Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)(As of the time this review was written, no information on this series is posted, so I'll give a brief synopsis of this series.)
Fruits Basket (called "Furuba" by fans) is the story of Tohru Honda, a high school student who has lost both of her parents. Her mother died only a year before the start of the series, and Touru misses her so much that she always carries her picture around with her. Tohru was living with her paternal grandfather until he began renovations on his home, so he asked her if she'd mind staying with some friends for awhile. Touru didn't want to impose on either of her friends, so she decided to set up a tent in the woods until the house was finished.. until one day she stumbles across the home of her classmate Yuki Sohma, and accidentally discovers his family's BIG secret - when "huggled" by someone of the opposite sex, they are cursed to turn into the animals of the Chinese zodiac. Tohru ends up moving in with the Sohma family as a housekeeper/cook in exchange for room and board, and she is introduced one-by-one to the rest of the clan (some of whom are.. VERY.. unusual).
Now, you might be telling yourself "I've seen this before, and it's name was 'Ranma 1/2'.." - and you have NO IDEA how very wrong you are. Fruits Basket is a one of a kind series that manages to take a premise that could very well have followed the same path as Ranma (namely, relying on perverted jokes and accidental transformations to convey most of the plot and comedy), but instead becomes a chronicle of truly believable characters struggling to belong and dealing with what life has given them, both the good and bad.
Over the course of its 26 episodes, Fruits Basket has made me laugh harder than any other anime I've ever seen, and then it goes right ahead and takes me on an emotional rollercoaster ride until I'm bawling along with the characters onscreen. But no matter what happened, it always leaves me with a smile and a feeling that if I could just have an ounce of the inner strength that these characters display, I would be all the better for it.
Don't let me mislead you into thinking this is merely a cheesy tearjerker - Fruits Basket has PLENTY of high-energy martial arts battles, slapstick comedy, and wacky plot twists, but underneath all of this lies a deep emotional current that EVERYONE can connect with. If you've ever been jealous or angry with your family, undergone the loss of a close relative, felt completely alone, watch the people you love leave you behind, or have simply been misunderstood, you will regret missing this series. The true power of this series is found not in the comedy, but in the relationships between both family and friends.
On a more shallow level, the characters are mostly rather good-looking, the animation is attractive - no amazing special effects, of course, but consistently high quality and well-suited to the story, and the music is very beautiful. Overall, this is a series for everyone to see, from the shoujo (girls') romance fans to comedy lovers to drama affectionados. You will NOT be disappointed - by episode 26, I guarantee you'll find yourself upset that ANOTHER season doesn't exist (yet). ^_^
Click Here to see more reviews about: Fruits Basket, Volume 1: A Great Transformation (Episodes 1-6) (2004)
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