This is a question that largely ties back to Momiji’s German accent in the English dub. And I will get back to talking about that later, but first I want to address the above question, since there are two different translations for this that can be found online right now. The TokyoPop version and the Yen Press version.
Both the TokyoPop version and the Yen Press version of Takaya-sensei’s side note are the same for the first half, where it is stated that Momiji had a different schooling experience than the other Zodiac. The only real difference is whether Momiji attended and international school or he studied abroad. So I decided to take a look at the actual Japanese.
I don’t have any of the Fruits Basket manga volumes in Japanese, however, I do have the Banquet Fanbook in Japanese. And, luckily, in Momiji’s section there is the excerpt from Volume 15 where Takaya-sensei talks about Momiji’s schooling. Here it is:
So, let’s break it down!
The first half of the Japanese is: 小中学校は他の十二支達とは違う or “[Momiji’s] elementary and junior high schools were different from the other Zodiac members.”
小中学校 (elementary and junior high schools) は (topic marker) 他の十二支達 (other Zodiac members) とは違う (different). Both the TokyoPop translation and Yen Press translation acknowledge the whole “Momiji’s schooling was different from the others” bit, so this is all pretty fine and dandy.
The second half is where we get some confusion between the two different translations. Here’s the Japanese: インターナショナルな学校に通ってました。
TokyoPop translates this part as: “Momiji went to international elementary and junior high schools.”
Yen Press translates this part as: “he had been educated overseas in his earlier school days.”
The actual breakdown of the Japanese is like this:
インターナショナルな学校 (international schools) に通ってました。(went to)
In the Japanese, we just get that Momiji went to international schools, the first half of the Japanese lets us know that this was for both elementary and junior high school. There is no indication that he actually went abroad for his studies, but there is also no indication that he didn’t. Japan has plenty of international schools, but so does Germany. Sadly, the Japanese doesn’t indicate whether he went to an international school within Japan or outside of it.
TokyoPop’s translation is far more literal, while Yen Press’ version is more liberal. Though, I don’t know if Yen Press went with the translation that they did because they were able to actually talk to Takaya-sensei about this topic (and get more insight) or if they decided to go with the translation that they did because of the accent Momiji has in the Japanese text. I can’t say for certain.
Look the protagonist and antagonist being like “you’re not so different, you and I” is usually done badly, but goddamn I love how it’s used in Fruits Basket.
Both are girls who lost their fathers at a young age.
Both mothers went through tough times, but one learned from it and the other never left it. The one who learned brought her daughter up in a loving household and taught her to be kind to everyone. The one who never left it brought her daughter up in a very antagonistic household and taught her daughter that everything she held dear was fake and thus caused her daughter to do terrible things.
Both girls treasured an object reminding them of their dead parent, unhealthily so and almost treating the object like it had sentience (Akito’s box and Tohru’s picture of her mother).
Both girls were ostracized.
Both girls knew what it felt like to be “terribly lonely.”
Both girls knew how it felt like to have everything they hold dear ripped away from them.
Both girls’ parents’ marriages were looked down upon from the family/household.
Both were forced to adopt habits that related to their father to please their mother (Tohru adopting over-the-top formal speech to try to replicate Katsuya and Akito being forced to live as a boy so Akira wouldn’t have a girl that he loved more than Ren).
Both girls had trouble letting go of loved ones.
Both girls just wanted to be apart of something, to feel like they belonged.
