Forum - View topicFruits Basket (see 2nd post for thread info)
|
Goto page Previous Next |
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
murph76
 Posts: 3291 Location: Akron, OH |
|
|||
I just reread Vol. 18 this morning, and kind of teared up during that scene. What struck me most spoiler[about Haru and Rin's interaction was more than just Haru telling Rin her journey was over. He told her it was time to come home, to him. That she was wanted by him. That Haru was willing to carry Rin and that she's not a burden to him. Wow, talk about telling her exactly what she needed to hear. She didn't have to be alone anymore. Haru lovingly welcomed her back and offered to share her burdens. So very sweet.] -Murph |
||||
|
||||
|
fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
|
|||
|
So Murph, who's going to be next on the agenda?
|
||||
|
||||
|
murph76
Posts: 3291 Location: Akron, OH |
|
|||
Well, I've got topics for the next few weeks worked out. I'm still hashing through everything. I knew there'd be a lot of material discussing relationships in Furuba. Trying to organize the topic list has been a challenge. As for next week's topic, I'll drop a hint like you used to. Next week, we're moving on to a trio. 
-Murph |
||||
|
||||
|
fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
|
|||
Well I have to say you working out these pair/group discussions, as well as when Lydia took over for me for the volume discussions has told me that I'm not the only one running the thread, which is good. I'll probably say that I am responsible for really getting it onto the board as well as encouraging others to post here, as well as the index, but that's about it. The rest of has been because of everybody as a fan. And I'm looking forward to the trio
|
||||
|
||||
|
murph76
Posts: 3291 Location: Akron, OH |
|
|||
|
Well, as mentioned above we're moving on to a trio this week. It's time to discuss Tohru Honda, Saki Hanajima and Arisa Uotani.
I had thought about splitting them up and discussing the three pairs individually, but their stories overlap so much we'd end up discussing all three at once anyway. To me, these three spoiler[really show the importance of friendship and the positive difference good friends can make in one's life. Without having met Tohru, Hana and Uo may have been overwhelmed by their own issues. Likewise, Hana and Uo are always there for Tohru. They feel like failures as friends in Vol. 2 for not noticing Tohru was having a hard time and living in a tent. And, in Vol. 17, when Tohru is overwhelmed by what Kureno is telling her, Hana swoops in to "kidnap" her, and Uo is there to put Tohru's mind at ease about her possible relationship with Kureno.] It makes me wonder. spoiler[Tohru knows the pain of loneliness, despite the her usually cheerful demeanor. I wonder if she sensed a similar pain in Uo and Hana that caused her to reach out to them?] Well, I really could go on but I'll cut it off here for now. I look forward to your comments!
-Murph |
||||
|
||||
LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
|
|||
|
I think that Tohru is the one spoiler[who was the expression of love of self and others that Saki and Arisa could not express for themselves. And on the other hand, Saki and Arisa are the ones who are able to stand up for themselves and be bold, which Tohru could not do.]
|
||||
|
||||
|
fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
|
|||
|
From the beginning this trio has always been something to see when it comes to amusement and heart. All of them represent something you don't really see normally, and their chemistry when it comes to between them together really can't fail. spoiler[An airhead, a yankee, and a "wave" girl ]
 spoiler[They've always been close, but I think that's because Tohru has been the reason for Arisa and Saki to stay in there, because she brought them together. She looks out for them and vice versa, in many more ways than one.]
|
||||
|
||||
suna_suna
 Posts: 550 Location: Ohio |
|
|||
|
though all three had their own problems, Saki stands out because she is the only one with a true and complete family. yes, Tohru still had her mother when she met Saki, but vol. 16 spoiler[shows how very close she came to losing even that. and her fathers death is still in her mind.] and of course Arisa'sspoiler[mother had left her, and her father had become an alchoholic.]
but Saki and Arisa have their social outcasting incommon, as it doesn't seem Tohru was like that in middle school. i think that Tohru's sense of lonliness does not come from her own experience, but fromspoiler[her mother's lonliness after Katsuya's death ] |
||||
|
||||
|
fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
|
|||
|
There spoiler[was quite a bit that Tohru and Arisa had to go through when they were young, and Saki had her family but was outcast in her own way because everybody thought she was weird, and was inhuman. Tohru was kind of empty-headed, therefore when the kids in her class would play the fruits basket game they would call her the onigiri and intentionally not call on her because an onigiri is not a fruit. Arisa's own problems came from that of her parents, which in a way is similar to what Kyoko, Tohru's mother had to go through.]
|
||||
|
||||
|
murph76
Posts: 3291 Location: Akron, OH |
|
|||
I don't think it spoils much to say that this topic is brought up again in the next volume, due out in March. And, my apologies if you've followed the scanlations and are already aware. SPOILER FOR THAT VOLUME spoiler[I'd have to disagree. It certainly started with Kyoko's loneliness, but it became Tohru's issue too. In her depression, Kyoko left a four-year-old Tohru home alone for days and contemplated suicide to join Katsuya. I believe Tohru's loneliness is her own experience because she missed her mother terribly during that episode and learned to hate her father out of fear he was going to take Kyoko away.] Hey fighterholic: How uncommon is Tohru's speech pattern in Japan? I've read the side columns that say she always uses polite language, but incorrectly. How would that affect her social standing? Suna mentions Hana and Uo are both social outcasts. I'm wondering if Tohru's habit of talking ultra-politely would have made her the same, but it's not as clear to the English-speaking reader. It certainly had to contribute to her perception of being an airhead, right?
Good point. Tohru's spoiler[love certainly made the difference for both Hana and Uo. And, in exchange they both protect Tohru emotionally and physically. Especially from the Yuki fans.]
-Murph |
||||
|
||||
|
LydiaDianne
Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
|
|||
|
Tohru is one of those girls who needs protecting. Not the "Gotta Protect the Princess from DANGER!" but every day protecting: Keep her from tripping over her own feet, making sure she doesn't over-work and that she stays healthy, keeping competitors **cough** perverts away from her. Everyone feels that need to protect her. Not Hiro perhaps but the rest do that.
And what Tohru provides them is unquestioning love. I know I mentioned that previously but she does. They protect her but she is their shelter from the storms of Life. Their rock. Their tree. The one that everyone can come to, lean on for a while and walk away, strong again. |
||||
|
||||
Richard J.
 Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
|
|||
In Hana-chan's case, she was in a spoiler[state of self-imposed isolation for the most part. She was terrified of getting close to anyone or feeling any emotion for fear she'd hurt someone with her waves like she had with that boy she almost killed. (Yeah, I think her waves really did do it.) Tohru and and a changed Uo-chan then saved her, helping her to realize that she really wasn't a bad person at all.] Basically, while Uo and Hana unquestionably protect Tohru, she saved them and changed them into the kind of people who can protect others. Tohru's got so much to deal with, I think she's got way more issues than even she realizes, yet she's unquestionably saved these two from lives that would have only ended in despair. And she did it all with the power of friendship! Now, if that's not an uplifting and life-affirming message, I don't know what one is. Man it's hard to resist reading murph76's spoiler. I really want to know what it says but at the same time, I really don't want to know. You know? |
||||
|
||||
|
murph76
Posts: 3291 Location: Akron, OH |
|
|||
Well, at least it's a short wait. I hated to bring it up in the first place, but I felt like I should.
And I agree, Tohru is the force of change for them, because of spoiler[her unconditional love for them. If she hadn't shown that love, neither Uo nor Hana would want to change. ] -Murph |
||||
|
||||
|
fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
|
|||
|
Tohru's social standing I think is not like what is compared to Arisa and Saki were like. They were outcasts. Tohru however I think was just somebody who people were aware of, but people could go either way about her. The reference to her polite language I think is how it would be the incorrect way to use it in the Japanese business world. In fact, I'm taking a Japanese business class this semester, and I know from what words Tohru used they were not the correct way to say something respectfully. It can be commended as polite language, but grammatically incorrect.
|
||||
|
||||
|
suna_suna
Posts: 550 Location: Ohio |
|
|||
|
a short wait it is, but it will still feel like three months.
an intersting note i just thought about, maybe Tohru's penchant for unconditional or motherly love, is probably something she picked up from her mother. in almost all the scenes of Tohru and Kyoko, we can see that kind of love right there in front of us. Tohru probably thinks that if you truly want to care for someone, especially if they are having problems, then that is the best way. maybe not always so motherly, but to love someone no matter what they've done. |
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group