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Fruits Basket (see 2nd post for thread info)


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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 9193
PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:05 am Reply with quote
That's because spoiler[Kyoko almost committed suicide when Katsuya died, and then realized she had something to live for. And she had to make sure that Tohru had all the best things that she could provide her with. And then Tohru's way of talking comes from her dad.]
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JacobC
ANN Past Staff


Joined: 15 Jan 2008
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:54 pm Reply with quote
This trio was always a lot of fun. I think it was clever of Takaya-sensei to portray Uo as the sensitive, not-scary character, despite being a Yankee, and have all the preppy girls be scared to death of Hanajima, of all people. (In their defense, she is quite frightening, isn't she?) Shocked

On a more personal note, I like both characters immensely, but I wasn't really moved by Hanajima's backstory. It just seemed...cliche... to me. Wasn't crazy about it. Uo's backstory had me scrabbling for tissues. Me being the crazy analyst that I am, I started trying to figure out if there was some flaw in how the stories were portrayed that made such a difference when I talked to a friend of mine who had also been reading it. I didn't give her my opinion at all, I just asked what she thought about some of the characters' backgrounds.

"Hanajima's story was so sad," she said, "I was really moved. I thought Uo's was really cliche."

There you have it. It all just chalks up to your own life experience, I guess.
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:39 pm Reply with quote
The backstories I can somewhat relate to on both fronts, because I had to deal with ijime issues and had some problems with some punks in middle school, which wasn't too fun. The way it seems is just different from how things are done here, but I still miss the old Japan country.
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Ningensei



Joined: 06 Mar 2007
Posts: 333
Location: Seattle, WA
PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:24 pm Reply with quote
Richard J. wrote:
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?


I totally understand. I really want to read it, but I will resist and keep on resisting! Heh.

As for the trio of friends, I really love reading the parts where they are all together. The chemistry is there and they have such a deep friendship. Even during the course of the series when the focus shifts from them to the Sohma family and Tohru towards the middle, you don't forget about her friends and they come up when Tohru needs them most.
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 9193
PostPosted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:16 pm Reply with quote
And if anyone spoiler[does ANYTHING to Tohru, they have to answer to Saki and Arisa. And plenty of people have Wink For example when the girls were picking on Tohru because she came to school with Yuki, Saki and Arisa were about ready to make mincemeat out of them. And then there was the part where Saki actually shocked one of the girls] Laughing
*BIG SPOILERS* But they spoiler[really stuck out for Tohru when there was the thing with Tohru finding out about Kureno and Akito, and Shigure was feeling a little pressure of having sent Tohru out when he knew she would meet up with Kureno. The last one where they were there for her and really tried to put the pressure on was when Tohru had her accident, and Saki was really making it deep for Kyo, because of what he had said to Tohru.]
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murph76



Joined: 26 Jul 2006
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Location: Akron, OH
PostPosted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:10 pm Reply with quote
A curiousity I noticed about Tohru, Uo and Hana spoiler[is that Uo and Hana are comfortable calling each other by their given names -- Arisa and Saki -- without a -san or -kun. Tohru however calls them by nicknames, Hana-chan and Uo-chan. To me, that speaks to the depth of their friendship, especially Uo and Hana. In Tohru's case, I think it shows how much she's clinging to the memory of her mother, since Kyoko gave Uo-chan her nickname and would have have nicknamed Hana-chan, at least according to Tohru and Uo.] Very Happy

Well, I'm a day or so early but I'm going to introduce our next discussion. Please, feel free to continue talking about about Hana, Uo and Tohru until Saturday arrives if anyone has something to add. I'm going to be very busy Friday and probably won't be in the mood to post.

Anyhow, we're moving onto Yuki Sohma and Kakeru Manabe.

They're spoiler[best friends and worst enemies. Kakeru annoys Yuki to no end, yet he's the first person -- at least the first guy -- Yuki can truly relate to as a friend. He's the one person Yuki can talk about anything with (barring the curse), things he can't admit even to Tohru. Don't get me wrong. Certainly Tohru and Yuki are friends. But there are certain things you don't want to talk to your "mother" about.]

What does Kakeru spoiler[get from the friendship? I'm not sure. Kakeru mentions in one of their early arguments that Yuki should teach him how to see himself as others do. So, maybe he's becoming more introspective and self-aware. I definitely think Yuki benefits most from the friendship.]

I look forward to reading everyone's thoughts. And maybe will have a few new people posting now. Wink

-Murph
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JacobC
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Joined: 15 Jan 2008
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:29 pm Reply with quote
I love it that he calls him "princess." Laughing

To an extent, I think Kakeru helps Yuki to lighten up a lot. He takes a genuine interest in Yuki's life and innermost thoughts, so that's maybe the reason Yuki opens up to him as much as he does, and tells him everything he'd never be able to tell Tohru.

After all, Kakeru was the first to tell Yuki that he thought he was interesting. Yuki struggled a lot with thinking that he possessed no personality to speak of, while Kakeru was overflowing with it. The fact that they're friends at least cushions Yuki's fear of being overwhelmed.

The rivalry between them can only stem from that tension as well, however. Kakeru is just too much like Ayame. If Yuki and Ayame ever do get along someday, it will probably be to the extent of Yuki and Kakeru's relationship: goofball and straight=man.
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LydiaDianne



Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 5634
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:52 am Reply with quote
JesuOtaku wrote:


The rivalry between them can only stem from that tension as well, however. Kakeru is just too much like Ayame. If Yuki and Ayame ever do get along someday, it will probably be to the extent of Yuki and Kakeru's relationship: goofball and straight=man.


Actually, I think that their friendship will help Yuki relate and get along with Ayame. Now Yuki did take the first step in knowing Ayame by spoiler[going to Ayame's shop and seeing what he does for a living Shocked ] but getting to know Kakeru and how to deal with him will surely help in the future with Ayame.
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 3:35 pm Reply with quote
Kakeru spoiler[was coming off of his own family issues, though he'd actually resolved his for the most part. Truly a person who Yuki has really connected and even opened up to. I never expected that from Kakeru, since he seemed a lot like Ayame in the beginning, but as you read along Kakeru is a really nice and really funny guy.]
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Ningensei



Joined: 06 Mar 2007
Posts: 333
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:33 pm Reply with quote
I absolutely love the relationship between Kakeru and Yuki. spoiler[I always look forward to the chapters in the past few volumes that focus on the student council. Kakeru is just too hilarious, and I really think it is great how he can get Yuki to open up to him, and even loosen up a bit, as mentioned before. They really are a great duo to watch, and even with some serious moments, there is always a lot of lighthearted fun. Which is something that Yuki really needs. ]
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Richard J.



Joined: 11 Aug 2006
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:11 pm Reply with quote
Something I've found to be very interesting with Yuki and Kakeru is Kakeru's spoiler[apparent approval and perhaps even matchmaking toward a Yuki/Machi relationship. Since they are half siblings, it's rather surprising to see Kakeru actively trying to bring them together. (Although handing Yuki one of her bras might not have been the best way to do that. Laughing )]

Kakeru really respects and likes Yuki, seemingly for who he really is, which is exactly what Yuki never expected. I almost wonder if he spoiler[might have been one of the kids Yuki knew when he was a child (one of the one's made to forget)] and he just hasn't realized it.

The best scene between those two, in my opinion, has to be the time that Yuki spoiler[really confided in Kakeru about his family. Even though he didn't tell him everything Akito did, to be willing to go as far as he did shows not only that Yuki truly has come to trust and like Kakeru, but also how good a friend Kakeru is. His reactions and advice were so him and yet so perfectly in tune with what Yuki most needed to hear. (He was probably drawing from his own feelings a little, having also had family problems.)]

The student council scenes are also some of my favorite. Kimi's Yun-Yun intercom call has to be one of the funniest moments in the entire series and Yuki's rescue from the closet one of the more surprising emotional moments.

Fruits Basket has often surprised me a lot with how real the characters feel. Kakeru feels like someone that could just walk right off the pages.
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 9193
PostPosted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 8:27 pm Reply with quote
Congratulations Richard, your post is the 1600th of the thread!
Anyways, looking at how Yuki and Kakeru talk, for one spoiler[them as a couple are such that Yuki gets to interact with somebody aside from Tohru and the Zodiac. Tohru to him has been a motherly like character, which he was able to confide in about some things, but obviously his feelings towards her he could not confide. And that's where Kakeru came in, and sure enough Yuki was able to lift weight off of his shoulders.]

Then spoiler[Kakeru as we know starts to try and bring Yuki and Machi together. Like you guys have been saying, funny how Machi is only his half sibling, but they obviously went through the same thing when they were younger, so I'm sure he feels somewhat obligated to watch over her. On top of that see to it that she finds happiness. ]
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murph76



Joined: 26 Jul 2006
Posts: 3291
Location: Akron, OH
PostPosted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:52 pm Reply with quote
I, too, think Kakeru spoiler[is trying to get Yuki and Machi together. I think he noticed Machi's feelings when he talked about Machi liking "red" -- the color of the maple leaf Yuki brought her as a souvenir and Yuki's color on the school defense force -- during student council's afternoon out. Plus, I think he recognizes that Yuki sees her differently than the other students. Everyone else sees Machi the destroyer, but only Yuki wonders why she does it, and wants to get to know her better in hopes of understanding her and maybe helping her.]

And, spoiler[more than Kakeru just feels obligated to watch over her because of their family situation, I think it's clear that he understands her feelings of entrapment created by that situation and wants to help her find the exit like he did. While Kakeru didn't know the whole story about Machi and her younger brother, he somehow knew Yuki would be able to get her to talk about it, and release her from that burden. Kakeru wants to see her happy, and the first step in that is to get Machi out from under their family's "curse," so to speak. ]

-Murph
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suna_suna



Joined: 06 Sep 2005
Posts: 550
Location: Ohio
PostPosted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:01 pm Reply with quote
if Tohruspoiler[is a mother to yuki, then Kakeru is really his first real friend. you can see it when he goes around the school. other students greatly respect and admire him, but Kakeru is the first one to really approach him as an equal.]
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Richard J.



Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 3367
Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis.
PostPosted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:36 pm Reply with quote
fighterholic wrote:
Congratulations Richard, your post is the 1600th of the thread!
I was told there was a prize. Gimme. Anime smile
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