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EP. REVIEW: Fruits Basket the Final


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Nodz



Joined: 29 Dec 2013
Posts: 523
PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 2:49 pm Reply with quote
??
This episode isn't supposed to be available before April 5th.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5407
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 2:53 pm Reply with quote
Nodz wrote:
??
This episode isn't supposed to be available before April 5th.

animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-03-14/funimation-streams-fruits-basket-the-final-season-episode-1-on-march-19/.170603

I wouldn't run this episode review this early because the next episode airs in 3 weeks, but I don't run ANN.
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me_barron



Joined: 14 Sep 2014
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 3:13 pm Reply with quote
angelmcazares wrote:


but I don't run ANN.


Yet. You don't run ANN YETRazz

Anyway, yeah Akito had a shitty childhood, but so what? Still hate the B. Her mom may be trash, but that doesn't justify choking her out and all the other crap she's pulled with the other Sohmas.Call me a cold-hearted bastard, but she'll never get any sympathy from me. Then again, that's what I said about Meruem, and, well, then he got that HXH ending.
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KitKat1721



Joined: 03 Feb 2015
Posts: 952
PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 3:25 pm Reply with quote
ANN ran early premiere reviews for the theatrical screenings in S1 (and likely would have for S2 had it not been cancelled due to COVID). This is just that but all the distributors (Avex TV, Funi, billibilli, etc...) released the episode + cast talkback digitally instead, so it makes sense to post.

Anyways, woo we're back! Some quick bullet point thoughts:

- I do like how there's a small moment when Ren's first introduced where she starts talking about the ridiculous nature of the curse and how it can't be a "real bond..." where you can't help but agree with some of her words (until its pretty clear she's saying it from a purely malicious pov). It reminds me of that "Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made a Great Point" meme and sucks that one of the most blunt and honest statements that Akito needs to hear are coming from pure loathing and the one person she'll never trust.

- That quick flashback of the older Soma kids running to Ren with their hands reaching out to touch her is super freaky. No wonder this whole institution is nuts when events like that were probably brushed off by longstanding members of the Soma inner circle as "perfectly natural" or whatever.

- I'm also starting a petition for Tohru to have more slumber parties with Uo and Hana please! She has such good friends and girl deserves more breaks from the Soma family drama than she'll take for herself. Lauren also hit the nail on the head with Kyo actually noticing Tohru's scarf. Girl doesn't ever buy stuff for herself, and didn't even notice it was gone in the moment, but someone did and cared enough to not only bring it back, but fix it up.

Dub Notes:
- I still adore Kureno's English VA. I feel like he really just gets his character & the tone of his scenes really well (despite not having much screen time at all prior to S2's finale and being a lot more understated than some of the others). I'll also always just be grateful to the reboot in general for actually getting me to care about Kureno to begin with (since the same could not be said while reading the manga).

- It was definitely a blast from the past hearing 2001 Akito's voice actor again briefly. He has a really unique-sounding voice and its almost instantly recognizable. Cool casting choice that's a treat for longtime fans, but still fits without any extra context.
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Raven.In.Pink





PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 5:35 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Maybe she suspects a romantic relationship between Kureno and Akito now (which is ew, but Fruits Basket has always been lightly incestuous).


I’m guessing this came from how the Sohmas refer to each other as a family and cousins, despite how some of them are romantically involved with one another. Quick reminder that the Sohmas are more like a large Japanese *clan* and not an actual family. Very few of the Sohmas we know are directly related to one another by blood.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to how the final seasons pans out. I really did enjoy the final arc and how the story ended, and I’m ecstatic to see certain scenes finally animated.

I’m also one of those fans who didn’t mind the introduction of Ren, because it further emphasizes how Tohru and Akito are meant to be foils to one another. And for me, it didn’t serve as an excuse for Akito’s actions as much as a proper explanation for them. Certain things just made more sense to me after her mother and backstory were revealed.

Also- shout out to Funimation for getting Chad Cline to voice Akito’s father. Nice touch. He hasn’t been in much, but I really do like his voice and it was very nostalgic.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:43 am Reply with quote
me_barron wrote:


Anyway, yeah Akito had a shitty childhood, but so what? Still hate the B. Her mom may be trash, but that doesn't justify choking her out and all the other crap she's pulled with the other Sohmas.Call me a cold-hearted bastard, but she'll never get any sympathy from me. Then again, that's what I said about Meruem, and, well, then he got that HXH ending.



Yeah, that is one where the story is going to have to work to convince me. We've seen characters lash out or behave in ways that whether intentionally or unintentionally drive others away because of their past, but Akito takes it to a degree where it is willfully malicious. At some point, there comes responsibility for how a character reacts to a bad situation.



I'll second what others said about the casting for Akira. It's fun when they do call backs with the casting, like with Brotherhood and an episode of Dragonball Super.
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Spastic Minnow
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 11:49 am Reply with quote
I got through 5 minutes, but I have to stop and wait until the sub is released. Something about emotional outbursts just ring hollow to me in English... actually. In general, shouting Va's annoy me in either language, but I can stand it better in Japanese.

Last edited by Spastic Minnow on Fri Mar 26, 2021 3:15 pm; edited 1 time in total
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 02 May 2011
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 11:51 am Reply with quote
The sub should be available on Funimation. They aired the first episode early.
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blahmoomoo



Joined: 27 Jan 2020
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 12:00 pm Reply with quote
octopodpie wrote:
The sub should be available on Funimation. They aired the first episode early.


Even with the early episode airing, Funimation doesn't have the rights (or something like that) to stream the Japanese sub version of Fruits Basket. Only Crunchyroll does, and they didn't air the first episode early.

The Japanese sub is available on the home release.
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Key
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 28, 2021 12:02 am Reply with quote
Greed1914 wrote:
Yeah, that is one where the story is going to have to work to convince me. We've seen characters lash out or behave in ways that whether intentionally or unintentionally drive others away because of their past, but Akito takes it to a degree where it is willfully malicious. At some point, there comes responsibility for how a character reacts to a bad situation.

Agreed. This all provides only context for Akito's behavior, not justification.

Quote:
I'll second what others said about the casting for Akira. It's fun when they do call backs with the casting, like with Brotherhood and an episode of Dragonball Super.

I didn't catch this at first, but yeah, it is a neat casting choice.
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 02 May 2011
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 28, 2021 10:57 am Reply with quote
blahmoomoo wrote:
octopodpie wrote:
The sub should be available on Funimation. They aired the first episode early.


Even with the early episode airing, Funimation doesn't have the rights (or something like that) to stream the Japanese sub version of Fruits Basket. Only Crunchyroll does, and they didn't air the first episode early.

The Japanese sub is available on the home release.


Oh my bad, it was dub only.
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yuna49



Joined: 27 Aug 2008
Posts: 3804
PostPosted: Mon Mar 29, 2021 8:46 am Reply with quote
Perhaps the front page for this story could be a bit more explicit. It lists Funimation as the source, leaving me puzzled since Crunchy carried the original two cours. Then it turns out the Funi episode is dub-only, and the subbed version will run on CR in a few weeks?

I think you need to make all this more explicit on this page:
animenewsnetwork.com/review/fruits-basket-the-final/.170846
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Zhou-BR



Joined: 28 Feb 2008
Posts: 1419
PostPosted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 3:09 pm Reply with quote
I find it encouraging that the first two episodes kept to the same pace as the previous seasons, covering just two chapters each. Unless they're planning to speed through the manga's last 6 volumes (not to mention the pivotal 4-chapter flashback arc that season two skipped) over the next 10 or 11 episodes, it doesn't look like this season will be just one cours long after all.

I'm aware that only three BD/DVD volumes have been solicited for the final season so far, which is half the amount of volumes that each of the previous seasons had, but maybe this just means it will have split cours with a 3 or 6-month interval between them.
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Sobe



Joined: 04 Jun 2011
Posts: 880
PostPosted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 4:39 pm Reply with quote
Aww, spoiler alert. =\ One of the cons of reading ANN.
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KitKat1721



Joined: 03 Feb 2015
Posts: 952
PostPosted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 4:44 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
I'm sure that by this point in the story viewers have made peace with all of the romantic liaisons between distant blood relatives. (And if it makes you feel any better, Akito and Shigure are 20 and 28, AKA both adults.) I can't believe I'm writing this sentence in any context, but it isn't incest that's the issue here! Both Akito and Shigure can be cruel, selfish people, and their relationship seems to only stoke those tendencies in each of them. The intimate scene that concludes their role in the episode isn't great—Shigure's lifeless expression while Akito presses a kiss on him, and the cut from two adults consummating their attraction to Shigure and Akito as children isn't exactly sexy.


I know this was mostly brought up in jest and the point has already been brought up a couple times by others, but most of these characters aren't actually blood related to the extent that you could easily trace it. Its a huge, super old family and the Zodiac spirits aren't passed down or anything, just randomly chosen within the clan. The "main family" only refers to those with the Zodiac spirits and their immediate family (parents, siblings, etc...). Those within the main family aren't necessarily more closely related than those outside of it or anything. Like if Hana (who was part of the outer circle) ended up marrying Hatori, she would have become part of the "main family."

Also, I don't think the age gap is even quite that wide, but its hard to know for certain since Takaya never gave out official birthdays or anything (I think she actually brought this up on twitter recently but I can't find it lol). We just know Shigure is 27 at the start and Akito is in her "early 20s." Not even close to the point, but just worth noting that its a little bit vague on that front.

The way I always read the flashback scene with the flowers and then cutting to adult Shigure and Akito is just to further drive home how incredibly toxic their dynamic became, and that its honestly pretty sad when looking back on them as kids/pre-teens. It was just a lot more innocent. Akito is trying to navigate what she's been told about love (people constantly telling her "she was born to be loved") vs. if/how the other zodiac members actually love her. And I don't even believe when Shigure says he "will always love her" back then, he means it in a purely romantic sense. I always read it a lot more as a pure, unconditional type of love that later grew romantically as they grew up. So its a bit sad when we see how twisted and complicated not only their relationship became, but they themselves. Its especially hard to imagine current Shigure being so completely honest with his feelings, and those fairly innocent beginnings are just juxtaposed with their present day MESS.

On the topic of Shigure sleeping with Ren, ooh boy... I just want to be a fly on the wall when all that went down because I'm sure the drama was juicy enough to put most reality tv shows to shame. I know it was probably a spur of the moment decision, but I think there was a small part of Shigure that felt if THIS can't get a rise out of Akito and shine a big ol' mirror on her showing that all the people you consider play things are human beings with feelings and you can't keep doing this shit, nothing will. When Akito's ranting about how "she's special" and "its her right to do whatever she wants with all of them," he just looks so done. with. this. shit. And he even says there's no point in arguing once again implying they've definitely had these fights before. Doesn't mean they aren't toxic af and neither of them are making good decisions, but its so chaotic to watch and their actions, while not healthy, do make sense with what we've been told.

Also, I'm happy we got a mini-review for the tea promotion, truly the most important thing to cover this week for Fruba haha. I actually preferred the Kyo/mango drink since I thought it was super refreshing, but the taro one was really good too!
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