I meant to post this months ago
I love this opening so much more than the first one but that’s beside the point. The only thing that matters right now is how loaded with symbolism the second opening of the reboot is.
[mild manga spoilers ahead]
The opening shot is Tohru opening her umbrella in the midst of a cloudy sky that the sun is slightly peeking through.
Then we get the title sequence as Tohru runs up a flight up of stares.
At the top (and in front of Shigure’s house) she throws the umbrella up in the air, no longer needing it based on the her now sunny surroundings.
We then see the rest of the characters looking up from their umbrellas and what’s really important is to note from what angle the shots are.
Kyo and Yuki’s shots are both upward and you can’t see any part of their umbrella but the inside. Looking back to the very first time Tohru’s umbrella is shown in the opening, you can notice the inside is the only visible part aswell. The only difference is that her face is completely out of shot and all we can see is her extending grip.
With Shigure and Hanajima you can see the front of their umbrellas as well as the inside. I think this is indicating that these two are the main observers of our main trio. Neither of them are looking upward either, but straight ahead of them.
Something else important to notice would be how Shigure is only one with a shaded face- a hint that he isn’t as good-natured as we originally might think. Also note that he’s staring right into the camera which I think represents how shameless he tends to be about his more questionable actions and morals.
Hanajima, on the other hand, is barely shadowed but has one eye covered. I think this is mostly referencing her eye on Kyo, especially in scenes like when they visited Kyoko’s grave or later volumes when it became overwhelmingly clear that Kyo had romantic feelings for Tohru. Hanajima’s concerns and observations are a lot more genuine than Shigure’s. While she’s not afraid to interfere with how things play out (we see this during New Years), she does it from a place with her friends in mind rather herself (such as Shigure)
The rest of the characters are shown with their umbrellas from afar.
Then we get this super precious shot of young Tohru running with her mother into the sunset happily and carelessly as they lower their umbrellas.
For symbolic purposes, I’m assuming that Kyoko’s umbrella is black in this shot. It’s a fair assumption considering Tohru’s umbrella is different from the one we’ve seen her carrying in earlier in the opening and the brownish overtones suggesting this is a memory. If that wasn’t obvious enough the sunset should be clear symbolism of Kyoko’s death.
Then we cut to Tohru, who is still at the top of the stairs in front of Shigure’s house. It’s sunny again and she’s not holding her umbrella which means everything we’ve seen after she threw her umbrella up has been through her eyes.
We then get a super adorable sequence of all the characters dancing in direction to the camera. Based off what we’ve seen of all the character’s umbrellas, this whole sequence is in Tohru’s mind considering the pink background.
This is especially evident with the lingering Kyo and Yuki, just for Kyoko to be the next person. She’s the only character in the sequence that doesn’t move to the camera. She stands in the center of the shot. Her umbrella is also now a bright red with a butterfly on the side of it. This all further emphasizes that we’re in Tohru’s head right now considering Kyo and Yuki’s growing influence and her determination to keep her mother at the forefront.
The next noticeable thing I want to mention is this shot of Kyo and Yuki as Tohru runs towards them. Ignoring the minor animation error of Kyo’s magical floating umbrella, both of their bodies are facing the direction the sun is about to protrude. Their backs are facing Tohru, but they’re both turning slightly in Tohru’s direction. Their body language is matching the symbolism of Tohru throwing aside her umbrella in the beginning–opening up.
This is especially evident considering Tohru tosses aside her umbrella when she caught up with Yuki and Kyo and grabs their hands [insert she has two hands for a reason jokes here].
Something worth noting is that now it’s Tohru grabbing their hands and not the other way around. She’s now the one pulling them forward.
Everyone else then joins in on the fun and tosses their umbrellas in the air.
There’s not much to say about the umbrella’s positions themselves except that Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo’s are noticeably closer to the camera. We’re also looking at the outside of the umbrellas for once.
While it’s kind of obvious why, realizing Kyoko’s umbrella is the only one from the opening that isn’t there definitely hits in a weird, painful way.
As for what the umbrellas themselves symbolize…I could see it representing a personal shield; each character is using their umbrella to protect themselves from something that’s beyond their control. Tossing away the umbrellas could symbolize no longer needing the protection because there’s nothing needing protection from. Thus, throwing the umbrellas in the air as well as Tohru tossing her’s once she gets to Shigure’s house. Considering this also brings a new light to the fact that we only see the inside part of Kyo and Yuki’s umbrellas. This could just boil down to Tohru being the closest to the two, thus grasping the trauma they went through especially. It could also be a representation of how these two are particularly stuck in their past compared to the other Sohmas.
A bonus:
As I was writing this I noticed that there’s a cat on young Tohru’s umbrella which is really cute and I had to share with you all.
Romance Junkie (Title in Progess) 