Fruits Basket 20
Posted: February 4, 2009 Filed under: Fruits Basket 4 Comments »Argh. I had almost an entire entry written for Vagabond 2, and the draft mysteriously deleted itself. I’m so upset. So here’s a Fruits Basket review instead. I don’t think I can muster the will to re-write that Vagabond review tonight.
I haven’t read this in forever, mostly because I’m just not a fan of the series. But it figures I left off on one of the most key volumes in the series. With three more volumes after this and a ton of characters to wrap up side stories for, I figure this is just the beginning of the end. The beginning is quite fantastic though, and deals mostly with Momiji. He seriously broke my heart. He basically admitted his feelings for a lot of things. He expressed them pretty clearly when he was tearing into Akito, but a lot of other things went unsaid. The scene with him at the school was just sad.
Lots of Akito and Ren in this volume. We get the background story on Akira, Akito’s father. He sounds like a decent guy, and it’s actually kind of surprising that Akito and Ren are such twisted people given what it sounded like his personality was like. Ren in particular is kind of a psycho. She matches Akito perfectly.
Akito does something he can’t take back at the end, too. I wasn’t at all clear what he was yelling at Kureno for, since it seems like Kureno is literally the only person who cares. But this thing happens anyway, and now I have to read the next volume tonight to see how this resolves itself.
Most importantly, TOHRU AND KYO. TOHRU AND KYO. TOHRU AND KYO. Oh my God, how long have I been waiting for this? Twenty volumes? Yeah, it seems like twenty volumes. Prior to this, there are only the barest scraps of hints about the relationship between the two. Here, we get more. A lot more. So much more, in fact, that yes, I’m going to read the next volume right now. In addition to what it was that I’ve been wanting all this time, we also get a really sad story about the relationship between Kyo and Tohru’s mom. It leaves off on a cliffhanger, but I seriously doubt that this will change Tohru’s opinion of Kyo any.
So, yes. The Fruits Basket endgame is turning out to be quite compelling.
[...] on vol. 1 of Berserk (Manga Recon) Lissa Pattillo on vol. 7 of Chocolat (Kuriousity) Connie on vol. 20 of Fruits Basket (Slightly Biased Manga) Charles Tan on vol. 3 of Gantz (Comics Village) Casey Brienza on vol. 1 of [...]
Just thinking about the conversation Kyo and Tohru are having literally gave me goosebumps. I am such a dork.
But yes, Momiji is totally heartbreaking in this volume. I actually have volume 21 now but I am thinking that I might hold off and then reread 20 plus 21-23 in July when the final volume comes out.
Most importantly, TOHRU AND KYO. TOHRU AND KYO. TOHRU AND KYO.
RIGHT???
Heh, I was *so* right there with you when I read this volume.
Michelle: I think it will be hard to top that Tohru and Kyo scene. I had to go straight into volume 21 after I wrote this review because I had to know how that conversation would end, even though I knew nothing would change. These last two volumes have sort of changed my opinion of the series a lot, I’m starting to think that the payoff for all that exposition is worth it. I thought about holding on to the last few volumes and just waiting for the end, but now I’m regretting my sudden decision to clear it out of the to-read pile. Especially since I’m going to have to wait so long for the last couple volumes.
Melinda: It’s wonderful. I’m not the biggest fan of the series, and I’ve been pretty down on it through certain parts, but it’s turning out to be way better than I imagined it would be.