Meeting Date: 6/1/2019
Disclaimer: The Herald Anime Club discusses shows as they’re airing. Naturally, there will be spoilers for a given episode. You have been warned!
Samantha Ferreira: Hi everyone, and welcome to the Herald Anime Club! I’m Samantha, and I’m here with L.B. Bryant
L.B. Bryant: Hello!
Samantha Ferreira: This week, we’re back to the Soma household for Fruits Basket episode 9: The one with Shigure’s Song… or “Happy Pride Month!
And, really, this was a big week, with Haru’s formal introduction, as well as Uo showing her face as both an amazing dramatic actor and a stone-cold card shark.
L.B. Bryant: I’m a little torn on Haru’s formal introduction. I kind of wish that they hadn’t thrown him in as an aside last week as it kind of diminished his formal introduction this week.
Samantha Ferreira: I agree on one hand, but on the other, it does give him a reason for being there
L.B. Bryant: Yeah that’s a fair point.
Samantha Ferreira: I kind of like the way it played out, personally… like… last week, we got a brief glimpse, like “who’s this?”
This week, we got that big shocking intro revealing him as a total space cadet
L.B. Bryant: I am curious to know how he manages to ride that mommy bike with a long coat like that. Doesn’t it ever get caught in the wheels or chain?
Samantha Ferreira: Oh god yeah. You’d think that the bike would be bashed up more, at the very least
Of course..
I’d expect no less from a guy who took inspiration from Wile E. Coyote
L.B. Bryant: Ah right, the string trap. I had to think there for a couple of minutes for what you meant by that lol
Samantha Ferreira: lol yeah. That was SUCH a weird gag given how grounded the series is
L.B. Bryant: I also love that they kept the short fourth wall break after Kyo trips heh
Samantha Ferreira: Likewise.
Samantha Ferreira: I’m kind of glad to see they kept that quirky madcap side to the series as a whole – it really does help it feel like a late-’90s/early ’00s show, despite being brand new. I mean…
Like, Uo’s DRAMATIC “I cannot run~ any further!” moment, only to cut back to her later in the show reading Shigure’s ero-book… then cutting to her over and over again just owning at cards until she’s beating the pants off of Kyo and Shigure was amazing.
Then there’s the whole “high school girls” gag, which was a fun throwback to the original in a big way… or the little goofy bits where Tohru was straight-up dragged (metaphorically and literally) by the other girls.
Like… it really helps!
Also I loved Tohru’s pigtails, they were the cutest thing ever don’t @ me
L.B. Bryant: I did love all the callbacks to the original such as with Uo. I was a little disappointed by the ‘high school girls’ song in the dub because the delivery made it come across as creepy IMO.
When it was done in the exaggerated, excited, happy, high pitched tone it was easier to laugh at it.
Samantha Ferreira: I went back and watched that in the dub, myself; I kind of like the way they worked it in. The original Japanese eliminated that bit altogether, so it was nice to see them try to give that little nod, even if it is more “Shigure is a predator” and less “Shigure is just creepy and proud af of it”
L.B. Bryant: lol
There was another change in the dub that I found a little bizarre. In the original, Haru tells Tohru to call Yuki by his nickname (Prince Yuki) in order to test his theory and make Yuki transform from embarrassment. In this version, he tells her to just call him by his given name which produces the same effect.
This felt a little weird to me as I could swear that Tohru has called Yuki by his name at some point in the past nine weeks and it didn’t produce that effect. If she had called him ‘Prince Yuki’ like in the original, the idea of him getting embarrassed and transforming makes much more sense.
I could be totally wrong though.
Samantha Ferreira: This…
could be the case of the translation not working
Because it worked well in Japanese, due to the fact that she always called him “Soma-kun”
In English, they really needed to go with something else
I would’ve voted “Yuki-kins”
L.B. Bryant: That makes sense.
Samantha Ferreira: Because it’s cute and it’s something that would stick
L.B. Bryant: Yeah, just calling him by his first name to make him transform from embarrassment just felt kind of forced I guess.
Samantha Ferreira: Yeah
L.B. Bryant: It wasn’t a terrible scene mind you and it got the point across.
Samantha Ferreira: that’s the adaptation curse, through and through
They *really* should’ve used something different
L.B. Bryant: Oh well, in the grand scheme of things it’s not that big of a deal.
Samantha Ferreira: True, but it is a concern worth bringing up
L.B. Bryant: If there’s one thing about this adaptation that I don’t like it would be that they still haven’t introduced Shigure’s editor as a character.
That’s the one thing missing that I wish were still present.
Samantha Ferreira: I have faith she’ll be around.
L.B. Bryant: hehe I hope she makes her entrance soon in that case.
Samantha Ferreira: Hehe, same. I felt bad for her, but… she was funny
L.B. Bryant: Her interactions with Shigure were some of the funniest scenes in the original series for me.
Samantha Ferreira: likewise!
You know… we’ve been talking for a half hour and we haven’t touched on Haru being hot for Yuki.
L.B. Bryant: lol This is true.
Samantha Ferreira: I ship it.
L.B. Bryant: lol I won’t say what it is because spoilers but we’re actually coming up on my wife’s all time favorite anime joke. I will say that it involves Haru though. :)
Samantha Ferreira: lol awesome.
Haru’s definitely a great addition to the show – every scene he was in was gold
Like… even when he referred to his fight with Kyo as a straight-up “fight scene”
L.B. Bryant: I just love the way his light and dark sides are portrayed. There’s such a stark difference between the two and I love how well they are presented.
Samantha Ferreira: Same!
They did a wonderful job bringing him to life
Like… even cow! Haru
L.B. Bryant: I was a little surprised that they presented him as a dairy cow in this version.
I was expecting the horned ox type of cow but nopes.
Samantha Ferreira: Likewise. But it works
L.B. Bryant: Yeah it does.
Samantha Ferreira: Now… this week’s big question: Kaiji or Uo-chan, who would win?
L.B. Bryant: Uo-chan IMO :)
Samantha Ferreira: lol I was going to say Kaiji, but… Uo-chan is a stone cold card shark with her wave powers
L.B. Bryant: This is what I’m saying lol
Samantha Ferreira: I think we’ve covered everything there is to cover this week, so let’s call it! Til next time, remember: think of your doctor! Don’t gamble away your day outside on a chilly day (poor Hatori)
Have a great night!
L.B. Bryant: Night!
