Ceres and Fruits Basket

[dangermousie]

Number 1 reason why I love Ayashi No Ceres:



Yup, I am a Toya fangirl. (I only have one volume left and I am sort of postponing because I don't want it to be over).

Let me tell you, reading a volume with a cover like this on crowded public transit results in people giving you som really interesting looks.

I have finished volume 1 of Fruits Basket and all I can say is KYO!!! I still adore Yuki like whoa, but I think I am going to be a Kyo girl all the way (it's interesting because in RL I am all about the reserved guys, but here, as in Hanadan, I am all about the loud one :D I really have no consistency with what type of manga/anime character I prefer. E.g. Toya is a hell of a lot closer to Yuki, type-wise, than he is to Kyo.)

I adore Tohru. She is going to be one of my fave manga heroines, I can tell. She isn't bratty or whiny or saintly or anything. And she is cheerful without being annoying about it.

OMG, I loved the bit where Kyo came to meet Tohru at night because she was walking through the forest alone, for her safety. And OMG, it's adorable how he is trying so hard to learn how to behave and not blurt out first, defensive things that come into his mouth. And I love that Tohru realizes then and there that yes, he is trying to apologize, he just has no idea how, and that he is a good guy, just with no social skills at all (What kind of life did he have before anyway? Seriously. When Hot Cousin talks to him about some girl who will eventually tell him ILY, Kyo says he would ask her if she is crazy. Bwah?) Just as she basically sums it all up later in her head by thinking that beneath his scowl there is an awkward smile. Heee.

You know what really strikes me? How taken aback and delighted both Yuki and Kyo seem to be that Tohru is actually interested in them, as people, in their likes and dislikes (gardening for Yuki, the martial arts for Kyo). It's like they have to get used to the concept that they are worthwhile. That they matter. Because Yuki, in his quiet way, is just as anti-social as Kyo: he seems to be totally afraid of people rejecting him so he never lets them in. Whatever screwed them both up (I am assuming the curse), it's kinda like the Domyouji-Shin dichotomy I discussed with kitsune714 a while back, of the extravert-introvert reaction to the same fubar situation: it made Yuki a perfectionist introvert who is reserved because he doesn't want people to let him in and be hurt, and because if he is 'perfect' everything will be all right, and it made Kyo sort of lash out in not knowing how to behave and act out and push people away that way. Hmmm.

How much did I love the scene where Kyo and Yuki came to get Tohru from the house of evil relatives? I LOVED IT. Because they both miss having her in the house. I love it! I am not getting a romantic vibe here at all yet (though, because of personal preferences, I am Kyo/Tohru if I have to pick, though I am not rabid yet) but more like they want people who care about them around. And I love the bit where Kyo tells her it's OK to be unhappy and she should be able to express it. Because she is sunny (probably because she's tried so hard not to be a burden on people who had to take her in) but she's had a hard life. GUUUH. Kyo love.

I feel really bad about no hugging because a hug, while not the sexiest or most romantic, is perhaps the most comforting of all emotions: it makes you feel cared for.

Oh, and I really like the Boar Girl (blanking on the name) who wants to marry Kyo. LOL. She reminds me a bit of Chidori from Ceres and a lot of a grown-up version of Merle from Escaflowne (which makes sense as Kyo is rather Van-like). Heeeee. If they hooked up, it would be non-stop fireworks. :D

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Boar girl is Kagura. I adore her as I do all the Zodiac kids. She's likely the one person Kyo fears(not counting scum!Akito)

And yeah, it takes a bit for the romantic vibes to come in...largely because Tohru is just so absurdly innocent and neither boy has ever really even considered himself worthy of friends, much less liking a girl.

The curse basically makes it so that the rat and the cat always hate each other, and the cat can never beat the rat.

The scene where Kyo and Yuki go get Tohru, and Kyo just grabs her and propells her out, was the moment of love for me...and what put me squarely in the Kyo/Tohru camp.

Don't worry, though, it gets more romantic later on.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I don't mind the lack of romance actually. I find it awesome regardless. These people need to figure out how to have friends first, before they can contemplate anything else.

She's likely the one person Kyo fears(not counting scum!Akito)

LOL. She is like Misao on speed. Btw, I think I am getting the feeling you don't like Akito. Hmmm, why am I sensing that? :D

Kyo just grabs her and propells her out, was the moment of love for me...

I loooooved that bit.

neither boy has ever really even considered himself worthy of friends, much less liking a girl.

Yeah, I definitely got that vibe.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there was no hints of romance or romantic liking until the characters were ready for it, and even then, it's not overwhelming. The boys(and Tohru) need some sort of sense of worth before it could even be a consideration.

Hmm...Misao on speed is a fairly apt comparison...except that Misao has a chance of getting the guy.

Your Akito hate will match mine, I suspect.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Your Akito hate will match mine, I suspect.

I just read some wikipedia spoilers and yeah. I want to stab him in the face. With a rusty, tetanus-causing fork.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

well, since you know....

THE BASTARD CLAWED TOHRU'S FACE!!!!! He called her garbage(among other things) attacked her, and clawed deep gauges in her face. Because she dared make his cousins feel like they weren't garbage. And his younger cousins are so terrified of him that they were almost to petrified to do anything.

It's also possible that he forces his male cousins to be his "special friends" but it hasn't been confirmed.

He's emotionally and physically abusive to the people he should be close to and the ones he should be greatful to, and instead of trying to do something to at least get some happiness and peace out of what life he has, he devotes it to abusing others.

No curse sympathy from me for the wretch(I'd say rat, normally, but you know...)

i'm so happy you read spoilers.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Um. I got to vol 2 and the thing he did to Hatori?????? *stabs*

And I was reading the way he treats Yuki and Kyo? *stabs again*

Hate.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

oops, got carried away...but...see why I have more tolerance for some characters? I mean, compard to that guy...

and you've only started on how wretched he is to Hatori(quishes the hottie who endured a lifetime of Shigure and Ayame) Kyo and Yuki. And what kind of a bargain he struck with Kyo. And what he does to Kisa. And Rin....I could go on and on.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oh, never too much on Akito hate. No carried away disclaimer necessary.

UGH.

Child services should lock him up for life.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

not to mention the parents who let him control their children. I point to Akito being my first despisd character to explain why i have less hatred than others for some characters. kind of "hey, i was used to this guy LONG before i met character x"

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Heh. I've hated plenty of character before, but akito's the first one to earn his own "[character name] must die" LJ tag. :)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

yeah, but you met the milder ones first. There are plenty of characters I hate and dislike(in fact, i think half of my talk about orphen was devoted to hating the 2 secondary female leads, one from each series) but none match akito.

[miss-dian.livejournal.com]

Hang on a sec. Isn't Kagura a BOY? A girl who looks/dresses like a boy or something? Or have I mistaken her/him with someone else?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Kagura is the girl who likes Kyo. Ritsu is the rabid monkey who dresses like a woman. Momiji is the little one who almst looks like a girl.

But Kagura's a real live girl. Who turns into a boar.

[autumnflame.livejournal.com]

Guilty of not reading the manga (or even finishing the anime), but I loved Tohru so much. She's so refreshing, in that she's cheery and warm without being overbearing, annoying, or whiny in any way--and yet you can see the marks her life's had on her still, and the flaws she has.

But man, I was so torn between Yuki or Kyo. :D On the other hand, at least that way I was happy when I found out who she does end up with, since I liked them both equally. But yeah, at this point I also really like that they're friends first, before anything else, and that because of her, for her, they learn how to work together, if not necessarily like each other.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I really like that they work on friendship first, here. Because that is so much healthier...

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

[i]What kind of life did he have before anyway? Seriously. [/i]

You'll find out & oh...my... I don't think you've scratched the surface yet.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Eeee! Can't wait!

[miss-dian.livejournal.com]

OMG, I loved the bit where Kyo came to meet Tohru at night because she was walking through the forest alone, for her safety.
Heeeee.... I loved that part too!!! :D

Oh, and I really like the Boar Girl (blanking on the name) who wants to marry Kyo.
Wait till you read the part about this really crazy whacky character who goes pyscho every 3 seconds. There are some really interesting characters in FB ^^

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Heee. Can't wait!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

The scary thing about Ritsu is that dressing like a girl helps keep him calm.

[miss-dian.livejournal.com]

I know. And the going psycho thing. And constantly apologising (even to a cat/dog, LMAO). Man...