Takaya Natsuki - Fruits Basket, ch. 109-126
Wed, May. 10th, 2006 04:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterHonking big spoilers!
OMG I cried through the entire thing, or so it feels. Mostly just through chapters 120 and on, or basically, when Kyo starts confessing to Tohru and everything that happens after that. And... a lot of stuff before that as well. And, oh, it could have been so sappy and so over the top, but it's not because it took twenty volumes to get here and Takaya is so good at showing how everyone has been changing and how they feel.
If you couldn't already tell, this is going to be completely incoherent with a million exclamation points.
- I love Kyo! Adore! To pieces! That scene, with Tohru, after her visiting Kyoko's grave, and the hug through the sheets, and him finally comforting her, and her finally showing hurt and pain and letting him through the mask, just like all the 12shi have done with her. And then the entire chapter with him talking about Kyoko, about valuing himself over a life, and how scared he was and hurt.
- And Tohru! AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
- I have to admit, I got a wee bit bored with Akito's box and Ren, though I really liked being able to see Akira. All I have to say is, dude, the Sohma family is so incredibly, incredibly messed up. Also, Ren is crazy. Akito is also crazy. All the servants are crazy. It is an entire house of crazy!
- Ayame's chapter made me like him a little more, but he still annoys me. Also, I nitpick but the curse seems to be a little random, given that Kyo can hug Tohru through laundry and Ayame can kiss Mine.
- And oh, oh, Momiji! He's all grown up! I miss small Momiji, but he still has the sweetness that I love, not to mention the rabbit backpack. I loved the scene with him and his mother, and his reaction when he feels the bond break. OMG love for Momiji knows no bounds (he may actually be my favorite of the 12shi, and not just because of this chapter). I love that the curse breaking isn't as simple and as easy as it sounds; it's a lifetime of habit that has to change, and it's frightening because it's unknown. And he knows that he's losing things, but he also knows that he has to go forward, and he does.
And I wanted to hug him when he first visited Akito because he was kind and he didn't try to hurt the person who had hurt him so much, but he was still firm. Of course, he's right, he can't live his entire life bound to someone, and I completely and totally adore this series for saying that, for making the last few chapters about that.
- It's funny, despite Hiro's grumpiness, he seems to have a pretty nice family. I totally awwwwwww-ed when he found out he could hold Hinata, and I wanted to hug his mom for saying that it must be difficult learning to live without the curse as well.
- I really, really hope that Kyo and Yuki get along a little better later, and I adored Yuki for his speech to Kyo on the little things, and that Kyo was the one with the ability to make Tohru smile. I loved how surprised he was when he found out Kyo had wanted to be him all this time.
- I liked that Kyo's father reacts a lot like Kyo did to pain: both of them try to blame someone else so that they can go on with their lives. Good for Kyo for not doing this anymore.
- And good for Akito for deciding to tear down the Cat's house.
- You know, Tohru falling off the cliff could have been entirely too much, but I was ok with it because it was coming after so much and because it's a catalyst for so much change.
- I love that the story of the stupid traveller comes back again! I can totally hear Momiji's voice actor from the anime saying the lines, "Arigatou! Arigatou!" And I just like the emphasis that maybe an act will look stupid to someone but that it isn't.
- A small note that I like that Kyoko's name is from the kanji for "today" and "child," which really just seems to fit her.
- Eeeee, I still love Machi and Yuki and Machi's expression when she gets Mogeta and Yuki being so happy that someone cares about him.
- Randomly, it was interesting reading these chapters because I read the summaries first, and then the raws, and even though I knew what was going to happen, having the text paced out and the page layout and the graphics there made so much more of an emotional impact.
- Also, I thought it was nifty how in the very last few chapters, Takaya was starting to use a lot of katakana to emphasize phrases or words or pain.
- And. Did I mention I just kept tearing up? These chapters keep covering things like moving forward, growing, changing, and Takaya is so sympathetic to her characters even as they're trying to figure these things out, that it just makes me want to go out and hug everyone.
It's neat that here, a lot of the pain and damage caused by the curse comes from people who want things to stay static, to be frozen. Ren wants Akira back and wants to keep being the only important person to Akira, and so passes on her anger to Akito. Akito of course wants the bond to remain, for everyone to stay with her, for things to never change.
And from that, from those expectations, everyone in the Sohma family has been frozen into this shape, even if they don't fit it. Even the servants, judging by the maid's reaction to Akito tearing down the Cat's house.
And I love that Tohru brings in not just kindness, but also change. People get brave enough to start pushing back against things like the exile of the cat. I love that the point is that things don't have to stand still, that they can't possibly stand still, because the world doesn't work like that. And the narrative is kind enough to know that a world with change is a world with no guarantees and no promises and no bonds; it's a world without forever, and that's what makes it good, but that's also what makes it scary.
All the Sohmas seem to be poised, on the brink of making a step out into that world. Momiji's taken it, and so has Kyo by going to see his father and by breaking his old patterns of blame. Yuki has started to reach out. Everyone is starting to look outside of themselves, to move on from the past. Even Tohru! I love what Tohru says about her mother, how even though it is a happy memory, she still has to go forward and go on without her mother, sort of like how Momiji and Hiro have to go on without the familiar bond to Akito.
I just... gaaaaah. It's so good! All those bits in the manga on learning to care, especially Yuki's thoughts that he couldn't have done this without everyone else, and that having them there made him so happy! And it just hits on all the things that make me sappy, especially the thought that these very damaged people can still heal and still move on, that they can take those awful years and make them into something worthwhile. It doesn't make the pain easier, and the hurt is by no means excusable, but it breaks my heart in the best way seeing them live again. Even Akito. I think it's telling that one of the final things she says to the maid is "Boku wa mou iku" ("I'm already moving"), even she is finally loosening that harsh hold on the 12shi.
Waaaaaaaah!!! So good!
OMG I cried through the entire thing, or so it feels. Mostly just through chapters 120 and on, or basically, when Kyo starts confessing to Tohru and everything that happens after that. And... a lot of stuff before that as well. And, oh, it could have been so sappy and so over the top, but it's not because it took twenty volumes to get here and Takaya is so good at showing how everyone has been changing and how they feel.
If you couldn't already tell, this is going to be completely incoherent with a million exclamation points.
- I love Kyo! Adore! To pieces! That scene, with Tohru, after her visiting Kyoko's grave, and the hug through the sheets, and him finally comforting her, and her finally showing hurt and pain and letting him through the mask, just like all the 12shi have done with her. And then the entire chapter with him talking about Kyoko, about valuing himself over a life, and how scared he was and hurt.
- And Tohru! AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
- I have to admit, I got a wee bit bored with Akito's box and Ren, though I really liked being able to see Akira. All I have to say is, dude, the Sohma family is so incredibly, incredibly messed up. Also, Ren is crazy. Akito is also crazy. All the servants are crazy. It is an entire house of crazy!
- Ayame's chapter made me like him a little more, but he still annoys me. Also, I nitpick but the curse seems to be a little random, given that Kyo can hug Tohru through laundry and Ayame can kiss Mine.
- And oh, oh, Momiji! He's all grown up! I miss small Momiji, but he still has the sweetness that I love, not to mention the rabbit backpack. I loved the scene with him and his mother, and his reaction when he feels the bond break. OMG love for Momiji knows no bounds (he may actually be my favorite of the 12shi, and not just because of this chapter). I love that the curse breaking isn't as simple and as easy as it sounds; it's a lifetime of habit that has to change, and it's frightening because it's unknown. And he knows that he's losing things, but he also knows that he has to go forward, and he does.
And I wanted to hug him when he first visited Akito because he was kind and he didn't try to hurt the person who had hurt him so much, but he was still firm. Of course, he's right, he can't live his entire life bound to someone, and I completely and totally adore this series for saying that, for making the last few chapters about that.
- It's funny, despite Hiro's grumpiness, he seems to have a pretty nice family. I totally awwwwwww-ed when he found out he could hold Hinata, and I wanted to hug his mom for saying that it must be difficult learning to live without the curse as well.
- I really, really hope that Kyo and Yuki get along a little better later, and I adored Yuki for his speech to Kyo on the little things, and that Kyo was the one with the ability to make Tohru smile. I loved how surprised he was when he found out Kyo had wanted to be him all this time.
- I liked that Kyo's father reacts a lot like Kyo did to pain: both of them try to blame someone else so that they can go on with their lives. Good for Kyo for not doing this anymore.
- And good for Akito for deciding to tear down the Cat's house.
- You know, Tohru falling off the cliff could have been entirely too much, but I was ok with it because it was coming after so much and because it's a catalyst for so much change.
- I love that the story of the stupid traveller comes back again! I can totally hear Momiji's voice actor from the anime saying the lines, "Arigatou! Arigatou!" And I just like the emphasis that maybe an act will look stupid to someone but that it isn't.
- A small note that I like that Kyoko's name is from the kanji for "today" and "child," which really just seems to fit her.
- Eeeee, I still love Machi and Yuki and Machi's expression when she gets Mogeta and Yuki being so happy that someone cares about him.
- Randomly, it was interesting reading these chapters because I read the summaries first, and then the raws, and even though I knew what was going to happen, having the text paced out and the page layout and the graphics there made so much more of an emotional impact.
- Also, I thought it was nifty how in the very last few chapters, Takaya was starting to use a lot of katakana to emphasize phrases or words or pain.
- And. Did I mention I just kept tearing up? These chapters keep covering things like moving forward, growing, changing, and Takaya is so sympathetic to her characters even as they're trying to figure these things out, that it just makes me want to go out and hug everyone.
It's neat that here, a lot of the pain and damage caused by the curse comes from people who want things to stay static, to be frozen. Ren wants Akira back and wants to keep being the only important person to Akira, and so passes on her anger to Akito. Akito of course wants the bond to remain, for everyone to stay with her, for things to never change.
And from that, from those expectations, everyone in the Sohma family has been frozen into this shape, even if they don't fit it. Even the servants, judging by the maid's reaction to Akito tearing down the Cat's house.
And I love that Tohru brings in not just kindness, but also change. People get brave enough to start pushing back against things like the exile of the cat. I love that the point is that things don't have to stand still, that they can't possibly stand still, because the world doesn't work like that. And the narrative is kind enough to know that a world with change is a world with no guarantees and no promises and no bonds; it's a world without forever, and that's what makes it good, but that's also what makes it scary.
All the Sohmas seem to be poised, on the brink of making a step out into that world. Momiji's taken it, and so has Kyo by going to see his father and by breaking his old patterns of blame. Yuki has started to reach out. Everyone is starting to look outside of themselves, to move on from the past. Even Tohru! I love what Tohru says about her mother, how even though it is a happy memory, she still has to go forward and go on without her mother, sort of like how Momiji and Hiro have to go on without the familiar bond to Akito.
I just... gaaaaah. It's so good! All those bits in the manga on learning to care, especially Yuki's thoughts that he couldn't have done this without everyone else, and that having them there made him so happy! And it just hits on all the things that make me sappy, especially the thought that these very damaged people can still heal and still move on, that they can take those awful years and make them into something worthwhile. It doesn't make the pain easier, and the hurt is by no means excusable, but it breaks my heart in the best way seeing them live again. Even Akito. I think it's telling that one of the final things she says to the maid is "Boku wa mou iku" ("I'm already moving"), even she is finally loosening that harsh hold on the 12shi.
Waaaaaaaah!!! So good!