Fruits Basket (Episode 48) - It's Cinderella-ish

It’s time for the cultural festival and that means Tohru’s class performance of Cinderella… or It’s Cinderella-ish! Get ready for the most incredible and unique retelling of this classic fairytale!

What happened?

Hiro and Kisa arrived at the school to see Tohru’s play. Haru and Momiji took them to the theatre and sat down ready for It’s Cinderella-ish. Hiro was unsure of exactly what was going on, but the title across the curtain pretty much spelt it out for him. The wicked step-mother dragged Tohru, the wicked step-sister across the stag to berate Cinderalla, Saki for not making them dresses for the ball. When Cinderella said that they would be better off buying some, the wicked step-mother kidnapped the wicked step-sister and told Cinderella that she wouldn’t see her sister again until she’d made the dresses.

The fairy god-mother, Yuki drifted into the scene and asked Cinderella what it is that she wished for. Her first response was to burn down the castle, but the fairy god-mother pushed for another wish. This time Cinderella wanted yakiniku… Regardless, Cinderella went to the ball and met the Prince, leaving her glass slipper at midnight as she hurried home. When the Prince finally caught up with Cinderella, he told her that he didn’t want to marry her, which was fine with her. Cinderella just wanted to open a yakiniku shop with her sister. So they all lived happily ever after!

After the play and all of the spontaneous outbursts that the narrator somehow managed to weave into the narrative, Yuki returned to the student council and was sent on patrol. He encountered Machi who was being bullied by his fan club. Yuki was about to step in, but Kakeru stopped him, saying that he had a better idea. Machi told the fan club that she thought that Yuki was an airhead and lonely, and definitely not a prince. It was about to get violent when Kimi made an announcement over the school PA system. A spontaneous photoshoot with the student council president was now available. The fan club raced off, leaving Machi to herself.

Fruits Basket Episode 48 The Narrator and Kyo

What did you think?

This was without a doubt the funniest episode of Fruits Basket yet. The play was incredible and I loved the way that everyone managed to remain completely in character while performing this insanely brilliant version of Cinderella. Special thanks must go to the narrator who was the undoubted star of the show. There were lots of accidental reveals from Arisa calling out to Kureno, Tohru saying that she didn’t want Kyo to be locked up forever, and Yuki telling Kyo to make his own wishes come true. Saki’s disinterested Cinderella was amazing and Arisa calling Kyo a virgin on stage was hilarious. I was gutted that the play didn’t last for the entire episode, but then Kakeru made up for that.

Fruits Basket Episode 48 Cinderella and the Prince

What have you learnt?

I thought this was an amazing way for the characters to get some things off their chests and potentially reveal things about themselves that they didn’t want to reveal. Yuki has come on as a character and seemed much more at ease wearing a dress this time around… This series is consistently incredible. It never seems to miss a beat and it’s one that I will be studying over and over again. I have no plans to write a story like this, but there is so much that you can learn from something that is so expertly put together. With only two episodes left in this season, I’m already preparing myself for the hard wait for the third and final season.