Fruits Basket Review Episode 12

Akito Appears At Last

Yuki and Akito - Fruits Basket 2019 anime - Episode 12

Fruits Basket Episode 12

Now we’re kicking things into gear with the first clear appearance of Akito in Fruits Basket. A new school year has begun with Momiji and Haru joining the others at school and the opening ceremony brings a less than welcome visitor to the school and into contact with Tohru. Given Tohru gets on with pretty much everyone it seems Akito’s vibe is bad enough that it sets her on edge and once she realises the impact Akito’s visit is having on Yuki she moves to take action.

I must say though that for an anime that does emotional impacts as solidly as Fruits Basket usually does, Akito’s arrival here was somewhat less than moving. They got the point across through the reactions of the other characters but to be honest, Akito was not actually all that impressive. That said, Kyo and Yuki’s reactions more than made up for it in getting the point across and Honda’s out of character response certainly sealed it.

However, prior to the arrival of Akito we have some silliness in the school with the Soma’s and the current student council president. Amazingly enough he doesn’t think Momiji should be wearing the girl’s school uniform and doesn’t believe Haru’s hair is actually naturally white and black. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, his carry on calls out Black Haru who swiftly brings the discussion to a close.

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Well, maybe not so swiftly, but we do get some amusing moments as Haru paints a mental image of Momiji grown up and Yuki wearing the girl’s school uniform. He then settles the argument about his natural hair colour with the president before he pushes his luck by accosting Tohru and both Yuki and Kyo put him down hard.

Black Haru makes a move on Tohru Honda - Fruits Basket anime

The contrasting nature of the early silliness and the quiet and sinister calm of Akito’s visit, followed by the lightness as Tohru organises a game between friends to release the tension all work beautifully well and the episode as a whole fits very nicely together. While I may have wanted just a little bit more from Akito, everything else worked supremely well so yet another fine episode of Fruits Basket.