ā„ļø My Fruits Basket Rant ā„ļø
I know this must be a schock but I have to say a few things and this is going to be a rant. And of cause this is my personal opinion.... Nothing else.
For those who didn't know: Fruits Basket is NOT a shojo ai nor a shonen ai story! It is a fictional fantasy/drama/shojo/romance with hetero couples!! And for those in the Background: that doesn't make Takaya homophobic. The story lacks diversity that is true. As part of the LGBTQ+ community I find this sad but that is just the story... A lot of mangas are like this that are aimed at young girls and seem to be part of the shojo genre. But that doesn't make Takaya homophobic. š¤¦
But there is gay undertone in the relationships of some character! That's homophobic and queerbaiting, too!
I saw this a lot regarding to Yuki and Kakeru f.e. but tbh I never felt that way. Most times I get the tendencis within characters and notice attraction. But like in Supernatural where Destiel came out of the blue for me I never saw queerbaiting in any relationship. Kakeru is a goofball who makes fun of anything... Like the typical anime clown character. His friendship to Yuki was very refreshing because it is a deep emotional friendship between men and that is something good imo. But not good enough it seems. Emotional men just have to be gay for another I guess...? Reminds me of the discussion about Sam and Frodo...
But there is a guy dude character that dresses as a girl! Ritsu must be trans otherwise Takaya is transphobic!
No... Ritsu is a crossdresser. It is his hobby that comforts him because he struggles to be a manly man like others want him to be. Ritsu has to learn that he can be a sensitive weak man and stil be a men. And that he will be loved that way.
But how can Takaya dare to make Ritsu not trans! And make him end up with a girl!
Well... Because he just isn't trans and is a hetero man? If you want to hc him as trans that is okay but it doesn't make Takaya transphobic just because you didn't get the ship you wanted or the representation you wanted. Just saying... š¤·
But what about Ayame!! How dare she didn't make him gay!! He acts like a gay character!
Ayame is an excentric guy. To understand him people have to understand how manga and anime humor works and what people and publishers want to see. Same goes for Shigure who is the stereotypical manga pervert. That is a common and popular trope. Not saying it is a good trope but that is how manga comedy works. And that is why Aya is so over the top. It is part of the manga humor. And we know at least from Ayas school speech he is bi. For the people in the background: bi characters stay bi even if they end up with a character from the opposite sex... And again Fruits Basket isn't shonen ai or shojo ai. It is hetero romance!!
But what about the age gapes. Takaya is a pedophile so are her characters!!
Sigh... Takaya stated she likes storys with age gapes. I guess it is her personal kink? Who knows. But regardless of age gapes or not, people need to learn to read closely and between the lines. There are three couples with age gapes, yes. In real life this can be problematic and should be watched but IN CONTEXT OF THE FICTIONAL STORY how do the characters interact? What do they do? What do they say? Is a minor heavily sexualized? Is there predatory behavior? N fucking O!
Because: Shigure and Akito didn't had Sex until both were over 20!! Nothing else is said or portrait in the story. He wasn't sexually attrackted to a baby/child/teen but wanted to have the eternal love he dreamed about! Nor is he sexually attrackted to children. Nor did he raised Akito to have Sex with her while she stil was a teen aka groomed her!!! He has his pervy treats but again... Manga comedy! Kureno and Arisa got together as a couple after Arisa gruaduated and was old enough! Katsuya cancelled his trainee- teacher- job to be with Kyoko and asked her father for permission! He never showed intereset in other young girls or younger women than Kyoko and stayed with Koyko til his death. He even wanted a second child in a while. (And btw Hana and Kazuma were never a thing she just had a crush that faded)
It is important to know what you talk about while using terms like homo- and transphob and pedophile or predator. Don't use them because it is trendy on tumblr. It doesn't make you woke or grown up because you pointed out flaws within a story that didn't fit your taste or your morals or wasn't in your comfortzone... most times it is overreacting. Takaya isn't a pedophile nor are her characters. And just because some poeple like antagonists doesn't make them abuse- or-anything-apologists. I love Akito. Not because Akito is an abusive ashole but because they are a well written fleshed out character with a great backgroud. I don't excuse their behaivor but I love Akito for what they are!
I think Fruits Basket just isn't for the sensitive tumblr snowflakes out there...š¤· since a lot of them don't know how to read a story. Plus the story is now what... 20 years old? And it is from Japan. Other countrys have other standarts. (Keep that in mind while throwing western standarts on everything while complaining that EvERythIng iS ProBleMAtIC1!111!!!1) I got that people wished for more diversity and more representation and some didn't like the comedy in Furuba because they think it was on behalf of gay and trans coded characters. But again... Fruits Basket isn't that kind of story and well... That is your problem in the end. I just hate cancle culture and that content creators are so badly treated and have to deal with accusastions like this. To assume Takaya had bad thoughts in mind is just too much. Like... Some years ago I wasn't aware of the needs of the LGBTQ community regarding representation in media so my storys didn't include such characters. That didn't made me trans or homophob. I just didn't know better and didn't thought about it. Maybe Takaya did the same. She didn't know or didn't thought about it back than ...
(And if anybody feels attacked because of this... My bad. You don't have to agree with me but I won't change my mind about this. Sorry š¤· Really. To quote Kyoko here: ich sehe die Dinge einfach nicht so verbissen wie frĆ¼her. )
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