The Essentials
Name: Fruits Basket, Furuba
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Episodes: 26
Released: July 5, 2001 - December 27, 2001
Based On: Fruits Basket manga by Natsuki Takaya
Director: Akitaro Daichi
Produced By: Studio DEEN, TV Tokyo
US Distribution By: FUNimation
Major Japanese Cast
Tohru Honda: Yui Horie
Yuki Sohma: Aya Hisakawa
Kyo Sohma: Tomokazu Seki
Shigure Sohma: Ryotaro Okiayu
Saki Hanajima: Reiko Yasuhara
Arisa Uotani: Yuka Imai
Momiji Sohma: Ayaka Saito
Hatori Sohma: Kazuhiko Inoue
Hatsuharu Soma: Akio Suyama
Kagura Sohma: Kotono Mitsuishi
Akito Sohma: Wakaba Murasaki
Major English Cast
Tohru Honda: Laura Bailey
Yuki Sohma: Eric Vale
Kyo Sohma: Jerry Jewell
Shigure Sohma: John Burgmeier
Saki Hanajima: Daphne Gere
Arisa Uotani: Parisa Fakhri
Momiji Sohma: Kimberly Grant
Hatori Sohma: Kent Williams
Hatsuharu Soma: Justin Cook
Kagura Sohma: Meredith McCoy
Akito Sohma: Chad Cline
Scores
Animation: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Story: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 7/10 (x 2 = 14 pts)
English Dubs: 9/10 (x 1 = 9 pts)
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)
Total: 171/200 (85.5%)
Review
Fruits Basket is a cute little story about a girl named Tohru Honda and her living with three members of the Sohma family. Unfortunately for the three people she’s living with (they’re all guys), they turn into one of the animals of the zodiac whenever someone of the opposite sex hugs them. What results is a lot of comedy, but also some tension as well as one of the characters - Kyo, who is the cat in the zodiak story - has a secret he wants hidden as well as the fact that the head of the family appears to have his own plans for Tohru.
My only real beef may be that the ending doesn’t really seem to solve anything substantial, at least as far as the zodiak curse is concerned, and in fact the. Also, while the story does have the central theme of the Sohmas and their curse, there isn’t necessarily a goal or issue which is being built towards over the course of every episode except perhaps the relationship between the main three characters.
The animation is crisp, though there are really two styles at play during the series. The first is the normal animation, and the second is the more “humerous” or rounded animation, but even this fits in rather smoothly and looks good. The music is also good as well. Even though the score is rather soft, it is still appropriate given the atmosphere of the series.
Even though there doesn’t seem to be any indication that a second season is being considered, I’d be very interested in watching it if it were produced.
First Watched: January 2005
Do I Own: Yes
Do I Recommend: Yes
