Urusei Yatsura – 25 – Remembrance of Moms Lost

When Ryuunosuke spots Ten sleeping in a tree and delivers him safely home to Lum, she’s invited to dinner with Moroboshis. Ataru’s mom, who may be mistaking her for a boy nicer than her son, makes sure she gets her fill. The warm and caring interaction makes Ryuunosuke yearn to learn more about the mom she never knew.

This proves extremely difficult. Her first attempts to clearly broach the topic are deflected by her dad, who pretends not to have heard her. One of their usual knock-down, drag-out brawls ensues, and her dad eventually relents and tells her a confusing string of stories involving multiple women and dramatic situations with no clear connections.

Frustrated by what she deems to be lies, Ryuunosuke runs off into the night, only to encounter Ataru, Lum, and Ataru’s mom, to whom she suddenly clings and starts sobbing. While on the swings, Ryuunosuke gets the feeling she may be on the verge of remembering her real mom’s face, only for her dad to appear and imply it’s painful for him to dredge up memories of what he lost. It’s only the next day that her mom isn’t even dead, but simply left him.

Ryuunosuke’s obsession with learning what her mom looks like even influences her dreams, and when she hears him call out her mom’s name in his sleep, she starts to tenderly tuck him in, only for him to half-wake up and mistake her for his ex-wife. The next morning Ataru says he might’ve gotten confused because Ryuunosuke resembles her mom.

Because she very much wants that to be the case, she forces her dad to allow her access to a photo album with photos of her mom. But when she starts flipping through it, she sees multiple women, just like the ones in his seemingly made-up stories. Turns out after her mom left, he’d ask woman customers to play with his baby daughter.

The closing bombshell to this Ryuunosuke-focused episode that seesawed between zany comedy and poignant family drama is that her dad simply forgot who her mom is. This leads Ryuunosuke to run away from home and live with the Moroboshis for a few days, and you really can’t blame her!

The Dangers in My Heart – 09 – Everything On the LINE

Sometimes Ichikawa is so dense it hurts. Yes, Yamada asks him for his LINE ID in a bit of a roundabout way, but seriously dude, just exchange LINE IDs with her, damnit! But no, everything has to be done the excruciatingly hard way.

Winter break approaches and Sekine wants a boyfriend, so she just casts her LINE out to everyone, starting with Ichikawa. Her more aggressive approach works, and we not only learn that Ichikawa’s avatar is Rem (whose right eye is also obscured by bangs), but Sekine knows who that is and is more of a Ram fan. Oh, and Yamada feels cheated.

It isn’t until Sekine sends Yamada to the class track star (who lives in the same apartment building as her) for his LINE ID that Ichikawa realizes what a tactical blunder he made in the library. Thankfully, when he suddenly blurts out an “AH!”, that’s all Yamada needs to say never mind to the guy.

He’s determined to tell her tomorrow that he does indeed use LINE, but descends into doubt and indecision as he reads three more pages of the shoujo manga she lent him. He seems to think she wants a guy like the boy in the manga, starts seeing parallels between their story and their own scenario, and warns himself against such trains of thought. He still feels like having any kind of hope is folly.

The next day, a casanova stops by  to very aggressively asks Yamada to come to his house and “go at it” (in “video games”). He’s flanked by another girl he’s either dated, dating, or stringing along as proof of his virility. Thankfully, Chihiro is right there as Yamada’s Iron Defense.

But when the guy says Chihiro is welcome to join them as well, that Iron Defense suddenly crumbles. This doesn’t bode well for Ichikawa, but it distresses Yamada even more. Yamada and Ichikawa realize the same thing: that dude is using Chihiro to get to her.

But Yamada would never say that; she insists she’s not going. Chihiro says fine, she’ll go with Sekine, but Yamada says “forget it, but I warned you”. As spacy as she can presents, she’s always exhibited the emotional intelligence to cut to the meat of things.

Yamada was just looking out for Chihiro, and that they ended up at odds leads Yamada to cry in the library. She hides her tears when Yamada comes in, and starts talking about all the video game systems her dad has, no doubt working towards inviting him to her place.

But then two older girls who know loverboy come in to size up and even pick on Yamada a little. They conclude that she must already have a boyfriend, but she insists she doesn’t and then emphatically repeats it while looking directly at Ichikawa. The girls think they know what’s going on and leave.

Just as Ichikawa is telling Yamada she shouldn’t hang around him when other people are around, one of the girls returns with the loverboy. Rather that separate herself from him, Yamada draws him even closer until they’re in position to kiss. From the interlopers’ view, that’s what they look like they’re doing, and they leave.

Later in class, Sekine breaks it to Chihiro that loverboy was just using her so Yamada would come. Realizing this, she decides not to go after all, and after class tries to flag down Yamada. When she tries to ignore her, Chihiro calls her a “big stupid she-giant”, and Yamada chases her down the hall.

The chase ends with Chihiro in Yamada’s arms, and Ichikawa overhears as they make up. But even as peace returns to the girl group, one withering look from loverboy gets all the wrong gears spinning in Ichikawa’s head.

What if, all this time, Yamada was just using him to shake off a guy she didn’t like? I tell ya, my heart sank all the way down to my feet when he took a sudden, unadvised detour off the new road he and Yamada had been walking. Me no like regression! Stop thinking wrong!

The next day, my nightmare scenario unfolds, as Yamada brightly greets him only to be stonewalled. He completely ignores and avoids her, even avoiding the library. Yamada stands at a distance like a stunned puppy. When he starts heading home without a word to her, she follows him.

Out the door of the class room, down the hall, down the stairs. He quickens the pace, but there’s no way he can outrun those determined legs. Finally, she manages to grab his wrist and wall slams him, her eyes raw and primed for tears. She asks him, with pain in her voice, if he’s mad at her, and why.

When they hear voices, she jumps away from him, asking if he’s mad because she’s always so close. Ichikawa, still in spiteful victim mode, brushes her off and says he’s “got places to be,” not caring if she’s upset the guy she’s using hates her.

But when he hears her begin to sob, the tune in his head thankfully changes. Like a radio caught between stations, the static gives way to clarity: Yamada isn’t the kind of girl who would use him, and he doesn’t hate her. He was just looking for an excuse to hate her. Now he’s hurting her when he doesn’t want to, but he has the power to stop that hurt right now.

He turns back to her as she drops her tissue—from one of the packs he left for her in the library ages ago—and corrects course, hopping back on the road. He clarifies that he just has some stuff to do during lunch break, and isn’t mad. A Yamada relieved beyond belief pulls him into a dramatic hug.

She apologizes for this make-up hug, as she assumes he doesn’t like being close, but Ichikawa takes her wrist in his hand, looks up at her, and says “I never said that,” which is exactly what the heroine in the manga says to the guy. After they check to see if anyone is around, they remain in a protracted hug, then agree to walk home together. This scene made me cry tears of joy. I legit needed a tissue!

Just like that, all is well, and my heart is back where it belongs: within my rib cage! The gorgeous colors of the setting sun mimic the similarly vivid warm feelings emanating from Yamada and Ichikawa as they chat on the way home. Ichikawa lets her go on about natto, and she asks him what he’s doing for Winter Break.

When he returns the manga to her, she asks for his impressions, and they learn they even have the same favorite part. Yamada, who had just earlier looked at December 24th on her calendar, tells Ichikawa she’ll bring the next volume for him on Monday.

But Monday comes, and she “forgot” the volume. By “forgot”, I mean she hatched a brilliant and foolproof scheme to not only get Ichikawa’s LINE ID, but arrange to hang out together before he heads off with his family for the break.

She insists that the cliffhanger at the end of volume 3 demands that he read the next one ASAP, so they have no choice but to meet up somewhere. She then asks him for his LINE ID. Youmiya Hina’s voice brooked no dissent, and Ichikawa wisely agrees.

From there, the floodgates open. The two start messaging and don’t stop until the morning. Yamada proposes meeting up at 2PM tomorrow by Hachiko in Shibuya, and Ichikawa confirms, while noting it’s already tomorrow. After the first half of the episode plunged us into the depths of despair, this felt like suddenly rising and breaking through the surface of the water with a dazzling splash.

The pure excitement of this development is sold so well by the editing, Yamada’s expressions, and composer Ushio Kensuke, who has really been giving the endings the extra dramatic oomph and flourish they deserve. I couldn’t help but think to the times when I first started clicking with a girl I liked, and the rush of adrenaline and dopamine that comes with that sudden flow of communication.

What an emotional roller coaster this was. I’m exhausted in the best way. When a show makes you feel so much in such a short time, you know it’s something special. We’re now officially back on the road again, and just kicked into high gear with a full tank of gas. Avanti!

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To Your Eternity – S2 19 – Old Dog, New Tricks

When Bon stabs himself and his blood spills on the Fushi orb, Fushi wakes up as Bon, which means now he can see ghosts, including the ghost of Bon, along with his two ever-present ghost buddies. Bon then presents Fushi with Tonari and Ligard, Gugu, Oniguma and March, telling him he can resurrect them all like he’s done with Kai, Hylo, and Messar (who are also present).

Having Fushi (albeit in Bon form) finally be reunited with old friends thought long dead is the highlight of an episode that will have a lot more positive developments come. Fushi almost calling March “Mama”, Gugu’s big bear hug, Horse pushing Tonari into the group hug, Messar freaking out over the actual giant white bear…it’s all great stuff.

Needless to say, it’s also great to see these folks alive and in the flesh (and indeed, the ED has been previewing the return of this particular group). Because they’re all back with their various skills and also immortal like the three warriors, they start to turn the tide of a battle that was quickly going sideways. Forget a gamble; if Bon hadn’t passed his ghost-seeing ability to Fushi, Renril would have surely fallen to the Nokkers.

I was a little confused by what was going on last week, but the Nokker in Eko’s arm (formerly in Kahaku’s arm) saved her from jumping off the tower so it could save itself. Kahaku tracks it down, and it sprouts Nokker flesh zombies of all of the vessels it stole from Fushi. After a brief tussle, Kahaku convinces the Nokker to return to his body, and he’ll promise to keep it alive by continuing the Guardians’ breeding program…only in isolation.

That necessarily means that Kahaku must part ways with his beloved Fushi, regretting that he and his descendants couldn’t do more for him in the past two hundred years. I think he’s selling himself short, as if nothing else, had his arm Nokker not taken all of Fushi’s remaining vessels, the circumstances might not have coalesced to allow Fushi to not only ressurect a bunch of his old friends and allies, but Renril’s soldiers and citizens as well.

Further realization of Fushi’s powers results in an accelerated expansion of his body, and the more people he resurrects, the further back the Nokkers are pushed, until by the time dawn arrives, not a single Nokker remains in the city or within Fushi’s senses. With the great battle won thanks to Fushi reaching more of his possibly boundless potential, the final episode can be about both celebration of victory, and those he brought back deciding how they’ll all move forward.

Aharen-san wa Hakarenai – 06 – Raidolympic Games

This week’s grab bag of athletic segments follow a consistent pattern: Raidou and Aharen try to participate in a certain activity, Raidou initially believes Aharen is either good or sucks at said activity, Aharen and Raidou gradually get better and have a tough match, and Raidou overestimates how good they are and they both get beaten by stiffer competition.

Despite being huge and relatively fit (except for that one segment where he was tubby) Raidou isn’t that great at…much of anything. In that regard, Aharen makes for a perfect opponent for him, as she’s not that great at anyting either but when they play together, two things happen: they get a little better, and they both have fun.

After Ooshiro teaches the two how to swim, Raidou and Aharen have a half-lap race that Aharen wins by staying underwater the whole time and holding her breath. They actually play to a draw in table tennis and bowling, the former match being cut short by the bell and the latter due to a comeback from Raidou after he starts throwing underhand while Aharen’s beginner’s luck wears off.

Their fourth contest is in basketball, where usually the taller or bigger player prevails, but Aharen channels Muggsy Bogues, who played in the NBA despite being only 5’3″ (160cm) tall. Aharen, like Bogues, darts around or under the towering opponent, using her quickness to get past him. She only loses when she misses her last bucket.

After watching a violent movie together (which technically counts as a completely off-camera date?!) the two try their hand at a two-player zombie-themed first-person shooter. While Raidou initially envisions himself to Leon to Aharen’s Mathilda in The Professional (one of my favorite films), he quickly dies, and Aharen shows that her lack of judging distance means she can headshot every enemy with ease, even while dual-wielding.

When Aharen goes to the bathroom at the arcade, Raidou quickly encounters her again by the crane game, but there’s something off about her; she’s way louder and more expressive than his Aharen. Assuming (naturally) that she’s suffering a sudden bout of amnesia, he simply shows her a good time…before the real Aharen shows up and reveals that the other Aharen is actually her little brother Ren, who likes to dress in her clothes.

The final segment before credits is the shortest but sweetest, as Raidou sneezes and comments that it’s gotten cold. Aharen “runs hot” so she hugs him to warm him up. When he asks her to let go, she withdraws behind a utility pole, which is suddenly too far away. While there’s no movement on their status as a dating high school couple, they both seem happy where things are at, so it’s all good.

In the post-credits segment Ren tries on more of Aharen’s clothes, and she asks him why. His answer—because they’re cute and he loves them—is good enough for her, and when he asks if he shouldn’t, she simply gives him a hug and says it’s fine.

Aharen-oneesan unconditionally supporting her cross-dressing brother might be one of her sweetest, most heartwarming moments yet. If anyone has a problem with him, they’ll have to deal with her…and her hulking kinda-sorta boyfriend!

 

The Detective Is Already Dead – 02 – Heart of the Matter

Sometimes I pick up on the mystery at the beginning. From the moment Natsunagi Nagisa told Kimihiko she was the recipient of a heart transplant a year ago—the same year Siesta died—I knew it was Siesta’s heart she had. It’s, as Nagisa later remarks, why she’s so forward with him at first, and also so weird, sticking her hand in his mouth and threatening to touch his uvula before giving him a comforting hug.

It’s partly so he can hear the heart, but also because it’s the closest he can get to Siesta now that she’s gone. Never mind that “memory transference” is pseudoscience. I believe there are documented instances of people suddenly yearning for things or people connected to the donor. There’s a reason for the popular belief the heart is the domain of the soul and not the brain.

The thing is, it didn’t matter that I immediately figured out the “mystery”, because that wasn’t the point. The point was the emotional fallout of such a reunion. Kimihiko had returned to his lukewarm ordinary life of high school and was fine with it, but he later admits he “couldn’t go on” without some form of closure.

Of course, that’s before he himself figures out what the heck is going on. I’m sure he had some suspicions—you’re not a legendary detective’s sidekick for three years without absorbing some deductive wisdom—prior to taking Nagisa to meet the very person who could not cannot under any circumstances harm Siesta, and so cannot harm Nagisa, the new owner of her heart.

While lacking anything in the way of action like the first episode (which feels more like a prologue to this series), the fact this second outing half the length means a more satisfyingly taut story can be told. It doesn’t waste any time, yet doesn’t feel rushed. Your mileage may vary, but I derived a great deal of emotional impact from the reunion of Siesta’s heart and her clearly bored and listless assistant.

A lot of the resonance is due to some particularly decent dialogue towards the end, when Kimihiko realizes that Siesta’s heart (and Nagisa along with it) needs both a hug and reassurance. Taketatsu Ayana, one of the best in the business, voices Nagisa pitch-perfect with a cool effortlessness.

Even if Siesta is no longer in Kimihiko’s life, I hope we get more Nagisa. As for the Chuunibyou-looking girl who shows up at the very end looking for the Legendary Detective, well…we’ll see, won’t we?

Crow’s watching this too! Read his review here.

Fruits Basket – 62 – Parting Gifts

Fruits Basket continues its crowd-pleasing Farewell to the Curse tour by checking in on Yuki—Remember Yuki?—and Machi, picking right back up on his sudden and intent desire to see her as soon as possible. They meet in a plaza, surrounded by enthralled strangers, and she gives him a recovery gift for Tooru—some bath stuff.

Really, the gift is a thank you to Tooru for taking care of Yuki back when he was “weak as a baby deer.” Of course, she thinks it’s because of that that he noticed her at all. Yuki ends up being the last one to be broken from the Zodiac curse, but while he feels that same pang of unbearable loneliness and sadness, Machi is right there to comfort him, and show a new way forward.

The ancient, forced bonds of yore now gone, left and right people are strengthening the other, unforced bonds they developed towards the end of the curse’s reign. Perhaps none of the relationships have been as long or mercurial as the one between Shigure and Akito. Akito meets the other eleven members as her true female self, but doesn’t go so far as to ask for forgiveness.

She’s decided she’ll stay put and remain head of the Souma family, but other than that, everything changes. Shigure, who comes from not-so-behind to take the Fruits Basket crown of “Most Hated Non-Parent Character”, promises to stay by Akito’s side as long as she never stops wanting him. Hey, you can’t say they don’t deserve each other!

Finally, Tooru and Kyou have settled in to their new status quo with an easy aplomb, visiting her parents’ grave together. It’s here where Kyou announces he’ll be going away to work and train at a dojo run by a friend of Shisho’s…but he wants her to come with him. Her answer, obviously, is yes, and she’s not going to budge on it, as we know Tooru can indeed be quite stubborn when she wants to be.

We see through her eyes a scenario of her exiting the shade of the trees into the blinding light of the dojo courtyard, and Kyou warmly welcoming her, perhaps followed by them having a picnic or something. As soon as the image enters Tooru’s head, she’s in. It will be sad to leave the other people who love her, but she’d be even sadder without Kyou. She’s waited long enough for him; she’s not leaving his side again.

Before departing from the grave together, Kyou asks for Kyouko’s blessing, as he’s fulfilling his promise to protect her girl forever. That’s when it’s revealed that, as expected, Kyou misunderstood Kyouko when he found her dying in the street that day. She had a whole monologue going on in her head, and the “I’ll never forgive you” was only the very end of it and the only bit she actually got out.

She meant to say she’d never forgive him if he didn’t keep his promise, so since he is, there’s no problem! Tooru was right about her mom. Of course she was; she was the one she loved most until Kyou came into her life. As for Kyouko, she learned when she died that leaving someone you love hurts every bit as much as being left, but one is that much happier upon being reunited, as she is with Katsuya in the afterlife.

Just all around good feels this week, with the possible exception of the scenes featuring Shigure. Even so, I have to admit the kimono he gave to Akito absolutely slew. With everyone where, and with whom, they were always meant to be, all that’s left to wonder is if the final episode will be another ensemble effort, or focus only on Tooru and Kyou.

Or maybe it will focus exclusively on Ritsu, the forgotten Zodiac member! Hahaha…sometimes I crack myself up…

 

Fruits Basket – 61 – The Cat Was Right

Totally Invincible

When Tooru leaves the hospital and first sees Kyou, whom she loves, nothing goes as planned. Even as her mind and heart want to go to him and smile, her body runs away as fast as it can…which is, of course, not nearly fast enough to lose the rather athletic Kyou! While Yuki visited, the mere mention of Kyou’s name brought tears to Tooru’s eyes that she quickly slapped away, risking further damage to her head.

Yes, Tooru isn’t running from Kyou because she’s afraid of him, but because of the usual: she’s afraid of being a burden; being unnecessary; causing people pain simply by being around them. She’s afraid of Kyou being disappointed in her. This is what happens when you say your piece and flee like Kyou did. It was a shit move, especially when he knew full well Tooru would take every one of those harsh words to heart.

So it’s as heartlifting to see Kyou get down on one knee and apologize and take back what he said as it was heartbreaking to hear him say those things in the first place to a desperately vulnerable Tooru who was ready to bear her heart but was met with a wall of stone. Kyou has learned a lot from being with Tooru, and one of those things he learned is being more aware of how his words and behavior affect people.

He knows how lucky he is to see Tooru again to apologize, and humbly asks for one more chance with her, because if he’s going to live, he wants to live with her by his side, because he loves her. Tooru responds by asking if it’s really okay for her to stay by his side, and hold his hand, and he points out she’s already holding it, gently places his hand on her face, and gives her her second kiss—the first being when he wasn’t sure he’d have this second chance.

When Kyou laments that being with him means suffering because of his “weird body” (let’s not forget, without that rosary he’s an odd, smelly beast), but Tooru simply tells him she loves him, that that love is “totally invincible”, and he starts thinking maybe he’s invincible too. They hug, both fully expecting him to transform. But he doesn’t, because the curse has been broken.

The Original Promise

It broke because Tooru was able to make a new connection with Akito, and show her that it was going to be okay even if it broke, and that it ultimately be better for everyone, including Akito, if it broke. We thankfully get to see a bit of Akito visiting Tooru in the hospital, where she confesses it all came down to her being jealous of Tooru and how goshdarn pure and pretty she is.

Rather than rightfully reply with a “guilty as charged”, Tooru is Tooru, saying she’s neither pure nor pretty, and if it isn’t too much trouble she’ll thank Akito not to sort people into categories based on “things like that” and use them to keep her distance. If Akito thinks Tooru is pure, then she believes Akito is pure too, and never more than she was when she approached in the rain.

As Tooru and Kyou hug without him transforming, Akito thinks about that visit, and how Tooru repeated her heartfelt desire to be her friend, and Akito’s willingness to be that, resulting in a new beginning, something she never thought possible all her life until meeting Tooru. She feels the hand of the original God on her head, and we’re sent back to time immemorial, and the genesis of the Curse, which was originally not a curse at all.

What it was originally was an effective coping mechanism for the crushing loneliness of the original God, living in his house on top of a mountain, too strange and different to interact with the humans below. The first being to ever visit him was the Cat, who promised to stay by his side and kept that promise.

The cat taught the God that perhaps others who were “different” would be willing to be his friends. He sent out invitations, and twelve other animals responded. The moon quietly watched over the banquets shared by those who were different—what a beautiful collection of words—but eventually the first of them, the Cat, became ill and neared death.

The God enchanted a sake cup that would make the bonds between him and the thirteen animals eternal; that even if they died, they’d be reborn and reunited. But the dying cat neither needed nor wanted eternity, which the other animals saw as a rejection and admonished the Cat.

But the cat was on to something, even back then, at the very first collection of the Zodiac. He beseeched God that they accept that things end, that mortality, while scary and lonely, is what makes life life, and makes love love. The Cat said to God he was fortunate to be with Him for even a moment, but after he died, the other animals ignored his calls for acceptance.

Still, they were still mortal, and one by one died, until only God was left, his house a ruin reminiscent of one of the deserted huts in the Boy’s village in To Your Eternity. Then God died, but was reborn with the others and the eternal banquet resumed. This original memory, which occurred so long ago, was forgotten by all…until it was told to us by the incomparable Iwami Manaka, whose voice moved me to tears on several occasions this week.

Cry With Me

But the promise endured, until present events now have Akito asking the original God if it’s okay for her to stop being special or a god, and just become Akito…to end the eternal, set down the extinguished torch, and begin her life.

As she asks this of her progenitor, the answer is revealed, as one by one the remaining Zodiac members are released from their eternal bonds. For many, like Kisa and Rin, it happens beside Hiro and Haru, respectively—those who already felt the pang of intense and all-encompassing sadness and loneliness that comes with the breaking of the curse. But Kisa has Hiro, Rin has Haru, Ayame has Mine, and Kyou has Tooru.

The coping mechanism is no longer needed. Both the animals and the god are now free to live among one another and with humans who love them and want to live with them. Free to make new beginnings and free to create new bonds. To commemorate this moment, Kyou rips the rosary off his arm and nothing happens. He’s now free to be Kyou, not the Cat, and free to love Tooru, who loves him more than she loves anyone else.

Thank You

All Akito asks as the curse is lifted is for everyone to “cry with her”, but they do more than that. Still sore from the breaking of their bonds, they are actually drawn to her—to Akito, not the God of the Zodiac—and when they do file in one by one, what had been a cold, foreboding, oppressive Souma compound is bathed in warm light.

As the original God states, it would be a long, long time before the cat’s words about eternity not being the answer and the preciousness of mortality became true. But they finally did. Akito may not be a god anymore, but she’s not alone. Tooru makes sure she knows that when she visits with Kyou and the others.

It’s telling that the first person for Akito to embrace post-the breaking of the curse isn’t a former Zodiac member, but the first and best friend of her new non-divine existence: Honda Tooru, who it turns out freed Akito as much as everyone else from bonds none of them ever asked for, and never needed. It is true we mortals must accept that things end, even if that thing is Fruits Basket. But I can’t think of a better or more satisfying ending than the one we’re getting.

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