Fruits Basket the Final

Episode 9

This is the moment we've all been waiting for. This week on Fruits Basket the Final marks Akito's last stand and the true test of Tohru's power to save the Sohma family. If that wasn't enough drama for you, “What's Your Name?” also includes a climactic reunion between Tohru and Kyo in which they finally resolve the tension that has been building ever since they met. Put it all together and you get the most pivotal Fruits Basket episode since Tohru ran after Kyo in his true form. Months of painstaking lead-up have teased the events of today's episode, and it's beautiful to see it all come together.

Self-preservation is not one of Tohru's strengths. Even when the other girl is staggering towards her with a knife, Tohru can't help but humanize Akito. Tohru isn't thinking about danger; she's thinking about finding common ground with the one member of the Zodiac circle who she has yet to befriend. When she RAN TOWARD THE KNIFE, I wanted to scream at Tohru to think of herself for just once in her life. She clearly couldn't hear the tense music that played through this scene. She looks at her assailant, who by now has stabbed her, and only sees a lost little girl in need of comfort. She muses on how “thoughtless” she's been… while holding her bleeding knife wound. That's right, Tohru brought empathy to a knife fight.

But believe it or not, Tohru's “weapon” is effective. The moment Akito starts screaming Tohru will never win her over, Tohru already has. She's still slapping Tohru with all her strength, but hey, she dropped the knife. The beauty of Fruits Basket is that Tohru has managed to find common ground with every person she comes into contact with, even Akito. When she recognizes this similarity, she's joyful, not afraid, as she shouts “Akito-san… I finally found you!” But Tohru… did you really need to comfort Akito WHILE STANDING ON THE EDGE OF A CLIFF?

Tohru's got some history with this particular cliff. This is the same cliff that previously collapsed, burying Tohru's tent (which is still visibly sticking out of the dirt). It was a rainstorm that did it then, too, so Shigure should probably invest in a warning sign, or at the very least some caution tape around this part of his property. This is a very sad scene, but I have to admit: it's tragically funny that the moment Akito decides to open her heart to Tohru, finally confident Tohru won't leave her behind, Tohru does just that in the worst way possible for both of them.

I don't want it to get lost in the dramatics just how masterfully the story flipped the script on Akito and Tohru: teasing out their similarities through Tohru's emotional intelligence, after several seasons pitting them as opposites. Just like how Tohru clings to the memory of her mom, Akito can't let her dad's memory rest. Tohru sees herself and Akito as two girls who want the same thing: “Unchanging feelings. [An eternal] bond.” For Tohru, this refers to her difficulty reconciling the difference between honoring her mom's memory and being indebted to it. She worries that she'll forget about her past with Kyoko if she allows herself to step into the future.

If you have ever lost somebody close, you know it's like they're frozen in a specific time. Since they passed, you've made new friends, watched new anime, and maybe gone through new life events, none of which they have an opinion about since they died before any of this happened. (Is it obvious I'm speaking from experience here?) The worst part is, the longer it's been, the more that the you who knew them differs from the you that exists in the present. You still love them and miss them, but they feel further and further away from your daily life. One of the ways to keep them close is to simply not move forward with new things, the way Tohru was hesitant to do. But it takes a near-death experience for Tohru to consider that maybe her mom wouldn't have wanted her daughter to freeze in place. When Tohru's unconscious, this thought is illustrated by Tohru walking from next to her mother to next to Kyo, and then Kyo walking forward without her. Even if she can't come, she wants Kyo to move into the future.

And then, the sound of the Fruits Basket fandom letting out a collective exhale after 38 episodes of mounting romantic tension: the kiss. When Tohru finally opens her eyes, the sun comes up literally in the episode, and figuratively for Kyo who thought he'd just lost everything. It's enough to make him forget about his tsundere tendencies and kiss her right then and there—at the bottom of the cliff that had such a big impact on them meeting for the first time. Tohru really had to suffer to get to this point, but things are finally looking up for her and Kyo. Either way, better to find a guy who treats you like Kyo treats Tohru than a guy who treats you like Shigure treats Akito. Even though their romantic tension is established, Shigure interrupts his own tender moment with Akito to ask if she pushed Tohru off the cliff. I mean, this wouldn't be out of the norm for Akito “yeet Rin out the window” Sohma, but if I reported an accident, and my crush's first impulse was to ask if I caused it, I would be offended! Maybe it was because it came after such a huge emotional swell, but I laughed when Shigure mused that maybe the stabbing spree was good for Akito… perhaps there are better ways to heal your trauma?

The episode ends with one more callback: to Momiji's idiotic traveler story from season one. On the neutral ground of the hospital, Momiji can confront Akito on equal footing without the baggage of their bond. It's a small but impactful example of how Akito's life might look from now on. Without the artificial friendship boost of the curse, she'll have to slowly converse with and get to know her fellow Zodiac members—and Tohru—the old-fashioned way.

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Fruits Basket the Final is currently streaming on Crunchyroll (sub) and Funimation (dub).

Lauren writes about geek careers at Otaku Journalist and model kits at Gunpla 101.