A story that I initially thought was a simple tearjerker with no grounding proves to be a quality tearjerker that knows exactly what it's going for.
Despite its appearance, Fruit Basket is a series for a slightly older audience, since it appeals to a lot of adults and has more somber themes. And also revolves greatly around the sex lives of some of the characters.
Anyway, the second season picks up where the first left off. There are new everyday episodes, and new small events and you see more and more interference from Akito. What impresses me the most here again are the character's backgrounds and their problems. Very rarely does an anime/manga manage to address these stories properly without making it seem like melodramatic theater, and yet they've done it here. In fact, I'm almost thrilled with the backgrounds and characters.
Of course, this anime does have its serious drawbacks. For example, the pacing is mediocre, there are often unnecessary flashbacks that fortunately don't last long. Many scenes lack creativity and variety. And especially disappointing are the dialogues. I so often get the feeling that the author doesn't know exactly what he's letting the characters say, as soon as there's no topic about Akito or their backgrounds. They stand around, always looking at each other in shock, acting like goofballs. The comedy moments make up for this to some extent, but when a normal non-story dialogue takes place, you know it's going to be torture. If you don't know what the characters are supposed to say, it's better to replace it completely with another scene. These awkward silences and copy-paste interactions don't help at all.
[Story 4]
The story contributes practically nothing new, except that you see more of the character's backgrounds. Also light information regarding Akito and the Soma family.
[Characters 6]
Many characters are just blunt stereotypes, but this is balanced relatively well by their various complexes, traumas, and backgrounds. This results in the characters seeming understandable and the viewer actually cares about them. Especially since there is a healthy mix between happy and unhappy characters and not everyone is traumatized by something.
And as said, the backgrounds of the characters are relatively realistic and not exaggerated in any way. Many people react to problems differently and especially here, there are a lot of broken parents who think it's okay to ruin their children's lives. And this doesn't just happen out of thin air. Predominantly, the parents themselves are just overstressed people who blame their children for their failures. But there are also some parents who simply should never have become parents.
[Music 5 / Animations 6]
The intros in the anime really make me rethink my whole life. Especially when I'm lying in bed and can't skip this bullshit. Mediocre vocals with montages of characters walking and looking in directions. It's not a disaster, but an intro should be appealing or at least reflect something.
The outros are shockingly actually good and enjoyable.
The osts are average and nothing worth mentioning.
Regarding the animations, the budget has increased slightly as you can see, and the backgrounds have also gotten better. But nothing to talk about.
[Conclusion 6]
The second season of Fruit Basket has been more convincing than the first, also making up for some shortcomings and building more momentum. If the third season keeps this quality or even gets better, I will be more than satisfied.
[Enjoyment 7]
