In this installment of Fruits Basket, we saw firsthand the prolonged trauma of Yuki in his childhood. Yuki is my favorite of the Zodiac, so it was hard to see all this happening to him. I think it might be tough episode to watch even if you aren’t particularly fond of the character. It was already mostly clear what happened in the boy’s past, but this episode explained it in full and provided details that strengthened the point, as well as giving us glimpses into other characters.

It seems that Akito went through some kind of shock or trauma, too. Something triggered the start of his twisted words and behaviors. Yuki isn’t sure what happened; to him it seemed like Akito just changed out of the blue one day. Before that point, Akito was a little spoiled, but not unkind. Afterward, though, he became cruel, and used Yuki as his practice toy for negative psychological manipulation.

When the flashbacks are done, we see Yuki talking to the vice president of the student council again. (Makoto? Kakeru?) He shares some of his story, including how he helped Tohru on the day she was lost. Since Tohru’s coming to Shigure’s house, over the course of nearly a year, Yuki has changed. He has more hope and positive experiences. He knows the world is not fully light nor fully dark. There is some of both.

At the end, Yuki reveals that to him, Tohru is beloved like a mother. For all the Kyo and Tohru shippers out there, this is great news. Yuki adores Tohru as a motherly figure and not as a romantic partner. Oh, by the way, I have no strong feelings either way regarding the shipping. So this reveal was not at all a let-down for me. Anyways, sorry to be so brief, but I’ve got some things going on lately giving me some trouble. Thanks a bunch for reading. Enjoy your day! 🙂

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PATREON