#i will mourn hatori's quote about people not criticizing you as much as you think

[thetravelerkureno]

honestly Ritsu is the first episode i’m mixed over. most of the other changes i’ve accepted or just “aw i miss that scene! oh well!” but this one?

on side A: Ritsu in general was much better handled here and instead of shigure poking at Ritsu, he and Tohru tried to address and help ritsu’s actual anxious habits. the added scenes with Mitsuru are *chef’s kiss* as adorable as anything could be and they’re so CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE. and even the ending convinces me that maybe Natsuki Takaya will be able to sprinkle MORE of them in the series here and there as cameo’s or smth!

on side B: its literally a scene and a half but....Tohru falling was overdramatic and too foreshadowy. one of the things i love about the manga version is that the latter half of the speech “maybe none of us are born with a reason...” and onwards was Tohru confiding in someone with the overt anxiety issues similar to the ones she’s been internalizing for some time during a quiet walk home. and its an actual dark moment of her being completely vulnerable with ritsu. 

and this is possible because she connects with Ritsu and honestly verbalizes how NOT okay she is STILL about her mom’s death. how badly it shook her world not just in a “someone close died”. it was someone who she’d said “maybe i was born to meet you!” someone who manga readers KNOW what extra hurt came with her death. its so natural and intimate because there’s no external forces pressing in on this conversation but their own feelings.

and on Ritsu’s side the line that caused this connection was simply “there is a reason you were put on this earth”. that’s all it takes for Ritsu to reach back and have this talk with Tohru. Ritsu is trying so darn hard this whole time for a STRANGER and that is so brave!

however THIS version has Tohru falling in the middle of this speech, greatly increasing the stakes of the episode on TOP of the darker tone already layered on Ritsu going up on the roof. even if we know she’ll be ok it still jolts the moment with some suspense /and then back to like zero stakes because she didn’t even get the least bit hurt but i digress/. the tone get whipped from comedic to serious for this moment. which also had some comedy from the derp faces so ....ritsu probably has done this before and they’re not worried  about it actually happening or its a bad example about how the sohma’s have trouble reaching out to anyone to help them....like really bad. since it doesn’t have any dramatic tones for them doing NOTHING being a problem on even the slightest level 

THIS IS NOT A GOOD LOOK FOR THE BOYS WHO LITERALLY DID JACK DURING ALL THIS including the foreshadowy fall that just ~grah~ no.

really expecting me to believe that they’re not halfway up the ladder or whatever instead of gawking

heck its not even a good look on Ritsu who didn’t even reach out with hands or something. no need to run to Tohru since apparently you need to retile the roof but nothing? 

just a shocked reaction and worried hands rising to ritsu’s face /this is acrobat ritsu erasure/

Tohru going up isn’t ooc or anything like that but the fall and the hand held out in particular were obviously a foreshadow to 2 events and it makes everyone look bad and makes the emphasis on Tohru and Ritsu’s connection “you have to decide for yourself”, the line before she fell and everything after is overshadowed by TOHRU YOU ALMOST FELL OFF THE FREAKING ROOF. the moment steals some of the impact of Tohru revealing that her person WAS her mom. leaving Ritsu to be dumbstruck during the whole speech instead of calmly taking it in and coming to a similar conclusion as Tohru.

so basically this episode sacrificed Tohru’s internal struggle resonating and inspiring Ritsu for a triumphant rescue that feels less genuine (imo). the desperation of Tohru’s speech, particularly the latter half, is at first egged on by Ritsu’s dramatic actions and then later despite her dramatic fall vs. the connection she felt with Ritsu’s feelings in the manga causing her to share freely. 

it also undermines Ritsu’s own initiative of reaching out to Tohru multiple times (visiting, reacting to her first speech, asking about Okami, and later the resolution sparked by their conversation). It went from Ritsu making an effort to have an important genuine conversation with Tohru to being so passive for most of the speech. 

the situations  100-to-0 stakes take away from what Tohru’s trying to say and WHICH line first reached Ritsu. i would have preferred the latter half of the speech to take place AFTER ritsu had taken Tohru’s hand or when they were safe on the ground while mitsuru slept near them.

so i guess the law of equivalent exchange asked us to trade Tohru and Ritsu’s connection for more cute Mitsuritsu and boys as useful as lamposts. that’s a bittersweet price already paid