Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya follows a teenage girl, Tohru Honda, as she navigates life after the loss of her widowed mother. Tohru is taken in by two members of the Sohma family, who she later learns are under a curse that turns them into animals of the Chinese zodiac if they are embraced by people of the opposite sex. While this story follows her life after the death of her parents, Fruits Basket: Prelude helps share what happened up until the beginning of Tohru’s stay with the Sohmas.
There are many things that the Fruits Basket: Prelude film does wrong, such as the uncomfortable age gap between Tohru’s parents as they explore their growing relationship. However, there are just as many things that this film does correctly. The strongest accomplishment of Fruits Basket: Prelude is its approach to the topic of death and the grief that follows.
Tohru and Kyo’s Collision With Grief
The film begins with a recap of the relationship that developed in the anime series between the two main characters, Tohru Honda and Kyo Sohma. Tohru and Kyo both struggled with grief throughout their lives, which this recap reflects on. Tohru lost both parents during her childhood and struggles throughout the series to get through her first times without her mother there. Kyo lost his mother and faced the wrath of his birth father, who blamed him for her death. Along with this, Kyo also became quite familiar with Tohru’s mother when he was a kid. He felt a sense of guilt as he witnessed her accident and final moments without helping her. The recap reveals how the two were able to help each other heal through their losses.
A new story is shared in the rest of the film. Tohru’s mother, Kyoko, deals with disapproving parents as a kid. She joins gang activity and acts up at school. When she gets scolded by school staff for the trouble that she has caused, she meets Katsuya Honda, a student teacher. The two develop a connection and end up falling for each other. Katsuya was the first person to truly listen to Kyoko, and they both felt as though the world is always against them.
Grief Can Change a Person
Grief first comes up as Katsuya discusses the loss of his mother with Kyoko. He shares that his father was a very strict man, wanting Katsuya to follow a specific path, but loosened up quite a lot after Katsuya’s mother passed. After the two become engaged, Kyoko has the opportunity to meet Katsuya’s father. She thinks that Katsuya’s idea of his father’s demeanor is understated. The man is nothing but accepting and loving, learning from his wife’s passing that life is short. He becomes a fatherly figure for Kyoko after she is cut off from her own parents.
Kyoko and Katsuya form a life together, feeling safe and truly loved. Together, they start a family. A baby Tohru Honda is seen for the first time growing up with both of her parents. However, it isn’t long until the presumably happy family falls victim to the difficulties of life once again. While on a business trip, Katsuya Honda develops a bad cold and passes away in his sleep. Kyoko, a young mother who looked forward to a full life with this man, becomes completely broken from loss.
The Picture-Perfect Family Shatters
The whole world that was the Honda family falls apart as they learn that Katsuya will never return. By having a previous understanding of grief, Katsuya’s father is there for Tohru and Kyoko to make sure that the two can get through this. At the beginning of learning about his passing, Kyoko seems to be in denial. She goes about the acts she needs to until she is invited to pick up the stuff he left behind in his hotel room. A picture frame with photos of the happy family sits next to the telephone where Kyoko and Katsuya had their final conversation. This is the point where she realizes that he’s truly gone.
While she was sad before, after seeing how Katsuya had the hotel room prepared for him to wake up the next day, Kyoko spirals into a deep depression. She’s glued to the floor of her home, flicking through the channels of her television with the screen being the only source of light. Days pass by like seconds, while Tohru is seen in the background with nothing but worry and concern for her mother. The young girl doesn’t quite understand, but she knows her mother is hurting. It takes for a program on the television to pull Kyoko off of the floor for all the wrong reasons. The woman on the TV show is going through the same type of loss, the words of relatability ringing through Kyoko’s head and pulling her out the door of their apartment.
Kyoko Almost Gives Up
This is where Kyoko is about to completely give up on life without Katsuya. She runs to the ocean, her brain flooded with nothing but the thought of joining her late husband by jumping in. It takes a child speaking to her mother to snap Kyoko out of this delusion. She realizes all that she’s about to leave behind. There is a little girl at home waiting for her. Questions pop up in her head as she runs home. She is quick to answer all of them as she recollects on times that her father-in-law has been present to take care of them.
The door flings open, Tohru sitting right by it as she struggles to stay awake to greet her mother as she enters the door. It takes Tohru’s presence to help Kyoko realize that to get through this, she needs to live the dream that she planned with Katsuya: to live a happy life with their family. Kyoko embraces Tohru, thankful that the girl waited for her to pick herself back up again and apologetic that she wasn’t present. With Tohru in her life, Kyoko accepts the loss of Katsuya. While Kyoko will miss Katsuya for the rest of her life, she’s able to get over the hurdles of grief to raise Tohru the best that she can.
The story of loss and the different types of grief that follows is beautifully portrayed throughout Fruits Basket: Prelude. What's so important about this story is seeing how people can be there for others as they struggle with the passing of a loved one. Katsuya’s father understood the hard time that Kyoko was going through and was there for her by making sure that she could grieve without worrying about other things. The emotions are very raw and realistic, making the story worth the watch, especially for those who have experienced this type of loss themselves.