English Dub Review: Fruits Basket “That’s Right, It’s Empty”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Kyoko wonders to a young Kyo how he and Tohru will find their reasons for living. But he thinks he’s only born to be an object of contempt.

He blames himself for his mother’s death, and Kyoko’s. He’s haunted by his mother urging him to come inside, before something worse happens, while Kyoko repeats that she’ll never forgive him. He’s jolted awake from the nightmare after seeing Tohru’s blood on his hands.

Tohru, Momoji, and Yuki laugh in the kitchen while prepping dinner. Momoji calls him down, but he’s lost in thought. He wonders if the nightmare was a reminder to know his place. He thinks he was kidding himself by thinking Tohru loved him back.

At the Sohma estate, Ren grabs Shigure’s attention. He asks her about roping Rin into her plot to get the box from Akito. She monologues a bit about how she owns Akira, so whatever is in that box is hers by right. She attempts to manipulate Shigure into fetching it for her, saying she can see his affection for her in his eyes.

Shigure coldly reveals that any feelings he has towards her are simply due to her resemblance to Akito. He confirms that Akito being allowed to live as a woman is his fantasy.

For her part, Akito is also reflecting on the death of her father. Her grief and her mother’s collide when Ren runs into Akito’s room with a knife to demand the box. Akito throws it to her, revealing it to be empty, something she’s known for years.

Akito then seizes the knife and runs towards Ren, only failing to kill her as she senses Hiro’s curse being broken.

Hiro, aware of his newfound freedom, hugs his sister without transforming. His mother is delighted, but he expresses a wealth of emotions, making the moment bittersweet.

After Akito flees the room due to Ren’s mocking, Kureno follows her and tells her they can both change. But Akito refuses, saying it’s too late, and drives her point home in a potentially deadly way.

Uotani spots a dead sparrow at work. She asks the poor bird if it was just tired.

Our Take:

Oh, did I mention twisting knives last week? Because that’s taken to a LITERAL level this week.

But before we get to all that, a note about the opening sequence that I somehow missed up until this point. After Kyo is shown, there’s three shots of Tohru (to coordinate with the “yeah, yeah, yeah” lyrics of the opening theme “Pleasure”.) I had previously assumed that for the similar follow up to Yuki’s appearance, it was also Tohru.

BUT IT’S ACTUALLY MACHI. IT’S BEEN MACHI THIS WHOLE TIME! I’m just an idiot, I guess?

Ok, but back to the whole plot, voice acting, and other parts that make this an actual review, not just an embarrassing confession on how I’m apparently unable to tell anime girls apart.

Regardless, this episode is a prime example of how the dark parts of this show really make the overall story shine. Ren and Akito are MESSED UP, and no other episode lays their issues as bare as this one. Katelyn Barr’s performance is a far cry from her happy go lucky role of Yona Ichōgi from Super HxEROS as she effortlessly plays up the sweet talk for Ren’s manipulative moments, then swings hard into the grit to show how truly deranged this character is at her core.

Not to be outdone, Colleen Clinkenbeard calls on some of the same dryness that makes her other famous role as Riza Hawkeye in Fullmetal Alchemist so intimidating, but with far more desperation than we’d ever hear from the battle hardened lieutenant.

Chad Cline, of One Piece fame, voices the object of mutual affection for these warring women: the late Akira Sohma. His performance effectively communicates his character’s charm in just a few lines, which also serve to be the refrain of Akito’s life, that she was “born to be loved.”

This episode also marks Suzie Yeung’s first performance as young Kyo. She’s officially taking over the role from Alison Viktorin (aka QT on Space Dandy), and although her lines this episode are sparse, I’m looking forward to more of her balanced approach to this role in the future.

Overall, spectacular voice acting all around, and with visuals to match. The ties that bind are breaking, but that certainly doesn’t stop things from getting stabby. Although, if I recall correctly, that does slow down a bit after this. That said, I’ve certainly been wrong before and clearly don’t remember this anime as well as i thought, so we’ll just have to wait and see.