Summary
Yuki's past finally is revealed! But is it all too much to bear? His sickness takes a turn for the worse, and after Akito reminds Yuki how loathed he is, his will to live might finally be drained... Meanwhile, as Tohru is getting ready to perform in Cinderella, the class decides that they have to rewrite the play. But no amount of revision will prevent Tohru from improvising her loving feelings for a certain someone. Just who is the mystery man? (courtesy of Amazon)
Review*
*My "reviews" of manga are a combination of a summary and a review. It's hard for me to really talk about a volume of manga without going in depth with the plot. So if you're really concerned about spoilers, beware.
Yet another Yuki-heavy volume. As much as I love Yun-Yun, I'm really missing Kyo. We learn more about Yuki's childhood in this volume. He was placed with Akito at an early age. Akito must not be much older than Yuki, because they were both children together. Even as a child, Akito was selfish, needy, and cruel. He made sure that Yuki understood "his place." He was worthless. No one wanted him. The one time Yuki tried to make friends in school, he accidentally turned into a rat, and all his new friends' memories had to be modified. This only served to reinforce Yuki's isolation and feelings of worthlessness. Tohru managed to unknowingly boost Yuki's self-esteem before she even knew him. When they were both small, Tohru wandered away from her mother; Yuki helped her find her way. In that moment, he felt needed.
Yuki finally realizes his feelings for Tohru. This is super-weird to me. He thinks of her as his mother. The only person who ever cared for him. I find this a little hard to believe. How many 18 year old guys decide that a pretty girl whom they adore is the functional equivalent of their mother?
The rest of the volume as another attempt at levity. Tohru, Yuki, Kyo, Uo-chan, and Hana-chan are starring in the class production of Cinderella. This was the best Cinderella production I've ever seen. It's specifically called "Sorta Cinderella." They had to change the story since Tohru is incapable of being an evil stepsister, Kyo isn't exactly prince charming, and goth Hana-chan is far from sweet Cinderella. My favorite part was when Yuki, the fairy godmother asked Cinderella if he could grant her a wish and she requested to "burn the palace down." Cinderella was more interested in eating dinner than dancing with the prince. A lot of Fruits Basket funny moments fall flat for me, but this was fantastic.
Oh I like the sound of their Cinderella production, even the title "Sorta Cinderella" is amusing:) Is there a reason this series is called Fruit Baskets?
ReplyDeleteI love Fruits Basket XD
ReplyDeleteI love Fruits basket!
ReplyDeleteGreat review and I also love Fruits Basket.
ReplyDeletei've heard a lot about this series!! Sounds really good!
ReplyDeleteThe series is called 'Fruits Basket' because of an analogy Tohru made early on in the series.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting on my blog.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, I've been reading manga since I was about 11 or 12.
And I agree with you that manga has some kind of stigma attached to it, which is a shame because I've seen people pass it over because of it.
Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteI've chosen your blog for the '7 Facts Award.'
Follow the link:
http://kerosbookblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/seven-facts-award.html
Warmest regards,
Kero.
http://kerosbookblog.blogspot.com/
I loved this volume! I found the Yuki thing a bit odd too, but I loved the Cinderella production so much
ReplyDeleteI'm glad someone else is reading this right now. I just finished the series (finally) last week, so I enjoy reading other people's reviews about it. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for stopping by on the hop!