The relationship of Kyoko and Katsuya is controversial amongst fans of the series, especially the anime onlies who flooded the fandom as result of the reboot. What is important to remember is that fruits basket is both a series from another culture, and another time. The 90s and early 2000s was a different time. Teens dating slightly older adults wasn't viewed the same way and the further back you go, the more common it was. From The Sound of Music, to Sabrina the Teenage Witch, you see it. Add in the fact japan is a different culture which changes at a different rate and you should get the picture. And for the record, the story is self aware enough where starting drama accomplishes nothing. Kyoko literally makes a Lolita complex joke at Katsuya's expense.
Let's all remember this is a work of fiction as well and enjoy the show. While we may relate to these characters and love them, they aren't real. And fiction is where we explore fantasy. A student teacher romance itself, being a popular romance story trope.
Before we tackle the prelude, let's address the recap and epilogue.
The recap, while unnecessary does provide some nice insight into kyo's point of view. For those of you who were dissatisfied with some creative liberties the final season took regarding kyo "forgetting" his connection to Tohru and Kyoko, despite it being clear through out the earlier seasons and even during the final itself, that he didn't, this clarifies that he simply tried to put it in a box and not think about it. Is it a lazy retcon because TMS got called our for their bs and realized they created plot discrepancies that weren't there? Probably but we'll never know for sure. At best this recap serves the purpose of emotionally prepping the viewer to cry during the movie and reintroduce the context regarding kyo's bond to Kyoko. Something that wouldn't have been necessary if they final season was given the full season order it needed.
At worst, it's just a cheap and pointless time killer eat up runtime while barely spending any money. It's also a minimalistic approach to trying to restore the emotional impact this background story had during the manga and how the later content would play off this tension, both during Kyo and Tohru's character arcs. Not that tms / production committee saw much value in those, despite them being the protagonist and love interest.
Now Takaya sensei hear our pain about the final season rushing though content and not properly delivering the resolution to character arcs and the story. And she took this opportunity to provide a nugget of joy to anime and manga fans alike. That's right, a new brief epilogue from therapist. I mean mangaka.
While the epilogue is brief, it hits all the right notes. It builds on Tohru and Kyo’s graveside conversation and shows a glimpse at their married life. The happy couple is living their best lives, working hard, panning a trip back to the family and being all lovey dovey. Its everything tms cut out of the main series. It's thrilling to see some of the sweet kyoru content we deserved. Thank you sensei. You never fail to deliver when you're needed. Now please pick up that pen and get back to Liselotte. If you're truly done with furuba and furuba another your fans need you elsewhere.
So let's dive in to prelude now. Katsuya Honda is an interning student teacher and the fantastic woman we all know and love, Kyoko, is a middle school senior. Their paths cross at a time where Kyoko is young, rebellious and emotionally volatile. She is the crimson butterfly, the girl gang member feared by her peers, and underneath her tough as nails facade, is just a broken girl from an unhappy home.
This is the story about how this girl became the emotional pillar that helped save Arisa, Kyo and of course Tohru. And the person who saved her? That's right, Katsuya Honda. He saw in Kyoko, the same emotions he hid beneath a mask of his own and when she broke down and cried, he fell in love. It was her raw honesty that reached him. And while their situations may have been different, they were still quite similar.
While she had chosen to put on a tuff girl act and gall in with a bad crows in order to hide her pain, he had chosen to give into the demands of his controlling and judgmental family and put on the act of the dutiful and obedient son. Even his decision to pursue teaching was in order to please those around him, be they family or the expectations of the other teachers. You can see the moments he drops his mask. He removes his glasses (which are fake and part of his facade) and swiftly flips the switch into a dark prince type character. He takes Kyoko pointing out his bad behavior as a compliment every time. Because she sees the real him along with the fake him and enjoys it. Just like how he sees value in both versions of her.
the two of them spent many lunch breaks chatting and growing closer. She never once attended his class. Even after he revealed he would be leaving the school and not pursuing education, she couldn't bring herself to face her peers judgement by entering a classroom. But luckily for her this twisted teacher wanted to keep meeting her.
His belief in her, reach her. It helped guide her to a better path. And helped teach her that she is worthy of love. But this better path and desire to change was held back by her past. Her decision to leave her gang, stole her opportunity to attend high school and got her disowned by her family. But luckily for her, Katsuya provided the home she needed and with the blessing of her father who just wanted her gone, married her.
We spend just enough time witnessing and enjoying their life together to become attached to their bond, their marriage and their parenting before tragedy strikes and Katsuya abruptly passess away. It leaves you wanting more, a feeling painfully shared by Kyoko as she is reduced to an empty shell of the woman she was before. She falls into so much darkness that she essentially forgets about Tohru entirely.
This story is as much a commentary on societal expectations as it is a romance. Both Katsuya and Kyoko were forced to hide behind masks as they came from two very different, but very troubled homes. They were judged by their family, each others families, their peers, but with the support of Katsuya's father who had lightened up after the death of his wife, they were able to move forward, determined to prove everyone who judged their relationship wrong.
"Show them you are happy because you are together"
That’s right people, even within the story their relationship is judged as wrong. After katsuya's death, insults at hurled at Kyoko by both his family and her own father. And while the movie didn't show it, the anime did reveal that they even insulted tohru, choosing to say hurtful things like she probably isn't even Katsuya's son. We spent 40 minutes on a recap but couldn't even have crucial content like that put in cause reasons.
Now I want to take the time to discuss something very important. The poor planning of the series that tore the final season to pieces is not solved through this movie alone. And the poor planning continues here. The time spent on the 40 minute recap, could of easily been spent animating content that directly ties into Kyoko's death. Kakeru's arc and connection to Tohru were repeatedly foreshadowed throughout the second season. Manga spoilers follow, so please only continue if you're OK with that. This would of been the perfect opportunity to fix one of the biggest mistakes of the final season, which was not adapting the content revealing what this connection was. Kakeru's girlfriend, Komaki, who was also mentioned several times, is the daughter of the man who killed Kyoko with his car. He attended Kyoko's funeral and went off on tohru for acting like she was the only person who lost someone in that accident (all before Komaki could nock some sense into him). An act that would play a part in Tohru beginning to hide her grief behind her happy go lucky attitude for most of the series. The final season did Tohru's background and character arc a disservice in many ways, and while this movie at least restores some of it, it does not fully deliver or resolve the issues with the final season.
I'll see you guys when tms and the production committee come back for more ovas, movies or whatever else they decide to do to bleed more money out of us. There's still entire chapters that were left unadapted and plenty of half chapters and skipped scenes, so here's hoping for a director's cut. Otherwise, be sure to check out the manga. You won't regret it. The story deserves the be told infull and that's the only way to experience it as of now.
And for anyone wondering if they'll adapt furuba another, the sequel series, kakeru and komaki's child is a player, so it shouldn't be adapted without a proper adaptation of their story arc.
