A story of hellos and goodbyes, a tale of bonds and the suffocation that they can create, and a whimsy of the vulnerability of human beings and the fragility that can come from being alone. As the stories of the zodiac members and their God comes to an end, so too does the story of a lonely high school girl who’s lost so much, but keeps smiling in spite of that. For one last final banquet, what lies next for these weary and journeyed souls?

The Final, acting as the third and closing arc to the story of Fruits Basket is the one where the stories come to an end. Every episode from beginning to end is a rollercoaster climax that had been building up from the moment Tohru stepped foot in the house where the dog, cat, and rat lived. All of the major character threads built up to that point reach their apex, essentially creating wave after wave of emotional turmoil that’s barely held together by the psyche of these individuals as their trauma and pain rushes back to them as a final hurdle to overcome before they can be free. And a lot of this can be attributed to Akito, who gets the lion’s share of the time this time around as her story becomes a focal point in order to explain the vitriolic cycle of mental and physical abuse that she had enacted on all of the zodiac members ‘under’ her as she is their ‘God’.

And here is where I think the beauty of a story like Fruits Basket shines its true colors. The struggle of human nature is a fickle and complicated thing. Hurting people and being hurt whether intentionally or unintentionally are just parts of our existence, and it’s not just the big events that bring us down. But rather, the smaller, more inconspicuous things that slowly chip away at us, eating away our very being until we’re just a hollow shell of our former selves struggling to return to a sense of normalcy as we reach out desperately crying for someone to hear our pleas. And while the things we’ve done can’t be forgiven or forgotten, we can try and atone from our mistakes and improve from them. Every character, every facet of this story screams out loud this paramount list of human qualities in such a way that feels beautiful and impactful. And The Final makes full use of its predecessors’ build-up in order to deliver on a heartfelt yet bittersweet set of endings that create a sense of hope rather than a sense of happiness or idealistic happily ever afters.

My previous gripes with Honda Tohru have lied in the fact that despite being such a major focal point in the series, she has never had time devoted to herself to explain more about her story and the situations that brought her to this point. The airheaded, doe-eyed protagonist finally gets her arc, and…honestly I think I’m still a little bit underwhelmed. I haven’t read the manga, so I can’t really attest to whether or not there’re any missing details or not, but despite having a significant amount of additional details being revealed about her past, it still feels like Tohru being basically the answer to everyone’s problems is a bit ham-fisted. That being said, I really do like her changes. The story has always portrayed her as this sort of rock that you can just kick down a road, and just seeing more of her personal vulnerabilities and desires is something that honestly felt more rewarding than some of the other major zodiacs that’ve been featured in this show. It’s honestly kind of a unique change that I don’t see a lot of characters in fiction have; turning someone selfless into someone selfish, and I actually really like that aspect of her character. Cause I think it really grounds her as more of a person who typically doesn’t wear her heart on her sleeve yet fully understands and truly sympathizes with the kinds of pain and suffering those in zodiac have endured in their lives, and desires change for herself as a result.

Akito by contrast is an individual who does wear their heart on their sleeve, and does so with some rather perplexing character traits that both make sense, but does make it hard to sympathize with her plight sometimes. I think Natsuki Takaya’s intention with her character was less to be forgiven, but more to show that even abusers can be victims themselves and that while she isn’t blameless, she deserves some form of happiness as well. I can definitely see how Akito is a troublesome character to feel empathy for, but personally, I think that’s part of why Akito serves as a great antithesis to the always loved Tohru. She shows a drastically different version of loneliness, one where even a drastically different life circumstance surrounded by people can still lead to someone feeling isolated. That being said, her story still feels a bit wonky at times. I suspect this is because they kind of rushed through her story and maybe shaved some parts of it in order to save time. If this is the case, that’s honestly a shame because Akito’s existence in the story is intrinsically interesting due to her role as being the God that holds all of the zodiac members’ chains. And a part of me kind of expected a little more because of that. Just like maybe an episode or two more to stew over some important details, especially in regards to her relationship with Shigure. Cause that was all kinds of messy there and I don’t think I quite understand everything that happened there.

The last point I want to give is towards the OST, and what a fucking masterpiece this OST is. The entire thing is effectively just a bunch of mellow, soft, and emotional tracks, usually only using a small handful of instruments in order to echo the mood that’s been set in the scene and enhance the words that’s being said. And in The Final, it’s a major force as to why I think the storytelling works so well in a visual medium. It gives that extra emotional push the show needed to deliver on its impact which I think partly explains why I couldn’t keep it together while watching this thing.

There’re so many other things I could gush about, so many other little details and things that I could talk about to say how great and special this series is, but I think I’ve rambled about that for enough paragraphs. In the future, I’m sure there’ll be other stories that hit the same kinds of notes that Fruits Basket has; many have after this series’ heyday. But nothing will ever replace this series. And as I sit here typing out the last few words before saying goodbye to this series once more, I know that no matter how many other shows I’ll probably see and talk about in the future, I’ll be always be keeping this one close to my heart.