__Deuxième saison de Fruit Basket que j'attendais impatiemment car la première saison m'a énormément plus et qu'il étais rentré il fut un temps dans mon top 10. __

Alors que pensez de cette suite ? Et bien je peux vous dire que je suis tellement surpris.. J'aurais jamais pus penser être autant touchée par cette anime.Ce fut 25 épisodes incroyables avec une évolution folle de l'histoires des personnages et autres.. bref ce fut un carton plein.On va commencer par discuter du

rythme de l'anime pour commencer
On divise cela pour nous repérer des épisodes 1 a 8, 8 a 16 et 16 a 25 : Le progression est très bonne on commence par des premiers épisodes ou on va s'occuper de 1 personnages en particulier en le développant encore plus que avant ou simplement pour la première fois. L'épisode 1 ( on ne va pas faire tout les épisodes ) se consacre a Motoko une membre du fan club de Yuki qui est si on peut dire la plus importante.. Bref on va faire cela avec d'autre personnages comme Hatsuharu, Yuki, Kyo ce qui va renforcer nos liens avec eux. Le début est bon on nous introduit de nouveau personnages comme Kureno qui est TRES important pour la suite et ensuite Isuzu aka Rin qui est avec Haru : Mes deux personnages favoris dans cette saison hors Honda après on entre dans la moitié de la saison ou nos compagnons se rendent en vacances ; Akito va revoir Yuki encore une fois et surtout mettre un bon coup de pression a Honda qui va même a elle lui faire flipper.Puis,les épisodes ou Yuki se construit encore plus et en introduisant de très bon personnages secondaires comme Kakeru renforce le cast et surtout que on tourne plus autour des même personnages on change de point de vue et d’élément c'est rafraichissant. Ensuite épisode 16 a 25 on conclut avec des épisodes comme le 16 et 18 qui sont pour moi les poids lourd de cette saison car ici personnellement l'histoire de Momiji ne peux rendre indifférent.. Mais la suite avec isuzu ou on apprends qui elle est donne un sentiment d'empathie plus que énorme. Enfin on finis sur une fin qui ma fais changer d'avis sur le personnage d'Akito : l'abandonner ou plutôt l'aider ? Bref je vais maintenant rentrer dans les détails des personnages et parler de ceux qui ont eu le plus d'impact a présent :
On a appris beaucoup de choses sur Yuki
Je compatissais beaucoup plus avec kyo honnêtement du moins avant l'épisode 21 : On apprends que Yuki voulait devenir ami avec Kyo, Notre petit prince étais dans une solitude si grande quand tout le monde pensais qu'il étais le préféré de Akito il sombrais enfaite dans une solitude des plus infernal qui brisa son esprit a petit feu.Aucun ami,pas de parent, une maltraitance psychologique et physique.. La réponse ? Honda tohru elle a su l'aider sans le vouloir,elle lui donner une tache pour la première fois dans sa vie : aider une petite fille perdu.. Sinon, Yuki se rapproche de se frère Ayame qui a beaucoup de remord de l'avoir laissé tomber. Ma scène préféré reste l'épisode 8 ou Yuki sous une ost LEGENDAIRE : ( haseru mirai uta arii) je vous met la vidéos de la musique car je l'ai trouvé que sur youtube avec la voix de Yuki derriere :

Yuki ouvre encore plus son cœur a tohru avant de finir par dire : je tiens a toi. Ce personnage si torturé a peur d'aimer une personne bref un moment incroyable. Je finirais par dire que Yuki commence a sortir de l'entrave que Akito lui a mis grâce a notre chère Honda puis que il ne vois plus forcement celle ci comme une futur copine mais une mère ( la romance terminé de son coté ?). J'ai trouvé très bien le fais de se voir se développer avec ses amis du BDE et surtout de revoir sa mère.

Kyo
Dans l’épisode 2 on entre plus dans le détaille de sa famille : On avait des doutes mais c'est '''''a cause''''' de lui que sa mère se suicida. Ce qui va lui poussé une haine encore plus accru chez Yuki le rat. On sent beaucoup plus de Romance entre Kyo et Honda peux être que on se dirige vers se ship la ? On finit par savoir que un pacte a été fais entre lui et Akito : si il battait Yuki il aurais pus finir libre a la fin du Lycée mais si il n'arrive pas a le battre a la fin du Lycée il finira enfermée comme son grand père.. C'est sa malédiction. Sa romance avec Kagura s’achève : On apprends que celle ci voulais surtout se pardonner d'avoir eu peur de lui le jour ou elle s'est enfuit. On a bien tout approfondis c'est vraiment cool, reste a voir comment tout cela va se passer il garde néanmoins une grosse haine contre yuki
Isuzu et Hatsumaru
Mes deux nouveaux personnages favoris : Isuzu est vu comme une fille très dur qui manque de respect et parait très froide. On apprends quelle étais en couple avec Haru en cachette et quelle le quitte.. On apprendra dans l'épisode 18 son histoire,background et quelle veut comme tohru enlever la malédiction de la famille. Bref ce personnage est vraiment excellent ; dans le fameux épisode on reprends l'ost de l’épisode 8 avec une fin a arraché le cœur car elle veut a tout pris protéger la gentillesse de son sauveur Haru qui la soutient depuis que c'est parents l'ont renié, frappé.. voici le best of de l'épisode 18 qui vaut le détour car il est fort en émotion 1:28 si vous avez pas envie de voir le début

Haru est vraiment un personnage intéressants la romance entre lui et Rin est très bien construite et très douce, je veux absolument les revoir
car dans cette saison c'est surtout isuzu qui a brillé

Tohru
Gentillesse,douceur,réconfort que pouvons dire de plus de ce personnage qui semble soigner tout les cœurs ? Même isuzu a périt a sa douceur
elle reste très importante dans cette saison mais il n'y a pas eu de devellopement majeur car il a déjà été fais et on aime toujours autant ce personnage
Akito
Alors détestez vous akito ? ou bien avez vous de l’empathie pour elle.. Et bien pour moi c'est le personnages le plus intéressante dans cette saison : On apprends quelle est comme un Dieu pour les autres et donc c'est pour ça que les autres n'ose pas se rebeller.. Elle fais beaucoup de mal notre Akito que ce soit Psychologique ou physique elle sais jouer avec les mots accompagnez de Madame Mayaa Sakamoto qui est toujours aussi forte dans son rôle le personnages est fascinants.. L'épisode 25 avec Kureno nous montre que Akito veut attiser la peur pour toujours être entourée même si elle fais du mal.. Kureno pour résumer se libère de la malédiction et ne se transforme plus donc n'a plus de lien avec Akito ce qui la pétrifie car elle se sent abandonnée et devient folle de tristesse.. On la vu dans un état inédit qui nous fais pauser des question sur elle.. Bref elle reste tellement intéressante que je suis obliger de la mettre dans mes favoris aussi. Kureno décide de rester avec elle malgres tout car oui on apprends que a cette épisode que Akito est une fille même moi j'ai pas mal hésite de son sexe.. Pour relier maintenant Kureno on apprends qu'il a rencontrer dans les premiers épisode Uotani Arisa et est amoureux d'elle vice versa.. J'ai trouvé cela géniale d'inclure des personnages comme elle dans la trame majeur ! Cela risque d’être si bien ! On attends de voir comment tout cela va se passer..
On oublie pas les personnages comme Hatori, Shigure,Ayame qui sont toujours intéressant comme la futur relation Mayu ( amie de l'ex a Hatoru) Hatori.. Simplement je pense que leur devellopement sont déjà fait sauf pour Shigure qui reste très emblématique et mystérieux..
Je tiens juste a rajouter que le personnage de Machi est bon car déjà développer des personnages qui sont inutiles en soit pour les relier au personnages principaux comme Yuki c'est vraiment pas mal du tout.. On voit en lui une bonne personne ( globalement) alors que lui il voit une personne vide mais qui change !
L'animation
Est sublime entre les phase cute avec des les yeux de différents forme etc sa rends un plus a l'anime.. Mais encore les scènes de chute de étoile filante ou Yuki se confessent épisode .. Bref j'ai beaucoup apprécier
Les Ost
sont d'une puissance je suis vraiment bouche bée? Toute les scènes sont accompagnée de ost, variée qui nous rends très triste pour la plus part.. Comme je m'attendais les opening ending sont certes excellents mais colle tellement a l'univers ! Bref je suis tellement satisfais
OVERALL
Et bien quelle aventure cette saison 2 elle fut si unique si bonne que elle dépasse mes attentes..j'attends beaucoup de la saison 3 qui est la dernière car cette anime ma profondément touchée et marquée.. j'attends de voir si il peux renter dans mon top 3.. En attendant j’espère revoir cette deuxième saison qui est plus que excellente.

I originally was going to set out to write something about how I thought season 1 was an enigma to me. And I think I’ll address why I think so to explain why I think second season has been amazing so far.
To be frank I don’t think extremely highly of season 1. This is not to say I think badly of it, otherwise I wouldn’t have finished the series. I thought it was just…average. I know many people think very highly of first season, as judging from MAL and Anilist, but allow me to explain my thoughts. There were always weird things that irritated me about it. Two things that particularly stand out to me were a very poorly crafted protagonist and how the writing just doesn’t seem to fit the anime at times.

I originally had a pretty big problem with Torhu Honda and I still do, to a lesser extent. Torhu seems infallible for a majority for season 1. She seemed really out of place in an anime with such deep and cleverly designed characters. I think my problem with her resided in the fact that she seems way too simple at first glance. I couldn’t understand why in an anime, filled with characters with complex motivations and back stories, Torhu’s would be so plain. All of her problems didn’t seem like they were presented in a manner that made the viewer care about them. Like the fact that her mom died; of course, I’m going to feel bad that someone’s mom died. It’s human nature, but I don’t feel bad that Torhu Honda’s mom died, I just feel bad that someone’s mom is dead and the child now doesn’t have a mom. I could never attach such emotions to Torhu because she never seemed to feel grievance over the fact. She was always such an upbeat personality that I could associate the feeling of loss with someone so simple, that didn’t look like she cared enough.

Secondly, I thought the anime’s writing just didn’t fit with the actual show at times. The most frequent case of this happening is when it felt like it just took itself way too seriously. It unironically felt a lot more dramatic than it needed to be at times. Towards the start of first season, it didn’t do a good job of conveying why this scene should be dramatic. Because the characters didn’t have enough build up or story behind them to warrant it. The writing and animation just felt way too over the top at times for the story that was being told. All of these aspects led me to not think as highly as I have of other anime I have watched. Most of the time these things simply occurred because the audience didn’t really have the insight that the writers had while designing this; it almost feels like they forgot this at times.

My last gripe with first season was the poor integration of the zodiac into the main story at first. I was thinking, there has to be some cool stuff that the zodiac members have to do with their unique abilities? Turns out I was wrong and all that consisted of was, don’t get hugged by the opposite gender. That’s all! This was a disappointment to me at first because I was thinking, what’s the point of this even being in the story to begin with. They could have easily just excluded the zodiac stuff and it would have all been fine. Keep in mind this is what I thought while watching roughly the first half of the show.

The best question to ask at this point then would probably be, why did you even watch the show then? And the answer is very straight forward: the characters in this show absolutely phenomenal. I really enjoyed how the second half was almost all backstory and character development for the zodiac members. Every character is mindbogglingly unique and complex. What separates this show from others is that whereas some shows have a few characters, usually the main cast, that have real thought and care put into them. Fruits Basket somehow manages to break the trend of quality over quantity. Every character has a deep meaningful backstory explaining how the “Zodiac Curse” affects them and it is something that really helped me understand why the Zodiac is so crucial to this show. The Zodiac isn’t necessarily important because of the physical alterations its grant its members, but rather because it is the mental chain that ties them down. The chain that forces them to carry a deep burden and sadness around with them. In this regard, Fruits Basket is probably the only anime I have watched that has managed to do this. Even non-zodiac members have a significant portion to play in the story. Overall, I have major respect for Fruits Basket to have pulled this off. It’s amazing that essentially all of first season was build up to the true story displayed in second season.

Fruits Basket second season managed to fix all those things and add so much more that I could have never expected. It’s almost as if I’m watched the redemption arc of a whole show. This show picked itself off the ground and completely shattered the ceiling in regards to my expectations for it.
Towards the end of first season I was honestly really happy with how it ended. Ending on a note of redemption and eyes towards the future was a really good look and I was excited to see what direction the show was going to take next. I found it funny when I found myself saying out loud, “LETS GOOOOO” when the first episode of second season started. Deep down, I knew I was really excited to see where this was going to go.

The first important thing that second season fixed is Torhu finally getting properly fleshed out. Torhu in the first season kind of reminded me of all the memes made about Katara in The Last Airbender. She talks on and on about one meaningful topic to the point where it loses all semblance of importance for the character. One thing that I am enjoying about Torhu is that her proper integration into the Soma family. Knowing that she is quickly creating lots of friends and enemies inside the family makes me feel that there is potential for a huge climax, seeing as how much set up is going into Torhu interacting with the Soma’s as a group a lot more. They also give Torhu’s immaturity and over the top character a lot more meaning now. Before it always seemed like comedic relief; on occasion it would act as a way for Yuki and Kyo to get their feelings out. However, this season gives Torhu’s personality a real purpose. Only a person such as her is able to truly liberate the Soma family from the curse. Only a person such as her will be able to connect with all of the family members individually. Finally, they finally gave Torhu meaningful flaws. It seemed really inhuman of her in season one to be able to come out of any situation smiling. It was inhuman that she was just never sad. Now we see that there truly has been something eating at her insides this whole time, and I’m excited to see where this leads. Granted this doesn’t really fix everything, however it does make watching her character a lot more enjoyable.

Seconds season also feels like it really understands what it’s trying to be now. It looks like the directors really learned a lot from first season. Some prominent examples are how they don’t feel the need to break up a serious scene with silly comedic relief that breaks the flow and buildup of the scene. The anime really understands that a much darker and serious tone must be employed at times to get the most out of the scene. The comedic relief is done in a much more natural fashion, as it is with Yuki and Haru. It’s not extremely overly dramatic, like characters are not giving long monologues when they are unnecessary. The anime just feels like it ebbs and flows a lot nicer.

What would this show be without the Zodiac? Second season makes the purpose of the Zodiac and its members absolutely clear. The Zodiac is more or less, an ingenious story telling device. The Zodiac feels most comparable to aberrations from Monogatari. In both situations, the supernatural is more of a way to explore the characters and why they are the way there are, rather than some evil antagonist. Second season builds upon the dynamics that govern the Zodiac members that were established in season one, with the intended purpose being to clarify a lot of plot points that were either not explored in season one or were not immediately clear in season one. Second season has made the purpose and function of the Zodiac as a plot device clear, and through its execution it’s easy to see that the writers did a wonderful job of integrating the Zodiac into their work.

Finally, something new that I think second season introduces that really makes the whole anime stand out even more so far, is its depiction of childhood. Second Season makes it painfully obvious, even more than season one, just how much of an impact parents can have on their children. It makes it obvious how even the small things that parents do, can shape a child’s development. Second Season aims to not only entertain, but also educate the audience on children’s mental development. Whether it’s Yuki’s story of neglect and mental abuse or it’s Hiro’s story of acceptance and care, Fruits Basket is a story about how children deserve care and affection so that it doesn’t affect them in a terrible way later on in their lives.
Fruits Basket has quickly become one of my favorite anime. Although it took a while for me to really get into it, I can confidently say I am very happy I did. Even if I only did mention aspects of Fruits Basket’s story, there are a number of other reasons you should give it watch: the animation is stellar, the soundtrack is rich and extremely well composed, and it is quite funny where it counts. Honestly, in the beginning the reason I wrote this came from my love of the show, but it turned in to something else as I kept writing. It frustrated me how people shy away from this show because its seen as a Shogo, as if the label itself makes it seem inferior. I just want people to watch the show for what it is, and not be turned away from what others see it to be. Thank you for reading!

I'm a huge fan of the reboot. Having not read the manga, I went in the reboot, expecting a classic which will hit me in all the right places. And to my delight, fruits basket keeps delivering unforgivable and touching moments which are well crafted and sublime. Probably the best the genre as a whole has to offer.
So ladies and gentleman this is a part critical review and part appreciation post of this shoujo masterpiece which I had the pleasure to experience.

So starting with the plot structure and characters- It takes its time. Fruits basket and it's plot moves at a leisurely pace. Which is like a double edged sword to many. It lets you sink in it's world and characters and develops them in a way where as the story progress they grow in a subtle but very organic way. They slowly come out of their shells and truly shine. This is that one quality of fruits basket, which made me fall in love with it. The fact that, it prioritizes its characters. That it focuses on building character chemistry and their relations. I know a lot of people will both agree and disagree with me, but I will say that fruits basket is one of those rare shoujo/slice of life anime which turned a seemingly cliched and tropey cast of characters into complex and 3 dimensional individuals, which the viewers care about.
Kyo is not a 2d Tsundere character, his growth feels natural and you see it with your eyes that he has changed. Same can be said for Yuki, who shines in this season. The growth of characters is very subtle, natural yet noticeable.
While watching this show, it really does feel that, with time characters grow. An feat which is really difficult to pull of. That's the special part about this show. Fruits basket uses its plot structure to its advantage. The show is pretty slow with its pacing and has a plot focusing primilarily on characterization than story progression; having Slice of life elements, which help in fleshing out character relations.
This can be a tricky way of writing to get right, but fruits basket uses it masterfully. It is written in a way where every character has a role to play and some relevance to the story. While the build up of tension in fruits basket is a wonder in itself, its the importance the show gives to its characters, that makes this show truly special. End of the day fruits basket is a character driven story with a heavy focus on themes of family, love, hate, healing and getting over negative aspects of life and moving on with a positive outlook. And the anime executes all these aspects near flawlessly.

Even if we were to talk about the actual plot that happens till the 2nd season, all I can say is that it gets a firm sense of direction in the second season and it starts picking off, albeit at a slow but steady pace. Some new mysteries are brought up, while others are solved. The buildup of tension in this anime is a treat to watch. There are only a few moments where the series antagonist appears, but all those moments are extremely uncomfortable, and scary which effectively build a sense of dread and makes you worry about the characters. The anime feels cinematic. The viewer is immersed in the world of this anime and all the scenes are meaningful, full of subtext. The character monologues are exceptionally well written and feel very personal and intimate to look at and all the scenes where the characters reflect on themselves or develop fill warm and fuzzy. The use of humor is great although questionable at times. (Looking at you shigure)

As you can see the show is filled to brim with positive aspects, however there are definitely few points I am critical of.

1. One certain relationship in this anime, while certainly well written- feels inappropriate, and did make me wonder a bit. The jokes also sometimes feel inappropriate.
2. Like I Said earlier, the pacing can really be a double edged sword, as there were a few times, where I felt the story should've took off and got over some plot points quickly and developed a certain character, but I believe this particular point will be addressed in the third season so there's no real need to worry there.

Coming to Art and Soundtrack- They feel warm, fresh and cinematic. The art and environments feel lush and well drawn. The Opening and Ending songs reflect the series as a whole and the use of color palate is great as well.

All in all, I get why this show is such a classic. I really love this show and while I don't whats to happen next (since I never read the manga) , I'm quite positive that what we will get will be a masterpiece in coming.
With that said I give this show a
96/100