8 July, 2003
Fruits Basket, Vol. 4, Natsuki Takaya (199 pp, PB, 1999)
Each volume of this series, so far, has featured a different character on the cover. That's obvious. What took me four volumes to notice is that the title page of each volume features the cover character as they wake up in the morning. Definitely quirky.
Lots of good stuff in this volume. Tohru (and the readers) finally meet the mysterious head of the Sohma family, Akito. Akito is a very, very bad person. The same sequence gives us a lot of background into Yuki's troubled past. This is the point where he really becomes a sympathetic character. He's still standoffish and antisocial, but as usual, understanding a character's background (in this case, he was cruelly abused for much of his childhood) puts their character flaws into perspective. Fruits Basket is definitely the most emotionally-intense comic I've read; the flashback to a desperate Yuki begging Shigure to "get me out of here" is truly heart-wrenching (and explains the barely-concealed resentment Yuki has for his older cousin-- he probalby feels utterly humiliated). It makes me wonder even more how in the world Shigure convinced Akito to allow Yuki to leave.
Furthermore, this volume introduces Yuki's flambuoyant (and very, very gay-- not that there's anything wrong with that) elder brother Ayame, and covers the first anniversary of Tohru's mom's death. That episode, in fact, raises another mystery. It's strongly indicated that Tohru's mom had some connection to the Sohma family (unbeknownst to Tohru). I doubt it's anything obvious like "Kyoko was a Sohma." Mysteries, mysteries, mysteries.
It looks like I'll be able to order these from amazon.ca from now on, which makes me happy-- no more shipping fees from France!