Fruits Basket (Episode 59) – What’s Your Name?

Akito finds Tohru in Shigure’s garden. She’s upset and angry. She’s got a knife. But how will Tohru react? Will she see the scared little girl standing before her hiding behind the vengeful god?
What happened?
Yuki raced off after Kyo and bumped into Shigure, returning from an all-night drinking session with some of his author buddies. He asks him if he’s seen Kyo and when he says no, Yukiu realises he went the wrong way and hurried back towards the house.
Meanwhile, Akito approached Tohru, still grasping the knife she used to stab Kureno. She’s angry that Tohru has taken everything from her. Without the bonds, she will be alone. No one will love her. Everyone will abandon her. However, Tohru sees what Akito is going through and realises that she is to blame. She wants what Akito had – to be surrounded by friends that love her.
Tohru tries to reach out to Akito, but she slashed her arm away. Finally, Akito runs off into the woods. She’s tired of this world and doesn’t know how to survive without the bonds. Tohru catches up with her and offers to be her friend. She says that they never got off on the right foot and she wants to change that. Akito realises that Tohru is being sincere and reaches for her hand only for it to be pulled away by mother nature as the cliff collapses beneath Tohru’s feet.

Tohru falls to the ground below, not far from where her tent had been. It had been buried beneath a landslide way back in episode one. Akito looked down from the clifftop. Tohru wasn’t moving. Terrified of what happened and what people will think happened, Akito raced off screaming for help. Yuki and Shigure find her first. Once she’s explained what happened, Yuki runs off to find Tohru.
Kyo returns to the house and finds Akito crying on the front step, Shigure talking to Hatori on the phone. He overhears that something happened to Tohru and runs to find her. Yuki stepped back at Kyo approaches. He warns him that Tohru hit her head hard. Kyo crouches down over her still body and can’t help but watch the tears streaming down his cheeks.
After what seemed like forever, Tohru reaches up and comfort Kyo. It would appear that she’s going to be all right. Kyo is delighted and kisses Tohru.

What did you think?
So, this was yet another compelling episode, however, I can’t help but feel a little conflicted. Tohru’s ability to see into peoples’ hearts and forgive them is superhuman. It’s almost at the point where I can’t relate to it. That then makes her reactions to Akito that much more baffling. As a result, this episode didn’t hit me anywhere near as hard as I think it should have.
I also have to admit that when the cliff gave way beneath Tohru’s feet, I let out a little laugh. The image was absurd, especially as it looked like Tohru had pulled her hand away at the last second in some sort of childish game. I get that this was the cliff that collapsed and buried her tent, but it did feel a little convenient.
However, my favourite moment in the episode was the look Momiji gave Akito outside the hospital. Take that Akito! Anyhow, I find myself very much unsure of how to react to the episode overall. Yes, Kyo and Tohru finally kissed. On the other hand, Akito still hasn’t atoned for her actions. Some might say she’s not fully responsible, but we’re always responsible for our actions.

What have you learnt?
Apparently, it’s all right to have your first kiss with the girl you love when she probably has a concussion and maybe some broken bones… Haha! Joking aside, it had been coming for some time and even last week’s setback was never going to be enough to keep these two apart.
One issue I have with the way this episode went was how quickly Akito changed her outlook on life. She had obviously come to Shigure’s house to confront Tohru. She had a knife and while she was prepared to use it, the way she backed away when Tohru moved towards her was a little telling.
Other than that, she went from I hate you to all right, let’s be friends in the blink of an eye. I’m not saying they should have dragged it out forever, but it would have been nice to see some cracks in Akito’s view of Tohru in advance of their meeting. Again, I’m really struggling to articulate how I feel about this episode. It was good, but something didn’t quite feel right.

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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I was also super conflicted on this episode. SUPER conflicted for almost every reason you pointed out. I got whiplash at how fast Akito went from murderous to “let’s be friends”. Then again, mental illness can be an inexplicable thing on its own timetable. I’ve met people in my life with an insane amount of intuition. Maybe that is why I don’t feel strongly about Tohru’s ability to relate to others. Part of me thinks she is just super kind and she stumbles upon conclusions she wouldn’t have if she weren’t so kind.
For sure. I feel like this should have been an emotional episode, but it failed to really have an impact on me the way other episodes have. There were no onion-chopping ninjas anywhere to be found.
Judgemental Momiji is terrifying! Very cool, too.
Yeah, he’s levelled up for sure!
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