Takaya Natsuki - Fruits Basket, vol. 23 (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

Oh, I cannot believe it is over (even though I know it has been over for two years now)!

First, I've extremely grumpy at TokyoPop for the lousy quality of the final volume. The paper for the cover and the pages are much flimsier compared even to volume 22. Yes, there's a nice color insert, which I appreciated, but seriously! I shouldn't feel like I can tear the pages by accident when I'm turning them.

But overall, this is a lovely grace note to the series. There isn't much plot movement; mostly it's tying up loose ends and giving the characters a proper send off.

Spoilers pile on the years

Wow. I don't even know where to start. I reread the curse breaking scenes and Yuki and Machi and Tohru realizing Kyo was her most important person and oh so many more two or three times while I was in the middle of this volume, just because I didn't want it to end. I love how they have all grown so much, even (especially) Akito.

I keep thinking about one of Mely's old posts about Fruits Basket and abuse, and I hope that in the end, the Sohmas have started to break that cycle of silence. I hope that they are talking about what Akito did to them and sharing stories, and I hope they will keep doing that to make sure it doesn't happen again, at least not in silence, not hidden, not buried away.

Also, how did Takaya make me like Akito? How? I am still a little wary about fast redemption, but I loved that Takaya has Akito say she couldn't apologize, because it would be too much like an end to reparations instead of a beginning, that instead, Akito is going to spend a lot of time working to change the Sohma family to make sure the dysfunction doesn't happen again. And I love that some people like Rin can't forgive Akito and may never be able to, and that they shouldn't have to for the ending of the story. And the implicit acknowledgement that some damage can't be undone, that some hurts can't be forgiven, that moving on may mean not letting that person have control over you any more but doesn't mean you have to accept them back into your life. The same with Akito reaching out to the older woman and how some people are not ready for change.

I love that the end is not easy, because endings and beginnings and change are never easy.

While the entire series is about change, I also liked how it returns to the idea of one-sided affection or love again and again, from the first mention of it with Hanajima and Motoko and the Prince Yuki club to Kazuma thinking his forcing Kyo to reveal his true form in front of Tohru is a form of pushing his love onto someone, to, of course, Akito and the Juunishi.

I'm normally not the largest fan of the reminiscing chapter of all the people remembering their interactions with Tohru, nor of flashforwards, but I think Takaya has completely earned it. And oh, Yuki. I loved Kyo and Tohru, but oh Yuki. Representing all of them to tell Tohru what she means to them, and finally, finally calling her "Tohru."

I could also have done a little less with the overall gender norms (Akito returning to female dress and Ritsu returning to male dress) as a sign of healing, although I did like that Akito being female was a sign of strength, not weakness. Ditto with the coupling, particularly Hanajima/Kazuma and Ritsu/Michiru, which I don't feel were set up enough. That said, I usually am very cynical about high school couples making it out of high school and through college, but with this series, I am optimistic! I want them to make it, especially especially especially Yuki and Machi. I am fairly sure the inter-Juunishi ones will, given what they share.

Also, I sort of wish they had not specified that Momiji's affection for Tohru was partially romantic, just because I loved them so as friends.

These are mostly minor complaints. I overall love where the story ended with the bittersweetness of people leaving, even though I am sure they get together again.

And finally, Kyoko's chapter. Oh Kyoko. I think I bawled. And then I reread Kyo's confession and the curse breaking and Tohru saying she didn't care and Kyoko's chapter and I bawled again. Just... everything in it, from her wondering if she loved Tohru enough to seeing Katsuya again to holding Kyo to his tab. And her wishing for many friends for Tohru and many years and everything that she's given in the series. It makes Yuki's final speech to Tohru even more touching, because of how Tohru was able to give the Juunishi what Kyoko gave her, and how although abuse is passed on through generations, love is too.

I love this series so.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

how although abuse is passed on through generations, love is too.


Yes. Very much yes. This is my favorite manga, and reading your comments on it made me tear up again, and I don't know what the hell I will read now. Gah, Fruits Basket!

--Gaudior, who's having trouble signing into DW for some reason.

[oyceter]

Yes. Oh. Just... I have a giant hole in my heart right now after reading this, and all I want to do is go right back in and reread again to spend more time with it. And it has been so long since I have felt that way about fiction. But I miss it so!

[lnhammer]

In an interview in IIRC the first fanbook, Takaya said at the time that she was aiming for a scene she's had in mind since the start which is set at or just before the end. From the circumstantial description I'm pretty sure that's Kyoko's final scene. Which means the entire series was constructed as groundwork for the emotional payload that explodes in your head (and heart) with that scene.

Which only partly explains its power.

Hanajima x Kazuma is, oddly enough, set up from their very first meeting, at least on her side. His side ... lacks the necessary groundwork. Maybe she used her waves.

---L.

[oyceter]

Yes, I can't imagine it being anything else! And I love how Takaya ties in Kyoko with the curse and moving on and letting your dead go.

I remember Hanajima's reaction! But it still felt so sudden! Like, I could not figure out why she was so attracted.

[lnhammer]

The opening chapter shows the Significant Cap in Tohru's tent, as well as two otherwise yet-unexplained frames of her receiving it from a boy -- an explanation of which we don't get for several volumes, nor the true origin of the cap for a few more volumes.

This is a deep plotter of a writer. Which makes the absent Hanajima x Kazuma groundwork all the more puzzling.

---L.

[oyceter]

Oh definitely! I loved seeing all the call outs to the hat and Kyo being strangely regretful the first time they all visit Kyoko's grave! Takaya is so good at planting clues. Well, er, most of the time. But I forgive her for the other times, because she got the big stuff so right!

[umadoshi]

Takaya-sensei does some of the best foreshadowing I've ever seen. *wry* In retrospect, although it's far from my favorite example, I think one of the most impressive things she pulled was when she literally dropped her heroine off a cliff...and when we all managed to stop sputtering "I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE JUST DID THAT", we realized she'd set it up on the first couple of chapters, tidy and offhand as you please.

[rilina]

I think one of the most impressive things she pulled was when she literally dropped her heroine off a cliff...and when we all managed to stop sputtering "I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE JUST DID THAT", we realized she'd set it up on the first couple of chapters, tidy and offhand as you please.

Yes, I remember boggling at that!

I love Kyoko's chapter so much, and Yuki at the end. I am so glad that Takaya doesn't forget that Yuki-Tohru connection in the midst of all the pairing off (and I say this as someone who has a great fondness of Tohru/Kyo). I am so glad that love is recognized as well.

[oyceter]

I heart Yuki SO MUCH! I love Tohru/Kyo, but I am so glad she gave that space to Yuki at the end, and let him sort of represent all the Juunishi when he thanked Tohru. It was so fitting, especially because he was the Rat.

[lnhammer]

In the first chapter, even. Yes, that.

---L.

[oyceter]

YES! I remember rereading and going "OMG I cannot believe she set up the cliff in VOLUME ONE!"

such a great manga series

[kothithelegu.livejournal.com]

AHH! You're making want to re-read the series again! I particularly enjoyed the more complex aspect of the story that there was no true villain in the story, only the driving imperative of a curse that turned each charecter's strength into their weakness. For example, in Akito's case, what could have been a protectiveness towards her family became possesive obsession. I was also surprised about how Akito became a sympathetic charecter over the course of the series.

I'm really ambivalent about the Yuki and Machi pairing. I'm glad that Yuki found someone who understood the real person under the "prince" shell, but the pairing felt random and rushed.

I was very happy with Tohru and Kyo's resolution and the promise of a normal life between them. The author gave these charecters an opportunity for happiness that the curse would have never allowed.

Re: such a great manga series

[chomiji]

I have to concur about Yuki/Machi, and also Kakeru/Komamki. Both girls seem to have been generated out of moonbeams and mirrors in response to something other than the author's usual careful plotting. At least Machi gives Yuki a chance to be the less-damaged, more-confident partner. Komaki seems to have no personality beyond (a) being cute and (b) liking to eat meat. I have to confess that when Kakeru showed up, I entertained hopes of Kakeru/Yuki, because he has so much of what Yuki needs. Oh well.

Re: such a great manga series

[oyceter]

I do actually like Machi a lot, although on the reread, I noticed she got a lot less development than I had originally remembered. I really like that she is damaged and awkward and that she's not there as a healer for Yuki (as Tohru is for Kyo) and that it lets Yuki be the nurturer that Tohru was for him. I'm always kind of skeptical of the healing wonderful shoujo heroine in shoujo, though I love Tohru to pieces, so it was nice to have some male healers in relationships as well (Haru and Rin, Yuki and Machi).

Re: such a great manga series

[oyceter]

Yeah, I don't think there is a true villain, although I was glad that Takaya doesn't shy away from the fact that there are people who hurt others a lot more, and that that hurt can't be undone.

I love Machi! I was surprised on the reread that she doesn't get as much page time as I remembered, so yeah, it did feel a bit rushed. I wish we had gotten to know her a little better.

[chomiji]

Fruits Basket was my first shoujo series. telophase recommended it when I posted a request for shoujo recs, because I had realized that all the manga I had read where shounen.

The thing that has struck me all the way through is the author's deep emotional intelligence. She can convey such a wealth of feelings through a relatively simple drawing that it constantly blows me away. (Even if sometimes, it's hard to tell which character she's depicting .... .) It seems to have something to do with how she draws the characters' postures and their physical relationship to each other in the space.

I really like the way the Kyo/Tohru relationship developed emotionally. The scenes in vol. 22 when the curse breaks, and they realize that Tohru can finally really hold him - and she isn't smiling, she's bawling her eyes out from the release of tension and all the misery they've gone through - and he breaks the bracelet: that's such an emotional masterpiece. It's so real and true.

[oyceter]

Yes! Takaya is so good at the emotions, and OMG. I love the scene in which both Kyo and Tohru realize the curse is broken so much! And the end note that Kyo couldn't pick up the beads, but that Tohru did, maybe for him, maybe for all the past Cats, maybe for herself. And I love how it ends with Yuki as the final goodbye, both for Akito and the curse, but also for sending Tohru off.

[thomasyan]

Even if sometimes, it's hard to tell which character she's depicting ....

Sometimes I have trouble figuring whose thoughts she is writing.

[oyceter]

Me too... on the reread, I had to flip back to the beginning of a lot of chapters once I finally figured out who the narrator was in the end.

Oh my ...

[lnhammer]

More deep plotting: remember the dream the older Juunishi had when Akito was conceived, described somewhere around chapter 100 or so? It's first mentioned in chapter 16 in volume 3.

Which chapter is brilliantly constructed. It's the first Valentine's Day chapter. Threaded in the background of a Kyo-Kagura-Yuki-Tohru double-date, Hatori and Shigure talk about the latter's using Tohru for some purpose (hinted at in an earlier conversation with Akito), working towards something he vowed to get. The first time reading, you think that's all Takaya has told us, but once you know what the dream was, and who Akito really is, the significance of Shigure's vowing to do anything to hold the feeling of that dream snaps into focus. And then on the next page (p.123), as Shigure's narrative voiceover wraps up, Shigure reassures Akito that he is the most important thing in his life, the conjunction makes the latter looks like a lie, or maybe dramatic irony -- but no, it's telling us that goal is Akito. On Valentine's Day.

We've just been shown the plot that moves the entire story, and we won't recognize it until volume 21.

Gah!

This is, incidentally, the first chapter where Takaya's interleaving two stories (either concurrent or present/past) plus separate narration is first done with assurance, giving a hint how well she'll be able to do it later on.

---L.

Re: Oh my ...

[oyceter]

Oh wow! I feel like I need to reread the whole series now to get a better perspective on all of Shigure's mysterious comments, which will now make sense.

But wow. That is some foreshadowing!