<WARNING: SPOILERS FROM THE MOVIE>
Ah, Fruits Basket.. the revival of the Shoujo demographics and a series filled with happiness, tragedy, and a fulfillment of one's desire, and being a fan of it since 2019, I've always looked forward to what the franchise will offer after the Final Season and this is one of them, the backstory of Kyoko and Katsuya. This backstory was initially supposed to be a part of the 2nd Season of Fruits Basket but skimming through the whole content in the manga was a whole separable medium that still gives a similar case and morality to the original so, understandably, they're doing
...
this after the Final Season of Fruits Basket as it's reassuring that Kyoko and Katsuya's backstory was very vague in its description back to when I was binge-watching the 1st and 2nd season of Fruits Basket but now that there's a movie, it's going to be a whole info dump to get to know more about who these 2 people are.
As many mentioned that the 30+ minutes of the movie is the recap but it's mainly focusing on Tohru and Kyo, with an additional narration to it give off an emotional and romantic sense of their development throughout the 3 Seasons of Fruits Basket. As per usual, there's a portrayal of happiness and tragedy between them, and Kyo and Tohru went from having such tough communication but gradually helping one another, showing care to one another, understanding one another, and growing their bonds until the day it lasts, this is a must-not skip as it's really helpful to recall many things that occurred during their sequence of development.
Afterward, it moves on towards the prelude of Fruits Basket which mainly focuses on Kyoko and Katsuya. I've seen many people growing some controversy about their age gap but the way the author handles it through the use of emotional narratives and their background is less of an exaggeration to come to think about it. Kyoko came off as aggressive in the first place, she cannot make a group of friends and her parents treated her like a piece of trash. I believe there is something about the theme that applies here and there which goes the same to the Fruits Basket series regarding "Self-Love", Kyoko hates herself for her own doing because she doesn't know her place at all but in the hand of help from Katsuya, a teacher from Kyoko's school, Kyoko became more comfortable surround him as Katsuya states his own less tragic but relatable story in comparison to Kyoko's story and sympathizing her circumstances that could be influential for Kyoko's own sake but no matter what struggle will occur to Kyoko, will always be inevitable but Katsuya is there to come with the help needed. As they get to know each other, they started to have a married life and had a precious and wholesome segment all-around, this is also where Baby Tohru made her appearance and of course, Baby Tohru till now is the wholesome blob! But little do you know an unexpected event occurred to Katsuya after Baby Tohru was raised, that had changed Kyoko's own ideals of her ways of living her life but she was able to recover her own pain through seeing her surroundings and now that she comes to her realization that Baby Tohru is now someone who she must take care and have fun with, she regains her happiness.
After about 70 minutes more or less, they added an extra scene that we can consider an epilogue between Kyo and Tohru. This was truly tearjerking coming from someone *insert fangirling* about their relationship development and I feel so proud seeing my ship sailing beautifully to wrap this whole franchise up, this might be the last time we will be seeing them together.
The visuals are beautiful and elevated the medium all the way through. The imagery of the beautiful scenery: the Beaches and the Cities, they were able to make a contrasting and elegant outlook to it that captures the mood from every segment throughout the prelude, even the closeups were also shining wonderfully, heck they didn't overuse any of those sparkly or shape effects. The musical score is as per usual, the melancholic choice of the OG OST is calming while there might be coming new ones that may be unheard of, and the new inserted song, "Niji to Kaito (虹とカイト)" by Trio Oohashi (大橋トリオ) was a very warm, soft, emotional, and it's just, a perfect way to wrap up the franchise in summarization.
Overall, what a movie from every aspect that had a wonderful and meaningful touching execution to a phenomenal series, to begin with, and was helpful enough to solve all of those unanswered plotholes and to get to know more about Kyoko and Katsuya's backstory. I wrote this review when it's already the 1st anniversary since the Final Season started airing and this franchise has always come to tell me no matter what series they're coming up with all over and over again, "We have lots of happy times & sad times, and we grow fond like that"
Sayonara Fruits Basket: a classic that will never be forgotten and one that had changed my life thanks to all of these amazing cast and staff who have made Fruits Basket a faithful adaptation, and kept the franchise and fanbase alive from their beautiful production quality.
Apr 6, 2022
Fruits Basket: Prelude
(Anime)
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<WARNING: SPOILERS FROM THE MOVIE>
Ah, Fruits Basket.. the revival of the Shoujo demographics and a series filled with happiness, tragedy, and a fulfillment of one's desire, and being a fan of it since 2019, I've always looked forward to what the franchise will offer after the Final Season and this is one of them, the backstory of Kyoko and Katsuya. This backstory was initially supposed to be a part of the 2nd Season of Fruits Basket but skimming through the whole content in the manga was a whole separable medium that still gives a similar case and morality to the original so, understandably, they're doing ... |
