And now we’ve finally reached the part of the series where everything just starts to shift a bit. Now, the series is no stranger to dark tones, but I feel like from this point on, things get a lot more intense. As shown with Hatsuharu basically destroying the classroom out of rage from being dumped. Things were definitely getting heated and a bit scary since Haru started involving Tohru in his rampage. Thankfully the teacher was able to de escalate the situation.
Even though we never see her, just from Hatsuharu’s description of “she’ll take an hour to put on makeup” kind of shows the relationship between mother and son. With Haru’s mom seemingly caring more about appearances rather than her own son. Though it is to be expected of what has been said about the Zodiac children and their relationships to their parents. While his relationship seems to not be bad like some of the others, it doesn’t seem good either. More like indifference on both sides. Which is very sad.
While I gushed about Yuki’s relationship with Ayame in the past episode, this episode highlighted how important Hatsuharu is to Yuki’s development as well. Even when Hatsuharu was suffering, he still cared about how Yuki was doing in regards to Tohru, just being the best support Yuki has had before everything else. Even Yuki recognizes how Haru’s selflessness is causing him pain and wants to be there for him for once since Haru has always been there for him. What I really like about Haru and Yuki’s relationship is that it’s basically what Kyo and Yuki could have been if Kyo could recognize that Yuki isn’t the ultimate bad guy he views him as. Haru realizes that Yuki isn’t the one responsible for his hardships and has his own troubles plaguing him. And because of that, Haru became Yuki’s earliest supporter.
I also like that Yuki recognizes his selfishness and even straight up says that it’s not right. All he’s ever cared about was himself and that all of his actions up to this point have been selfish. However, Yuki has been making an effort to change. Even going as far as to go after Haru, worried about if he’s alright. Yuki has become more caring towards others, even going as far as to open up a little more. It also shows how much Yuki has grown. Even deciding to go to the Sohma estate by himself, even though Tohru offered to go with him. He’s wanting to move forward without Tohru this time. Almost like he’s taking off the training wheels. And man, I had to clap for Yuki when he walked over onto the estate grounds. He’s come so far. I honestly didn’t think he’d go forward with this visit, considering he still suffers from major PTSD just by being near this place. It’s a major accomplishment. When he ran into a couple of the maids, I was rooting so hard for him to cut off her reprimands of him not coming to the New Years banquet and had to yell “HECK YEAH” when he did. I’m so proud of you Yuki and your development!
Haru cracked me up a lot this episode… even though he went through some pretty emotional stuff on his side. The fact that he can’t fathom certain things and just says “mystery~” is just hilarious. Also I burst out laughing when he immediately got out his phone to take a selfie with Yuki. But honestly, it is a monumentous moment for Yuki to have even stepped foot into the estate by himself. Haru is such a solid support and I think Yuki wants to return the favor after everything he did for him. Which I feel like he accomplishes a little when Haru actually opens up to him about having dated Rin in secret. Haru himself admits that he hadn’t told anyone about this before, showing the trust he has in Yuki and vice versa. I do feel pretty bad for him, though despite everything, Haru still seems determined to get Rin back. So we’ll just have to see what becomes of them from this point on.
I really like that final shot of Kyo running drills, as if he’s still stuck fighting his inner demons while Yuki is walking… showing that he is in the process of moving forward and I couldn’t help but feel so happy upon seeing him run forward towards the gate leading out of the estate with a smile on his face. It’s as if he’s found the courage to move towards his freedom and I couldn’t be prouder of him… Even though it felt very foreboding afterwards when Rin appeared behind him, watching him with a cold look on her face.
Overall, this was a pretty solid episode with lots of foreshadowing and symbolism with the different characters. Specifically, Kyo, Yuki and Haru. We can see the start of a certain shift between the dynamics of Yuki, Tohru and Kyo and that Yuki seems to see something between them that the two probably haven’t even realized themselves (which hurts my Yuki x Tohru heart). Not only that, but the fact that Yuki is starting to be more distant towards Tohru. Not in a bad way, but the fact that he’s starting to take on certain things by himself without having her there with him all the time anymore. It’s definitely a necessary step in Yuki’s character development to allow him to stand on his own, something that he wished to do since before the series started.
It was really cute seeing him blush when Haru questioned him on the state of his relationship with Tohru. Got to savor the moments while I can!
While Yuki is moving forward, Kyo seems to be stuck in place at the moment. I feel like he’s confused with what he wants to do from this point on, which makes sense since he is to be locked away once he graduates from high school. But he’s also seems more conflicted with how he’s interacting with Tohru now, considering he literally knocked her off a cliff back in season 1. Though it feels a little weird considering how close he seemed towards her a couple episodes ago. Though it most likely has to do with the fact the anime is not adapting the manga in order. I went back and checked and noticed that some chapters are happening way before they happen in the manga, so there’s that. But it may be that proximity that is making Kyo start to consider his position more. I just wish he wouldn’t resort to violence when things get dicey.
Also a quick random note, but when Momiji was saying that Hatsuharu was “suspected,” I honestly thought it was a translation error with the subtitles, but thankfully Yuki cleared that up. Freaking Momiji lol.
