The wait is over and we are finally introduced to the most-awaited character! I was also shocked to know about the voice actor for Kureno as I was always curious about that. This episode was mostly focused on this new strange character that we might have seen in the background at one point and his odd encounter and relation with Arisa.
To be honest, Kureno is one of the most attractive characters and the anime did a good job in maintaining that impression. He is indeed very handsome. But, there is something off about his character in general that won’t discuss as that is something not revealed yet. But so far, his character seems nice and innocent and a little blunt as the same time as he say things abruptly without giving it a second thought and realizing what other person would think about that. He also seems like a person who pretends to be happy when he is clearly not and Arisa immediately noticed that when she saw him smiling and said that that his smile doesn’t seem real. But, we got a glimpse what where and to whom he returned and that is probably the answer of that sad smile. It was quite upsetting to see him walking in that dark hallway towards a dark room where Akito welcomed him and at the same time he though about he would never meet Arisa again.
Talking about his relationship with Arisa. I found it to be a little odd. It felt rushed. There is nothing wrong if being wager to meet the person you met once but in just two meeting they seem to act like they have been known to each other for a long time. It seemed a little weird since they know nothing about each other and were being crying over not being able to meet each other again. Two meetings are not enough for that. On top of that they seemed to get close to each other after just knowing each other’s names and Kureno was about to kiss her. It was the most unexpected thing even if he has crush on her. It would have been nice to see them meeting more than just twice so that they would be able to know each other better. Probably the idea of ‘love at first sight’ seems off to me. But things really don’t work out that way in real life.
Apart of rushed and forced romantic relation, there is one more odd thing in this relationship and that is the age gap as Arisa is just a teenager. Even Arisa thought about the legality of this relationship as she is just 17 and top of that she is nine years younger than him. She needs to slow down a bit and think about how much she knows about him. I like that Arisa mentioned about this whole relationship being ridiculous if he turns out to be married. She has some standards at least. But what we saw in the end, it seems what they were talking about might not be completely awful. Since it seems like there is some serious relation between Akito and Kureno. But we have to wait a little longer for that revelation. But one thing is clear that this series is going to get chaotic with all the romantic relations in Sohma clan.
While we were all delved into this new handsome character and his relation with Arisa, Tohru with her other Sohma high school friends visits to haunted house to snap us out of that intense drama going on and bring some joy in the episode. Kyo was being Kyo with all his anger and disappointing expressions and sometimes he does makes me angry. I don’t want to criticize him a lot but his rudeness is sometime too much to stay calm. I know that he long way to develop and we will get to see when he would actually act normal but right now he seems a little annoying being angry and rude all the time.
Here Kyo never stops being rude, Hatsuharu is always the exact opposite when he is not dark. I laughed so hard when he made up a tragic story about a ghost while a sad music was being played in the background. I also couldn’t hold back my laugh when he separated the head of the other ghost and said that it is the mother of the other ghost who is here to reunite with her long lost son. It was silly but hilarious at the same time. His silly story also overwhelmed the owner of the haunted house. Hatsuharu is awesome and with this pace he will turn out to be the best character of fruits basket with his ridiculous and hilarious action that he does with that serious look on his face. He has been favorite but he seems to get better and better in the remake and specially this season. Apart of being hilarious, his character is one of the most caring and considerate of all.
Although there was nothing special that happened in this episode apart of the introduction of the new character. This seemed a rather buildup episode that will later navigate its way to the main plot. Kureno might be a looker but there is something very dark about his character especially in the end.
