Fruits Basket
|
Manga |
Anime |
| Volumes: 9 | Episodes: 26 |
| Status: ongoing | Licensed to: FUNiamtion |
| Ran in: Hana to Yume | Official Site: http://www.fruits-basket.com/ |
| Licensed to: Tokypop | Class: shoujo, bishonen |
|
Manga |
Anime |
| Volumes: 9 | Episodes: 26 |
| Status: ongoing | Licensed to: FUNiamtion |
| Ran in: Hana to Yume | Official Site: http://www.fruits-basket.com/ |
| Licensed to: Tokypop | Class: shoujo, bishonen |
Fruits Basket is possible the cutest, nicest manga/anime ever. I know that sounds like Hello Kitty or something, but Fruits Basket actually has a really good story that revolves a lot around character development. In fact, a most of the story is spend having Tooru solve the problems of the Souma family, who have an ancient curse causing some of the family members turn to animals of the Chinese zodiac if they are hugged by the opposite sex.
As you can imagine, this situation calls for a very interesting manga/anime, since a normal girl,
Tooru, goes to live as a housekeeper with three of the cursed Souma men, two of which are guys in her class.
This may seem as the ultimate shoujo romance setup, and thats basically what I
though too, with the guys being bishonen (Yuki is the prince of bishonen), most
cursed people being men, and upon returning back from animal form, them being
naked (G-PG). However, the story is not about your average high school romance.
All the members of the Jyuunishi *those who turn to zodiac animals* have an
extremely difficult time with their curse and develop complicated issues that
affect them physically, or mentally. From the head of the Souma family, Akito (aka
cruel bastard), who abuses everyone and is destined to die from the curse, to
the three guys who Tooru lives with, Shingure, Yuki and Kyou, who seem to be
some of the most cursed ones.
Because of these complications, the characters are very detailed and develop thought the anime and continue in the manga. Shingure *dog zodiac*, the oldest of the three, is a writer who's always screwing around with everyone on the outside but doesn't really open up. Yuki *mouse zodiac* has been abused by Akito since he was little, and was deeply hurt mentally, becoming distant from everyone, and only admired afar from his girl fans in school *Prince Yuki Club* due to his resemblance to a girl. Kyou *cat zodiac* is the most abandoned one because he is the cursed cat zodiac, so the whole Souma clan doesn't accept him. Because of this, he blames the mouse *Yuki* for this as a result of an old tale that involved the members of the Chinese zodiac and why the cat was left out because of the mouse, which makes Yuki and Kyou eternal enemies so they always fight. Kyou is loud has a big temper though and the exact opposite of the quiet Yuki, but he loses most of the time.
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| Honda Tooru | Souma Yuki | Souma Kyou | Souma Shingure |
Honda Tooru, on the other hand is a normal high school girl *determined, sweet, nice* who was raised by her mother. This has a huge effect on her, since Kyoko *Tooru's mom* was a very strong and wise person, was once the leader of a female biker gang, though still a really fun and carefree person to be around. However, when the anime and manga starts, Tooru's mom was just killed in a car accident and so as not to trouble her friends and relatives, Tooru goes to live alone in a tent (thats right people, a tent. Shingure laughed like crazy) supporting herself with a part time job. However, the tent is on Souma family property an by Shingue's house, so when it gets trashed by a landslide they ask her to move in with them, so as to have a place to go and cook/housekeep since they are desperately in need of that. However, Tooru soon finds out about the family secret after she collides with the angry Kyou who comes crashing through the roof in search of fighting Yuki. Miraculously, Akito doesn't have her memory erased and she is allowed to live with them.
From here on in, Tooru becomes a person who through her kindness helps Yuki and Kyou open up, and later on as more Jyuunishi members pour in to see "the girl who knows about the secret", she solves some of their issues as well. Yuki and Kyou get pretty attached as well. (darn it Kyou is so cute!) Its a very sweet story.
The manga and the anime are basically identical, except for some things that are moved around and that the manga is still going. A plotline with Shingue's "dream" however, does not appear in the anime, because I guess that is to be resolved later. I really hope that there'll be another season however since I've heard some rumors...
In conclusion, Fruits Basket is a really great anime and manga that goes to a great distance to utilize the characters and creates some really cool personas that you can't help but admire, or at least get a kick out of. Ex. Shingure+Ayame+Hatori, or Tooru's best friends, the yankee and the psychic.