Fruits Basket 2nd Season (2020) - Spoiler Free Review
I have now completed watching the second season of Fruits Basket, and I am very happy with it. This season continues the story from where it left off in the previous one, and gives a worthwhile experience overall. This is my review of the same, and I have tried my best to summarize my overall experience of the show here.
Changes in the characters of Kyo and Yuki are evident in this part. We get to see a major change in Yuki's character, who is now able to appreciate the little things in life, all thanks to Tohru. I was impressed with the character developments of both of them, as slow and steady progression finally paid off here. We also get to see their pasts, and it helps a lot in further improving the impact of the present story - some flashbacks we witnessed before are elaborated, highlighting the emotions of the characters involved. It was painful to watch Yuki's story, which pulled my heartstrings quite a bit, and by the time the scene changed to the present, I was truly heartbroken but also happy for everything he had accomplished so far. It gave me just a little bit more strength to keep fighting and trying to improve yourself - because your life is your own at the end of the day. Loved it.
We also get to see the childhoods of Kagura and Kyo, and how they came to know each other. Kagura's story of getting to meet Kyo was not exactly a perfect tale, but like the show does brilliantly as a human story, it was good to see the imperfection in her character. I was indeed surprised to see the change in Kyo from how frustrated he used to be before, and it somehow made me feel happy for him. Their relationship is far from perfect, but it highlighted how important it is to not give up. Also, we get to know about a very sad thing about Kyo, which depressed me, and I just can't rest easy until I see how it ends up!
Isuzu Rin's story is also given importance later on, and we see her backstory and why she is the way she is now. I was truly amazed to see how these characters' stories felt relatable to me, and due to this I can cherish it even more now. She showed us the value of human connection that we all beg for, but sometimes cannot show it because we are afraid to hurt someone. We also get to see Akito's story, which had a surprising reveal at the end of this season, and it further strengthened Akito as the main antagonist. We get to know more about the curse of the zodiac as well. Kureno is also introduced as a significant character, and his arc was very heart-touching. Fruits Basket is magical realism at its finest, and this season is another proof of that.
Tohru Honda is such a likeable character! She is the symbol of everything good in the world, and I like her very much. Although she might seem as a typical good-MC, she proves that characters like that can still manage to leave a mark in our hearts somewhere. Not much development is seen in her character though, which I think is not a bad thing overall.
We also get to see some important moments of the other characters, and I cannot wait to see how all of this wraps up in the end (hoping for the best!). The story of Machi was good to see. As a slice of life anime, we also get to see some pretty engaging events such as fireworks by the beach, and the Sorta Cinderella school drama at the end, with all the characters from the class, which was truly hilarious and I laughed a lot watching it, as it complemented perfectly the characters outside the confines of the play!
About the other aspects of the show: the animation was similar to the previous season, and I found it to be average - it could have been better, considering it came out in 2020. It was not bad, but also not particularly great. The music was good enough, like its former season.
In conclusion, I can say without hesitation that this season was almost as good as the previous one, and is definitely worth watching. I have started to like Shoujo anime, as they are able to pull off some great viewing experiences, with a simple story and a beautiful execution. I will watch the final season now, and I plan to review it as well, so please look out for it! I would love to know about your thoughts on the anime as well as this review, so feel free to let me know! Thank you for your time in reading this, I appreciate it very much. Have a good day/night and keep watching anime!
You can read my review of the first season of Fruits Basket here.
Written by: Sekhar08
November 15, 2021