Fruits Basket (Episode 51) – I’ll Hold Another Banquet
Tohru struggles to take in the secret that Kurome has revealed to her. She wants to desperately say something, anything, but nothing comes out. All she can do is cry and watch him walk away.
What happened?
So, Kurome revealed that Akito is a girl, but was raised as a boy. Only Kurome, Hatori, Shigure, and Ayame know the truth as they felt it the moment that Akito was conceived. Akito’s mother, Ren hates Akito and the unnatural bonds that she has with the zodiac spirits. Surprisingly, Kurome also believes that the bonds are unnatural, but he made his decision to stay with her despite this. He cannot choose Arisa. He’s sorry.
Tohru wants to say something. She can see that he is putting others feelings before his own and she wants to help him, but nothing will come out. Nothing but tears. She watches as he walks away, but all she can do is drop to the floor and sob. Sometime later, Saki and Megumi find her and take her home. To put the Soma’s at ease, Saki phones to say that she has Tohru and that she will be having a nightgown festival…
After telling Tohru that she found her because she could hear her crying at a frequency that no other could, Saki convinces Tohru to talk about what’s bothering her. She reveals that she tried to convince Kurome to contact Arisa, but he can’t. She tells Saki that Kurome puts others feelings above his own. Saki tells Tohru that she too does that and that they worry that one day they will lose her because of that.
Of course, Arisa arrives and she heard everything. She thanks Tohru and tells her not to worry about her – she obviously loves dummies. They talk and relax while Megumi enjoys the company of older women! Tohru returns home the next morning and finds that Kyo found her scarf, Yuki can’t cook, and Shigure can’t stomach it! She’s determined to take things one step at a time as she comes to terms with the revelation about Akito.
Meanwhile, Rin has been sneaking around the Soma estate and is found by Ren, who offers to help her…
What did you think?
I feel like I should mention again that the Akito twist was something that I predicted back in episode 7, so it wasn’t that much of a groundbreaking moment. It was nice to be finally proven right, which is probably why I bring it up again… As for this episode, it was another fantastic addition to the series and did an amazing job of showing just how much this rocked Tohru’s world.
My main concern with the season will be that they are going to try to make us feel sympathy for Akito. It’s a very real worry because if they do it right, it’s going to be hard not to. This series is amazing at doing stuff like that. The problem is I don’t want to. I hate Akito and feel that she needs to suffer some real consequence for what she has done to the others and until that happens, I will not be budging on this. Also, surprisingly, I think Megumi was the star of this episode with some timely comments.
What have you learnt?
This episode really managed to pack in the emotions. We got to see dispair from Tohru, anger from Akito, remorse from Kurome, fear from Shigure, concern from Saki, acceptance from Arisa… and so much more. And yet, we come out the end of the episode smiling. They put us through the wringer and we thank them for it. The subtlety in writing is fantastic, especially with how well it flows. On top of that, the characters feel like real people, and not just that, people that we want to be around. I seriously can’t believe this is the final season!
Other reviews 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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