Even the villains are lovable. Well, most of them. Well, the antagonists, anyway. In a lot of ways, this is a story about generational trauma, but more than that it's a story about healing generational trauma. Nowhere is that more evident than with Akito--who, by the way, is totally a trans icon, #slay. But the fact that this character who's built up as the ultimate crux of the abuse and manipulation that is the Sohma curse itself--and not without good fucking reason, can I say!--is also shown to be a victim of that same abuse? Is allowed to recover, make ammends, move on with their life? That's a mentality that's stuck with me. People obviously joke about The Power Of Friendship and The Power Of Love and all that jazz, and I won't pretend it's not a prevalent and, yes, okay, even over-used trope, but like any over-used trope, I'll fight to the death for the idea that it can still be incredibly meaningful and effective when used right. And Fruits Basket uses it fucking right. Because it's not everyone who gets that healing hug from Tohru and atones for their sins--Yuki's parents are fucked. Kyo's dad is fucked. That old lady who's been a major proponent of Akito's abuse all along is fucked. For that matter, Ren is fucked. This isn't a story that says, "you should always forgive your abusers, they're people too!"; quite the opposite. But it is a story that says, "sometimes we're all victims of the same hurts and we turn that on each other; that's not okay, it's not right, but it can be healed. It's important for it to be healed. We can move past those hurts together, and we can form a stronger community on the other side of them."