Fruits Basket (2019) S2 Episode 13

And thus Yuki’s chaotic life as the student body president commences with a squad full of freaking weirdos. When I first read the manga, I didn’t really care for the Student Council members, but maybe this go around will be different now that I’m older. Though I am still having trouble warming up to Kakeru. But we’ll see if I’m willing to forgive him. In any case, Yuki has a lot to contend with, especially when he has no experience in leading anyone, much less a group of just pure chaos. Though I am proud that he is sticking to the promise he made to himself at the beach that he won’t run away. Yuki is just trying his best.

We are introduced to two new characters and will be joining the “School Defense Force” as the two secretaries. Not sure why there are two secretaries, but I digress. Anyways, the two make very large impressions right off the bat with Kimi intentionally stirring up a ruckus with the Prince Yuki Fanclub out of amusement and Naohito basically being the embodiment of a small dog that’s all bark but no bite. They didn’t make much of an impression on me when I first read the manga, but I can see the hilarity of chaos each one brings to the table and I look forward to more. Especially since these two have no involvement with Sohma strife whatsoever.

The Yuki introspective continues trucking forward as we get to see him continue his development. Even though Yuki has come a very long way, it’s pretty normal for someone to have difficulties break bad habits of self-deprecation. So I’m not surprised to see him revert a little bit into old habits since those generally take a long time to get over. Yuki still has some major inner turmoil to sort out due to years of abuse so I can’t blame the guy for falling back on his typical negativity. As someone who really likes the “seven deadly sins” theme (in general not just the anime), if I were to assign Yuki a sin, it would be envy. The poor guy has extremely low self esteem and will not only compare himself to Kyo, but to EVERYONE. He sees so much good qualities in others and cannot say the same thing about himself. And I think that honestly goes for a lot of other people as well, myself included. I feel we often jump to compare what we’re capable to other people, especially when there will always be someone who does something better. Yuki even admits that the biggest villain in his life is himself and I think that’s true to a lot of people as well again. Most of the time it’s ourselves that prevent us from moving forward whether it be self deprecation, laziness, confidence issues, fear, etc.

I honestly can’t stand Kakeru. While he may be cut from the same cloth as Ayame, at least Ayame still has a sense of maturity and isn’t lazy. I know there’s a lot more to him after reading the manga, but I already didn’t like him even from there. Though, I was holding something against him that he did in the past so I decided to try and give him a second chance… but he’s not doing himself any favors with his lazy and insensitive attitude. Especially when he just kicked the plants out of Yuki’s hands. Yes, I understand that Yuki was assuming and projecting, but that action was completely unnecessary. Not to mention that Kakeru’s assumptions are what started this whole argument. And I completely get why Yuki got mad because Kakeru made it sound like Yuki was not as happy as Kyo despite Kakeru knowing nothing about their situations. However, I do see the good that Kakeru is slowly bringing to Yuki.

At first I didn’t like how annoying Kakeru seemed in regards to his interactions with Yuki, especially since it just seemed like he was just getting on his nerves most of the time. But looking back on it, he did seem like one of the best people to help Yuki open up or even challenge his view point in a way no one else has. That doesn’t make him any less annoying in my eyes, but I can appreciate how he helps Yuki in his development. And a big part of their developing friendship is that they seem to be able to help each other open up about things they struggle with. Just as Yuki basically shouted that he has problems with comparing himself to others and that he assumes things, Kakeru confesses that he struggles with seeing from others’ perspectives and can come across as too much or insensitive. The two have such different view points where it’s almost impossible for them to see eye to eye. But I do think it’s good for Yuki to interact with someone who brings a different perspective, allowing him to broaden his horizons and grow and in return, help broaden other people’s horizons by sharing his perspective.

And while the start of their argument seemed like a SEVERE case of miscommunication and Yuki kind of projecting, this had to be the first time that Yuki was blatantly open to someone about how he feels, aside from Tohru. I felt there was this very large contrast between this fight with Kakeru to his typical fights with Kyo. With Kyo, the two mainly hurl insults and never really reach the core of their problem with each other and just left it at that. However, with Kakeru, both Yuki and Kakeru admit their faults and why they got so mad at each other in the first place, to which they were able to grow closer because of it. Though to be honest, I get the feeling that Kakeru is a giant foil to Kyo in regards to Yuki. Considering their fight consisted of the other assuming how the other feels, which Kyo and Yuki do on a regular basis and never reach a reconciliation. Which is probably why Yuki admits that he’s tired of this usual pattern. Their fights never amount to anything and the two can’t reach an understanding. But with Kakeru, they were both able to realize their faults that both falsely assumed what the other felt when in the end, both were just jealous of the other. Which is exactly what Yuki and Kyo’s relationship is based upon, assumptions and jealousy, but are never able to openly talk about it. Which makes me think that Yuki and Kyo really could have been friends if they were just honest with one another.

Also, I’m kind of getting the vibe that Kakeru has a difficult time with sympathy. He doesn’t seem to be very receptive of others’ perspectives or feelings, which seems to get him into a lot of trouble with others. Which is why he admits that he was jealous of Yuki being able to tell when something is wrong with other people. Which, I’m sure was one of the things that Tohru rubbed off on him since Yuki was so self-absorbed at the beginning of the story.

I think this may have been the first time that someone openly told Yuki that they were jealous of him. This must have meant so much to Yuki while also confusing him. Not only did someone Yuki envied tell that there was something in him that was worth being looked up to, but he gave Yuki an example of how to be more genuine with his feelings. I’m sure that must have been a little confidence booster that Yuki desperately needed, especially from someone who isn’t involved with the Zodiac situation. And it just warmed my heart to see that Yuki felt like he was enjoying being around other people so different from him. Not to mention that his and Kakeru’s growing friendship is essentially the kind of friendship that Yuki wanted from a school life in the first place. They’re helping each other grow and is a bond that has nothing to do with his family situation, something he definitely needed and I’m happy for him.

It’s been a while since Yuki was in the spotlight so I’m happy to see my boy continue to grow. Ever since coming back from the beach arc, Yuki has been a lot more open and expressive with the people around him. Even going as far as to openly shows his annoyance and disdain towards whether it be Kyo or Kakeru. This is the start of his newest development arc and I am excited to see it progress now with a new perspective on his situation since I think I didn’t fully grasp it back in high school. Kakeru is still frustrating to me, but I’ll keep an open mind about him since I am starting to see that his presence is a necessary stepping block for Yuki’s development. Though I’m sure anime onlys may be curious about the look Kakeru gave Tohru upon seeing her in the distance. A part I am both curious as to how the anime will treat the scene and not looking forward to seeing.

There were some pretty hilarious moments throughout this episode, such as Kimi antagonizing the Prince Yuki Fanclub, her guilt tripping Yuki into calling her by her first name and Kakeru just being the bane of Yuki’s existence at school. Though I must say there was quite a lot of hitting in this episode lol. With Uotani hitting Kyo, Kimi hitting Kakeru, Kakeru hitting Naohito and the poor seedlings. Though the part that had me howling with laughter was after Kakeru hypocritically shouting why they’re even discussing assigned colors, when Yuki started casually writing “swamp brown” as Kakeru’s assigned color. I don’t know why that tickled me so much.

So sadly no new opening, but I feel like it has something to do with the fact they haven’t made a new opening yet for the second half of the series due to the pandemic. It is what it is, so we’ll have to live with it. Though considering the part where they added Kureno, I feel like they did it just to show him in the opening at least once. But I guess we’ll see if they’ll change the opening any time soon.