「 大貧民をやりましょう」 (Daihinmin wo Yarimashou)
“Let’s Play Rich Man Poor Man”

Three episodes in and I can really feel the nostalgia kicking in. That and I think the story is doing an even better job than the original did at portraying Tohru’s mom and the life lessons she wanted Tohru to learn.

With Tohru quickly integrating into life with the Soma’s, it’s rather surprising just how well she fits in with the rest of the household. As an outsider who accidentally stumbled onto a secret that would normally require her memory to be wiped, Tohru has quickly found her place in the Soma household. As the point person that that keeps nearly everything in the house running (and clean), it’s been nice to see her earn her fair share as she takes on everything else in her life ranging from working a part time job to keeping up in school.

However, if I had to highlight what makes Tohru so integral to things, it’d have to be her ability to see just how great both Yuki and Kyo are. As two individuals who have vastly different personalities, it’s been fun getting to see them clash against each other. However, after learning just why the two are so incompatible with one another, it adds a whole new twist to their dynamic. A twist that hopefully leads to a path where we get to see the two reconcile and gain a better understanding of one another. If I were a betting man (and I am), I’d be willing to put all my money on the bet that Tohru will be the one who will be able to (eventually) guide them down a path like that.

Diving into the meat of this week’s episode, it was nice to see Yuki’s character get fleshed out a bit more. Because if we’re being truly honest, watching the perfect pretty boy gets pretty old quickly if there isn’t something else there. And unlike a lot of other shows where the twist is that they’re actually a horrible person inside, I enjoyed watching Yuki struggle with his inability to sympathize with others and in turn question just why he does what he does.

Overall, a rather strong start three episode start for Fruits Basket (2019). Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, the show has been doing a great job at recreating what was already done while also modernizing other parts to fit a 2019 audience. That said, I’m hyped to see just how different things get once we get deeper into the story since it sounds like the first crack at this series wasn’t up to the mangaka’s taste and in-turn they’ve taken a much larger role in this remake. In any case, I’ll catch you guys next week where we’ll hopefully get to find out just who this new person is that’s looking for our hot-headed Kyo. See you then!

 

Preview

25 Comments

      1. Sieh Da! Welch ein Glück = Look there! How fortunate

        Schön die kennenzulernen = Nice to meet you

        Sehr Hübsch = Very Pretty

        Well, i would translate “Sehr Hübsch” more into “How lovely!” seen her kind of reaction. Sometimes you can not trust to much on Google Translation, you need also to read the Atmosphere here

        Worldwidedepp
      2. “Sie da! Welch ein Glück” = “You there, how fortunate” this “da” make it directly. i would use “Sieh an, Welch ein Glück!” = “look at what luck”. This “an” is not bound to anyone and is more “neutral” for me

        Schön dich kennenzulernen.. this “dich” = “you” is also directly. I would use more “sie” same meaning but more “Respect neutral”

        It’s like -san, -kun and such

        Worldwidedepp
      3. @Worldwidedepp — Very kool of you to add those translation notes!

        I’m fascinated by the subtleties that exist in various languages and
        it’s great to get some insight into these things.

        mac65
      4. ….German Guy…As you already said, noone would use “Sie” at the age they are at. And as far as I know, never did children/adolescents use “Sie” to address each other. Using “Sie” would simply be wrong here. You also can’t say -san=Sie, because the Japanese use formal laguage in a completely different way.
        “Sie da!” or “Sieh an!” are by the way both awkward expressions. You could have used these expressions maybe 200 years ago, but noone would ever use these expressions nowadays. I also don’t understand what you mean when you talk about the difference between “an” vs. “da”, both aren’t “bound” to anyone. And “Sieh an” would be translated as “Won’t you look at that…”. It’s a sarcastic expression.
        “Welch ein Glück” also is an expression that barely anyone uses anymore, you’d say “Was für ein Glück.”
        The “sentence” “Sehr hübsch” is also wrong. In German you always need a subject for a phrase. You can really see how a Japanese looked up the words in a dictionary, because in Japanese you don’t need the subject. You can simply say things like “kirei” (=pretty), but in German you MUST say “Du bist hübsch” (=you are pretty). So this sentence is simply wrong.
        The only sentence that is indeed completely correct is “Schön, dich kennenzulernen.”
        I always hated that scene simply because of the awful German but I have gotten used to Japanese treating languages that way.

        Lia
  1. The 1st Fruits anime was definitely not to the creators’ taste; she even made a pointed comment on the previous anime’s “…selfish decisions (made) about the characters and story”.

    The nostalgia’s still there, but remember the mangaka has exercised stronger creative control this time to ensure the story will hew more towards her vision, and the various dramatic turns/reveals that didn’t make it into the 1st.

    zztop
    1. It’s easy for her to say that in hindsight but at the time remember, she took the money. She would have been aware of how the anime would turn out prior to going into production. If she was that unhappy she could have made a fuss about it, but she kept quiet and accepted the money that came her way.

      Lyfe
  2. I find the mangaka’s comments to be distasteful and petty. Adaptations don’t have to follow the original to the t. It’s not like the original anime wasn’t successful and influential not only in Japan, but worldwide or how it brought new readers to the manga.

    So her attitude about how no one from the original production is to be involved with this series is annoying to say the least and taints the legacy of FB. Sure Lady, you have a beef with the director, but what do you have against the rest of the people and the hard work they put into making a very successful show. And it’s not like she’s mentioned this only once, she’s constantly talking about it.

    Molly
    1. She mentions it a lot? Wow. I haven’t followed news about this series in a very long time so I’m out of the loop so to speak. Someone should ask her why she didn’t speak up when the show was bringing in big money from royalty payments and increased novels sales. Could it be that cold hard cash silences ones integrity? Sell out? 😉

      Lyfe
  3. I heard they got the same English voice actors as the original for the dub (I really liked the original dub cast), but I haven’t been able to see any dubbed versions yet.

    Has anyone seen a dubbed episode yet? How do the voice performances stack up to the original?

    Rathje
    1. I don’t really watch dubs but if you compare the original cast list to that of the 2019 dub you’ll see that they kept the key people but replaced a whole lot of others. Arisa Uotani for example was originally voiced by Parisa Fakhri but was replaced by Elizabeth Maxwell. Saki Hanajima was voiced by Daphne Gere but replaced by Jad Saxton. I could keep listing examples but I think you get my point.

      Lyfe
  4. Hmmmm, any episode without Shigure is a sad episode for me xD my 10 year old self loves him always.

    However, I think this was too fast paced and everything was thrown in at once, I like this episode, because of its depth and because I know what it is like, but I dk, I didn’t feel any connection to what was being said, like someone just talking fast and I am supposed to listen.

    Mi-Chan
  5. Shoujo Manga…Heh, somehow it’s feel like they only live by emotions and not by reason! -sigh-
    But I agressed! Still I’ll keep on eye on this even that i doubt that…well, can’t explain further anyways!

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Namaewoinai

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *