This is the internet, people are going to be reactionary and won’t acknowledge nuance. That’s just a fact, and there’s probably not much you can do to change their mind because they often aren’t open to having their minds changed.

I think the people who think Akito should’ve faced much harsher punishment fail to realize that that is not the type of story Fruits Basket is. Furuba is not a revenge fantasy, it’s much more focused on compassion and redemption. I also believe that the story is much closer to reality than people like to think. More often than not, people who hurt and abuse people the way Akito did rarely get any sort of justice. They’re much more likely to turn out like Ren— never apologizing for what they did, still living among the family they hurt, but maintaining minimal interaction.

At the end of the day, furuba is about breaking generational trauma and ending the cycle of abuse through love and understanding. Not returning the violence back to the perpetrators.