Can someone tell me why it’s so hard to be a parent of a zodiac child? Is it really that hard to be loving and kind like Hiro and Kagura’s families? The abuse, the hatred, the neglect, all of it I’m sick of it! And as if Akito couldn’t be any worse, I’m seriously boiling over this. I’m so angry.
Up there with Hanajima’s episode from season one, this episode was dark, unsettling, and downright depressing. At least Hana had a happy ending to her episode, I’m just filled with grief for Rin. I wasn’t too sure what to make of Rin’s character from before as she would appear and disappear, and she seemed so angry. I didn’t have much of an opinion of her because I didn’t know anything about her, but now I’m just like Tohru where I want to run over to Rin and just give her the biggest hug. ;~;
This episode continues to prove that Hatsuharu is seriously one of the best boys in this show, and also a shoutout to Kazuma as well. We learned quite a bit about Rin, and while she has a hard and intimidating exterior, she’s really just a teenage girl who is suffering from anxiety and PTSD daily from the abuse and near-death experience she’s suffered in the past. She’s a lonely and scared individual, wanting to be accepted even though she’s accepted loneliness in order to protect the one she loves. We now know that she’s desperate to somehow find a way to break the curse, for probably two reasons. The main reason would be to break the curse from herself and Haru so they don’t have to be tied down with the Soma family and their connection with Akito, so they can live a life normally together in love. I have a feeling another reason why Rin would want to break her curse is so maybe she can have another chance with her parents. It’s sad because she probably still wants to have a normal family life again and she blames herself and her curse for ruining everything, even though it’s absolutely not her fault. I’d wager that Rin thinks that if she’s not cursed anymore that she can have a life with her parents again, but honestly the damage is done.
These people were so easy to dispose their own child that I don’t even sense love from them. It’s so annoying how most zodiac children either deal with suicidal/hateful parents or overprotective ones, and at this point it’s driving me insane. We know that not all of them are like that as we can see with Hiro’s family, Kagura and her mom, and Kisa and her mom (who I assume is much healthier mentally now). We can say that the abusive and neglectful families is starting to become a tired trope, and I think I’d agree, but it really does show the horrors of this family and what can be kept secret. One thing that did strike me weird in Rin’s flashback was a woman with long black hair like hers talking to Rin, but we never saw her face. We have no clue who she is, I could maybe take a guess but I’m not sure but it’s something to keep note of.
Akito…at this point, I don’t give a single shit if Akito ends up having a horrible childhood because I just don’t care. It’s gotten to the point where I immediately get furious just seeing their face, but this time I was physically nauseous. First off, I’m not sure how it came to be that Akito knew Rin and Haru were dating. Did they find out themself, did someone tell Akito, or did Rin straight up told Akito herself? The last one I doubt since she even said she knew that Akito would be angry if they found out they were dating, and that she was afraid of Akito as well. Either way, it was made very clear that Akito can literally do anything and the Soma cult clan will still remain loyal and obedient to this pile of trash. Oh, and that Akito hates women so much and it shows because Akito seems to be much more violent towards women. Maybe has to do with that Ren woman she hates so much? Still, I don’t care. We’ve seen Akito do some awful horrible things, but pushing someone out the window with the intent to murder is by far the worse thing to happen and I hope it’s the worst thing Akito has done but I don’t even fucking know anymore. Akito said Rin was a waste and was taking up a spot, making it sound like she was easily disposable so absolutely was pushing her out the window intended to kill her instead of…a warning of her wrath? I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore.
And I know pushing Rin out of the window was the worst part, but I still boil with anger with how cruel Akito was to Rin leading up to that. Again, Rin is a very fragile girl who emotionally and mentally hasn’t recovered from her past trauma. She’s incredibly sensitive, and it broke my heart that she willingly took the bullet that she was the one that “seduced” one of Akito’s possessions (FUCK YOU) and took the abuse instead, to protect Haru. But what killed me the most was after the slap, Rin still stood her ground but was shaking, and crying, and was deathly afraid of Akito so much that she couldn’t even look them in the eye. And Akito laughs and toys with her emotions, calls her worthless and unneeded with a sickening pleasure, and hatred. And that was the part that made me nauseous because it was so horrific and disgusting. The pushing out the window part just sealed the deal that Akito is completely irredeemable and a pure monster and just looking at Akito sends me into a rage. I can’t remember the last time I hated a character to this extent, and I mean hate. And it’s funny, Akito trying to kill someone shouldn’t have come as a huge surprise to me but it really did shock me. I’m just speechless.
But hey let’s talk about Hatsuharu because he’s the shining light from this episode. I was wondering if anyone was going to say anything to Rin’s parents in the hospital and of all of them, it was Haru and I actually clapped. I love him!! I just love him so much, how loving and caring and selfless he is to so many of the characters. He’s just so wonderful and whatever stuff Shadow says about him because I agree! You can feel his love for Rin is sincere and genuine, and seeing Rin’s happiness at that sent my heart soaring. Finally for once in her life she found someone that actually wanted her, but because of the incident she decided to push that feeling away to protect Haru. And yet, Rin is a very selfless person herself and she wants to protect Haru and hopefully save him and herself as well. I’m not sure if Rin will ever find her answer, but I hope she can receive some sort of help and Tohru is right there for her.
I wasn’t sure about Rin before but she’s there with Momiji as the babies that needs hugs and protection. I hope she drops the cold attitude and seeks support from others and also makes up with Haru but who knows. This was a tough episode to watch but I still really enjoyed it. It’ll be great to see the followup episode after this to see what kind of impact Tohru will have on Rin.
Every time that I think the Zodiac members’ families can’t get worse and Akito can’t be more of a creep, Fruits Basket ramps it up another notch or ten.
I have major questions about that hospital. Is it owned by the Soma family or was that doctor a Soma, because it sounds like they found clear evidence of abuse and then heard Rin’s parents admit to causing (some? all?) of it, and presumably nothing came of it. I know Rin went to live with a different family after that, but it seemed like Haru was the only one who tried to punish Rin’s parents, and that was merely a tongue lashing that was sadly ignored because it was from a child.
As terribly as Akito treats the Zodiac members, I’m a little surprised they didn’t get pissed at Rin’s parents for damaging “his property”.
I hope Rin’s illness is explained a little more clearly by story’s end. Since she seems to be the one most actively trying to break the curse, I thought it might be backlash from the curse, but maybe there’s some brain damage mixed in since she was pushed off a balcony and was heavily bleeding from the back of her head. Honestly, I’m surprised she survived that.
I accidentally stumbled across a spoiler a few episodes ago, and there was one line in this episode that I found interesting in light of that revelation. It doesn’t excuse what they said or did, but I can see the groundwork being laid.
Yes I think the hospital is owned by the Somas. The Somas seem to be a very large and wealthy family and they own lots of things and a hospital is certainly one of them (I think they mentioned it before?) If they were to go to any other hospital not under their control, the family would be questioned and investigated and it would create this whole drama and mess with the family and the curse and all that. So to keep themselves away from “normal” people they gotta own their own stuff.
And that’s probably why nothing came out of Rin’s injuries and Haru’s lashing out at them. They’re all Soma members and/or work for the Somas so they know about keeping everything secret from the outside world, and they know they’re not able to do much against Akito and those with higher status than them. Honestly, if Kazuma was the one to yell at Rin’s parents I think it still would have been ignored sadly. :/
Judging from this episode, Akito seems to not give a single crap about the female zodiac members because they admitted that they hate women. Like…HATE women. I don’t think Akito sees the female zodiacs in the same light as the male ones, especially since we’ve seen how close and touchy-feely they are with the men (Shigure, Hatori, Haru, Kureno), and that makes me…suspicious.
Hmm that’s an interesting thought. I just thought that Rin’s illness and passing out/vomiting is simply from her PTSD and crippling anxiety. Also we saw how gaunt she looked so it doesn’t really look like she’s taking care of herself very well, since it looks like she’s going around trying to find the answers 24/7. But it could be damage she took from the incident. And yeah I’m surprised she survived that, or didn’t become paralyzed either.
This episode broke me – just the acceptance of abuse perpetrated on Rin by both her parents and Akito. In the outside (real) world, that would not fly, but for the Sohmas, the doctor (who was standing right there and is, in our world, a mandated reporter) doesn’t even react to her parents admitting to the abuse. And don’t even get me started on Akito – why the peripheral characters (I know why the Zodiac can’t) doesn’t stage a murder (a la Orient Express) is beyond me. I’ve held off on reading the manga, but if ever a character needed a comeuppance, it’s Akito.
Honestly I think it’s because as much as the zodiac have to obey Akito, so do the rest of the non-Zodiac members as well. Akito is head of the family, or part of the head and so they have total influence over pretty much anyone and everyone in the family and those that work for the family. I’m guessing that if anyone tries to defy Akito, their lives would be made into a living hell. And…really, this family really does feel like a cult. They stay and follow rules because of the loyalty and also because of their best interests (wealth and comfort), so they just turn a blind eye I suppose. :/