Fruits Basket The Final Season is the third and final season of the Fruits Basket reboot anime. The season was produced by TMS/8PAN and was directed by Yoshihide Ibata. The episodes of the third season of the Fruits Basket reboot anime aired on Japanese television from April 6-June 29, 2021. As of this writing, both Crunchyroll and FUNimation Entertainment hold the North American rights for the series.

Most of the season ups the drama and revelations. The tension builds very quickly and the “feels” start happening in the third episode, but those “feels” continue to build over the next few episodes. I had nearly cried for three episodes, but then episode six finally broke me. This is the episode where Tohru realizes that Kyo is starting to replace her mother in her heart, and where Kyo talks with Tohru’s grandfather and learns more about Tohru and her life after her father died. But the kicker for me was the conversation that Kyo and Tohru had near the end of the episode.

But this is also the season where the zodiac members’ bonds begin to break with Akito, starting with Momiji. It was interesting to see the reactions of the zodiac members whose bonds break early on in the season, because their reaction isn’t what one would necessarily have expected. Instead of feeling happy that the curse is lifted, there’s a sense of sadness. But it makes sense when it’s later articulated that these characters are afraid they’ll lose the connections they’ve made with the other zodiac members since they no longer have this bond in common.

Another strong focus of this season was on Akito’s descent into madness, and on some of the things she does in order to try to keep her hold on the bonds she has with the zodiac members. She does something awful to Kureno, and also attempts to do the same act to Tohru. But the event at the cliff jolts Akito into a kind of “wake up call.” While this event leads Akito into an arc of redemption, it was refreshing to see at least one member of the zodiac articulate the fact that they can’t truly forgive Akito for the various things she’s done over the years. I thought this was a very realistic way for this particular character to react, and it also makes it clear that Akito’s previous deeds can’t simply be “whitewashed.”

The third season finally establishes various couples that have been hinted at throughout the course of the series, but there are also some relationships that remain vague. Unfortunately, since there were only 13 episodes for Fruits Basket The Final, there wasn’t enough time to include everything from the manga that would help explain some of the relationships that are hinted at in the final episode. I was disappointed that the backstory of Tohru’s parents wasn’t touched on during Fruits Basket The Final, but after the final episode aired, it was revealed that this story would get its own spin-off anime in 2022.

In the end, though, I think that the Fruits Basket reboot anime did a great job of bringing the entire Fruits Basket story to life in an animated format. It wasn’t perfect, of course, especially with some scenes that had to be skipped near the end in order to fit the story in the 13-episode runtime of the final season. For anime-only viewers who want the extra details, they can chase down the manga if they so desire.

This Fruits Basket reboot anime has been a part of my life for the past two years, and I can’t believe that it’s finally come to an end. I have no regrets about the time I have put into watching and writing about this series.

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