Fruits Basket Review Episode 14

Memories and Regret

Fruits Basket Episode 14

We begin the second cour of this series with a new OP and a fresh reminder of the tragedy at the heart of the story with reminders of Tohru’s grief as well as the pain inside each of the Somas. It is an episode that isn’t letting up to lighten the mood as it wants the melancholy to sink deep and for the most part it hits the mark.

Which is what makes the new OP even less welcome. The original anime series had an OP that was so incredibly languid and heartfelt. The first OP of this reboot I initially had reservations about but a few episodes in and I realised how well it fit the tone of the show. This new OP is way too upbeat and when you couple it with the content we got this episode it just feels plain out of place.

fruits14d — *Not something a child would ever forget his mother saying about him.*

Still, once that was out of the way, this episode gave us a glimpse at Momiji contrasting his antics at school where he plays and runs around with the deep pain he carries after his mother chose to forget him. She couldn’t cope with having given birth to a member of the zodiac and was resorting to self harm but there’s something really cold about a father asking a child to let his mother forget him for her own good. The scars that must leave will run deep.

Not content with one tear fest within the episode we then jump to a grave visit for the first anniversary of Kyoko’s death. Tohru, Hana and Arisa are there as are Kyo and Yuki. We learn a little bit more about Kyoko but more we learn about how each of the four characters accompanying her view Tohru. She remains the beating heart of Fruits Basket and this episode shows that clearly.

Affiliate Link – Manga

The final few minutes of the episode do give us some indication of future developments with Yuki seeing the hat in Tohru’s room and Kyo getting quite close to Tohru while she was sleeping with his actions left deliberately ambiguous and him whispering an apology in her ear.

Fruits Basket continues to be a pleasant and emotional watch each week and it remains one of the most consistent anime in terms of quality that I’ve seen in a while.