Fruits Basket

I watched Fruits Basket in 2009 before I watched Mobile Suit Gundam 00 so I might as well do a review now (^_^;)

Name: Fruits Basket

Japanese Name: フルーツバスケット

Air Date: July 5 2001 – December 27 2001

Studio: Studio DEEN

Episodes: 26

PLOT

Tohru Honda is a 16 year old orphaned girl who gets invited to live in the house of her classmate, the handsome boy Yuki Sohma and his cousins, 16 year old Kyo and 27 year old Shigure. However, these young men and parts of the rest of their family (both close and distant) hold a curse; if they are hugged by the opposite gender, they transform into animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Everyday is an adventure for sweet Tohru, as she gets to know everyone in the large family better (especially Yuki and Kyo), in both common and bizarre situations. But, the Sohma Family curse is certainly no laughing matter… it also holds horrible cruelty and heartbreak.

Well, I like the idea of people turning into animals so why not?

First Impressions

Why does Tohru live near a hill? It’s a bit dangerous isn’t it? I can’t believe I thought of that on the first episode only to realise that two of the Sohmas find out near the start of the episode. I’m an idiot ﾌﾟｯ(※థэథ)∵.*.∵ at least she’ll be in safe hands right?

I got the impression that Tohru is a complete airhead from the way she spoke and then I realised it was the same voice actress who did Yuuki in Vampire Knight…Yui Horie! No wonder xD such a girly voice and full of moe!

And Yuki is an ideal prince, he should be my knight in shining armour!

Shigure is a weirdo, but I love him anyway xD he’s a bit of a perv though which I’m very worried about! Watch out for this character girls O_O

Midway Impressions

Thanks to Hatori I pretty much know the Sohma family history which came in handy since I didn’t know anything about their family or curse. It’s really sad finding about each of the Sohmas, they all had such a horrible past…DAMN YOU AKITO! Why did you do this to them?! (ノ`д´)ノ〃┻━┻

I can’t forgive Akito, he’s really terrible to do that to Hatori and the other members of the Sohmas. Akito hasn’t been introduced properly yet but I didn’t like the sound of him, I had a little siren going off in my head as a warning to stay away xD

But I adore Hatori, I imagined all of the pain and suffering he had gone through and he still has to endure the endless cycle of pain. Someone at least give him some love…he deserves it! Accept my love Hatori, it’s 100% pure (๑´ლ`๑)

Hatori…your smile is beautiful! Smile more for everyone’s sake ❤

Hatsuharu made me laugh, he’s a strange character. Black Haru is the best though, he’s more manly! More manly = more sexy (^^)

And Kyo, you need to stop shouting love! Just calm down and drink some leek soup! To be honest, what is nice about leek soup? I don’t like it myself because I don’t like leek. It’s horrible! But cats will still flock to you no matter how you turn out so it’s alright…

Overall Opinions

At first glance Fruits Basket is just another shoujo anime with nothing different to it; the average, beautiful, kind girl getting all the pretty boys. Okay so it really is that, however there’s a special touch to the way the series develops itself and how you watch each character grow and interact with each other as the story progresses.

The story starts with Tohru Honda, your as average-as-you-can-get Japanese girl who has lost her mother in an accident and was living alone in a tent on the Sohma’s property. Of course she wasn’t aware of that until they told her, to her surprise they take her in in exchange for her doing all the housework (it was her who suggested not staying in the house for free’). It’s when she’s there that she discovers the family’s biggest secret…they have been cursed by the vengeful spirits of the Chinese Zodiac animals and when they are hugged by a member of the opposite sex they transform into the animal they were cursed by. When Tohru comes in their life they all learn to open up their heart more and realise that not all the people in the world are bad; this girl affects each one of them in a unique way and helping them break out of their shell.

It’s a beautiful series with heart-touching subjects, there is much you can learn from it and definitely worth buying if the chance should present. There is just about everything in this series: bishounen, angst, drama, comedy, romance, yaoi hints and a light-hearted, kind bishoujo showing us the way.

The character designs are wonderful characterised everyone in the series if they were a bishounen or bishoujo. The colours of their hair and eyes of the Sohma family match the animal they were cursed by and it gives each one of them a unique touch. None look the same which is what you don’t want when you have an anime with lots of characters in otherwise, you would be confused one looked like the other.

As much as I love each and every one of the characters – except Akito, I still hate him – the story felt incomplete when the series ended. I was hoping that Tohru would resolve to finding a way to break the curse (like in the manga) but no. Studio DEEN decided to leave the audience wondering if Tohru ever breaks the curse and if she ever chooses Yuki or Kyo. In all honesty, I was rather annoyed at that. Come on Studio DEEN! Give us a proper ending or something! The poor fans of this series, imagine how they feel…but then again, the manga wasn’t finished then so I guess the anime had to finish because they had no plot. Still, the ending made me go Σ（ﾟдﾟlll）

The opening theme song really depressed me, I guess it did set the atmosphere a bit but I thought Fruits Baskets was more fun than depressing xD however, it was still beautiful as well as delicate and simple which helped portay the story.

Putting those thoughts aside for now, I loved Hatsuharu and Momiji! They were so adorable together but Kyo was really mean to Momi-kun. Poor Momiji, come with me instead! I’ll take care of you! and the revelation about Kyo in episode 25 was a shock – but it shouldn’t be since I read the manga before watching Fruits Basket xD

Who made my Momiji cry?! Was it you Kyo? *Stares suspiciously at Kyo*

Fruits Basket is a series for those who like a bit of family drama and curses. You’ll see what I mean about the charms of Hatsuharu and Momiji when you watch this! It’s such a cute series that I may watch it again, you should be happy Studio DEEN.

I’ll try and do a review for Special A since I watched it ages ago (^_^)