And with that, we’ve officially been introduced to all of the Zodiac members. Well formally, since we did find out about Isuzu or Rin by the end of the first season. And with Rin being the horse, we can easily deduce that Kureno is most likely the rooster considering he’s the only one left. But then… what does that make Akito? While Tohru seems to believe that Akito is most likely the rooster, if you think back to the story of the Zodiac banquet, she’s forgetting a pretty significant character. And I’ll leave it at that for the time being since I believe they’ll talk about it either next episode or the one after.
Before we get into the actual meat of the episode, I did want to bring up something really quick. I don’t think we ever really got much of Kagura’s family, however, I do appreciate that her mom is actually worried about her well-being, knowing full well how Akito has severely injured several other of the Zodiac members. I’m sure that Kagura’s mom falls into the “very protective” category of parents of the Zodiac that Momiji had listed, but I feel like protective is a lot better than rejecting or indifferent. Especially since it seems that Kagura is one of the only members who hasn’t been physically hurt by Akito. It’s also nice to see a Zodiac member and their parent get along well with one another as neither one seemed to have a problem talking to each other. Even going as far as to take Rin in when she had no where else to go. I kind of wish we got the inside look and see how some of the other Zodiac members interact with their parents like Kagura, Hatori, Shigure, Ayame and Hatsuharu. I also found it hilarious how the mom didn’t even blink when Kagura kicked down the door. Instead treated it like this was a normal thing, which I’m sure it is. She was just so calm when it happened and I couldn’t help but laugh. Especially since I’m sure she had Kagura fix it.
In any case, I felt really bad for Hatsuharu at the beginning of the episode with Akito picking at his insecurity of being laughed at because of him being the “dumb ox.” While he’s mostly gotten over that insecurity, I’m sure it still bothers him when it’s brought up to his face. However, it seems like Yuki was able to cheer him back up. And while this isn’t anything new, I always have to appreciate how Hatsuharu will always be worried about others and places their needs above his own. So I’m glad that Yuki is being more receptive towards him and offering support when he feels that something is off.
Speaking of Yuki… episode, why must you remind me of the last Yuki x Tohru moment? Not to mention, they STILL had some pretty cute moments together??? HAVE YOU NOT HURT ME ENOUGH AS IT IS??? And here I thought we were over the hill of Yuki x Tohru but they managed to slip in one final word in with Yuki being SMOOTH AS HECK by saying he won’t apologize for the kiss to her forehead. Not only that but my heart skipped a beat when he leaned in close. DANG BOY. I LEGIT DO NOT REMEMBER THIS PART FROM THE MANGA. But hey, I’m not complaining! One final snack for the road, I’ll take it! That last scene between them was very sweet as well. And while I’d like to see it as a very wife/husband dynamic, I know it was made to be more motherly.
But man, Yuki sure has become more confident and bold. He isn’t even romantically involved with Tohru anymore and he’s still pulling out some swoon worthy and bold actions. He doesn’t seem as timid and goes about things with more conviction and assurance, it’s kind of great to see. Though I do feel very conflicted with that “ore-sama” statement. On one hand, DANG BOI, on the other, Yuki why you do this? He even stood his ground against Rin’s threats and even got her to back off, not even flinching over her provocation of him being Akito’s plaything. That’s some resolution right there. Though I am curious as to how exactly Yuki’s talk with Akito went down since he doesn’t seem particularly down about it and instead seems more quietly rebelling. Whatever happened, he’s not allowing himself to brood over it.
And while Yuki and Tohru seem to be growing a part in a sense, she and Kyo are growing closer. With him opening up a little more about the curse of the cat and his view on sacrifice. He doesn’t understand how a life is worth being sacrificed over, which is probably linked to his feelings towards his mother’s suicide.
Though I am sad that there is a new distance between him and Tohru now. Almost as if he wants to protect her, but at a distance as shown when he tells Kyo not to cause problems for her, making sure that Akito doesn’t come into contact with her and also preventing Rin from hurting her. Danger just seemed to be very attracted to Tohru this episode. Thankfully, Rat boy, Yuki is on the look out.
Akito be trying real hard to get the Zodiac members away from Tohru if not just physically at the moment by getting the members to come see him so that they’ll spend less time with her. Though despite Akito separating them, it’s quite obvious their hearts are still very much with Tohru as when they come back they’re always happy and excited. It’s gonna take more than physical distance to stop them from happily going back to Tohru, Akito. As Shigure put it, Akito certainly has a god complex and just sees himself as all important and can’t understand why the Zodiac members wouldn’t come back to him. He always seems laugh at the prospect of Tohru possibly winning them over him. He was even willing to let Kureno go see Tohru in hopes of proving everyone wrong on how all Zodiac members seem to be drawn to her. It’s almost like he’s playing a game with Tohru despite her being unaware and he’s making plays that he feels like will benefit him in the end. But we’ll have to wait to see if this game Akito is playing will be in his favor or Tohru’s. However, it looks like Akito will be trying a different tactic by asking for Kyo to come see him. This can only go poorly as Akito only views Kyo as a monster and it’s pretty obvious Kyo hates him.
Rin has shown to be an interesting character (even if I didn’t care too much about her when I first read the manga) as she seems to be dealing with a lot of inner turmoil. Shown by her ripping off the shirt Tohru lent her while destroying her sand castle in absolute fury. We can’t say for sure what exactly she’s doing and if it’s good or bad since she’s been kind of moving around in secret for a while. However, it’s quite obvious that just like the rest of the Zodiac, she seems to be quite broken both health-wise and emotionally.
This was an interesting episode and while Akito can’t seem to affect Yuki as much as he was able to before, I’m sure he’ll be able to get under Kyo’s skin very easily. So I can only assume that the next episode is going to be very tense.
Also on a random note, it must really suck to transform into one of the larger Zodiac animals since when you transform, you end up destroying your clothes…
