“Fruits Basket” Season 2 is a Treasure in these Troubled Times

Let’s not mince words. 2020 sucks for the world at large. As an American, I don’t see America getting any better any time soon. In fact, I’m afraid it will only continue its downward trend from here. Will we still be a country by 2030? Who knows!

BUT, do you know what 2020 did provide for which we can all be thankful? That’s right. Fruits Basket season 2. We are well and truly getting into manga territory. The original 2001 series could never.

And yeah, if you are like me and you’re watching the dub, things have stalled for obvious reasons, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t sit back and appreciate what is there while anticipating more to come. I’m so tempted to watch ahead in the sub because I know I’ll still go back and watch the dub when I’m finished, but… to myself and my dub-loving heart I must be true, at least for now.

To be frank, I love everything that this series is delivering for me in these troubled times. I love the art, the acting, the colors, the characters, the messages. It makes me smile, scream, ramble, and tear up; I cannot get enough of it. I also find some of the age gaps in upcoming relationships problematic, but we’re going to set them aside for now because I’m not in the mood to discuss it, dear readers. All positivity over here, my dears. No negativity in our anime today.

That I can still get so overwhelmed and sucked into an anime about highschoolers is a testament to its quality. I’m struggling to purchase “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” for a reason, and that reason is that teen lit (and by extension, other media) has come to bore me. Where are my mid-twenties protags? My protags in their thirties, even? (Suzanne Collins wrote another “Hunger Games” novel, my dudes.) But I digress. The point is, I am totally absorbed by these characters: their desires, motivations, fears, sorrows. I’m here for it, and I CRAVE RESOLUTION.

Now, I haven’t read all of the manga (and I only own 12 volumes of it at present–All used but in great shape; I’m collecting!!), but between that and my character profile book (SO COOL! HUSBAND GAVE IT TO ME!), I know enough about where the characters are going to end up, and I cannot WAIT to see them get there. I can’t wait for the drama, the heartbreak, the OVERWHELMING EMOTION SURE TO GRIP ME BY THE THROAT. I CANNOT WAIT.

And even though it’s the only anime I’m watching this season, it’s so good that its easily worth ten titles of content. Would I like more shoujo and josei anime next season? Of course. Is Fruba enough to satisfy me until then. Yes, more than enough.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is, yeah, this post is short and sweet, but Fruba is the only show I’m watching right now (BESIDES THE UNTAMED, SOMEONE HELP ME), and that’s okay. It’s all okay. Fruba is more than enough, and when more new shows come my way, I’ll be ready, but until then, I’m good with being patinent for more dubbed Fruba.

AND MAYBE REVISING ZESS-SAN.

Until I ramble at you next (but probably not about anime, because, again, this is all I’m watching right now), stay healthy. Stay safe. Wear a mask. Don’t politicize public health.

~Shoujo ❤