:Episode 4-"I want to know more aspects of you":
(focus on Kyo/Kagura)
This is the first episode that does not necessarily
follow in a direct timeline from the last episode.
In many ways this is a comic relief-episode, mainly
due to Kagura's personality and her introduction to
Tohru. Yuki and Shigure largely take a backseat to
the Kagura/Kyo interaction and to Tohru's view of
the two personalities as the innocent bystander ^^.
 The
stage is set when the Sohma household can feel the
earth shake, and Kyo's fur/hair stands on end, but
no destruction can be seen as Tohru goes to open the
door. Instead an incredibly cute girl shyly seems
to be looking for Kyo... meet Sohma
Kagura.
Interestingly, Shigure - who knows who has arrived
and what will happen just as well as Yuki and Kyo
- simply stops Kyo from avoiding the so kawaii Kagura,
whom Tohru accepts at face value right away. So she
is severely disturbed when kawaii Kagura (complete
with shojo-imagery of flowers and all) turns
into a raging fury because Kyo hasn't contacted her
in the four months he was training with his master.
Shigure:
It's okay, this is how Kagura expresses affection.
Tohru: Is that so? Umm,
it's just that she seems quite eccentric.
Yuki: When Kagura becomes
filled with emotion, this is how she gets. Particularly
so when it comes to Kyo. Despite all this, she's two
years older than us.
Shigure: And she's one of
the Juunishi.
Tohru (happy): I thought
so. Which year might she be?
Shigure: Hmm, I'd have thought
you'd know just by watching her...
 Some
more facts about the Juunishi are also introduced:
when males and females of the Juunishi hug, they do
NOT transform and there are two more females in the
Juunishi (one of whom unfortunately
only shows up in the manga and not the Furuba anime).
Kagura demonstrates with Kyo and Yuki, and completely
concentrates on trying to convince Kyo that his promise
to marry her (which she blackmailed him for by threatening
to beat him up - AND she can SEVERELY beat him up,
as we continually see during this episode) was the
right decision and that no other girl will do. She
settled on him when they were years younger and has
not wavered in her love-obsession since.
Kagura *panicked*:
Kyo-kun! Under the circumstances, tell me straight!
Do you love me? Do you hate me? As for me, I love
you! I love you most in the whole world! I love you
most in the whole universe! For you, Kyo-kun, I would
cook delicious meals for you every day and as for
affairs, I will forgive you if your heart wavers momentarily!
No matter how you think about it, I am the only one
who loves you this much, Kyu-kun, just me! You don't
think there's anyone else, right?! *goes
mental again* [...]
Shigure *fanning the flames*:
Tohru-kun, you like Kyo-kun, too, don't you? Being
a fan of Cats, and all...
Tohru *happily clueless*: Yes!
I'm a fan of Cats.
Kagura: A rival! - But I
won't lose out to you!
Tohru: Um...
Kagura: Tohru-kun, what
is it you like about Kyo-kun? For me it's everything,
I like everything!
Kyo *disgusted, but volume at low
level*: Oy!
Kagura: The good things,
the bad things - I accept them all! Even if Kyo-kun
were to become his true form, you watch, I'll accept
--!
Kyo *firmly grabs hold of her blabbermouth,
simmering with rage*: You just try to speak
another pointless word! I'll show you no mercy!
Kagura's eyes swimming with tears
and shock about her near-indiscretion. Then goes mental:
HOW WILL YOU SHOW ME NO MERCY, HMMMM?!
Yuki: How about getting
her to show you some mercy, Kyo?
Tohru *clueless and grasping for
straws*: Ah, sounds like the laundry is done.
~ Lots of Eyecatches this episode which shows the action
nature.
 Her
constant attempts to convince him by being the ideal
woman (soft, submissive, adoring,
kawaii) repeatedly are frustrated by her extremely
short fuse, which makes Kyo's temper pale in comparison.
He reacts more with dread and annoyance to Kagura's
declarations and her attempts to impress him lead
to a lot of destruction (ripped
sliding doors, a flood from too much detergent in
the washing mashine when she wanted to wash Kyo's
clothes, ripping his favourite t-shirt while wringing
it dry) in Shigure's house - for which she
is sincerely sorry and depressed. Shigure - in his
role as older advisor :P - does lend her an ear, but
his advice is full of clichés, for which he
gets his come-uppance right away, when the literal
Kagura takes his teasing to be the truth (serves
him right this time).
Another aspect here is a short and, only in retrospect,
important reference to Kyo's true
form, which obviously is not to be spoken of.
The reference will only be revealed in the last episodes
of the series, and - sure enough - Kagura will be
on hand to demonstrate her love and loyalty to Kyo,
however little he appreciates it.
Tohru, however, admires Kagura for her steadfast love,
and for finding lovable aspects in her adored Kyo
at such an early age. She much desires to be friends
with Kagura, who does see her as a rival simply by
living in the house with Kyo. Tohru - at least in
this episode - shows no sign of an infatuation with
Kyo, but Kagura's love does make her think of what
she would like to find if she found someone to love
and to definitely find out more about the two fascinating
Juunishi who are now her classmates:
Yuki: You've
probably figured it out already, but Kagura can really
only see as far as Kyo, due to her personality. In
fact, Kagura has kept saying she would marry Kyo since
she was little.
Tohru: Right. Kagura-san
is incredible.
Yuki: Incredible?
Tohru: For her to be able
to like the same person for over ten years, without
her feelings changing one bit, is really something
incredible.
Yuki: Hmm... maybe you're
right.
Tohru: I want to become
friends with Kagura-san.
Yuki: Knowing you, Honda-san,
I'm sure you'd make a good friend.
Tohru: I'll be very happy,
if that's true.
So when Kagura laboriously attempts to remove the signs
of her destructive rampage, Tohru can't help trying
to help her, and after some prevaricating Kagura does
accept her help and even seems to bond with her like
any normal teenage girl who has met a kindred soul.
However, she obviously sees Tohru as a person to be
patronized, calling her Tohru
or Tohru-kun like Shigure does, while Tohru
never wavers from the formal (and for strangers correct)
Kagura-san during the
whole episode.
The upset and annoyed Kyo has climbed to his favourite
spot on the roof and just wants to wait out Kagura's
visit, but even here Tohru manages to coax him into
eating his supper and talk about what bothers him
so much.
Tohru:
Kyo-kun. Have you by chance been up here since evening?
Kyo: Yah. Tonight Kagura
is down there, after all.
Tohru: Is it wrong for her
to be here?
 Kyo:
Of course it's wrong! When she's here, things go badly
for me. She never, ever understands what's going on.
Marriage and what not - there's something strange
about her, you know? What a pain!
Tohru: As for me... I think
it's amazing that someone could come to like someone
else so much. What's more... what's more, marriage
is, after all, the greatest dream girls have.
~ Eyecatch
Onigiri for Kyo
~ Eyecatch
Tohru, finally getting some longer conversation without
temper out of Kyo: Kyo-kun, is it YOUR dream
to defeat Sohma-kun? You've even trained up in the
mountains, and all.
Kyo: Hmm? Yeah. Did you
hear that from Shigure?
Tohru: Training must have
been pretty rough, I'm sure, all by yourself.
Kyo: I wasn't alone. I was
with my master.
Tohru: A master-san? Is
he somebody strong?
Kyo *exited*: Of course
he is! If that damned Yuki were to go up against Master,
he'd be ragged. My master is one of the Sohma, but
he is strong, and he understand me. He's been teaching
me how to fight since I was a little kid. My training
in the mountains was very harsh, but I lived every
day to the fullest! I couldn't wait until the next
day! Just thinking what I would be taught next, or
how strong I could become made me excited! Ah, for
the first time in a long while, I wanted to match
up against someone!
This must be a boring tale to be telling a girl, huh?
Tohru: N-No, not at all!
I don't know a thing about fighting, but it isn't
at all boring! It's not like I don't have any interest
in fighting, and um... I know a few of the moves...
Let's see...
Right straight!
Kyo *amused*: That was damn
lousy.
Tohru *thinking* I found another
part of the real Kyo-kun. Underneath that always angry-looking
face of his, there hides an awkward smile.
The next morning we finally find out that Kagura is
the boar/pig in the Juunishi, when a postal worker
accidentally bumps into her. Yuki distracts the guy
masterfully and Tohru compliments Kagura on being
astute enough to have found lovable facets in Kyo
- something she has just started to see in their conversation
that night. She vows to look for these in the person
she might come to love in the future: Like
you, Kagura-san, I'd like to be able to find so many
nice points about somebody I liked...was what I was
trying to say.
While Tohru may not be thinking romantically about
either of the two boys, it is becoming evident that
Yuki appreciates her more and more.
Kyo:
What are you looking at?
Tohru: I was thinking how
lucky you were, Kyo-kun.
Kyo: Don't be ridiculous.
We're gonna be late!
Yuki: Good grief, with all
this commotion I didn't get anything planted.
Tohru: Sohma-kun, are you
adding new vegetables to your base?
Yuki: Mm-hmm. Strawberries.
Tohru: Strawberries? I love
strawberries.
Yuki: Mm-hm. I thought you
would like them.
Tohru: Uh? Heh... You know...
The meeting with Kagura and Tohru's discovery of her
appreciation of Kyo - and of course the midnight conversation
with him - do lead Tohru to a firm decision to find
out even more about her two so different from the
norm classmates, a decision she doesn't want to name
a cause for but which surely seems to rest in the
fact that she is seeing them (especially Kyo) in the
light of possible relationship material - not yet
for herself, but in general.
Tohru *thinking*:
For some reason, I've become filled with an unusual
motivation to do something. About Kyo-kun... About
Sohma-kun...
About what they like...
About what they don't like...
I think I'd like to understand them all a little better.
I think it would be great if I could discover a variety
of other aspects about them that I haven't seen before.
~ END OF EPISODE
to watch a slideshow of the most interesting
moments in Episode 4. You better bring some time though,
since the images are of good quality ;-)
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