#me @ the fact that the kyo arc starts next week: this is fine :)))))

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Fruits Basket 2019 Episode 22: “Because I Was Happy”

In spite of how last week’s episode was kinda meh, this episode ended up being one of the single best episodes of the show thus far. It at least goes to show that this adaptation is incredibly good at drama, even if it’s not so great at comedy.

Anyway the TL;DR of my feelings right now is just a whole pile of those pictures of crying cats. You know the ones.

Thoughts under the cut [and spoilers for the manga as a whole]

To get right to the chase, this episode adapted chapter 51, which is interesting because this makes it the first episode adapting material that straight up hadn’t even been written when the 2001 anime was made, since I think that came out when the manga was at around chapter 43 or so. Even Uo’s backstory arc had already been done in the manga by that point, and they just chose to cut it in the first adaptation. So I can’t exactly fault the 2001 anime for not having adapted this chapter, but man it really goes to show how much of the story the 2001 anime was missing, and how much good stuff we’re in for here.

I think it was a good choice to put the two Hana chapters back to back like this, even though in the manga they were like 20+ chapters apart from each other. It’s by far the most standalone chapter of the manga, and it’s specific placement has always kinda baffled me, since it happens right after we meet the student council characters and Kureno, and shortly before the summer vacation arc, and none of that had to do with Hana. I think it’s just one of those things where Takaya’s nerve disorder probably impacted how she approached the story, and lead to some odd detours into side stories and backstories until the ‘main story’ kicked back into high gear. It flows a lot more naturally here, and the fact that the whole episode is a flashback with no real present-day context or framing isn’t even noticeable when it comes right after the events of the last episode. It felt like a bit more of a harsh narrative shift in the manga.

But it’s still always been one of my favourite individual chapters in the series, in spite of it’s awkward timing. The material itself does everything it needs to make it stand out. And the shifted placement in this adaptation just helps elevate it’s strengths even more.

I’ve been wondering how anime-only people might react to this episode, for lots of reasons, and I’m glad that everyone seems to love it. It really does come as a huge curveball in terms of tone and focus after how self-contained and comedic the last episode was, but it works nicely.

And even more than that, it’s fun watching people react for the first time to the reveal that Hana’s powers are actually 100% real, and the story ends up being dead serious in depicting how they impacted her life. Basically Fruits Basket suddenly turns into Carrie But With A Support Network for an episode, and I doubt any new fans saw that one coming, lmao.

Though tbh I still think it’s [intentionally] ambiguous whether or not she actually had supernatural powers. It never really comes up again, and the handful of cases of her using her powers on people can technically be written off as a mix of coincidences and a sort of placebo effect from people who think she’s seriously gonna curse them. In terms of what Takaya thought when she wrote this, I think Hana probably does have straight up psychic powers, but there’s room for interpretation, and I think this episode is really interesting when viewed through the lens of Hana having some sort of severe mental illness.

I’ve been pretty occupied recently with thinking about the topic of disability in Fruits Basket when it comes to Kyo’s arc [and oh boy do I have stuff to say about that very soon], but I’d kinda forgotten that Hana’s backstory here is another good example of that.

I don’t exactly want to jump to conclusions and start armchair diagnosing her, but the ‘voices’ Hana heard could definitely be symptoms of something like social anxiety or even schizophrenia. Depending on how literally you want to take the idea of her ‘hearing voices’.

In general there’s a sort of blurry line in this series between supernatural stuff, and things that are realistic to the experiences of disabled [or otherwise oppressed/neglected in general] people. But I’ll talk more about that later.

On a somewhat related note, one surprising thing about this episode is that in spite of the overall tone and events of this episode, Hana’s family is completely supportive of her, and never doubt the existence of her powers, or hate her for it. Instead all they care about is her safety and well-being, and they’re willing to move towns if it means removing Hana from a toxic school environment. I think I’ve said it before, but I think it’s good that this series has a whole range of types of parents/families who have their own unique feelings about their childrens’ struggles. You can’t really accuse it of being one-dimensional.

The thing that really struck me about this episode most of all was just how good the artistic direction and overall execution were. In terms of the story it was a pretty 1:1 adaptation of the manga, with nothing changed/added/removed from what I can remember, but it was just executed incredibly well. Pretty much like how things went with the Uo arc.

Specifically I really loved the way that the entire episode had a consistent cool grey tone to it all, and was filled with deep shadows and harsh, artificial-looking lighting, right up until the point where Hana admits that she wants to stay with Tohru and Uo, and suddenly everything is bright and warm and filled with light. It’s not exactly the most complicated thing ever, but it really made the climax of this episode stand out.

But the way it handled the lighting and shading up until that point was genuinely really neat in and of itself, and lead to a really atmospheric and oppressive vibe to everything. Especially scenes like the one where Hana got her arm burned by those bullies, and the whole scene was incredibly dark and shadowy and eerie. I also really liked the cut of her running down the school hallway, and how the harsh bluish lighting from the windows contrasted with her silhouette and the darkness of the hallway itself.

The way they handled the scenes of her hearing voices by having the screen be slowly blotted out by cloudy blackness and overlapping voices was also really neat.

I think it’s really neat that some of the best material we’ve gotten thus far has come from some of the most unlikely characters. Normally with a series like this you’d think that Tohru’s best friends would be disposable comic relief characters [which they kinda were in the 2001 anime, tbh], but they both ended up getting incredibly good backstory arcs that flesh them out immensely and deliver some of the strongest emotions and messages in the series. It really goes to show that this is an ensemble cast type of story that cares about all of it’s characters instead of just the core few. In the manga it wasn’t really apparent until later because of how things were paced out, but this adaptation’s really making it clear already that this series is totally willing to basically ignore it’s main trio for episodes on end in order to focus on the supporting cast, lol.

And on THAT note, to balance out the fact that Kyo in particular has been kinda absent since, like, the lake house episode I think, the next episode is gonna dive straight into what will ultimately be a three-episode story arc focused on him, his backstory, and his relationship with Tohru. I hope it lives up to the expectations of all the new fans who’ve been anxious to see more of him, and I hope they know to keep their hands inside the rollercoaster at all times because we’re about to Go Places [tm] :)

I’d been expecting for a while that the next episode would adapt chapters 30 and 31 and end with Kazuma’s introduction, so that the last two episodes of the season can focus on the meat of the true form arc, and thankfully they just outright used Kazuma’s line from the end of chapter 31 as the title of the next episode so that spells itself out, lol.

I’ve seen some people worry that this means they might be skipping the soup chapter, but I don’t think that’s the case. I think it’d actually be really easy to cover both of those chapters in one episode. You could actually splice the events of them together pretty nicely, so that Tohru getting sick is still the main thread of the whole episode even if it ends with Kazuma showing up.

I think they could at least do some things like making the part in Chapter 31 where Kyo and Kagura go shopping together be related to Kyo cooking for Tohru while she’s sick. But we’ll see.

I know some people think that ep24 will cover the whole true form arc, and that ep25 will be chapters 35 and 36, but I don’t really feel like that’d work well. The true form arc is way too much of an emotional climax all around to not be the season finale. And chapter 35 in general would serve as a nice sort of semi-recap of the true form arc to start season 2 off with.

And in general I don’t think the series has ever adapted three whole chapters into one episode, and I don’t think they’ll start with this arc. I think it’ll be like how they adapted the Uo arc into two episodes when it was also three chapters long. Either way, I think they’d be able to pretty easily flesh it out a bit to cover two episodes, whereas it’d be difficult to condense it into just one episode without it feeling rushed. But who knows. I have faith in them one way or another.

For the time being I’m just gonna emotionally prepare myself, lmao.

[lycorogue]

New Story: Love Taps

I did it! I was stumped for a little bit there as I focused on my Meet My OCs series and my blog post (which I still haven’t written for this week), but I managed to write up my monthly completed piece of fiction! Whoot!

I jumped fandoms a touch here, but you have to follow inspiration, right?

So, I’d like to present to you my first Fruits Basket fanfic.

You can also read Love Taps at any of these three sites: on AO3, on FFN, or on DA

This story is dedicated to @chibisunnie for inspiring the plot bunny in the first place. It’s always gold when we get to chat! :D 

**Disclaimer: I haven't had the chance to start up Fruits Basket Another or the Three Musketeers Arc, so I'm sorry if I have some inconsistencies. I tried my best via the wiki pages...  ***UPDATE: I have now read FBA and there ARE inconsistencies, mostly with Hajime and Sawa’s personalities, and I don’t really ship them now that I’ve read the story buuuuut I’m leaving this unedited. Oh well.... 

Also, this story is about Adult Tohru, so there will be spoilers if you don’t know who Hajime is.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Love Taps

Kyo's little head bonks carry more meaning and more love than anyone could ever truly know. Anyone besides maybe Tohru, who reflects on an entire lifetime of receiving the loving raps on the noggin.

One-shot

Word Count: 2952 Rating: General Audiences

**Warning: Contains lots of fluff, you might want your dentist on stand-by

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I think I've always known, at some level, that his little bonks on my head were a sign of his affection. It's very fitting for him; to show love with his fists, but in a gentle manner. Those head bonks have always been so dear to me, because they proved that he saw my faults, but wanted a connection to me anyway.

"Kyo? Kyo! I- I think my water just broke! Oh no! What do I do? I know we studied this, but it's really happening!" I paced in a tight little circle, liquid dripping down my leg. "Should I clean this up so it won't stain? Should I go change? I probably need to soak my clothes so they won't stain. Do I have time to do so? Do we have the overnight bag packed? Is my mother's picture in the bag?" I held my pregnant belly as I leaked further onto the floor, unsure which direction to go. That's when I got that delicate bonk on the crown of my head. It startled me still, made me blink a few times as I re-focused, and arched my head back.

"You need to just focus on you and the kid. I've got everything else, you hear me? You always find a way to worry about the wrong things." Kyo already had our overnight bag slung over his shoulder, and was moving to grab my mother's picture to place inside the bag. "Now, if you feel gross, go wash off your legs, otherwise, we should get going."

"Um, I- I don't want to get the seats messy."

"I already have towels so you won't, but we do have a minute for you to wash if you stop dawdling."

I shook my head. "No. I'll be fine. We should get going."

He then smiled at me. "You're going to do amazing." He walked over, wrapped his free arm around my waist, and rested his forehead on mine. "Remember how insanely strong you are the whole time, okay?"

As I nodded, he ushered me out the door so we could meet our son.

That was the beauty of those head bumps. He wanted me to focus. He wanted to help reset me as my world was spinning around me; when I wasn't focusing on the right things, or when I wasn't focusing at all. They were never rough, and they weren't judgmental. Instead, they were always filled with love. In fact, I think I blushed the first time he bonked the side of my head because I knew the love he shared with that action. Part of me must have known that those bonks carried words Kyo couldn't quite say.

Words like 'you worry too much' or 'you need to focus so you'll be safe' or 'I like having you around' or 'please, don't leave me' or even 'you know I love you, right?' Sometimes, they carried the question that weighed the most on Kyo's mind: 'How could you possibly love someone so much?'

"Tohru, we have to go." Kyo sighed as he leaned against the classroom door. He gave an apologetic shrug and head shake towards the teacher.

"It's my baby's first day!" I squeezed our son close to me, and his little arms wrapped around me just as tight. "It's going to be a full day without seeing his adorable face, or hearing his sweet voice, or running around the yard with him."

"I want you to stay, Mama!" Hajime nuzzled his head into my shoulder. "Can't you go to school with me?"

"Okay, enough of this." Kyo softly grumbled. He then took strong and pointed steps towards us before – bonk, bonk – both Hajime and I got little knuckle raps on the sides of our head.

We both blinked, and pulled away from each other as we tried to register what just happened. We turned to Kyo, who blew out a calming breath before resting his hands on our son's shoulders, centering him to face his father.

"You know how a lot of people come to visit us, just to hang out? Just because they miss us?"

Hajime nodded as he wiped a couple of tears away.

"Those are all of your mother's friends-"

"Kyo-" They weren't just my friends. They were his as well, and more importantly, they were his family; I was just the one lucky enough to join that loving clan.

Kyo held up his hand to still my protest. "Those are your mother's friends, and she helped them become mine as well. Do you want lots and lots of friends like her?"

Hajime nodded vigorously, borderline comically.

"Well, then you need to be kind like she is. And you need to be welcoming. Most importantly, you need to talk to them, and show them your big heart. It may not work at first. You may be teased, but you'll then find others just as kind as you, and they'll be your friends for life. Then you won't need anyone else. You got that?"

"Uh-huh."

"It won't work if you are only with your mother, though. Now, turn around." Kyo physically pivoted Hajime so they were both looking into the classroom, Kyo kneeling behind our son and whispering into his ear. "Look at how many friends could be waiting for you in this room. Don't you want to meet them?"

"I do!" Hajime bounced on his toes, a grin stretching almost impossibly far across his face.

"Then go meet them, and we'll see you once school is done. Okay?"

"Okay, Daddy." Hajime squeezed both of us tight before turning and sprinting off to meet his classmates.

"As for you." Kyo stood, and held out his hands to lift me to my feet as well. "He'll be fine, and you need to trust that he'll be fine." He discretely tapped my chest just above my heart. "Just as your mother is always with you, know that you're always with him; watching over him, even when you can't physically be there. Besides, he's in good hands, isn't he?" He addressed the teacher, who looked slightly less exasperated now that my overly-affectionate display had ended. The teacher nodded and gave us a small smile.

"Okay, we can go." I hugged Kyo's forearm to prevent me from shooting forward and scooping up our beautiful child again. Resting his head on the top of mine, Kyo escorted me out of the classroom.

That was probably the greatest thing about those head bonks. They were an anchor. They helped ground me, and even Hajime on occasion. When I was being tossed about in a sea of emotions, Kyo's raps on the side of my head kept me from floating off. Kept me from floating away from reason; floating away from public decency; floating away from alertness; floating away from reality, even.

As I grew older and more mature, the less I needed that anchor; Kyo simply existing in my life was enough. He taught me how to be more alert; how to stay more focused on what truly was important. Having Hajime also helped greatly with that. Soon, Kyo only bonked me on the head once a month. Once a season. Eventually, I realized he had only rapped me on the head once that whole year. Part of me wondered if I should purposely start to let myself drift again; daydream again. Something to call out for Kyo to tap the side of my head. Because I missed it.

I think he missed that connection as well. We hugged. We kissed. We held hands. We snuggled next to each other. None of it was quite the same though, as much as I loved all of it. I think he felt the same way, because the meaning of the tap changed. It now became more of a way to silently tell me 'I know' or 'I feel the same way' or 'it hurts me too, but we'll manage.'

"Uh, I guess he forgot about me?" Sawa-chan shook her head and hid an exasperated chuckle behind her bridal bouquet. Kyo stood beside her, sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I can't believe how grown up you are!" I nuzzled Hajime's cheek with my own and held him close. My make-up was probably ruined from sobbing all day, but I didn't care. "You found yourself a wonderful girl, and I'm so proud of you!"

"Tohru," Kyo growled. "Must you?"

"But he's married now! Our baby's all grown up, and I couldn't be prouder of him. And look at how handsome he is! He reminds me of you when we got married."

"Do you really think so, Mom?" Hajime's voice squeaked and he pulled me in closer. "I'm only this amazing, and know how to include such fantastic people in my life, because of you and Dad. You truly are the best, Mom. I couldn't do any of this without you."

We started crying into each other's arms, and I only just barely heard Sawa-chan squeaking an "um" before I felt that head bonk. I pulled away from my son, and saw his blank expression as he also tried to comprehend what just happened.

"You two are pathetic, you know that, right?" Kyo shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks. "It's not like we're never seeing him again, and it's not like we don't have other kids for you to dote on. Let the boy grow up, will ya?" He then grabbed Hajime's left bicep, and yanked him from my arms. In a swift motion he shoved our son on the back; just enough to push him into his wife. "That's the woman you should be smothering with hugs!"

"No, I get it," Sawa-chan joked, "I'll always be second-fiddle to Haa-chan's mother."

"Pfft, don't call me by that nickname." Hajime scoffed, but there was the same twinkle in his eye Kyo used to have whenever he tried to pretend he didn't appreciate my affection.

Sawa-chan didn't seem deterred, and she pulled him into a chaste kiss to lure him into a hug and quick dance.

"And as for you," Kyo came back over and placed his hand on the top of my head, palming it like a basketball. "Let the kids have their day, will ya? Come on, let's enjoy the party." He then started walking away, pulling me along by the head. It kept me a couple of hops to catch my balance, and after a few paces he shifted his hand from my scalp to my back. He gently directed me to a corner, where he kissed me, whispered to me how much the day reminded him of our wedding, and we danced to the slow song playing.

He had felt the same pain I did. That same longing for our little boy again. He couldn't handle Hajime being old enough to marry either. Yet he was strong, and he helped me stay strong that day as well. He let me know with that head tap that it wasn't the time to be sad. It was the time to look ahead at the wonderful life our son was about to start. A wonderful life that somehow lead to me getting frequent head bonks again.

"We're not going to have this battle every time, are we?" Sawa-chan arched her eyebrows as she looked over at Hajime.

"Sorry, dear, but I don't think it can really be helped. I mean, look at her?" Hajime gestured towards me cradling my granddaughter, my eyes overflowing with tears. "Would you want to give her up?"

"Kyo!" I whined, "Don't make me give her back! She's just too precious. Aren't you just in love? How could you not see her every day?"

"Tohru-san," Sawa-chan again reached for her daughter. "We really must be getting home to put her to bed. We'll visit more often, I promise."

I pulled her closer to me and smelled her hair. "I just need a few more minutes. Or you three could spend the night. We can make space for them, can't we, Kyo?" As I looked up at him I saw a small sneer as he swung to bonk me on the top of the head. It was the first one that hurt in decades.

"Don't be an idiot. She's their child and they can take her whenever they want. And our son is grown now, with his own house and own family. They don't need to stick around here if they prefer to be in their own beds tonight."

I sniffled and slowly gave my granddaughter back to Sawa-chan, who was cautiously watching Kyo. Hajime rested a hand on his wife's shoulder to re-focus her, and she accepted her baby girl. Then the kids gave me kind smiles, which helped ease the mild throbbing of where Kyo had hit me.

"Sorry. Kyo's right. I shouldn't have imposed on you."

"No problem, Mom. We appreciate that you love her so much." Hajime scooped his wife and daughter into his arms, and my heart swelled.

Kyo mimicked our son, pulling me into an embrace as he kissed where he hit my head. "It's alright to be selfish sometimes, but you can't be selfish about spending time with people, especially if it means kidnapping our grandkid."

In truth, I nearly 'kidnapped' – as Kyo put it – our granddaughter loads of times. It was just so hard to let her go. She was such a sweet dear. All of our grandchildren were, and I was getting quite a lumpy head from the amount of times Kyo had to knock me to remind me to give them back to their parents. I didn't mind it, though. I truly did miss that special connection that only came from Kyo's playful bops on the head. It wasn't terribly too long before our youngest grandchild was in junior high, and 'kidnappings' weren't as much of an issue. They were all old enough to leave of their own accord.

Still, Kyo discovered plenty of emotional moments to reprimand me: When our children each graduated from high school, and then college; when they each got married, and when they each had their first child; for every additional child they had; nearly every visit with our grandchildren; and the realizations of how old each grandchild was getting. One of the last, however, was when we had to move.

I sat out on our front porch, overlooking the hilltop scenery we've enjoyed for about fifty-years. It reminded me so much of Shigure-san's home, and all the happy memories I had there. Now, in this home Kyo and I had shared for our entire marriage, there were almost too many happy memories to recall them all. I let my mind wander as I watched the sunset, knowing I didn't have many more to enjoy from this vantage.

BONK!

Although the tap on my head didn't hurt, I still rubbed the spot with both hands. I looked over my shoulder and saw Kyo lowering himself to the porch, these days he took much greater care whenever he had to shift from standing to sitting and back again. A little grunt escaped his throat.

"You were daydreaming."

"S-sorry." I continued to rub where he tapped me.

"Daydreaming's fine, but you looked sad while doing so." He dusted his hands off on his pants, then rubbed his left knee.

"I'm sorry we have to move because of me." I straightened the blanket on my lap and watched as Kyo moved to massage his left ankle.

"Tohru, we're old, it happens. I'd much rather we move in with one of the kids instead of you straining to get up that hill every day. It doesn't matter to me that we're moving, as long as you're comfortable and we're together."

"You don't seem to have much difficulty with the hill."

"I also work out far more routinely and with more intensity than you. It kept my muscles strong. You're seventy-three; it's not a shame that you can't climb up a hundred steps each day."

"I just hate the idea of leaving our memories behind; abandoning our castle like this."

I heard another grunt as Kyo shifted so he was kneeling beside me instead of sitting. With a swift swing and a pull-back last second, he once more rapped my head gently with the back of his hand. He then pulled my head to his shoulder so he could run his fingers through my hair.

"My sweet idiot. You think we can't pack up the memories with us? Did you forget your mom once you had to leave your apartment? Did you forget your months living out of a tent? Are you having difficulties recalling life with your grandfather, or any of the time you spent getting to know me and the other Zodiacs?"

"N-no."

"The memories don't live here." He gestured to the house behind us. "Memories live here-" He rested his index finger on my chest, right where my heart would sit. "-and here." He again tapped on my head. "And don't think for an instant that I'll allow you to forget."

I rested my head on his shoulder and re-focused on the sunset. "Thank you, Kyo. Hey, Kyo?"

"Hmm?"

"You think it's alright if I daydream some more? It's such a lovely evening for it."

"Yeah, you idiot. You can zone out all you want. I'm here." He pulled me in for a kiss on my temple, and he grunted once more as he settled back into a lounge beside me. As we snuggled and enjoyed the orange glow of the sunset, my mind wandered to pleasant thoughts. Such as needing Kyo to bonk me on the head.

[dlamp-dictator]

Allen’s Friday Update

Well folks, Allen X is finally moving up in the world. After months of saving and budgeting I at last have enough month to get a decent gaming PC. Specifically, this big boy. Nothing too expensive, nothing too fancy in the grant scheme of things, just something that’ll play some of the more intense RTS games I’ve been interested in like some Total War games and a few of the more graphically demanding fighting games that my laptop can’t handle. I think most of work will still be on the laptop, but that’s a discussion for later. The PC’ll be here Monday, so I got a few days to get my room in order so it can fit all that. 

In the mean time, here’s what I’ve been up to this week.

So like I said in the last update, I got a lot of manga last week and I’ve been slowly whittling through it. One such manga is Fairytale Battle Royale. The story is about a girl named Aoba, a bullied ninth grader that was given a chance to turn her life around with a magical contract that would grant her any wish. Her wish was simple, to make friends with everyone in her class. And to her surprise this wish came true. Her classmates apologized for their bullying, everyone else treated her kindly, and her life improved significantly. 

However, the price was was great. Soon after she’s transported to twisted and corrupt fairytale world where it’s kill or be killed. And in this new world she must...do... something. 

And that’s the issue folks. Much like Magical Girl Spec-Ops, this manga isn’t giving us much in terms of what the end goal is outside of basic survival. As of volume 2 we don’t know much about outside of the fact that Aoba and go in and out of the fairytale world more or less at will, that “completing your story” will lead to your death, and that several factors and people involved in your wish are at some kind of risk.We have hints of rules, but nothing concrete and that bugs me. In most Battle Royale genres the death match happens right away, or at the very least the rules are made clear at or near the start. Juni Taisen and Magical Girl Raising Project are good examples of this. I’m fine with a slow burn in most media, but this is a slow burn that I’m just not enjoying. It’s honestly more irritating if anything. I’ll keep up until volume 3, but... my patience is waning, and Aoba being a good girl in a bad situation can only keep my attention for so long. 

Moving on, something I’ve never talked about before on this blog is that I’m a huge fan of the Touhou series. The fighting games anyway, but I’m interested in the world of Gensokyo and the lore behind. And when I noticed that Forbidden Scrollery, a manga tie-in to the series, was officially being translated and sold here in the West I instantly picked up the first three volumes. The story focuses on the Human Village and a book rental store Suzunaan, along with its owner Kosuzu Motoori, a human with the ability to read and decipher any text. Her store owns several interesting and dangerous books and the story is more episodic in a similar vain to A Certain Scientific Railgun. Each volume usually covers about two or three stories/arcs, usually focusing on a specific character or book within the shop. Overall this manga gives us some more insight on how the Human Village functions, along with how fragile the peace within the village can be when there are Youkai hiding among them. Both as a piece of Touhou lore and as a story, I’ve been enjoying my time reading this series. Can’t wait to pick up more of this next month.

Onto video games, I have to admit it’s been a long while since I’ve played Va-11 Hall-A. I saw this on the Nintendo store and bought it for my Switch. While I have it on Steam, something about playing this on the Switch just feels... right. It’s also nice to be able to play a game without announcing it to everyone on my Friends’ List that I’m playing an really old indie title by the standards of how games age. 

I’ve got to talk about this game in depth at some point, but the premise is simple. You’re a bartender in a dystopian cyberpunk city, serving drinks, hearing stories, and paying rent. It’s a very somber, yet relaxing experience. I... find it a bit hard to describe to be honest, at least in a small update post like this but it’s only 15 around bucks both on the Nintendo E-shop and on Steam so I say give it a shot. I’m on Day 5 as of writing this, and I’ll probably blitz through it over the weekend.

And last up is another game I’ve been playing on my Switch, Muse Dash. It’s a two-button rhythm game that’s got some decent music and character designs in it...

...

...

Yeah, that’s really it. A very straightforward rhythm game with cute girls in it. I’ll admit, it’s pricey, around 26 bucks, but it’s got a lot songs and a lot of content for a simple game. Rin is best girl, and... yeah. That’s really it.

And that’s it for the Update. I’ll hopefully have that Dictator’s Works for Kyo, Reyna, and Violacious Storm as a whole finished over the weekend since I’m only working one job this time around. But until then folks, see you next time.

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Fruits Basket 2019 2nd Season Ep24 [”Here You Are“]:

Even though this wasn’t as comedy-focused as last week’s episode, things continue to be relatively chill and relaxed.

Just because there’s still one more episode left of this season and we’re almost exactly two thirds of the way into the overall story doesn’t mean things won’t suddenly and drastically change next week, right? :)))

Anyway, thoughts under the cut.

I mentioned this last week since the next episode preview confirmed it, but they really did skip the whole Kyoko backstory arc, in order to jump straight ahead and adapt chapters 94 and 95 in this episode.

I still think this will work out fine in the end, though. It’s pretty obvious at this point how they’re going to end season 2, and it’ll be appropriately climactic. They’ll probably just revisit Kyoko’s backstory later on when it comes up again, which will hopefully flow nicely and not feel too much like a lengthy detour in the story or anything.

Either way, this episode continues the recent focus on Yuki and Yuki-related plot points by being about Machi, and then the New Years stuff.

In spite of the fact that I’m really not a fan of the Yuki/Machi ship, I honestly still really like Machi as a character, and the first half of this episode where we get our first proper look into her thoughts and her life really go to show why. My whole family and upbringing situation was very different to hers, but her whole depressed mood and how it impacts her self-perception and how she carries herself in general is one of the more relatable parts of the whole series. The art and cinematography in her scenes was also really good at getting across the whole mood of the scene.

But ultimately I still feel like as a character she suffers too much from coming into focus way too late in the story, at almost the exact same time that other plot stuff starts kicking into high gear and there’s no time to really focus on her anymore, so she gets a handful of very concentrated, heavy moments to establish her entire character arc and her relationship with Yuki, and compared to the more long-form storytelling that the rest of the series displays, it just ends up feeling kinda artificial. And even though I do really like her as a character, and I do relate a lot to her, her and Kakeru’s whole backstory almost feels like a parody of Fruits Basket as a whole, and the fact that it’s delivered so quickly and barely delved into doesn’t really help that impression. Like I said last time, Kakeru at least benefits a lot from having been woven into the story a lot since a fair while ago, whereas for a variety of reasons Machi has largely been kept in the background until this episode.

I wasn’t really planning to go into full detail just yet about why I don’t like Yuki and Machi’s relationship [which is a more or less separate issue to Machi’s character in and of itself and how she’s handled in the story], but I think this episode alone pretty much summed it all up, especially going by how people are already reacting to it.

Basically I just really don’t like how aggressively the story wants you to realize how Yuki and Machi’s whole relationship is basically just a parallel to Tohru and Yuki’s relationship. It’s so heavy-handed that it just takes me out of the story, and the fact that they’re intentionally drawing that comparison feels like it actively goes against a big part of what Yuki’s recent development has been about.

When Yuki was opening up to Kakeru about all his feelings toward Tohru, he made it clear that he actively disliked the idea of that sort of dynamic developing into a romance, because it was so fundamentally unbalanced and one-sided that it would make him feel even more lonely. He didn’t want to be on the receiving end of a mostly one-sided flow of emotional support, so I just can’t help but dislike how it feels like his relationship with Machi is almost exactly the same thing, but this time it’s Yuki who’s providing the support.

It’s not like Machi doesn’t provide anything for Yuki emotionally, but it’s also not like Yuki didn’t provide anything emotionally for Tohru either. It was just a *mostly* one-sided and unbalanced dynamic, and I feel like the same thing applies here.

I just feel like, going by his own whole speech about his feelings and what type of relationship he wants, I’d want him to get a romantic partner who he feels more ‘equal’ with, in a sense. Someone who doesn’t just receive his support, or who just treats him normally, but someone who pushes him to be a better person, and forces him outside of his comfort zone in a way that helps him grow.

Basically this is just an elaborate way of me saying that I ship him and Kakeru, lol.

And honestly I don’t even dislike the core concept of Yuki and Machi’s relationship, I just don’t like that it goes in a romantic direction, since it feels like it happens with the exact same reasoning as why Yuki said he didn’t want a romantic relationship with Tohru. I really do like the idea of him being able to grow enough as a person to help someone else [even if the story really isn’t subtle about how Machi is almost exactly like how Yuki used to be, lol], but I’d just prefer that to play out in a more platonic way.

Plus, from a slightly different angle, I also don’t really like the idea of Machi getting into a romantic relationship where it feels like she’s mostly just on the receiving end of emotional support, for basically the same reasons why Yuki said he didn’t want that for himself. I think she also deserves better than that.

But to be honest an unavoidable part of the whole problem is also just that we barely even get to see what their relationship is actually like in practice, and we pretty much just see the part where it’s like ‘wow, they’re JUST LIKE how Tohru and Yuki used to be!’, and we just have to kinda guess at how things play out for them after that. Which is yet another reason why I think she really suffers from being focused on so late into the story, lol. It’s entirely possible that if we actually got to see how their relationship evolved I’d be more on board with it, but we only see a fairly small portion of it in the end, so that’s what I’m basing all my thoughts on.

[Also there’s the whole separate but related topic of how I still think it’s disappointing how Yuki’s whole struggle about feeling unable to love Tohru romantically, and feeling socially obligated to perform normative heterosexuality with her is just followed up by him finding a different girl to have as a love interest, but I could make another whole post about that so whatever]

ANYWAY, that was a whole bunch of opinions I’ve been sitting on for a long time now, lol. Even though I kinda don’t care much about Yuki as a character in a vacuum, I feel very strongly about the way his character arc plays out, and all the writing surrounding him.

That aside, the rest of the episode was just about the New Years banquet and getting some glimpses at most of the zodiac members to start setting the scene for the final third of the story. The transition between the two halves of the episode felt super abrupt and jarring, and you could really tell that it was jumping from one chapter of the manga to the next, but still, I liked the second half a lot.

There’s a lot of different moments with different characters, but I really liked seeing more of Tohru and Kyo. By this point it’s really obvious how they’re settling into a comfortable groove with each other, even if they aren’t exactly open about their feelings yet. I think it’s really neat to see how their relationship has slowly but surely been changing and progressing across the course of this season, without them even being entirely aware of it. This season as a whole might have been largely Yuki-focused, but Tohru and Kyo have come a long way with their relationship since the end of season 1.

Also, I think this is literally the only time we’re gonna see Ritsu in season 2 outside of the OP/EDs, which is kinda depressing, lol. I really hope they can come up with some original content in season 3 to give him some screen-time, but at this point I’m not getting my hopes up.

And even though this episode is mostly pretty laid back, the scene with Yuki and Akito really does set up for the next episode, and how things in general are about to come to a head and fall apart.

I’m curious to see exactly where they end the next episode, since they might decide to end it only partway into chapter 97, instead of going all the way to the end. But at this point I think they’re probably gonna go all the way up to that big cliffhanger, and we’re all just gonna have to wait like 6+ months for the anime to continue from that, lol. If they go that far with the next episode, then I’m definitely curious to see how anime-only people react to it, for better or worse.

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Fruits Basket 2019 Episode 21: “I Never Back Down From A Wave Fight”

The absolute madmen have done it, they’ve finally made an episode that I think is inferior to the 2001 anime counterpart of it.

Seriously though, this was still a perfectly good episode and I enjoyed it more than most people probably did, but this is the one and only time where I think the 2001 anime’s unique style elevated it over this adaptation. But really, the fact that there’s only one part that the 2001 anime did better than this one isn’t exactly an insult toward this adaptation, lol.

Anyway, thoughts under the cut. [Plus some manga spoilers for at least next week’s episode]

Continuing the trend of the second half of season 1 thus far bouncing around the manga timeline a whole bunch, this episode takes us back to chapter 29, which is the only chapter adapted in this episode. Which I think makes this the first episode since, like, episode 5 where they used a single chapter as the basis of an entire episode. But this is much more of a conventionally ‘filler’ type of scenario, rather than it being heavily fleshed out in a meaningful way.

I honestly thought they’d do some heavy editing in order to splice Hana’s backstory into this whole part and make it into a two-parter that way, like Uo’s arc, but it looks like they’re really just adapting the two Hana chapters separately, but back to back. Which is fine, but it does mean that this episode might strike a lot of people as unnecessary beyond exploring Hana’s character a bit.

I’m very curious to see how people react to the next episode, especially since this episode’s content doesn’t really hint at the fact that we’re about to dive into an entire backstory episode focused on her. It comes across more like a stand-alone episode that we’ll immediately move on from, but nope, it’s set-up for actual backstory.

Though in the manga it was a lot more filler-y and self-contained, since Hana’s backstory chapter isn’t until several entire volumes later in chapter 51. I think putting them back to back in the anime makes the pacing feel way better, since in the manga her backstory chapter is just thrown in there with zero context or purpose, and doesn’t come up again. So it should feel more natural to have it happen right after this episode.

That’s basically the main reason why there’s been so many adjustments to the pacing and the order of events recently. A lot of stuff is being moved around so that it flows together nicely, and in particular it means that they can frontload the backstory and character intro episodes so that the more plot-heavy stuff can happen back to back.

I can’t help but worry that the move to have so many introduction/backstory episodes in a row might make new fans bored, but in the long run I think it’s much better than if they, sad, had Hana’s backstory randomly interrupt the story early in season 2.

I’ve at least seen a lot of people across the board wishing that we could see more of Kyo, and at least when anime-only fans say that all I can think is ‘honey, you got a big storm coming’, lol. I feel like some people might be eating their words a bit once the Kyo content starts back up.

There’s no real point talking about it much until next week, but I think Hana’s backstory is going to really catch people by surprise, for a lot of reasons, so I’m excited to see how it goes down. Even after stuff like Uo’s backstory arc, people might be taken back by the subject matter it covers.

It’ll also be another episode covering material that wasn’t in the 2001 anime at all, so for that reason alone I’d be excited for it.

Anyway, aside from all that, there’s kinda . . . not a whole lot to say about the content of this episode. It’s literally just covering a single, comedy-focused chapter from the manga, and it didn’t really add or change much. Aside from Motoko’s nightmares at the start and end of the episode, which were fun. Everything else was basically 1:1.

I honestly do think the 2001 anime’s take on this chapter was a lot more interesting, with how much it embraced it’s weirdness and comedy. The fact that a lot of it reminded me of Utena’s cinematography made me kinda biased in it’s favour, though. Most of the 2001 anime’s creative vision was kinda awful in my eyes, but that episode was genuinely really neat and had some cool ideas in it. This version was pretty much the exact opposite, in that it felt pretty much exactly like any other episode of the 2019 anime. Though in the long run I appreciate the 2019 anime’s consistency when it comes to it’s atmosphere and tone, even if it sometimes means that you get episodes like this which don’t lean as heavily into the comedy as they probably should have.

I do think the soundtrack in this episode was notably good, even if the direction was a bit lackluster.

In a lot of ways I think the next episode will play much more to the strengths of the 2019 series, since it’s much more thoroughly dramatic.

I doubt any of this would be an unpopular opinion in the fandom or anything, but unlike most people, I actually really like Motoko and the fan club girls. They’re not exactly deep or interesting as characters, and if they were real-life people I’d hate them, for obvious reasons, but I just think they’re really fun. And honestly I can’t help but feel a little bad for Motoko, even if I also kinda hate her, lmao. She’s just a bit of a miserable person all around and her whole role in the manga ends on a kinda bittersweet note.

Though on the other hand I’m also just being a bit of a contrarian and everyone hates her so I can’t help but pity her a bit, lol.

I do also like how this episode actually sets them up as a foil of sorts to Hana, which gets into how the whole message of this episode is really nice, even if it’s not super complex. The idea that loving someone doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want fits in nicely with what the series as a whole says about relationships in general. And I think the ending scene with Hana thinking about her own jealousy issues and how much Tohru means to her is a great way to set up the next episode, which is gonna really dig into all of that. An also why everyone is so scared of her. Which will probably make this episode kinda sad in hindsight to new fans.

Anyway, I’m really excited for the next episode, and I think right after that we’ll be getting into the Kyo stuff once and for all, which I’m still not at all prepared for.

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Fruits Basket 2019 Episode 15: “I Wouldn’t Say That”

The one and only thing this episode needed to do was succeed in making Hatori look fine as hell, so I’m glad they managed to do that, since this part of the story’s always been kinda forgettable beyond that, lol.

Thoughts under the cut. [Spoiler warning for the whole series]

Just to get right to the chase, this episode adapts chapters 25 and 26 of the manga, same as episode 16 of the 2001 version. It’s actually kinda interesting to compare them, since even though they’re about 99% the same, the comparison really highlights even more of the consequences of the stuff the 2001 version cut out as a whole.

I think I already mentioned this last week, but anyway, since the 2001 version removed the whole hat subplot and everything referencing Kyo’s connection to Kyoko, everything about Yuki and Kyo acting weird in this part had pretty much no context in that version, whereas at least in this version you have a pretty good idea what’s going on and how it connects to the previous episode, even if they’re both subplots that are largely still mysteries right now. And in addition to that, they also entirely removed Mayuko from the 2001 version, so the stuff with Hatori there was left on a more vague note. Which all just made this part feel super filler-y and disconnected from the rest of the story, originally.

But honestly even in the manga this part was always kinda filler-y and uneventful. It was just made even more so in the 2001 anime because it basically removed the few important story elements that were actually set up here. I think the series is really good at having every new story beat either introduce a new character, meaningfully develop existing ones, or just set up future plot points, but I’ve always felt like this is the weakest arc out of all of them, with the set-up mostly just being ‘wow, Yuki and Kyo sure are still moody for reasons we don’t fully know yet’ and ‘I guess Hatori will maybe hook up with the main trio’s teacher eventually’.

I do think it’s kinda funny, though, after seeing a lot of anime only people last week be like ‘I can’t wait to find out what’s going on with Yuki and Kyo next week :)’, when in reality this episode is like 90% Tohru going ‘I wonder what’s going on with Yuki and Kyo’. We’re not gonna find out what’s up with them, especially with Kyo, for a loooong time, lol. I hope that anime-only people don’t feel too genuinely let down or disappointed by this episode, but if there’s any one part where I think new fans might start thinking that the series is beginning to spin it’s wheels and needs to kick it up a notch, this episode would be it.

This whole part’s also always stuck out to me, even in the manga, as being just about the only part of the story after the first volume where we actually see Yuki and Kyo transform. It’s one of the things that make this part feel like a very episodic, filler-y ‘return to the status quo for a whole’ sorta part, if that makes sense. You’d think it wouldn’t be noteworthy that they transform here, but it sticks out in hindsight when you notice how they otherwise stop doing so pretty much entirely after the first volume. It’s not actually a recurring element of the story. Though I actually think it feels a bit more ‘natural’ in the 2001 version because they added some bits here and there in other episodes to have them transform when they didn’t in the manga, which made it seem like something that happens way more than it actually does.

Like always, I tend to be mostly ambivalent to these sorts of comedic breather sections [even though they’re necessary for the overall story flow], but I still really like the whole Jason joke. It reminds me that when I first read the manga I assumed that it must have been a localization of a reference to a Japanese horror movie, but nah, it was literally a Jason reference even in Japanese, lol. Which actually makes it feel a bit more understandable that Kyo doesn’t get it. Although, come to think of it, I wonder if this has more to do with how his sheltered upbringing lead him to being completely oblivious to a lot of ‘normal’ stuff. Which would make it kinda depressing in hindsight. But still funny. 

Even though I still kinda don’t like the whole Mabudachi trio as a unit, Hatori’s still great, so I appreciate how this episode is actually more about giving him a chance to take a nap and read a book, more than anything to do with the main trio. I do still like how many parts there are like this that focus on the adult characters and their perspective on things. Even though, as much as it gets more relatable over time, it also becomes kinda funny, in the sense of ‘stop being such a drama queen, Hatori, you’re not even 30 yet, lmao’.

Also, it’s not like they really changed it from how it was in the manga, but I forgot just how immediately obvious it is that he’s gonna hook up with Mayu later on. Although I think it’s actually even more blunt in the manga since apparently she had a picture of Hatori next to the picture of her and Kana, which I didn’t even notice until I just saw someone point it out.

I’m actually pretty excited for the episode we’ll get later on focused on them, even though it won’t happen until season 2 at this rate. They’re one of my favourite side couples in the series, and it still bugs me that they cut Mayu out of the 2001 anime [even though I get why they did it].

Anyway I think that’s about everything there is to say about this episode, but in addition to all that, we now know for a fact that the next episode will be adapting Uo’s backstory, which is really interesting to me. I already guessed it based on the vague look we got a while ago of Caitlin Glass’ notes, but I’m still a bit surprised they’re shifting that part up so much. If I remember right, it’s chapters 39 to 41, so at least in the manga it’s a fair bit ahead of where we are now. But it’s also mostly a flashback arc so I don’t think it’d exactly be hard to shuffle it about.

I’m mostly curious to see how they’re going to adapt it and pace it out, partly because it basically wasn’t adapted in the 2001 anime at all so it’ll sort of be all new in the reboot, and partly because it’s a three chapter arc in the manga, and the reboot hasn’t adapted mote than two chapters in a single episode yet.

Caitlin Glass’ notes do seem to indicate that Uo’s backstory will cover the next two episodes, though, which would at least be better than cramming it into one. It’s a pretty substantial arc with a lot going on, so I’d be happy if they give it a two-part treatment here. Though if they do it across two episodes, it makes me wonder how they’ll break it up, and if they might flesh it out with some material from later in the series, to bring it up to effectively two chapters of content per episode, which would be in line with the average pacing of the reboot thus far.

If they do that, I hope they find a way to slide chapter 50 [the one where Uo and Kureno meet for the first time] into it. I think it’d be fairly easy to tie it into the present-day parts of the Uo backstory arc, and it’d be nice for the reboot to throw a curveball and formally introduce Kureno this early on. At the very least the alternative is that he probably wouldn’t show up until season 2, which would be kinda sad.

We’ll see how it goes, but at the very least the next episode will definitely be getting into the flashback portion of the arc, since the episode title is taken from when Uo first met Tohru. I wonder if it’ll adapt all of the flashback, or if it’ll stop halfway and finish off in the episode afterward.

Most of the series thus far has split very easily into single episode chunks, so it’s kinda exciting to get to a part that’s a bit less obvious in how it’d translate into an anime format. It’s the sorta thing I really like speculating about.

And as a reminder, going by what we know from the next episode preview, Caitlin Glass’ notes, and the official confirmation of season 1 being 25 episodes long, it looks like the structure of the season from here on out will be two episodes for Uo’s backstory, Kisa’s intro, Ritsu’s intro, Hiro’s intro, the episode with Hana and the Yuki fan club, Hana’s backstory, and then probably Tohru getting sick and then the whole Kyo arc across three episodes total. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but after looking back at the notes we saw, it looks like the two Hana episodes will in fact be two separate episodes back to back, so Hana’s backstory would be episode 22 at this rate, which leaves three episodes to adapt chapters 30 to 34. Which I think would work fine. I think they’re going to tie the set-up for the Kyo arc into the episode with Tohru getting sick so that it ends with Kazuma showing up, and the last two episodes can spend more time on the actual meat of the Kyo arc. But we’ll see.

Either way I’m really excited for the next two episodes. The reboot’s been pretty similar in execution to the 2001 anime for a while now, so it’ll be fun to get two episodes in a row focused on material that basically wasn’t in the 2001 version at all.

[murasaki-murasame]

Thoughts on Fruits Basket 2019 Episode 20: “I Can’t Believe You Picked It Up”

Oh boy, time for the introduction of everyone’s favourite sheepy boi who we all love to hate :)

Thoughts under the cut [and some big spoilers from later in the manga]

And so the chain of back to back zodiac member introductions continues with us getting Hiro’s episode, covering chapters 37 and 38 of the manga.

I was initially confused about why they decided to space Kisa and Hiro’s episodes apart by putting Ritsu’s episode in the middle, but considering how most of this episode is about showing off how Tohru’s kindness and endless selflessness is genuinely a character flaw at times that the show is aware of and willing to examine, it actually makes sense to put it right after the episode where she came across in the most unironically perfect way yet. So I think it works out for the best.

Just like last week, the fact that this episode is also adapting content from like ten chapters ahead of where we were beforehand means that some scenes had to be cut or altered a fair bit to avoid referencing events that haven’t happened yet in this adaptation. Last week there was stuff removed about Yuki and Haru that was related to a chapter we haven’t gotten to yet and a whole major character who hasn’t been introduced yet, and this week there was at least one scene removed that was about following up on the aftermath of the whole Kyo arc, which will be where this season ends at this point. They also changed the setting of the confrontation scene with Hiro early in the episode because in the manga it happened at Kazuma’s dojo, and Kazuma also isn’t properly introduced until the Kyo arc. There was also a scene from the start of the arc that got cut because it was about summer starting, which was setting up for the Uo arc, which in the manga happened immediately after this part.

I’m kinda curious to see if they find a way to put the little scene of Kyo being worried that he might have scarred Tohru into some other part of the story. I think it’s a cute scene that’s worth keeping, even if it obviously had to be cut.

And even though it wasn’t really related to anything plot-important, they did cut out a small bit with Hiro annoying some random high-schoolers, which was a bit of a shame since I related so hard to them and their urge to send him flying, lmao.

Other than that this episode was pretty much just a regular adaptation of this part of the manga, and very similar to how I remember the 2001 anime handling it, especially since they also had to remove the references to the Kyo arc because of how they placed this part. Though I think the 2001 anime was actually more graphic in showing Akito actually hitting Kisa in that whole flashback, which neither the manga or this version did. For better or worse.

I’ve never really liked Hiro as a character, and his intro arc is definitely him at his worst, since he hasn’t had any time to really develop or become more interesting, so this episode was about as uninteresting to me as I expected. I didn’t dislike it, though. As an adaptation, it was perfectly fine, it’s just the story being covered here that I don’t like much.

I do feel kinda bad that in the 2001 anime this was literally the only time he ever showed up, and so he didn’t even have a chance to grow, and anyone who watched that version first wouldn’t have gotten much time to like him even if they wanted to. Thankfully this version will cover the whole story so we’ll actually get to see his development.

There’s something kinda funny about how anime only fans react to these sorts of episodes that really show off how awful Akito is. I mean, it’s funny because the fact that they hate her is exactly what they should be feeling, and even knowing how the story goes, it’s still the most valid reaction to stuff like this, lol. Mostly I just get a kick out of seeing people be like “why the fuck hasn’t anyone just called the police or abandoned Akito and moved on with their lives?”, and I’m just like “oh boy, are y’all ready for some complex examination of distressingly realistic cult psychology in your cute shoujo anime? :V”. I hope nobody actually thinks that the fact that nobody tries to stop Akito is an actual writing flaw, because it’s something that is 100% intentional and actually central to the whole plot. It’s just that it won’t really be fully explained for ages, and you can’t really say anything about it without giving away massive spoilers.

It’s also worth saying that the whole revelation here that Kisa getting abused by Akito and hospitalized for several weeks happened immediately before the bullying started sure does put a whole new spin on Kisa’s backstory in a way that’s just sorta casually laid out on the table. It at least makes it immediately clear that there was actually a whole lot more going on that made the whole situation even more messed up, and we only knew about one part of it. I still wonder how much Kisa’s mother knew about what happened, considering how negative she acted toward her before. You’d think that she’d have more sympathy for her daughter if she knew that, on top of the bullying at school, she had also just been violently abused out of nowhere by Akito.

I think that’s about all I want to say about this episode. Not a lot really happens in this part in general, lol. I did appreciate seeing some screen-time from Kyo, though, since he’s been kinda sidelined recently, and given that in a few weeks we’re gonna get into his big arc, he needs all the screen-time he can get.

As I figured from what we saw of Caitlin Glass’ notes [and just from knowing what happens next in the manga], the next episode will adapt the chapter with the Yuki fan club visiting Hana’s house. I initially thought they might combine that with Hana’s backstory chapter, since the chapter with the fan club girls is kinda short and comedy-focused, but it does look like they’ll cover that chapter alone next week, and then Hana’s backstory chapter will be episode 22. I think that’ll at least work fine since her backstory chapter is a nearly double-length one that has a whole lot of dialogue and internal monologues and stuff, so it could easily take a whole episode to adapt. I’m less sure how they’ll approach adapting the other chapter into an entire episode, though.

It’ll be interesting to compare it to the 2001 anime, which also adapted the chapter with the fan club girls into an entire episode. It’ll be an especially interesting comparison because that episode of the 2001 anime was very, uh, eccentric, and filled with the director’s own creative vision, to say the least. Which is actually why it ended up being my favourite episode of the 2001 anime, funnily enough. But I’ll talk about that more next week.

Once we get past the Hana episodes, there’s nothing concrete to go on to try and guess what they’ll cover next, but with only three episodes left in the season after that, I think it’ll all be focused on Kyo.