Fruits Basket: The Final Season Episode 10 Impressions - Yay!

Crow's World of Anime has sponsored reviews of Fruits Basket Final Season in 2021.

Will Kyo admit it? Fruits Basket Final Season Episode 10 asks the question.

There’s a change in the air this week with Fruits Basket. Tohru is absent for most of the episode given she’s still in the hospital but her presence and her actions hang over everything. That said, there’s almost a sense of release occurring and while emotions for the characters are still running high as a viewer I felt that this week’s anime episode was almost a breath of fresh air. Definitely spoilers below.

Admittedly we are closing in on the end of the road now with MAL giving this season of Fruits Basket 13 episodes. I’m not sure I’m ready for it to end even as it seems the journey is definitely coming to a close. I mean, having watched the original anime and then investing in the remake since 2019, Fruits Basket and the characters have been a part of my viewing life for a very long time now.

Yuki in the student council office.
Image from Fruits Basket Final Season episode 10 (2021). — *^{Not even the student council can believe this is going to come to an end.}*

But I digress. Episode 10 has Yuki trying to sort through his emotions, as many of the characters seem to be. They are coming to terms with what has transpired and trying to figure out where they now stand. Whether it is Hiro and Kisa, Kureno and Arisa, or even Akito, there’s a definite sense that they want to move to somewhere, they feel they can move, but they are all kind of hesitating and unsure about what is coming next.

The level of uncertainty makes sense given most of these characters have felt, long before the events in the anime started, that their lives were predetermined and they had no other options. Forging a new path sounds exciting but it’s pretty terrifying when the moment finally comes. That said, there’s one character in Fruits Basket who still seems very much locked in place.

Yuki is going to have some words with Kyo.
Image from Fruits Basket Final Season anime (2021). — *^{And Yuki has had enough.}*

Yuki and Kyo’s relationship has never been good (understatement). The two have violently clashed again and again and about the only point they’ve ever agreed on is that they needed to look out for Honda Tohru. However, Yuki now has some clear advice for Kyo and he rams it home with both fists and a few violent kicks to Shigure’s long suffering house.

I think Kyo received the message.
Image from Fruits Basket Final Season Episode 10 (2021). — *^{This was definitely advice giving. Not a fight.}*

I have to admire this moment. Even as angry as Yuki was he still made it clear to Kyo. The two finally communicated and realised, probably for the first time, that the envy they feel for the other is reflected right back. That said, Yuki told Kyo what he needed to hear and that was that he made Honda happy simply by being near her. The power of Tohru’s smile should not be underestimated.

The upshot of all this advice is that Kyo leave Shigure’s house however he doesn’t head straight to the hospital and Honda. At first I thought this was a foolish move but then we realised who he went to see. Kyo was seeking some closure of his own as we near the end of this final season of Fruits Basket and had decided it was high time he spoke with his father.

Honestly, it doesn’t go well but I don’t think the viewers of Kyo expected it to. But it did give Kyo what he needed. The chance to stop running from his feelings of guilt and to face the past that he had always shut away. Despite how dark this scene became it didn’t change the feeling that somehow shackles were being released and everything was moving once again.

All of that alone would have made for a solid episode of Fruits Basket. However, they had one more treat for us. Kyo confessed (at least in his own head) that he loved Honda Tohru. As he approaches the hospital the words resound in his mind again and again and if you are anything like me you are cheering like a crazy idiot at your laptop and anyone else in your house is wondering just what happened.

Kyo sees Honda.
Image from Fruits Basket Final Season anime 2021. — *^{And then the moment arrives…}*

In true Fruits Basket fashion the tone then shifts as Honda sees Kyo and then flees. He chases after her screaming that she shouldn’t run right after leaving the hospital and the episode ends while I’m left with a ridiculously cheesy smile on my face. So yeah, perfect. Plus the most perfect final shot of Arisa and Hanajima. Love those two.

Anyway, Fruits Basket is almost at its end. I am going to miss it.

Images used for review from: Fruits Basket: The Final Season. Dir. Y Ibata. TMS Entertainment. 2021.