I love how no two Sohma are alike. During last week’s episode, we met Ritsu Sohma, a young man with crippling anxiety and a fondness for women’s clothing. This week we met Hiro Sohma, a puffed-up little prince, who just so happens to be the sheep of the Sohma zodiac. I’ve always had a soft spot towards princely characters, and whilst Hiro has a sharper tongue than most, he’s no exception…
We’ve seen her in every OP and ED since episode one, but during this week’s episode we finally got to meet the littlest (and, arguably, the cutest) Sohma: the tiger of the zodiac, Kisa. It’s a happy coincidence that Kisa’s episode should fall on the very same week I take a look at another victim of bullying: March Comes In Like A Lion’s Hina Kawamoto. It’s interesting that, while the two girls handled it in two very different ways, Hina loudly and defiantly challenging her bullies, Kisa silently bearing up under the weight of her pain, I really think that one was no more or no less brave than the other. It would be easy to argue that Kisa, unlike Hina, (literally) ran away from her problems, but I would argue, even more strongly, that she was, in her own way, just as brave…
In keeping with Fruits Basket’s tendency to follow happy, joyous parts of the story up with more sad and somber ones, following last week’s upbeat, energetic episode, this week we’re treated to a much more subdued and bittersweet one. During this, we learn more about Momiji, that he was rejected by his mother who, subsequently, had all her memories of him wiped. We also got to watch Tohru mark the anniversary of her mother’s death by visiting her grave. So, what about this episode stood out to me? Well…
This week Kyo gets up on the wrong side of the bed. At Shigure’s suggestion that he take the opportunity to get to know Yuki a bit better on their date (a double date between Kyo and Kagura, Yuki and Tohru, not the two boys! That’d be quite the development, huh?) he completely flips his lid. Tohru must intervene for him to regain his composure. Meanwhile, while the quartet are out and about on their date, Shigure pays the Sohma compound another visit. During a conversation that takes place between him and Hatori, Shigure reflects on a dream that he once had. He says that he doesn’t care who he has to hurt to make this dream a reality. Firstly, why would Kyo get quite so upset at the suggestion that he try to get along with Yuki? And, secondly, what is the exact nature of Shigure’s dream? And what would it mean for the other characters were it to be realised? Since this episode never explicitly answers these questions, now’s as good a time as any to churn out some wacky fan theories!
I recently finished watching both seasons of Golden Kamuy and, let me tell you, what a wild ride that was! Set in the wilderness of Hokkaido during the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese war, at times it is reminiscent of a History Channel/Natural Geographic documentary, especially with its emphasis on the indigenous Ainu people, their culture, and belief systems. But, at other times, it feels a lot like Hokkaido’s answer to Food Wars (with its near sensual depiction of the Ainu dishes) or to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (with its cast of buff manly men and its propensity to throw logic straight out the window). Watching it was an experience like no other. I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. Anyway, today I would like to talk about its hero and my favourite of its many characters: “Immortal” Sugimoto.
Watashi Wa Bucho!! 