Fruits Basket 2nd Season

A year has passed since Tooru Honda began living in the Souma residence, and she has since created stronger relationships with its inhabitants Shigure, Kyou, and Yuki. She has also grown closer to the rest of the Souma family and has become familiar with their ancestral secret, having helped them with many of their personal issues. The closer Tooru gets, however, the more she begins to realize that their secret holds a darker truth than she first presumed.

Summer is approaching and Tooru is invited to spend her days with the Soumas, mainly Kyou and Yuki. Tooru wishes for an easy-going vacation, but her close relationships with the two boys and the rest of the Soumas may prove to cause trouble. As they grow more intimate, their carefree time together is hindered by older hardships and feelings from the past that begin to resurface. The Eternal Banquet also dawns on the members of the zodiac, and they must tend to their duties alongside the unnerving head of the family, Akito Souma.

With the banquet approaching and a plethora of feelings to be solved, will Tooru's life with the Soumas remain peaceful, or will she find herself in a situation from which she cannot escape?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Souma, Kyou Main

Uchida, Yuuma Japanese

Honda, Tooru Main

Iwami, Manaka Japanese

Souma, Yuki Main

Shimazaki, Nobunaga Japanese

Souma, Hatsuharu Supporting

Furukawa, Makoto Japanese

Souma, Momiji Supporting

Han, Megumi Japanese

Souma, Shigure Supporting

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Souma, Ayame Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Souma, Hatori Supporting

Okitsu, Kazuyuki Japanese

Hanajima, Saki Supporting

Satou, Satomi Japanese

Souma, Isuzu Supporting

Toyosaki, Aki Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Shimada, Akira Producer

Yamauchi, Mirai Producer

Takemura, Ippei Producer

Reviews

Sep 21, 2020

Stark700

Recommended

I’m not the first to say it and certainly not the last. 2020 has been one of the worst years in modern history with natural disasters, the global pandemic, and social issues. Even the anime industry was hit hard by the various delays and production issues. But if there’s one anime that gave hope for a chance to rise up, a chance to be something special, something that connects to the audience, it’s Fruits Basket.

The modern remake has already graced us with a wonderful span of 25 episodes since its previous run. With the news that the anime would be a full adaptation, we are ... once again given the chance to explore the Fruits Basket universe at its full potential. Being another 2-cour show, Fruits Basket touches upon important elements such as dealing with character identity, emotional connections, and realizing one’s own mistakes. It’s a heavy show with emotional drama but exemplifies the best for what a shoujo can offer. This is why the Fruits Basket is still celebrated as a successful franchise to this day.

Back to the characters, it shouldn’t take long for the audience to get comfortable with the main cast again. Of course, we’re talking about Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki. As the core cast, these characters contrasts greatly between each other yet all can be identifiable by their vulnerabilities. No character in this show is perfect and some greatly suffers from events in the past that emotionally impacts their present lives. One of the most prominent example outside of the core cast is Rin, the horse Zodiac. When she first made her appearance in season 1, we are shown an emotional withdrawn character who isn’t keen on making friends with anyone. But in season 2, we also learn exactly why she behaves such way. The second season explores sensitive topics such as parent abuse that shapes the character that Rin becomes in the present. She is emotionally distant and in her past, only one character was kind enough to offer a helping hand. That would be Haru, the Ox Zodiac whom she falls in love with. However, love and relationships comes at price as viewers will find out with their connection to Akito. That being said, she represents a darker side of Fruits Basket and a character who had been mentally broken. Even on the human side, there exists individuals such as school council treasurer Machi Kuragi. As one of the recurring characters, she is emotionally distant as influenced by events of her past and mother. It would seem Fruits Basket balances the way parents treat their children and how much impact they have on their lives. On one side, we have the loving mother of Tohru and on the other, the overbearing guardian of Machi.

Speaking of Tohru, she has grown to be more and more confident this season. She’s still a compassionate girl who cares deeply about those who are close to her such as Yuki and Kyo. Even during their troubled times, Tohru remains optimistic and offers to help others with her selfless nature. Yet, in this season, she’s able to speak up for herself more. With every progressing episode, Tohru becomes less naïve and more of herself. It’s one of the strengths of her character, being able to speak her mind towards others without bias. Even during times of distress, she’s able to be honest about her feelings. Meanwhile, Yuki and Kyo still continuously deals with their own personal demons and the Zodiac curse. As one of the most prominent plot elements of the show, this curse plays a central role through family generations. It’s as if the Sohma family is trapped by destiny, which one cannot escape from. The story explores more details through the consequences of the curse and how it affects the Sohma family.

Watching Fruits Basket Season 2 also reminds me how relatable characters are. From the main cast alone, you can draw similarities to real life characteristics such as the selfless nature of Tohru or Kyo’s charisma. Like real people, the cast undergo changes. Kyo is one of the most prominent examples as he evolves from a brash individual to a calmer and more mature person thanks to Tohru’s influence. Rin’s change to becoming more accepting others is also due to Tohru’s kindness and showing that there is a light in the dark tunnel. This list goes on so you’ll see for yourself how the cast evolves. Fruits Basket’s ability to make us understand these characters is one of the most important draws of the show.

The ever expansive story of Fruits Basket continues to be more mysterious with the biggest culprit being Akito. Menacing and always seemingly being the root of trouble in the story, we continue to learn more about Akito’s relationship with others such as Yuki, Kyo, Rin, and other members of the Sohma family. Furthermore, Tohru’s encounter with Akito shows how much the two characters contrast between each other. As Tohru treats her friends with love, Akito treats those close with contempt, hate, and intimidation. It draws a line between how characters raised under different circumstances can be so different. Unfortunately, this season alone doesn’t conclude Akito’s full story so be prepared for a lot more thrown into our way.

Even as a show with so much emotional drama, Fruits Basket does know its lighter side with its innocence and charm. Remember Yuki’s fan club from the first season? Well guess what, they return full fold with their leader Makoto still fawning for their prince. Other main supporting characters such as Arisa and Saki makes their return as well. We are also introduced with new faces such as student council members Naohito and Kimi. The latter brings in a large amount of comic relief moments with her childish personality. Furthermore, let’s not forget that the show loves to often poke fun at its character interactions whenever it gets the chance. With Kimi antagonizing Prince Yuki’s club as her hobby, you can see plenty of comedy this season.

I’m not going to lie, watching this season’s animation quality feels like a cinematic experience. In particular, this season’s second theme song is among one of the most realistic I’ve seen, almost like a painting that came to life, like a poetry in motion. Character expressions carries a great deal of realism to make their emotions feel real, such as Rin, Machi, and Kagura. Ultimately, I believe this season’s animation quality not only improved but also able to show how exactly modern remakes should be made.

If you made it to the final episode of Fruit Basket Season 2, then congratulations. You just followed an emotional journey crafted from the brilliant mind of the author, Natsuki Takaya. Series director Yoshihide Ibata is also able to show us how the world of Fruits Basket can be so elegant with what it has to offer. But seriously, after 50 episodes of this modern remake, it’s a matter of time before we get to experience perhaps even the best of what’s ahead.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Sep 22, 2020

cameronrb24

Mixed Feelings

Quick Thoughts:
There was quite a bit of focus on character development/backstory this season. The balance between these stories and more lighthearted, SoL content was heavily skewed. It ended up feeling like a 20+ episode pity party.

Story:
The first several episodes establish what I think will be the central conflict the rest of the anime. The rest of season is non-stop slew of backstories for several characters, which help explain why these characters are so emotionally invested in this conflict. These got kind of repetitve/redundant after a while; I feel like the point could've been made in less than 20 episodes.

Characters:
One benefit of the large ... amount of exposition this season is that the side characters are more fleshed out than usual. Several characters are introduced this season, and we're given a good look at their interests and motives. It makes it easier to understand any actions they take that would normally be questionable. There's also a pretty complex web of relationships that's much easier to follow after this season.

Enjoyment:
This season a bit of a downer, but I did get some enjoyment out of it. I'm still a fan of the art style, the 2nd OP was really good, and I did enjoy how the main cast (Yuki and Kyou specifically) developed.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Apr 21, 2022

Klabautermann

Not Recommended

Funny

Fruits Basket Season Two can brag itself to be one of the worst anime I have ever seen, which is not a small thing. In direct comparison, the first season, which I thought comfortably average, seems almost like a masterpiece - there is an actual plot, and actual characters, and actual investment you get from watching the first season play out.

Alas; Season Two decided to take a step away from all that ‘actual plot that makes me want to watch more’ and instead takes us on a metaphorical twenty-something-episode school trip through absolutely unnecessary points of… of something I can’t quite call plot, because it ... ultimately added so little to the overall Fruits Basket experience, that I couldn't help feeling tricked.

Mind you, I watched every episode of it, and I, generally speaking, remember it all. But you know how anime have those episodes where a class goes to a trip? Or the protagonists go to the beach, and it’s an entire 'thing'? I’m not kidding when I tell you nearly the entire season had felt like that. The constant, *constant* melodrama, the both pessimistic and optimistic musing of main characters, the countless inner monologues, narration after narration after narration of one’s feelings and memories and very insubstantial flashbacks - it sounds like a good way to delve into a character… but not so much when that's literally all there is. Like I said, I wouldn’t find this so bad if there was some, some payoff by the end of the episodes or at least the season. But there is quite literally none, and you know why?

Because inner monologues always stay inner monologues. No matter what inner revelations, fears, concerns or breakthroughs develop in the hearts and minds of the character the episode is focused on, hardly any of it matters because the characters refuse, for the drama’s sake, to trust each other with more than a bare minimum of their true being. I know this vulnerability is part of the plot but everything has its limits, and so does my patience. Again, ultimately, it feels as if quite literally nothing had happened.

If I'm looking for a single word to describe it, it’s boring. It is simply boring.

… The saving grace of this painful experience is that the season decided to pick up the actual plot about four episodes before it ends, and it is, almost literally, the only part worth watching, and the only reason why this isn’t rated with a ‘1’. The last few episodes reveal a lot of interesting information and propels the plot into motion - and it makes the entire experience incredibly frustrating, because if I knew that’s how it was going to be, I would simply skip the entirety of the rest of the season easily.

Which would bring is to season three and its, uh… humble way it ended things.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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