Fruits Basket Season 3 returned this week for a very beautiful and incredibly moving finale. The heartwarming closure in all character arcs gave the show a 9.18/10 rating, making this #1 on MyAnimeList, surpassing big names like Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and Attack on Titan – at least for now. In all my 12 years of watching anime, I've never seen a shojo be #1, so this is huge! Below, we break out the ending of Fruits Basket Season 3:
Fruits Basket Season 3 Ending Explained: Who Ends Up Together and Where are Our Main Characters Now?
Apart from the main pairings, aka Kyo and Tohru, and Yuki and Machi, many other relationships have been confirmed, but let's talk about the mains first:
Kyo and Tohru go on a date that Tohru's best friends, Uotani and Hanajima decide to join as "chaperones." Throughout, they keep teasing Kyo, but when they get the chance, they tell Kyo that they approve of the relationship, and ask him to take care of Tohru. Notably, cats aren't drawn to Kyo anymore, a marked difference from the time he was cursed. This gives him mixed feelings.
Yuki is able to move on and follow his own dreams. He decides to go to college far away. He and Machi will have a long-distance relationship. In a very cute gesture, he gives her the keys to his new house, so that she can visit him. In a cheesy but heartwarming confession, Yuki tells Tohru that she feels like a mother to him, and thanks her for all she did for him, telling her he will miss her but hopes they will meet soon.
It seems that he and Kyo get on much better now, even though they would probably never admit that, and, Kyo was ok with him talking to Tohru, suggesting that he feels confident in their relationship. I'm so glad to see them finally on good terms - though I'll miss hearing Yuki's "baka neko" every week!
As Tohru and Kyo prepare to move out, we learn about the fates of all the other main characters: Arisa is still in a long-distance relationship with Kureno. In a call, she asks him about his new place and tells him to be prepared to welcome her, as she is going to him soon. It seems like Hanajima has started dating Kazuma – though Fruits Basket: Another reveals that this won't last.
We know that Hatsuharu and Rin are now together for good. Momiji, while still in love with Tohru, is now willing to move on and find his own partner, while Kagura seems to still care for Kyo but doesn't plan to act on it. It seems like she's now close friends with Ritsu, who's dating Shigure's editor, Mitsuru, but panics when asked about when they are getting married.
Hatori is now free to date Mayuko and proposes that they go on a beach holiday together, which strikes her as completely out of character for him. Ayame is still with his coworker, Mine, and keeps being his flamboyant self, already planning gifts for the young couples, while Shigure and Akito are also together, presumably happy.
In the very last scene, Kyo and Tohru's granddaughter is looking for them, and it's revealed that they are now an old couple, still very much in love.
Fruits Basket Season 3 Ending Explained: Can Akito Be Forgiven?
In the last episode of Fruits Basket, most of the main characters prepare to say goodbye to Tohru and Kyo who are leaving to stay with a friend of Kazuma's and work in his dojo.
When Shigure asks, however, Akito says that she won't go. The excuse she gives is that she can visit Tohru whenever she wants anyway, to which Shigure teasingly replies: "you are so selfish."
It's implied that after failing to properly apologize, and understanding that an apology will never be enough, Akito is ashamed to be around the other zodiac members. Kureno already chose to remove himself so that Akito won't have to live with guilt for what she did to him. While it's good that Akito got a second chance in life, given how much she suffered at the hands of her mother and how she was forced to pretend her whole life, she's still far from a good person.
She abused most former zodiac members and, as the anime frequently reminded us throughout, some scars stay, and healing is a slow process, meaning that Akito is probably right in thinking that her family members are better off if she keeps a distance for now.
Most of them seem willing to at least move on with their lives if not outright forgive her, but for Rin, one of the most horribly abused, this is harder: she calls out Hatsuharu and Momiji for moving on simple as that, explaining that she still feels messed up and will probably keep feeling that way.
Rin is still insecure, fearing that Hatsuharu will tire of her feeling that way, but he's willing to support her throughout, and it seems that everyone will move on now that the circle of violence has been broken.
I'm never sure how to feel about Akito's arc, truth be told. She did get away too easily, but at least this was acknowledged by characters such as Momiji and Shigure himself, an equally selfish, possessive person, who is happy dating Akito because they are so similar in their obsessive love. On the other hand, the ending is so wholesome that it really makes you want to believe that Akito changed for the best and deserves her second chance; what do you think?
Fruits Basket Season 3 Ending Explained: What Now?
While there won't be a second cour of Fruits Basket Season 4, or even a Fruits Basket Season 4, we do have some good news: manga fans might have noticed that the chapters focusing on Kyoko and Katsyua, Tohru's parents, were missing. It looks like this was intentional, for good reason.
A Fruits Basket spinoff has been announced, possibly for 2022, and it will be a prequel telling the story of Tohru's parents, so we still have something to wait for
In the meantime, you will excuse me. I'll be looking for anime likeFruits Basket to help cure my anime hangover. Thankful for those interested in the anime, a Fruits Basket prelude movie is coming out soon.
Related:Will Fruits Basket: Another Be Animated?
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