more on fruits basket, and some links.
It's strange, but the more I read Fruits Basket, the more I like Tohru. I didn't expect it, because she's such a straightforward yamato nadeshiko in so many ways--gentle, cute, domestic, non-threatening. I like to see female characters break from their assigned roles, and she in no way breaks from her role.
But there's such a sincerity to her. Her nature is not assumed as how she has to be because she's a girl; we see her struggle for it, we feel the convictions that lead her to be this way. She's so human, and I'm not used to seeing this type of character be that human and sympathetic. They're usually cute prizes for the boys to win, or mothers to nurture somebody. Tohru is Tohru, and she's trying her hardest.
I like her relationships with both Kyou and Yuki, but the former is the only one I can see developing into a mutual romance. Of course, I know spoilers, so maybe that's biased me from the start; I've also recalled something meganbmoore mentioned in her journal a little while ago, and that may be biasing me as well. But it seems to me that Tohru/Yuki is more about addressing Yuki's issues, and Kyou/Tohru is more about building a relationship for both of them. Or to put it more in the words of the manga itself, Yuki expects Tohru to save him and Kyou does not. I don't blame Yuki--he needs Tohru, and if the way he relates to her is as a nurturing figure who helps him rather than, in the end, a potential girlfriend, I'm sure she'll be all right with it, because that's the kind of person she is. But it does put a damper on seeing their relationship as potential romance.
I also don't ship the threesome all that much, because what Tohru has with each of them is very personalized and different, but they are cute together. That said...I'm kind of dreading the "oh, I never really loved you, I just saw you as a mother" revelation that I've heard about, because I feel like it would be so much better and truer to the characters for Yuki to realize that although Tohru may have been his first love, he doesn't really need her to love him back as a boyfriend in order to move on with his life.
I've finished through volume 11, and I'm taking a bit of a break from the series now to start Octavia Butler's Wild Seed. The characters are really engaging, and the way the theme is gearing up to address issues of power dynamics intrigues me.
I've been playing a lot of silly point-and-click webgames lately, and I've found a couple favorites:
♦ The games of Minoto. For the most part they're not very difficult, which is good for me because I always need to resort to a walkthrough for the difficult ones. The important thing is that they're adorable.
♦ Hoshi Saga. You have to find a star in every level, and the methods you use to find or create it vary every time. It's hard to describe, but creative and interesting.
I'm going to answer my Everything Fandom Questions soon, so if you haven't asked me something and you're still curious, do so now.
But there's such a sincerity to her. Her nature is not assumed as how she has to be because she's a girl; we see her struggle for it, we feel the convictions that lead her to be this way. She's so human, and I'm not used to seeing this type of character be that human and sympathetic. They're usually cute prizes for the boys to win, or mothers to nurture somebody. Tohru is Tohru, and she's trying her hardest.
I like her relationships with both Kyou and Yuki, but the former is the only one I can see developing into a mutual romance. Of course, I know spoilers, so maybe that's biased me from the start; I've also recalled something meganbmoore mentioned in her journal a little while ago, and that may be biasing me as well. But it seems to me that Tohru/Yuki is more about addressing Yuki's issues, and Kyou/Tohru is more about building a relationship for both of them. Or to put it more in the words of the manga itself, Yuki expects Tohru to save him and Kyou does not. I don't blame Yuki--he needs Tohru, and if the way he relates to her is as a nurturing figure who helps him rather than, in the end, a potential girlfriend, I'm sure she'll be all right with it, because that's the kind of person she is. But it does put a damper on seeing their relationship as potential romance.
I also don't ship the threesome all that much, because what Tohru has with each of them is very personalized and different, but they are cute together. That said...I'm kind of dreading the "oh, I never really loved you, I just saw you as a mother" revelation that I've heard about, because I feel like it would be so much better and truer to the characters for Yuki to realize that although Tohru may have been his first love, he doesn't really need her to love him back as a boyfriend in order to move on with his life.
I've finished through volume 11, and I'm taking a bit of a break from the series now to start Octavia Butler's Wild Seed. The characters are really engaging, and the way the theme is gearing up to address issues of power dynamics intrigues me.
I've been playing a lot of silly point-and-click webgames lately, and I've found a couple favorites:
♦ The games of Minoto. For the most part they're not very difficult, which is good for me because I always need to resort to a walkthrough for the difficult ones. The important thing is that they're adorable.
♦ Hoshi Saga. You have to find a star in every level, and the methods you use to find or create it vary every time. It's hard to describe, but creative and interesting.
I'm going to answer my Everything Fandom Questions soon, so if you haven't asked me something and you're still curious, do so now.