Phasing away a majority of its late 90’s early 2000’s shoujo tropes in favor of character storytelling, the second season of the timeless Fruits Basket remake continues the story by diving headfirst into the individual character stories of the cursed members of the Sohma family. More specifically, the focus shifts towards the few remaining members that weren’t introduced in the first season, (namely the Horse and the Rooster), as well as giving substantial time to both Kyo and Yuki as their respective paths for the futures they want start coming to light.

In fruits basket season 2 the plot thickens. We meet Akito-san more often and the story of the bond is explained in a more one plus one way. When season on starts it becomes clear that a romance might develop between Tooru [Honda-san], Yuki [Mouse spirit] and or Kyou [Cat spirit].

This is made clear in season 1 but in season 2 the writers definitely start charting a clear course showing that it’s a romance between Tooru and Kyou and if I’m being honest this starts in season 1 with that episode where Tooru-chan caught a cold and Kyou-kun made her something to eat but that’s neither here nor there.

My favorite aspect of this story and this kind of storytelling overall is its tone and how much the series goes from serious to kind of jokey, to disheartening and relieving all at the same time. The comedic tone of the series from its earlier areas (and from my memories of watching the original adaptation) has pretty much faded away by this point, replaced by serious overtones of abuse and human vulnerability in conjunction with stubbornness and fear over the idea of the status quo being challenged and the fragile peace in a person’s life being shattered if they decide to ever take one step forward. While there are several points in the season where some of this is less impactful or handled less well than others (mostly due to some pacing issues), as a whole, the presentation of Fruits Basket in its subject matter is treated with such a respectful tone that I can’t…really say anything bad about it?

Tohru always struck me as the dough-eyed cutie pie that, by proxy of the beginning events of the story, manages to get involved with some of the best looking guys in the school in a reverse harem/rom-com scenario that if written today would probably not get that many people excited. And while she does retain many, many of those characteristics due to her innate airheaded character, the things she does as a protagonist to move the story along for the benefit of others show a much stronger and selfless person that earns her spot as a worthwhile protagonist. Normally a perfect little angel like this would be a point of scrutiny due to the sheer impact she has among some of the Zodiac’s younger members, but the hidden traumas that’re sprinkled in throughout her character make way for something interesting. If only they showed it. I find it a shame that about 50 episodes in, we know less about Tohru’s past than we do everyone else. That’ll probably be in the final season when it comes around to it, but for now, it’s kind of a chain to pull the audience along. Which sucks, because her losing her mother in that fashion feels like only the tip of the iceberg to what’s really going on underneath the surface.

The twelve (or thirteen because Kyo) Zodiac members instead of just getting introduction arcs and episodes, this time instead get full on story involvement, as well as interactions that pry into the affairs and others. Most of them (especially the younger members) get some kind of significant change to illustrate their growth as people, while others like the Horse and Rooster get some extensive introduction arcs to explain their circumstances and involvement towards the endgoal of the series. While I very much love what’s been illustrated here with the Sohma family, the treatment is not equal, as several members feel like they either have cheaper arcs than they should’ve gotten, or just don’t show up at all because the story doesn’t really have any use for them in whatever situation is being displayed. It’s a shame because since everyone shares the same curse, I feel like there should be involvement from every member due to how the Zodiac curse actually works with its whole ‘bonds’ thing.

In season 2 we also see a more confident Kyou-kun. After that episode where he and Honda-san had a heart to heart he really was able to accept himself and after that he becomes more confident and he rejects the boar girl properly so he can focus all his attention on Honda-san [which is super romantic kawaiiiiiii].

Akito is the one character I feel is worth sectioning off only because of their role in the series as the ‘God’ that watches over the Zodiac. Their antagonistic aura featuring copious amounts of both physical and mental abuse paints a more than morbid picture over the entire narrative of Fruits Basket on top of the different circumstances and family situations that the Zodiac members deal with. Their unhinged, almost brat-like nature combined with Maaya Sakamoto’s performance as a manipulative authority figure creates a fascinating character that, while we at this point we don’t know the full story, is certainly an interesting antagonistic figure that’s easy to hate, but will be intriguing to explore when their story eventually comes to light.

If you haven’t gotten on the fruits basket train you are seriously missing out. This is a classic for a reason. I talked about how fruits basket is in a lot of anime lists on YouTube and I realized why that was the case when I watched it. Well, because it’s brilliant. It’s that simple and you seriously need to see it for yourself.