[Honey's Crush Wednesday] 5 Saki Hanajima Highlights - Fruits Basket 2019

The Deadpan Mistress of Denpa Waves

  • Episodes: 25
  • Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Fantasy, Shoujo
  • Airing Date: April 2019 – currently airing
  • Studio: TMS Entertainment


Fruits Basket (2019) Preview (No Spoilers)

Tooru Honda is a hardworking, but ditzy and down-on-her-luck girl who comes to live with the mysterious Souma family through bizarre circumstances. The “Zodiac” Soumas can transform into animals whenever they hug someone of the opposite sex, and pretty much all of them have deep issues that Tooru attempts to help them with. Along with her friends Arisa Uotani (a reformed delinquent) and Saki Hanajima (a reserved goth girl with psychic powers), Tooru lives her life as a high school student and tries to get to the bottom of why the Souma family is so dysfunctional.

Saki Hanajima Highlights (Spoilers Beyond This Point)

1. She Rocks That Gothic Style

Saki Hanajima (usually referred to as Hana or Hana-chan) wears elegant black dresses whenever she isn’t in her school uniform. It originally started as a self-imposed punishment for nearly killing a classmate with her powers as a child, but eventually, she grew to like the melancholic style and fully embraced it. With ruffles, ribbons, and accessories carefully chosen to accent her figure, Hana turns heads with her gothic ensembles no matter what the weather. Interestingly, one of her winter outfits is actually an homage to Maetal from the classic anime Galaxy Express 999!

2. She Controls Denpa Waves

Hana’s psychic powers take the form of “denpa”, electromagnetic waves radiating from human minds that only she can see and control. It may seem out-of-place in an otherwise realistic setting, but if a family can be cursed to transform into animals, then denpa waves make just about as much sense. She struggled to control this power when she was younger – her mind was constantly flooded with the thoughts of strangers around her and she accidentally injured her bullies by letting her emotions run wild – but with the help of her friends and family, she eventually mastered these waves by the time she entered high school.

3. She’s Eternally Grateful to the People Who Love Her

Hana used to believe that she was unworthy of love and dangerous to be around, since her psychic powers could hurt people. She closed herself off from potential friends and suffered through harsh bullying without telling her parents because she felt that her presence was a burden to others, but with gentle love from her younger brother Megumi and dogged reassurance from her new friends Tooru and Uo, she learned to forgive herself. Even now, she’s eternally grateful for everything they did to pull her out of such a dark spot.

4. She Watches Out for Tooru

Hana and Uo both act like protective parents to Tooru at times, particularly when they suspect the Souma boys of not understanding what their dear friend needs. After all, it’s Hana who convinces Kyo and Yuki to rush back home on New Year’s Eve so Tooru wouldn’t have to be alone, and it’s implied that she might know about their curse as well, since she can read minds. Throughout the whole story, Hana keeps a close eye on the naïve Tooru so that those with potentially malicious intentions can’t take advantage of her.

5. She’s a Bit of a Troll

Now that she has full control of her denpa waves, Hana occasionally uses them to playfully mess with people who get in her way. When the Prince Yuki Fan Club visits her house to “find her weakness”, she and Megumi imply that they’ve placed a curse on the girls and that the effects should appear after three days. Hana most likely didn’t use her powers at all, but she deliberately played into the fangirls’ fears by confirming the threat with a completely straight face. You might not expect such a stoic girl to have a trollish sense of humor, but she’s an expert at tricking people!


Final Thoughts

Hana isn’t as involved with the main Souma plot as Tooru is, but she and Uo are clearly the perfect companions for our bubbly protagonist. Whenever the three of them are together, their individual worries melt away and pure happiness can take over. We strive to have friends like that in our lives!

What did you think of our overview? What do you like about Hana? What are some of your favorite denpa wave trolling moments? Let us know in the comments, and thanks so much for reading!

Fruits-Basket-Wallpaper-300x415 [Honey's Crush Wednesday] 5 Saki Hanajima Highlights - Fruits Basket 2019

Editor/Writer

Author: Mary Lee Sauder

After the hard-hitting East Coast lifestyle hit me a bit too hard, I started pursuing my passion as a writer in my cozy home state of Ohio. Aside from that, I spend my time cooking, cosplaying, collecting anime merch, and being an improv comedy actor. I also love sneaking alliterations and stupid puns into my writing, so be on the lookout for them! 😉

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