English Dub Review: Fruits Basket “So Precious…”

Overview(Spoilers Below)

Shigure shows up to request Kyo’s presence which at first Tohru seems excited over Kyo getting invited to the family annex by Akito. But if Tohru had known the kind of abuse Kyo had to endure at the hands of Akito or the kind of person Akito is, she’d later regret it…

Our Take

I don’t even know where to begin with this episode. It’s beyond blatant that Akito’s intentions for inviting Kyo over were quite clear. Akito just wants to separate Kyo from Tohru and isolate her. This intention clearly stems from Akito’s insecurity, jealousy, and superiority complex. The twisted desire to have absolute control of the small circle people around him, namely the Sohma family or more precisely, the rest of the Zodiacs. To add insult to injury, her manipulation goes way beyond common sense as it’s still never explained why Akito has so much power over them and it’s driving me nuts.

I really didn’t expect Kyo to realize his feelings for Tohru this soon, even though he also kind of gave up just as soon. He’s standing in the narrow line between hope and despair, with Tohru on one side and Akito on the other. Another thing that’s bothering me the most is, how does Tohru not get the feeling that there’s something wrong with Akito? She was so happy that Kyo was summoned, but has she didn’t notice that the other Sohma’s seem to be scared of her and that Yuki is heavily implied to be traumatized by something that happened involving Akito? Tohru has met Akito and she didn’t give off foreboding vibes to her?

Overall, while this episode excelled in drama, high stakes and a series of flashbacks reveals, It’s hard to get any enjoyment out of the sweet or sentimental moments when the emotional abuse almost overshadows everything else. They seriously need to explain what’s going on with this curse crap soon. It’s getting harder to sit and watch everyone bend to Akito’s will with no complaints each episode seemingly without reason. Not since Black Clover have I been so disgusted over a shitty family for relentlessly abusing a child over something they didn’t do or had any control over (Noelle). But sometimes the best villains don’t commit all the evil acts themselves, instead, they bring out the worst in others…