Jun 28, 2022
<SPOILERS AFTER FIRST PARAGRAPH>
Fruits Basket: Prelude is something I can’t truly call a movie.
The runtime is just shy of 85 minutes long. The first 35 minutes is entirely made up of recap of the last arc of Kyo and Tohru’s relationship. There is nothing new being presented here, it is the same (brilliant) material we’ve all seen before, just presented in a far inferior way. A nice trip down memory lane, perhaps, but that’s the nicest thing I could say about it. It’s truly a waste of everyone’s time to have this in front of the “movie”. Hilariously, Fruits Basket: Prelude itself seems to
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even acknowledge that because only after those 35 minutes do they show the title card, as if to say “Okay guys, the movie’s starting now!”
Kyoko and Katsuya’s relationship:
Let me be clear: the relationship is unapologetically, textbook grooming (and yes, the movie romanticizes it anyways). Unapologetically becomes abundantly clear as Katsuya says (as close of a paraphrase to the actual quote that I can manage) “I fell for you after that first meeting between us. But you were only in junior high, so I had to wait.” And wait he does, as he uses his position of power as a teacher (sorry, only a “student teacher” as he’s extremely quick to point out) to take advantage of a 14 year old girl who is going through a period of extreme emotional trauma and stress. Just ripe for manipulation! This relationship could have been portrayed far better but this part of the movie was extremely rushed: about 30 minutes of the only 50 minutes of movie
What was done well was Kyoko’s relationship with parenthood and what it meant for her to take care of her child, both before and after Katsuya’s death. The only little bit that I could say grew my appreciation for this series as a major Fruits Basket fan. But that simply isn’t enough.
Finally, insert brand new 2 minute scene between Kyo and Tohru after the series. Roll credits.
This isn’t a “movie” and what’s presented isn’t even done well given that. This is bad.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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