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Fruits Basket (the name refers to a children's game similar to "The Farmer in the Dell") has all the elements of a classic shojo (girl's) series: a sweetly domestic heroine, unconventional living arrangements, and two romantic candidates--one exquisitely gentle, the other hiding a heart of gold beneath a thorny exterior. Sixteen-year-old orphan Tohru Honda has been living in a tent when she meets the Sohma family. Handsome, intelligent Yuki is the most popular boy in school; his older cousin Shigura is a pulp novelist; Kiyo, another cousin, is a hot-tempered, red-haired martial artist. Members of the Sohma family labor under a curse: when embraced by a member of the opposite sex, they turn into animals from the Chinese zodiac: Yuki becomes a rat; Shigure, a dog; Kiyo, a cat. (According to legend, the cat failed to attend the feast held by Buddha at which the animals of the zodiac were chosen, but Tohru adores cats.) After short time, they return to human form--naked. The set-up owes a lot to Ranma 1/2, but Fruits Basket is a schmaltzy romantic comedy, not a martial-arts farce.

Tohru moves into this weird household and wins everyone's heart by cooking, cleaning, and keeping their secret. She also functions as an in-house Dear Abby, helping all the Sohmas with their emotional problems, which grow increasingly sentimental as the series progresses. Adolescent girls are clearly the target audience for Fruits Basket. (Unrated, suitable for age 13 and older, violence, mild profanity, minor risqué humor, tobacco use) --Charles Solomon

Customer Review: Has its flaws, but is so sweet and innocent that you probably won't mind...

This anime is certainly not without its flaws...

1) Tohru Honda is not very well developed and can even get on my nerves for being so happy and optimistic all the time...

2) Sometimes, the episodes come off as cheesy...

3) It is an angsty series...

4) It can be hard to understand why the Sohmas do not just leave their dysfunctional family...

5) The middle episodes are formulaic/boring...

6) The ending is not really an ending...



These are counterbalanced by...

1) ...but most, if not all, of the other characters are well-developed - they have decent back-stories that we gradually learn and they gradually change.

2) ...but the general messages about fear, acceptance, love, etc are relevant and meaningful.

3) ...but the angst is generally an understandable reaction to the circumstances. Also, this series is about mainly about teenagers, perhaps the most angsty section of the population.

4) ...but in the real world, it is hard for the abused to leave their abuser. This is intensified by the fact that the family is "cursed."

5) ...but there is a large cast of dysfunctional family members. Heck, we don't even meet all the Zodiac members (b/c of 6)...but given the story told, everyone would be disappointed if we didn't meet some of the zodiac members.

6) ...but this is because season 1 was written alongside the manga and stopped partway through the manga. Perhaps there will be a season 2, but if not, the manga is now fully finished (in Japan and the USA) and you can always pick it up to find out the "real" ending.



Overall, this is a very sweet anime and well worth your time.

Customer Review: Anime

I loved this series. The characters are great, the story line is interesting and the art is great too.
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