ALL THE SOBBING. :hugs Momiji: my poor poor rabbit. (in case you can't guess this is when we learn about Momiji's mom...)



In this fourth volume of the manga we delves deeper not only into Tohru's mother (happily she says her mother was in a gang), but we also meet Ayame (Aaya), Yuki's older brother, learn about Momiji's difficult family past and oh yeah Akito shows up to be a downer on everything (very early on in the book though, so folk get over it).

The volume starts off with the first day of the new school year. Tohru, Yuki and Kyo are all starting their second year (11th grade) of High school while Momiji (sporting a girls' school uniform because dawwww he's so freaking cute!) and Hatsuharu (sporting the boys' uniform but looking hot...crap he's 15 I shouldn't say that) are starting their first year (10th). All's fun and games with Haru scarring the Student Council President (who has an inappropriate fantasy of Yuki in a girls' uniform, urged on by Black Haru) until OH GOD WHY IS AKITO HERE? Being uber creepy. And malicious. And creepy.

Moving on Aaya creeps on Tohru...though here's the thing. He's not perverted exactly? Not like Shigure. Aaya reserves most of his flirting for Shigure, and while he makes suggestive comments towards Tohru they're sexual and more "this is what I would do so you should to!".

From there we watch as Tohru, Hanajima and Uotani celebrate the first anniversary of Kyoko's death. Kyo and Yuki come along, shocked by a) Tohru's mom was in a gang (no seriously), b) they're having a picnic at her grave site and c) how much she has to mourn but still remains cheerful (makes them look like pansies). We also get hints of a deeper secret (which they don't go into in the anime since its not really resolved until another dozen or so books) involving the hat, Kyo creeps on Tohru sleeping (she does fall asleep in the hall so its less weird then it sounds) and Yuki remembers when the news must have been told to Tohru because at the time he was a dick and idly wondered if it was a death in the family (having no idea who Tohru is, not an excuse).

OH AND LET'S TALK ABOUT MOMIJI OKAY?

Look none of the Zodiac gets away with a cheerful life. None of them. Maybe the closest is Ayame, but even then its less because nothing happens to him and more because he learned really quick that as long as he didn't antagonize Akito he would be ignored (one has to wonder if, as a teen since he didn't care about Yuki at all--barely remembered he existed--he was relieved that Akito took such an interest in him since that left him with more freedom then any other Zodiac member outside of possibly Shigure...who's trap is of his own making). But Momiji, who's a hyper version of Tohru in so many ways, keeps up his delusions as a way to stay sane.

So he watches his mother and his sister from afar, so proud of his little sister Momo for how cute and smart she is, hopes his mother is happy and finds small ways to kind of have her in his life. Because the alternative, as he so plainly states to Tohru, is to forget he has a mother and forgetting doesn't beget happiness.

I'M CRYING JUST THINKING ABOUT IT. And what's worse is that you can't even judge his mother, any more then we could judge Kana after what happened to Hatori. The woman had a complete psychotic break that was understandable. Its her son, the product of her love, but touching him turns him into an animal. Being confronted by the curse like that...well. I don't blame her. ( )

I absolutely love this series. ( )

I just love this. ( )

With the introduction of Ayame, the heartbreaking story of Momiji, and the meeting of Akito and Tohru, volume 4 keeps up the fun of Fruits Basket and doesn't disappoint. ( )

A lot of the humour in this one was lost of me, with there being a detraction from the storyline somewhat to focus on an overspill of jokes surrounding the rather tiresome character of Ayame. Still, the stuff surrounding the character Momiji was very moving, and reeled me back in towards the end. ( )