10 Harsh Realities Of Being A Member Of The Prince Yuki Fan Club
In addition to his cherished status in his family for being possessed by the Zodiac Rat, Yuki Sohma of Fruit basket is also popular among her high school peers for her physical attractiveness, charisma, and talents. Yuki is so admired that he is even given the title “Prince” and has his own fan club of teenage girls who love and revere him.
The club is extremely strict about certain rules and regulations, all of which are meant to keep the girls’ feelings in line and protect Yuki from harm. However, as the story shows, such a club also has its drawbacks.
ten The members never really get close to him
To prevent club members from trying to outdo themselves for Yuki, members are forbidden from approaching him alone or dating him. They must always be in the company of at least two other members of the club to avoid an advantage in getting closer to him and to allow equality for other members.
The problem with this is that none of the members can actually forge some sort of organic bond with him, especially since there are rules governing what is said. Their one defining characteristic when talking to Yuki is their intense adoration for him. This prevents either party from getting to know the other.
9 The club isolates him even more
The fan club members believe all the hype around Yuki and add to it themselves, maintaining his school’s reputation. However, this hurts Yuki in the long run. Although he has admirers at school, he doesn’t have any real connections until Tohru befriends him.
The fan club drives people away from him with his obstructive behavior and intimidates people by supporting his perfect personality. Since the club itself is built to keep him at bay while they love him, Yuki is more alone than ever since no one can even approach him. This changes with Tohru’s friendship as she interacts with him and Yuki manages to open up.
8 Envy and jealousy are common factors
Although the club’s rules are apparently meant to create an equal playing field for all of Yuki’s admirers, a glimpse of their reasoning boils down to “if I can’t have it, neither can they”. The club members’ motivations often stem from the fear that another girl will steal Yuki’s affections first, which undermines any attempt to formulate good reasons for having the club, flimsy as they already were.
Although the members cooperate, it shows their genuine disdain for each other. Motoko Minagawa even admits that she views them all negatively. However, she sees herself even more negatively out of fear that Yuki won’t like her, showing low self-esteem can also be a common reality.
7 Yuki shows no real interest
While the club members are devoted to Yuki, or their ideal of him, Yuki seems pleasantly indifferent to them. He is polite and kind to them, but their rules keep them at a distance and Yuki’s past and supernatural nature make him cautious in casual social interactions. He also knows their excessive adulation towards him, which he probably also finds off-putting.
It is never shown to get to this point, but Megumi Hanajima warns the club members that their attempts to control her love life, besides not being a sign of actual love, will lead to Yuki resenting them at the end.
6 The club does not consider Yuki’s growth or individuality
Since the members are obsessed with Yuki’s glamorous and aloof image as a “prince”, they are surprised whenever he shows mismatched features. When Motoko awkwardly asks Yuki about her breakfast that morning, she is weirded out by her choices. This shows that they don’t know Yuki at all and that the image they adore is fake and misleading for her real persona.
They also fixate on Yuki as an objective point of their ideology but they never see him as someone who grows alongside them. Yuki will eventually graduate and leave, which means the younger members won’t have to do anything even though they can’t wait to run the club.
5 Yuki is treated more like an object and invasion is normalized
The rules in place for the club do not take into account what Yuki may like or want. In their so-called attempt to keep Yuki away from evil, the club puts him on a pedestal while presumptuously making decisions about his life that they have no right to, such as who he comes into contact with. This even extends to trying to dictate against official school rules and superiors.
When decisions are made for next year‘s student council, the fan club tries to extract information about the identity of the new candidates. They plan to find out if any girls will work closely with Yuki next year.
4 The members focus more on Yuki than themselves
Being an active fan of Yuki Sohma seems like a full-time job. Viewers rarely see club members in any context other than their mode of worshiping Yuki. Motoko is even shown in her bedroom at night extolling Yuki’s praises in her picture while her mother demands that she sleep.
During the casting vote Cinderella, the members focus more on keeping Tohru away from Yuki instead of putting on the best show possible for their class exposure. If what is omitted to be shown in the daily lives of the members implies anything, it is that membership in such an obsessive group is more harmful than helpful in their daily lives.
3 Bullying is a common tactic
The fan club members’ intense adoration of their idol leads them to engage in mean behavior towards other girls who they feel are getting too close to Yuki. When Tohru enters the school alongside Yuki, she is immediately accosted by the members who question her about the meaning of her closeness to Yuki, as if there is something wrong.
At another point, the fan club members belittle Machi for daring to say that she doesn’t find Yuki very princely at all. This implies that while they forbid other girls from approaching him, they will also attack those who disagree with their idealization of him.
2 Their obsession drives them to frightening extremes
Appalled by Yuki’s growing friendship with Tohru Honda and her positive influence on him, the club members plan to target Tohru and remove her from the picture altogether. Since Tohru is protected by her best friend Saki Hanajima (who has psychic abilities), the members fabricate a reason to visit her house after school and find a weakness that will allow them to circumvent it first.
This isn’t the only time their obsession with Yuki causes them to commit extreme tactics. The members also store their Valentine’s Day chocolate gifts in Yuki’s locker and throw away the other girls’ gifts so theirs will get more attention from her.
1 There can be growth, but if only the person is willing
Despite the club’s questionable goals, its members are teenagers who can learn lessons. One example is Motoko Minagawa. Initially president of the club, she undergoes some evolution and realizes that her dislike of other girls reflects her own inferiority complex.
By the time she graduates, Motoko finds the courage to confess her feelings to Yuki. However, she does so without any obligation for him to like her. Rather, she only wants to thank him for the joy he has brought her and wish him well in his future before moving on with his life, a much healthier and healthier approach to a crush.
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