Takaya Natsuki - Fruits Basket, vol. 02 (Eng. trans.) (reread)
Slooowly catching up with rilina in the Great Manga Reread Project: Fruits Basket edition.
Spoilers for this volume under the cut; spoilers for later volumes further hidden using spoiler code. Please use spoiler code for later volumes in the comments! Also, I've only read up to around ch. 126.
Spoilers for vol. 2
I'm continuing to love the development in these volumes; I'm still surprised by how early some things are showing up. Like rilina noted, I could have sworn that Hatori and his backstory came later on in the manga. But nope, it's right here. I very much love the introduction of Hatori (not just because he is a favorite character because of his WOE and ANGST! Really!). He's first seen as a very creepy figure looming in the background, no sense of humor, and then of course, we have Yuki warning Tohru that Hatori's the one who does the memory wipes.
And yet, we find out that really, Hatori isn't the creepy one (Shigure is!). All my notes on Hatori in this volume look like: WAAAAH HATORI ANGST WOE! POOR HATORI! WAAAAH! Um. Yes. But oh, his backstory hits all my buttons, and I love that the memory wipes in Fruits Basket are bad, bad things, like memory wipes should be. And it just kills me when Hatori says that he never imagined he would have to wipe away the memories of someone he loved so much, much less the very memories that were the most important to him. *cue flailing*
On a more serious note, we have heavy parallels between Tohru and Kana here, from Tohru's first reaction to Hatori-as-seahorse resembling Kana's first reaction to Tohru getting the riddle of what snow becomes correct. I can't remember if Tohru reminds other 12shi of their "precious people;" will have to keep an eye out for that.
When I remember, I always think it's sort of unbelievable for Kana to blame herself so much and for Hatori to decide the only thing to do is suppress her memories, but I always forget about Akito yelling all those horrible, horrible things and making the suggestion of memory suppresion to Hatori. Man, he's evil. And of course, Kana is a Sohma too, so presumably they're all accustomed to taking Akito's word as law.
And I am so amused that Hatori of course joins the ranks of hot and angsty manga guys with only one eye. Except he is TOTALLY DIFFERENT! Because instead of not having his right eye, Hatori is missing his left eye! Oh manga. Much love.
Also, this is the volume where one of my absolute favorite Fruits Basket images is developed further: the onigiri! Not just Tohru-as-onigiri from the first volume, but everyone-as-onigiri. I also love that the introduction of Tohru's idea of everyone-as-onigiri comes during the school fair chapter, in which her class decides to sell onigiri with surprise insides. It's just like the metaphor! People are getting onigiri and they don't know what's in them, just like they don't know what good qualities they have!
And Tohru thinks, "Because Sohma-kun is Sohma-kun ... and Kyo-kun is Kyo-kun" when she realizes Kyo and Yuki are jealous of each other, echoing Kyoko's "Tohru, just be yourself."
Rereading this manga really makes me so happy ^_^. But yes, I also love that the entire onigiri story comes in a chapter where Kyo confesses his jealousy of Yuki. And I love Kyo telling Tohru that she's got an umeboshi on her back too. A reaaaaalllly tiny one. Hee. And I adore the teeny chibi onigiri looking sadly down at itself, thinking, "I'm just plain white rice!"
Eh, I reserve the right to say nearly everything is my favorite Furuba story EVER, as I suspect I will be saying that a whole lot.
Anyhow. We're also introduced to more of the 12shi in this volume; I already got Hatori. But Momiji! I can never get over how Eurotrash he is the first time we meet him. The glasses! The random German! The cute rabbit form! I really love him because he's not afraid of hugging Tohru, despite the curse (also, cute rabbit form!). And (spoilers up to ch. 126) of course, he's one of my favorite of the 12shi because of the story of the stupid traveller and what happens when his curse is broken. He grows up so much, and yet manages to retain the sweetness and generosity that made me love him in the first place.
We also get a brief glimpse of Haru, but not much else.
I adore the New Year chapter as well, not just for Yuki and Kyo coming back for Tohru, but also because Hanajima is the one who prompts them to. The first chapter of the volume emphasizes not just that Hanajima and Uotani are Tohru's good friends, but also that Tohru is their first friend as well. They value her just as much as she values them, which is saying quite a bit. And I love that even though Tohru seems like the poor lonely orphan in the beginning, she's really not. She still has her memories of her mother, who is awesome (I love the little shot of Kyoko roughhousing wee!Tohru) and who let Tohru know that she was loved very much, and she has Hanajima and Uotani years before meeting the Sohma. rilina already notes it in her write up, but I love that this is a series not just about romance, but about family and friends, whom I tend to think are just as important, if not more so, than romantic interests.
I was wondering who was narrating the New Year chapter: Kyo or Yuki or both?
Random notes:
Foreshadowing notes (vague spoilers through ch. 126 for all except when noted):
Possible thematic notes:
Sample spoiler code:
Spoilers here.
Links:
- Thread collecting all vol. 2 GMRP posts.
Spoilers for this volume under the cut; spoilers for later volumes further hidden using spoiler code. Please use spoiler code for later volumes in the comments! Also, I've only read up to around ch. 126.
Spoilers for vol. 2
I'm continuing to love the development in these volumes; I'm still surprised by how early some things are showing up. Like rilina noted, I could have sworn that Hatori and his backstory came later on in the manga. But nope, it's right here. I very much love the introduction of Hatori (not just because he is a favorite character because of his WOE and ANGST! Really!). He's first seen as a very creepy figure looming in the background, no sense of humor, and then of course, we have Yuki warning Tohru that Hatori's the one who does the memory wipes.
And yet, we find out that really, Hatori isn't the creepy one (Shigure is!). All my notes on Hatori in this volume look like: WAAAAH HATORI ANGST WOE! POOR HATORI! WAAAAH! Um. Yes. But oh, his backstory hits all my buttons, and I love that the memory wipes in Fruits Basket are bad, bad things, like memory wipes should be. And it just kills me when Hatori says that he never imagined he would have to wipe away the memories of someone he loved so much, much less the very memories that were the most important to him. *cue flailing*
On a more serious note, we have heavy parallels between Tohru and Kana here, from Tohru's first reaction to Hatori-as-seahorse resembling Kana's first reaction to Tohru getting the riddle of what snow becomes correct. I can't remember if Tohru reminds other 12shi of their "precious people;" will have to keep an eye out for that.
When I remember, I always think it's sort of unbelievable for Kana to blame herself so much and for Hatori to decide the only thing to do is suppress her memories, but I always forget about Akito yelling all those horrible, horrible things and making the suggestion of memory suppresion to Hatori. Man, he's evil. And of course, Kana is a Sohma too, so presumably they're all accustomed to taking Akito's word as law.
And I am so amused that Hatori of course joins the ranks of hot and angsty manga guys with only one eye. Except he is TOTALLY DIFFERENT! Because instead of not having his right eye, Hatori is missing his left eye! Oh manga. Much love.
Also, this is the volume where one of my absolute favorite Fruits Basket images is developed further: the onigiri! Not just Tohru-as-onigiri from the first volume, but everyone-as-onigiri. I also love that the introduction of Tohru's idea of everyone-as-onigiri comes during the school fair chapter, in which her class decides to sell onigiri with surprise insides. It's just like the metaphor! People are getting onigiri and they don't know what's in them, just like they don't know what good qualities they have!
And Tohru thinks, "Because Sohma-kun is Sohma-kun ... and Kyo-kun is Kyo-kun" when she realizes Kyo and Yuki are jealous of each other, echoing Kyoko's "Tohru, just be yourself."
Rereading this manga really makes me so happy ^_^. But yes, I also love that the entire onigiri story comes in a chapter where Kyo confesses his jealousy of Yuki. And I love Kyo telling Tohru that she's got an umeboshi on her back too. A reaaaaalllly tiny one. Hee. And I adore the teeny chibi onigiri looking sadly down at itself, thinking, "I'm just plain white rice!"
Eh, I reserve the right to say nearly everything is my favorite Furuba story EVER, as I suspect I will be saying that a whole lot.
Anyhow. We're also introduced to more of the 12shi in this volume; I already got Hatori. But Momiji! I can never get over how Eurotrash he is the first time we meet him. The glasses! The random German! The cute rabbit form! I really love him because he's not afraid of hugging Tohru, despite the curse (also, cute rabbit form!). And (spoilers up to ch. 126) of course, he's one of my favorite of the 12shi because of the story of the stupid traveller and what happens when his curse is broken. He grows up so much, and yet manages to retain the sweetness and generosity that made me love him in the first place.
We also get a brief glimpse of Haru, but not much else.
I adore the New Year chapter as well, not just for Yuki and Kyo coming back for Tohru, but also because Hanajima is the one who prompts them to. The first chapter of the volume emphasizes not just that Hanajima and Uotani are Tohru's good friends, but also that Tohru is their first friend as well. They value her just as much as she values them, which is saying quite a bit. And I love that even though Tohru seems like the poor lonely orphan in the beginning, she's really not. She still has her memories of her mother, who is awesome (I love the little shot of Kyoko roughhousing wee!Tohru) and who let Tohru know that she was loved very much, and she has Hanajima and Uotani years before meeting the Sohma. rilina already notes it in her write up, but I love that this is a series not just about romance, but about family and friends, whom I tend to think are just as important, if not more so, than romantic interests.
I was wondering who was narrating the New Year chapter: Kyo or Yuki or both?
Random notes:
- Aww! Yuki plays cards with everyone like he said he would in vol. 1!
- I love the panel with Tohru thinking, "I'm always being reminded of how lucky I am" with the faded background of what I think is her returning to Shigure's house after being rescued from her evil relatives by Kyo and Yuki.
- I am still so amused by Yuki sleeping actually being stronger than Yuki awake. Poor Kyo.
- More Kyo on roof! He really likes it up there, huh? I mean, there's him and Yuki up there for New Year, but mostly I remember him and Tohru up there. And, of course, he was introduced to us in vol. 1 via the roof. He's like Gambit!
- I am so amused by Kyo eyeing the cat-shaped onigiri and wondering if eating it is cannibalism.
- "Walking and thinking at the same time is dangerous." Hee! It is for me too. Also, Tohru literally bumps into Momiji, does this parallel her first meeting with Hiro? (minor spoilers for... uh, meeting another of the 12shi)
- Also, it makes Yuki and Kyo's excessive worrying during New Year make that much more sense. Also, so cute!
- Takaya's author's note: "I've wanted to. I've wanted to do this. CROSS-DRESSING!! [...] But boys with feminine faces are destined to cross-dress (or made to be)." Oh manga, I love you so much. Even if I personally do not get the appeal of pretty boys in dresses (I am more for women disguised as men).
- Dude, Shigure is creepy. Is that him thinking "For now... you're pathetic... Akito" with his nasty smirk?
- When Tohru asks more about the curse, Shigure just says that she has to be herself (echoing Kyoko again). I still don't get why Akito ended up agreeing to let Tohru live with Shigure and co., it really makes no sense from what we know of Akito.
- Bwaha, stick-figure Yuki beating up stick-figure Kyo!
- Ok, Yuki coming on to Tohru is really creepy and weird. He really reminds me of Akito there, which is not a good connection!
- And because I am twelve, I am so amused by the kotatsu because of Ouran!
Foreshadowing notes (vague spoilers through ch. 126 for all except when noted):
- More of the boy in the red hat! I love that the detailed story is being told with Kyo standing at the door, listening in! And, of course, the now very obvious signifiers of Uotani and Hanajima saying something like, "Wouldn't it be great if you met that boy again and fell in love?" and Tohru thinking, "In some ways, that boy was my first love." It's also a nifty parallel with Shigure telling Kyo in vol. 1 that Kyo needs to learn how to interact with people for the time when a girl might tell him she loves him. *cue spazztastic flailing at the cuteness*
- rilina has a neat note on the narration of the first chapter cueing the readers in to Akito's status as God in the story of the banquet.
- I don't even know if this is foreshadowing, but I thought I'd make a note. Hatori mentions that Yuki has weak lungs; then we find out that Akito tends to be pretty sickly. I think vol. 1 already establishes that Akito has a strange interest in Yuki. Must remember to keep looking for parallels between the two, especially since their faces look so much alike.
Possible thematic notes:
- Didn't note that much about wafuku and youfuku (Western dress) here, but continuing with snarp's really interesting comments about the association of European-ness with theatricality, we have the half-Japanese, half-German Momiji being introduced and looking extreme Eurotrash (Takaya! What is with those glasses?!). Fitting in with snarp's theory, Momiji is extremely emotionally expressive and bouncy and cute, much like Tamaki from Ouran. Akito and Shigure continue to be the main people dressed in wafuku. Surprisingly, Hatori isn't; going with snarp's theory, he could very well be, as he is Serious and Tragic. Huh. I am thinking that wafuku is more a symbol of being closely tied in with the curse and the Sohmas and extra behind-the-scenes plotting.
- No more real notes on class issues, except that the Sohma estate is huge, and it's very clear that they're extremely well off (Momiji's father owning the building Tohru works in).
- Continuing with noting suffixes: Tohru calls Hanajima and Uotani "Hana-chan" and "Uo-chan" in her head; of course she's more casual, since she's known them longer. I think she's switched back to calling Kyo "Kyo-kun" in her head, as opposed to the occasional "Kyo."
- For imagery: association of Akito with birds? The last shot of him in the first chapter of vol. 2 is full of DOOM; Akito and the dead bird. More imagery notes: Hatori is associated with snow ("as cold as snow") and Kana (and Tohru) are associated with the spring that melts the snow. Also, Hatori's backstory is continually framed by maple leaves (of DOOM!). I can't figure out if that's for Hatori and Kana, given that it's the wrong season, or because it's for Momiji, who's narrating the story ("maple leaves" are "momiji" in Japanese). Huh. To continue with the vegetation of DOOM, Akito gets pretty floating flower petals of something that I cannot identify.
Sample spoiler code:
Spoilers here.
Links:
- Thread collecting all vol. 2 GMRP posts.