Fruits Basket: Just How Wholesome Was Tohru’s Father Katsuya, Anyway?
Along with Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon, Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Basket continues to be one of shojo’s best-known and most beloved works. Tohru Honda, the main character of Fruits Basket, embodies the principles her late parents instilled in her by embracing all the distressed Sohmas as humans who need her assistance. Although the foundation is fragile, Tohru learnt a lot from Katsuya and Kyoko Honda.
Later in Fruits Basket, flashbacks revealed the encounter between Kyoko Katsunuma, the mother of Tohru, and Katsuya Honda, the instructor who would become their future husband and child’s father. The tale is portrayed as being inspirational and heroic, with Katsuya displaying bravery and genuine love. Not Katsuya’s intentions, but rather his actions and how Fruits Basket foolishly romanticised them, are the issue.
Fruits Basket: Just How Wholesome Was Tohru’s Father Katsuya, Anyway?
When Katsuya Honda All But Groomed a Vulnerable Teenage Girl
Fruits Basket began operations in 1998 and ended in 2006, therefore some of its more troubling elements may be seen as products of their period. However, certain subjects are very troubling regardless of the decade or century it is. In fact, many dubious narrative aspects in anime and manga may be ascribed to society’s beliefs regarding specific themes during that period. One such instance is the favourable portrayal of child grooming in Fruits Basket, which many fans find alarming. More particularly, Kyoko Katsunuma is shown in the flashback as a violent, aloof juvenile who hates her parents, the world, and even herself. She felt lost and resentful, and no adult could save her. When the young, attractive instructor Katsuya Honda showed there, he immediately made Kyoko feel better by encouraging her to finally reveal her sensitive side.
Katsuya became Kyoko’s lover and protector when she discovered she could trust him. He developed a strong relationship with her through a series of weekend meetings before being married to her while she was in her late teens. Katsuya spent years establishing himself as Kyoko’s lone protector and lover, the only support Kyoko could have. Although Katsuya never intended to take advantage of or exploit Kyoko, in reality, he nearly did. Katsuya established a clearly unequal relationship in which he was older, more experienced, and completely in charge. On some emotional levels, it actually did seem more like a foster father/daughter connection than that of two lovers. In some respects, Kyoko felt more like an older foster daughter. Kyoko was the helpless little kid who need assistance, while Katsuya was the adult. When one partner is still a teenager, an age difference of at least five years—more likely closer to ten—is significant.
Kyoko was never truly coerced into being with Katsuya, nor was she subjected to manipulation by Katsuya who never claimed to be able to love or support her. Even so, Katsuya became Kyoko’s only chance, and she had no other choice. Katsuya was the only one to provide Kyoko emotional support and life lessons, and he made no attempt to connect her with other people her age or of any sex. Even while Katsuya never actively forbade Kyoko from interacting with others or even looking for an age-appropriate lover elsewhere, by default, Katsuya imprisoned Kyoko in a little universe where it was just the two of them. Katsuya made it plain that he wanted to be Kyoko’s only lover by acting in a passive manner that guaranteed Kyoko would only adore him.
Fruits Basket: Just How Wholesome Was Tohru’s Father Katsuya, Anyway?
How Katsuya’s Love Could Have Been Expressed Differently in Fruits Basket
Even though there is currently no indication that Katsuya had any predation-related objectives, the narrative of Katsuya and Honda in Fruits Basket serves as functional grooming. Fans of Fruits Basket have every reason to assume that Katsuya was, in reality, a kind-hearted young guy who only wanted to lend a helping hand to those in need and set an example for his daughter Tohru. However, the story of Fruits Basket made Katsuya out to be an evil groomer, and maybe he secretly enjoyed being the stronger person Kyoko clung to so tenaciously. However, Tohru’s parents had to connect somehow, and the Honda family’s central themes are second chances and compassion. Fruits Basket has the opportunity and obligation to convey this love tale in a fresh way to more fully capture Katsuya’s really good-hearted side.
This history might have been changed in a variety of ways to provide a more equitable partnership devoid of dubious age differences and groomer-style conduct. Katsuya might have been Kyoko’s classmate instead of her instructor, and he could have imparted those skills just as effectively to a fellow adolescent as he could to a 20-something. Alternately, Kyoko may have been an older delinquent who was struggling to survive alone before meeting Katsuya at a low-paying job or in a similar situation. The major goal is to close the power and age difference between Katsuya and Kyoko so that they may meet in the middle and avoid having a functioning foster father/daughter relationship in which Katsuya is the adult in every meaningful sense.
Although it’s too late to modify Fruits Basket’s plot right now, this may serve as a model for next love tales with a “hero in shining armour” plot. There are times when people need mentors or personal saviours, but there is no justification for groomer-style relationships and unequal romances. Making one lover the teacher and the other the pupil may be done in a better, more equitable method. It shouldn’t be taken literally, as it was in the case of Fruits Basket.
Fruits Basket: Just How Wholesome Was Tohru’s Father Katsuya, Anyway?
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