Ok so there are going to be SPOILERS. There are those who haven’t read the manga and are watching the new anime so don’t read this post because I shall be talking about the manga.

 

 

It is amazing that Yuki didn’t become a villain. I mean honestly think about it.

How did he not become a villain like Akito?

Akito really thought she was ruining Yuki’s life and I was like, “Ma’am his life was a mess before you!”

His mother gave him no love. She was cold and only saw him as an object. How messed up is that? He was only valuable to her when he was giving something to her, status. But what did she give him?

And we never talk about his father because guess what man isn’t there?! Do we even know what his face looks like? Does he have a personality? I mean at least the mom pretended to care sometimes but the father, a ghost… a complete ghost.

People talk about how damaging a bad childhood can be and it’s true. Not getting that love and affection from the people who are supposed to love them can really scar and damage a child.

However Yuki had a kind heart and so he kept on hoping. He dreamed of making friends and of getting to leave the Sohma and to be honest Akito wasn’t always completely messed up. Before her breakdown she actually played with Yuki and even he mentions the change in her behaviour in the manga. (If you’ve read the manga you know the reason for the change but we’re not talking about Akito here!)

Anyway so he had hope but then things turned dark and Akito had a mental breakdown and Yuki was stuck in that toxic world listening to those toxic words and believing that no one loved him.

He met Kyo and saw that the kid already hated him when he simply wanted to be his friend. Even Hatsuharu hated him and his brother was indifferent towards him.

Now from my experience hardships can either make you empathetic or bitter. I see a bit of both happen with Yuki.

When Hatsuharu comes to him to vent Yuki is able to see Hatsuharu for who he really is and to uplift him. I believe it’s because he knows what it’s like to be seen as something you’re not as Hatsuharu was struggling with his identity as the cow in the zodiac and being seen as stupid whereas Yuki was struggling with being seen as the special one when he just wanted to be a normal boy.

Where I see him becoming bitter or rather hardening his heart is towards Ayame and Kyo. Ayame really had to work hard to get back into Yuki’s heart. As for Kyo it’s interesting. They both fought bonding for their own reasons but they ended up bonding anyway. Living in that house was the best decision made for the both of them. Isn’t it interesting? It wasn’t their decision to live in the house. Hatsuharu begged Shigure to take Yuki and Kyo’s dad insisted Kyo stay.

Writing this I think Hatsuharu was the turning point. Haru was so loving and kind. He constantly looked out for those he loved and that included Yuki. He made sure that Yuki had a friend and that he wasn’t alone and he saved him from that house.

Man I’ll need a separate post to talk about Haru. *sigh* I love him.

But really though, that’s a beautiful friendship. I’m sure Yuki will forever appreciate that love that Haru showed him and continues to show him.

My initial question was how did Yuki not become a villain and I think the answer is that he had people who saved him so he was never truly alone. I mean even Tohru saved him before they met.

He didn’t come out of his experience undamaged however. He had to work harder to do things others found easy like making friends or expressing his emotions freely. It took him ages to laugh in front of people, remember when he had to leave a room to do it?

Fruits Basket is interesting as you get to see how they overcome their inner demons.

Yuki is a character who gives me hope as he was able to come out of a dark place into the light. He overcame and steadily conquered each obstacle. It’s inspiring really when you understand that what he did is not easy at all.

 

Side note: Ayame also suffered emotionally from his upbringing. He’s an extrovert so it wasn’t so obvious but he didn’t understand emotions of others, he was selfish and cold. He felt like a failure because his parents deemed him as such.

With Ayame we see Hatori teach him how to think of others and how to be kind. And we see Yuki teach him how to be patient and loving, and also Yuki affirmed Ayame as he didn’t see his brother as a failure.

Honestly if it wasn’t for Kazuma I’d have no hope for the parents in the manga. (Oh and Hiro’s parents, and Kisa’s parents… ok there are more good ones).