More Hanajima
Fruits Basket Episode 22
I wanted more Hanajima and so Fruits Basket delivered. I wonder if I said I wanted more Hatsuharu if that would happen next week? Anyway, this episode was beautiful, gorgeous, emotional, and just go watch it.
Everything we love about Fruits Basket is here on display. We have Hana’s past experiences at school and yet the loving support of her family (and who else wants to nominate Hana’s parents for anime parents of the year after this episode) and then we have Hana moving schools and encountering Arisa and Tohru before we get to that beautiful shining moment where the three become friends for life. It is lovely.
It seems weird for an episode with zero Sohma presence to be one of the best the second cour of Fruits Basket has offered, and yet there’s almost nothing to fault in this episode, except perhaps it being a little too blunt at times in the portrayal of both the negative side of Hana’s life and the positive. While the imagery and use of light is lovely, it really isn’t subtle in the slightest.
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I will say, this episode made me wonder once again just how rampant very violent assaults are in Japanese schools? They portray these as acts of bullying but Hana’s arm was burned by a match. This isn’t school bullying, it is criminal and yet it seems the situation wasn’t dealt with adequately by anyone except Hana’s parents who decided enough was enough. Maybe it is just an anime thing and maybe it is exaggerated, or maybe there’s a really, really huge problem that needs addressing here.
Anyway, as with every dark situation in Fruits Basket, take one dose of Tohru and feel happiness melt your icy heart.
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Karandi James
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Images from: Fruits Basket. Dir. Y Ibata. TMS Entertainment. 2019.
It was a nice ep but I miss the Somas hahaha. Are these eps about Hanajima new? I don’t remember it they had them in the original anime.
This one was definitely new. The last one was in the original but more comedic.
My cousin’s kids live in Japan and my cousin grew up in Japan until he moved to the States for college. Apparently bullying can be rather atrocious, but it also depends on where you live. Him and his kids live in Osaka now and it isn’t as terrible there as it would be in smaller towns, where differences are far more apparent, or even parts of Tokyo. He grew up in Kyoto and did receive his share of hardcore bullying as a teen. It wasn’t too bad as child for him.
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