves to put himself first and continues to compare himself to everyone. Even a chance meeting with Kagura has him feeling insecure. It causes him to remember his time in Akito’s room where only Haru would visit him. That memory gives him a reason to seek out Rin and question what she’s doing breaking up with Haru. He believes that she is protecting him from something.

Tohru’s grandfather has hurt his back and won’t be able to attend the parent-teacher meetings. Her aunt is too impressed with the idea of going in his place, but Shigure steps in and offers to go. After all, he can’t wait to see Mayuko’s reaction when he arrives. Tohru takes the chance to go and visit her grandfather who tells her he had a dream about her parents and how he’d like to see them once more. That awakens a repressed memory of Kyoko not long after Tohru’s father died.

What did you think?

This episode seemed to lack something. Again, it was fine, but I’m not entirely sure where the time went. We seemed to follow Yuki and Haru talking for ages and then they bolted on the stuff with Tohru at the end. Which, in my view, was a shame because the meeting between Tohru and her grandfather was probably the best part of the show. And by best, I, of course, mean the saddest. Seeing her grandfather falling asleep while thinking of his son and Kyoko, wishing to see them once more, clearly gave Tohru one hell of a scare. It was enough to remind her of the time Kyoko left her not long after her father died. I can only assume we’ll see more of that because I’m guessing that’s when she became a biker and Tohru had to learn to cook and clean. I hope Kyoko didn’t abandon her for long.

What have you learnt?

I miss dark Haru. He was a bundle of entertainment when he first burst onto the scene back in episode nine, but now he seems like a shell of his former self. As usual, Fruits Basket gives up some small piece of information and then leaves you with another handful of threads to pull at. What is Rin protecting Haru from? What happened to Tohru’s father? Where did Kyoko go and how long for? What is Rin meeting with Shigure for? Why are we still watching Yuki mope around? Seriously, I feel like it’s time for Yuki to step up or move out of the spotlight. There are plenty of characters just waiting to jump in.