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

Cast

Review

Fruits Basket is story about a girl named Tohru Honda and her living with three members of the Sohma family, Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure, after she had to temporarily move out of her grandfather’s house due to renovations. However, the three members of the Sohma family Tohru is living with (along with various other members she runs into) have a secret: they turn into members of the zodiac whenever someone of the opposite sex hugs them.  This sometimes causes problems, especially for Yuki who is seen as the “prince” of his high school.  Despite this, Tohru enjoys her company, especially since she’s lost both of her parents, including her mother just recently.

However, everything isn’t just fun and games as the head of the family, Akito, appears to have his own plans of Tohru and Kyo, who is the cat in the zodiac story – the animal rejected out of the zodiac because the rat tricked him – has a special secret that he wishes to remain hidden.

Fruits Basket is mostly a comedy series, and it keeps it’s comedic momentum up pretty well through the entire series.  Part of this aided by the fact that there are so many characters, but not so many that one loses track of them.  However, there is also rather extensive character and plot development as well which makes this series fulfilling even outside of the comedy.

My only real problem with this show may be that the ending doesn’t really seem to solve anything substantial, at least as far as the zodiac curse is concerned.  To really reach this full potential, this show probably needs a second season to help wrap everything up.  Unfortunately, having originally aired in 2001, a sequel seems less and less likely by the year.  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 generally crisp, though there are really two styles at play during the series. The first is the normal animation, and the second is the more “humorous” 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.

Overall, if one is into light comedy series with a touch of romance, then Fruits Basket could definitely be a show to check out.

Scores

Animation: 4/5
Story: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Dubs: 4/5

Overall: 4/5

First Watched: January 2005
Do I Own: Yes
Do I Recommend: Yes