Fruits Basket Episode 22 Review: Because I Was Happy

The second part of the Hanajima backstory is coming your way in this episode of Fruits Basket! The first part focused more on Hanajima and how she is now. This time we go back to the time before she met Tohru. Similar to Uo-chan she had her problems back then and we find the reason why the three of them stick together.

Japanese title: だって嬉しかったのよ (Datte ureshikattanoyo)

Episode 22 – Because I Was Happy

We dive back into the past of Hanajima. When she was younger, she didn’t really know much about her power of reading and controlling waves and ended up being bullied by her classmates. Things got out of hands very fast and she nearly killed a boy who wanted to hurt her for being different. Hanajima’s family stood by her side, but couldn’t protect her from feeling like a bad person. Even after coming to middle school she faced problems once again, but even though the bullying got worse and she was even burnt, Hanajima was too scared to hurt anybody and let them do what they wanted with her body. Thankfully she was able to transfer schools at one point, where she finally met Uotani and Tohru who soon became her friends. Hanajima wanted to keep her distance, but the two of them mildly forced her into becoming their friend. They were able to embrace her, including her strange waves, and saved her.

Highlights

Bullying

Hanajima is being bullied so badly in this episode, it really makes me wonder if bullying in Japan is ‘normal’ up to that extent. Burning someone’s hands seems really extreme to me. Elementary school boys and girls dropping her food and pushing her around? Why would you want to do something like that to another human being? If we think back, Kisa also was badly bullied. Watching the episode was really hard, since Hanajima is one of my favorite characters.

Kill him

You know Hanajima is a good person when she isn’t trying to excuse her behavior – nearly killing a boy – but instead is scared of her powers and of herself. She is not trying to justify the use of her power with words like ‘he deserved it’ or ‘he started it’ or whatever. She just is scared that she nearly killed a person. As a viewer I probably would have understood why she would kill him so I think she’s really strongfor being so scared of her own person.

Magic of friends

Tohru and Uotani were so sweet in this backflash. They made Hana-chan their friend, if she wanted to or not. It’s great to see people put in effort into friendships. If you like someone or feel like hanging out with someone, why not contact them? It was one of my highlights, of course!

Comments

Birds of a feather…

Now that we have seen the backstory of all three characters in this friendship, we see how the three of them can stick together so much. They were all bullied, they all had their weaknesses and had to overcome problems. They give each other strength and know each other’s hearts. It’s the most beautiful form of friendship. What also always amazes me is that the author took the time to still involve the two of them in Tohru’s experiences with the Sohma’s. Without making them realize what it is that she faces. I appreciate it, since many other authors don’t take that time and mostly let the friend be a side-role, without giving them too much depth. Isn’t that also another thing that makes Fruits Basket such an amazing series? Handling that many characters can’t be easy!

Dokidoki Barometer

Let’s be extra again this episode, but the performance of Uotani made me go crazy for her once again. She was so, so cool and really made my heart skip a beat. She fully deserves this point over everybody else.

COMING NEXT: You Look Well…