Ranked #272

Fruits Basket

Story & Characters
10/10
At first glance Furuba is just another Shoujo manga 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 in the Sohma's property. Of course she wasn't aware of that until they told her, to her surpirse 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... The family has 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 realize that not all the people in the worlds are bad; this girl affects each one of them in a unique way.

It's a beautiful Anime 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:bishonen, angst, drama,comedy, romance, shounen-ai hints and a light-hearted, kind bishojo showing us the way.

Art
8/10
The character designs are beautiful and would characterize everyone in the series a bishonen and bishojo. The colors of the hairs and eyes of the Sohma Family match with the animal they were cursed by and it gives each one of them a unique touch.

Tohru's design is supposed to be as average as possible since she represents a normal japanese girl.

There's is also a 'big abuse' of Super-Deformed characters (Ex. Chibi form) but it just serves to highlight the emotion they are expressing and make the show even more funny.

Sound
9/10
The music is simply beautiful, although the 26-episode long series only has one opening(For Fruits Basket) and one ending (Chiisana Inori) (both performed by Ritsuko Okazaki) it serves it's purpose leaving you with a serene calm sensation!

The soundtrack used as background music is delicate and simple

However if you haven't watched the series and just purchase the soundtrack for the sheer pleasure of it you will be disappointed since it is nothing special by itself, you must see the anime first so you can relate each short song to a scene.

As far as the seiyuu's gone they all seemed to fir their character perfectly. Tohru's voice was Yui Horie who also voiced for Love Hina's Narusegawa Naru. Her sweet, sharp voice goes in tune with Tohru's personality perfectly.

Enjoyment
10/10
You won't find a boring episode in this series. Each one develops and focuses's on a character's situation. Although the series was cut short abruptly and much ends were left untied (the manga is still running) seeing by itself will leave you satisfied (if not with a small crave for the continuity of it).

As mentioned before there's much you can learn from this anime since it deals with how we must see our own beauty and not be jealous of other's (among other important themes).

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Ever since she was young, Honda Tohru learned what it meant to be something that did not exactly fit in with everything around her.

After the death of her mother, she takes to living in a tent in the woods so she would not be a burden for her relatives. On her way to school, she accidentally comes across an isolated house--the home of the most popular boy in school, the very mysterious Sohma Yuki. While being offered a place to stay with the Sohma family instead of living in a tent, Tohru accidentally uncovers a shocking surprise about the people in that house. Upon contact with a person of the opposite sex, they turn into an animal from the Chinese zodiac.

While this does set up for a lot of wacky, zany hijinks based on gender-clashing and contact, Fruits Basket manages to present not only hilarity based on the fact that every member of the Sohma family turns into an animal, but it also shows us the truthful side to their curse. It is just that--a curse. What does it mean to not be able to touch a person of the opposite sex outside of your immediate family? In some cases, it may just even mean giving up the people you truly love. You can touch them, kiss them, or even be with them for far too long. It is a curse, and one that has been deeply entrenched in the lives of each Sohma.

Fruits Basket is a rather unique anime, in that it takes its material and manages to present it in a wonderfully entertaining and absorbing way. It is magnificently quirky, charming and very funny, and each episode or arc focusses on presenting a member of the rather large Sohma clan. There are twelve animals of the zodiac, after all, and several rather fun stories to get into. Though it's not all grins. Fruits Basket handles extremely emotional scenes with careful grace that most anime forget about. This isn't about screaming and tearing or fighting--it's about trying to talk things through, trying to work things out, and trying your best to keep smiling when all you want to do is break down and cry.

The art for the anime is not exactly magnificent. While the character design is very nice or rather cute, the actual animation itself is not tremendous. It is a rather pretty, colourful anime, and the artwork suits the look and feel of what is seen.

Sound for the anime is much, much more commendable. From the very sweet opening theme song to the melancholy closing theme and the magnificent background music, Fruits Basket gives us a score that is soothing, upbeat at times and slow at others, but complements the scenes effectively. It's a score you can download tracks for and play and relax while listening to it. The seiyuu work is also excellently done. Each character has a distinguishable voice, and Hisakawa Aya as Yuki is just great to listen to. Not to mention Saito Ayaka as Momiji being one of the cutest things ever heard (she is also Honey of Ouran High School Host Club fame). There must be mention of the English dub as well, though not a lot of people may care for it. It is possibly one of the better dubbed anime out there. Laura Bailey manages to capture the innocent, insecure, gentle and fun nature of Tohru very well.

And ah, what a great girl is Tohru. While describing her, it may sound as though she's another vapid "nice girl" with no real personality other than her being cute, but there is so much--no, there is too much more about her that defies that image by which she is pigeonholed. Yes, she's sweet, and caring and does some very cute things, but it's not superficially that. Tohru is perhaps one of the most selfless people to exist in the anime, or to even exist in anime on the whole. Every action taken by her is never done for the benefit of herself, but for the betterment of others. She lives in a tent not to trouble her family. It is pretty stupid, but in her understanding, doing them a favour means staying out of their way. Her caring nature extends to everyone she meets, whether they treat her badly or not.

The supporting cast of Fruits Basket is rather extensive, and each character brings to the table a great personality, depth and charm that will make you enjoy each and every one of them. The two other protagonists of the anime are the Sohma cousins, Yuki and Kyo. Yuki is cold, aloof, and very smart about the things around him. What he does not realise, and a sign of his excellent characterisation, is that he does not know everything like he assumes he does. Through interacting with Tohru, he learns how to reach out and want things in life, and not to be content with the life of solitude he fashions for himself. Kyo is a hothead, a loudmouth and a gruff and insensitive boy with a level of empathy that he does not even understand that he possesses. Also through interacting with Tohru, he learns to dampen his aggressive passionate side, how to learn to love others and most importantly, how to love himself.

Each Sohma family member introduced has an intriguing, though very sad past. Revelations about how the curse affects them each will surely tug at your heart. There's the goofy Shigure, brash Kagura, sweet Momiji, level-headed Hatori, estranged and bipolar Hatsuharu, drama queen Ritsu, charmer Ayame, shy Kisa, bratty Hiro, and the very perturbing, off-putting and dangerous Akito. Other than the Sohma clan, there are other great supporting characters seen in Tohru's close friends. They provide tremendous amounts of comic relief, though they are not limited to that. Time and again they both prove what friendship truly means.

Fruits Basket has been one of the most enjoyable and fun anime to watch. It is duly recommended, especially if you're a fan of shoujo anime. However, for readers of the manga, there are definite changes in the anime adaptation, especially in the later episodes. For anyone who enjoyed the series, it is recommended that the manga be read and the wonderful conclusion for this anime to be seen.

A truly magnificent show about a fruits basket accepting that a rice ball can indeed sit soundly with the rest of them. Just because it's different, does not mean it does not belong. It makes a difference after all, doesn't it? read more

Fruits Basket is a show that might certainly sound interesting the moment you check the synopsis. People turning into the Chinese zodiac animals, dark and mysterious secrets surrounding them, cute, clueless main heroine – isn't that a great premise for a shoujo series? But only as long as it's executed accordingly.

I decided to watch Fruits Basket after seeing how high it is rated. I wouldn't normally watch a shoujo series, since I find most of them exaggerated and unrealistic – that's why, I expected Furuba to really change my opinion regarding them. Instead, I found Furuba to be exactly what I mostly disliked and avoided in this genre – with a really more unnatural and forced tone. Do not get me wrong; I do not hate Fruits Basket; yet I really couldn't feel anything else besides disappointment the moment I completed it, and this review explains why.

STORY

Furuba's story is surrounded by a dramatical and emo[tional] darkness upon which Tohru shines like a ray of redemptive hope. Because of that, 50% of the story is actually made up of Tohru's (and sometimes other characters' too) internal struggling monologues that pretty much unfold along the lines of "Is is right? Isn't it right? Is it wrong? Isn't it wrong?". The other 50% of the story might actually trick the viewer into believing that something happens - when it's usually just a repetition of the same overly used gags. There's no beginning, no development, no ending. It doesn't get anywhere.

To put it simply, Fruits Basket doesn't have a plot. Its entire 'story' could be summed up through the following sequence of (randomly ordered) events: Tohru acts dumb yet unbelievably nice which, in turn, causes other characters to also act this way, even though it isn't part of their personality, repeat; Kyo and Yuki fight, repeat; cliché and unfunny member of the Sohma family appears, repeat; Kyo and Yuki fight again, repeat; irrelevant episodic character that barely says a line throughout the whole series has an entire episode dedicated to themselves, repeat; Kyo and Yuki fight yet again, this time in a more dramatic light. Repeat.

Another bad aspect of the story is that it's ridiculously sweet, to the point that it loses all the bits of realism it could have had. It's clear that the creators wanted to have a mixed show, that doesn't only focus on the dramatical solving of tragic events, but also contains its funny moments. This in turn causes Furuba to have serious flaws, both in terms of execution and logic. Many times, the scenes change too quickly from overly-serious to (attempted) pink surrounded, humorous gags that pop up out of nowhere. Other times the events just don't add up. A clear example of this is Tohru living in a tent at the beginning of the series because she doesn't want to 'bother' anyone [thing which the viewer should find utterly amusing]. Apparently, she has a lot of people that care about her (grandfather, friends) yet they never check upon how she's doing. Yet somehow, the rest of her relatives actually go through the trouble of hiring a detective to find out where she lives when they could have simply followed her from school or asked her.

And lastly, in terms of storyline, Furuba is really stretched out for the amount of events it has to offer. Perhaps, had Furuba been a 13 episodes series and not a 26 one, with the same amount of story, it would have actually been entertaining. It's not just the slow pace that pretty much puts you to sleep; there's also the fact that sceneries, lights, wind are constantly emphasized just so that there'll be something to fill the gap and make an entire episode of something that could have been summed up in 5-10 mins.

CHARACTERS

Fruits Basket's characters are clear examples of shoujo genre gone wrong. Not only are they cliché, predictable and pretty much one-dimensional; they give off the feeling of being unnatural. There's something forced into them, whether it's the personality, the way they interact or their role. They seem to just be there for the sake of existing; therefore they don't have any apparent purpose or impact upon the viewer.

Tohru:
Tohru is a girl who's gone through a lot in her life, as it is clearly shown since the very beginning of the anime. Considering the amount of bad events she experienced, you'd expect her to be really introverted and (perhaps) pessimistic. Yet Tohru completely overthrows that, by not only being happy-go-lucky all the time, but also exaggeratedly clueless and nice to everybody, no matter the circumstances. There's a thin line between being inhumanly selfless and being ridiculously dumb, and Tohru seems to be stepping on it quite often. Because of that, most of the other characters seem to half divinize her. There's also another particular thing about Tohru. She doesn't seem to have any ambition for herself whatsoever, so she never asks for help – which brings up the question, is she really weak or is she really strong? Perhaps both, but she certainly isn't realistic or enjoyable.

Yuki:
Yuki is the least enjoyable out of the entire cast. Now, traps are one thing, effeminate characters other – but when some random character in the shows says: “Oh my, there's an interesting young person out there, but I can't tell whether it's a guy or a girl – isn't it exciting?”, that's a totally different thing. According to most of the other characters throughout the show and even himself, Yuki is a guy, though his personality, voice and appearance certainly don't show that. Why he was built that way is uncertain – there are a few attempts of making fun of this, but the humor fails, as usual.
Apart from when he's annoyingly correct by being the right person in the right place, Yuki is barely noticeable. However, his existence does seem to serve two purposes. First one is a Fruits Basket must: have a tragic, unexplainable and never actually detailed past that makes him dark and gloomy, which in turn asks for one of Tohru's miraculous healing techniques. Second is to serve as an opponent for Kyo – which is one of the most reused and unfunny gags throughout the show.

Kyo:
Kyo is probably the only character that actually suffers some sort of development. In the beginning, he's presented as a violent, leek-hating, anti-social idiot. In the end he's still violent and idiotic (though to a smaller scale), but at least he isn't lonely anymore and he's eaten leeks. Despite the fact that Kyo is also a cliché character, he's at least enjoyable, because he's a bit more realistic. Kyo has a lot of personality flaws, but there's one thing that compensates them: he at least sees Tohru as being weird and unhealthy for herself (which all the other characters seem to be blind to). Unfortunately, Kyo is never actually allowed to speak for himself since he's an outcast. It's clearly stated throughout the anime that the other Sohma members can't stand him; yet, as usual, it's never quite explained why. Despite this, Kyo could have had a lot of development and story going on around him. Unfortunately, the ending spoiled everything.

Sohma members+ Tohru's friends:
The rest of the Sohma family members and Tohru's friends were created so they would be as weird and different as possible, yet they all share the same characteristics. Their past is dark and tumultuous so they anchor around Tohru; on top of that, they are all one-dimensional commonly encountered types of characters. Shigure is the pervert, Kagura is the good-willed yet always screwing up girl, Momiji is the cute shouta boy, Risa is the sweet innocent girl and so on. But that's the end to it. There's nothing more to them; yet countless of repetitive unfunny gags are made of their only side. In the end, they are all too many and too similar to remember or enjoy.

ART AND SOUND

Furuba's art and sound are certainly nothing exceptional – yet they're not bad either. They all add up to the unrealistic, sweet and pink impression the show is trying to leave. There seems to be specific effort put into backgrounds and into the (often really big) eyes. The voice actors capture the personalities of the characters they portray really well (maybe sometimes too well, but it's in the series' nature to be exaggerated), especially during monologues or conflicts. The OP and ED were some of the very few generics that I constantly skipped – they were too slow-paced and fluffy for my taste. The background music also didn't really stand out – but is wasn't unpleasant.

ENJOYMENT

Furuba really isn't enjoyable, unless you're a fan of slow-paced, warmth and fuzzy feelings inducing series that stretch too much and don't get anywhere. I expected something funny like Ouran or Yamato Nadeshiko before watching this; yet I was thoroughly disappointed. The whole anime seemed to be a mixture of randomly thrown in characters trying to act dramatic and special, but not leaving any particular positive impression. They were predictable, boring and irrelevant. Also, I really couldn't get over the few logic flaws (like Japan leaving its orphans to suffer in tents, Tohru being able to magically teleport herself from the forest to the cemetery and back to the forest [during the last episode] or the too sudden mood changes from tragic to overly happy).

OVERALL

Even though Fruits Basket had a pretty good premise to start from and quite the numerous cast of characters, it really couldn't get past the “Everything is so sad, oh! Let's bring Tohru in so it'll be nice and shiny” feeling. Furuba is a series that doesn't leave any positive feelings while watching and certainly not after being completed. The viewer is basically left where it all started from – no plot or character development whatsoever, nothing explained, nothing major accomplished. Therefore, it really doesn't get past the state of being a mediocre series with nothing special. read more

Fruits Basket is a wonderful and moving story which I consider myself fortunate enough to have been shown by a very close friend. This anime is so amazing it touch upon the strings of my heart. I laughed, I cried, and I truely felt for each of the characters.

The anime is centered around a young girl by the name of Tohru Honda, an amazing high school girl who is kind and honest. At the start of the anime she is still struggling to survive after her mothers tragic death. She is taken into the house hold of the cursed family, the Sohma's.

Animation

Is decently done, it is done beautifully but the main attraction of this anime is not the art but rather the story and the characters.

Sound

Again decently done, the intro and ending songs are a credit to the singer and composers. I'd keep them on my MP3 player. Other then that the rest of the sound track is well placed but doesnt reach out like a few other animes I know. Again decently done, but not the reason I love this anime.

Characters

Oh so many things I wanna type here. But I dont want to spoil anything. (I stongy feel that no review should even come close to touching a spoiler) Each character is amazing and wonderful. I cannot say more than each character has made me laugh, smile, cry, and think.

Story and Enjoyment

Each characters past and story is touching to discover and moving to watch. Each one is orginal, sad, and tragic. Can Tohru help break there curse, can Tohru bring happiness to this strange tragic family? If your like me you wont be able to stop yourself from watching to find out! If I could rank higher than a 10 for enjoyment I would!

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When it first came out as manga I picked up Fruits Basket and fell in love with it instantly. A few weeks later, I insisted my mother buy a DVD from the anime series, sadly I only watched the last six episodes, and then a few months ago Hakoot let me borrow the series from her, and how happy I was.

Anyway, Fruits Basket is about the orphan Torhu Honda who starts the story out by living in a tent in the woods. A sequence of events leads to her staying in the house of her handsome classmate Yuki Sohma and his cousin Shigure. On accident she uncovers the secert of the Sohma's - that thirteen of them will turn into the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac... And the cat. Normally one who learns this secret has their memory erased, however, Tohru is an exception and the story mainly follows what happens between her and the Sohmas.

Story -

The story of Fruits Basket is simply heartwarming. It's a nice break from watching all of those "Gotta save the world!" type plots, with it's smallish subplots, and the backgrounds of most of the characters are very interesting and human. Gah. It's so wonderful that I can't think of the words... However, the story in the anime is cut short, meaning it doesn't follow most of the manga, stopping around manga volume eight when there are twenty-three volumes, and moreso Torhu doesn't meet two of the Zodiac animals! However, that is the only downfall.

Score: 9

Animation -

...I'm sure if you've read my other reviews then you know what I'm going to say. Animation was smooth. xD Well, it was. It was slightly like the manga style, however it looked a lot better. The eyecatches were amusing with the little drawings that represent characters (i.e. Onigiri for Tohru, Flower for Hanajima). Coloring was good... Okay... Moving on.

Score: 10

Sound -

I listened to the dub of Fruits Basket, and Funimation did a pretty good job, Torhu sounds innocent and naive, but not to the point of being just plain annoying, Kyo is an arrogant.. cat, and Yuki is all... calm. All the character's voices fit well, however, White Haru's voice didn't fit my mind, but that's probably because I think of Yusuke...

Background music was wonderful, especially the non-vocal piano version of For Fruits Basket, the opening. Most all the music was soft except for those... tense moments... Unfortuantly... I... can't remember.

Score: 10

Character:

Ah. The characters. Probably the best part about this series. I think part of the reason that it's so likable is that someone will be able to identify with at least one of the characters and their situations. The characters are different , but yet in a way the same (in a good way), and seem very human. Again, Tohru is that sweet girl that you'd love to have as a friend, and I could picture it too, because she seems so human.

Score: 10

Enjoyment -

...Needless to say, I enjoyed this series very much, the characters were diverse and interesting enough to watch, and the plot was interesting as well... So. Yeah.

Score: 10


All in All -

Yay: Characters were good, nice and diverese, and interesting and deep.

Nay: Anime ended too quickly. Nuff said.

Score: 10 read more

I can't believe I haven't written a review about my favorite anime of all time. Well here it is. Fruits basket is a great anime to watch if you are into romance/comedy/drama. Not only does it have a nice storyline but it has great characters. I am sure that you will have a favorite character in this series because each one is special in there own way. Here are three main reasons Fruits basket is my favorite anime.

1. The main character (Tohru Honda) is so likable. She is caring, puts others people's feelings before her own, works hard, and doesn't judge by appearances (you will know what I am talking about if you watch it). Me and her can relate in a lot of ways.

2.The romance in this anime is so cute. It's nothing over the top and is mostly expressed by feelings and actions (not the sexual actions). I couldn't even really call it romance but something special. Everyone sort of has this little bond or special feeling towards the Tohru. The one with Kyo and Yuki towards Tohru is my favorite because it's like this cute love triangle in its special way.

3. The amount of emotions you get from this anime. I cried out of happiness on some scenes and I cried on some other scenes because it was so touching, not really sad but you can sympathize with the situation. And then you have the comedy where you can just laugh and be happy.

Of course the story is also wonderful. I gave Fruits Basket a 10 for each category because it deserves it. The story was great and so was the ending. The art was beautiful. The music fit the anime. The characters were well thought out and likable and had there specialness in there own way. I surely enjoyed the anime all the way to the end and it rewatched it 3 times (not my last).

It was just amazing and very likable. That's all I can say to finish this review. read more

Another review of FB? Yes, another one, but this one is one worth reading if you want to know if you'll want to watch it or not.

First of all, the story. Honda Tohru, a girl whose mom has passed away recently, lives on her own in a tent. Untill she suddenly discovers the house of Sohma, where one of her classmates lives! The house is quite normal, but the members of the house aren't... This gives very funny situations and this is not something that you so often in anime, so this is the part that makes the story not too typical shoujo-like. Even if FB is named as shoujo, it's not only for girls!

The art of FB is nicely drawn and is pretty to watch. Most of the boys are bishy-like and all the other characters look nice too. Sometimes a bit simple, but still fine to look at. The animal forms are also nice. You can see immediately what animal they have to be and they even remain their expressions. The quality is really of today, so that's not something to complain about. It makes it really easy to watch.

The sound was okay. The intro and ending song are somehow fitting to the anime. The voices are nicely casted, since you can really know what their emotion is. Angry, sad, happy or just joking around, you'll know immediately! The sound effects are okay, so it's all fine by me.

The characters all have their own issues. This gives a nice view why they act different than you'll think at first sight. There's enough development in the characters as they grow in the series, so nothing wrong with the characters too!

Enjoyment? Too high! Okay, that might be exaggerated, but I really enjoyed this anime. It's funny and at some times a little drama for the story, but nice to look at and with good seiyuus. The story is shoujo, but not so shoujo that's it's annoying, not at all! I can recommend Fruits Basket to anyone who enjoys who... Oh never mind, just watch it! Enjoy! read more

Fruits Basket was so cute to watch. It really took me back...one of those really old school super mangas that I used to read. The anime tells the story of Tohru Honda after the death of her mom. She somehow ends up living with some members of the Sohma clan - a most beautiful lineage if I might add despite some major personality flaws.

It is so engaging and definitely fun to watch. The anime only covers up to Volume 8 of the Fruits Basket manga so if you want to know how the story concludes, you need to read the manga to its conclusion.

Although Tohru is the sterotypical protagonist who can turn darkness into light, the other characters in the anime are also very very interesting and awesome. My favorite has to be Hana-chan who only wears black and has some type of supernatural powers. Of course the Sohma clan is great too. There are sooooo many of them and they are all so good looking and so flawed. You can't help but be thoroughly engaged by this family.

I say, watch it!! read more

Watched as a young teen: Loved it
Rewatch as an older teen: Hated it
(somewhat harsh review? please don't be offended)

Sure, when I first watched it I was caught up in the love story, and the humour of the series. I admit it, I was originally a fan! But recently I went back to rewatch what I had once found so brilliant, and I noticed something... I found it 'dreadful'.

It's a shoujo anime. Yes, it has a twist (or perhaps twists?), and a calming sort of mood to it, but almost everything is predictable, and there is certainly nothing appealing (to me) about most of the characters. Actually, the only I found tolerable (upon second viewing) was Haru, even then he wasn't exactly unique. Even Tohru's best friends were overused in the world of anime. An ex gang member, and a paranormal/psychic girl? Overused in shoujo, it seems... Though weren't be heart warmed when we discover how loyal they are to their friend Tohru who accepted them regardless of their quirks? Sure... If this is your first anime, maybe.

However, as far as entertainment goes, the series is very appealing to types who can stand the mary-sue infested reverse harem, such as this. In fact, for those types, this could very well be their favourite anime, and I can see why. It just isn't for me, and I'm sure anyone with any longing for character originality or story would agree. Though I understand the occasional desire to watch this sort of thing, it doesn't excuse the overall unbearable feeling it brings.

Still, a good watch for the younger romantic, or younger romantic at heart? read more

Fruits Basket is awesome! No two characters are the same and their personalities differ greatly. There is rivalry hidden in here, which makes it quite funny at times. I would have to say Hatsuharu Sohmais my personal favorite because of his black and white personality. I think it's pretty cool, that when hugged by the opposite gender, the characters turn into an animal of the Zodiac. It adds a nice twist to the show. The whole story line is pretty good, and the episodes pretty much follow one after the other.

This is definitely a peice of work. Fruits Basket shows a whole new meaning to trust and friendship. The characters are all close in a special way and I like how it shows the Sohmas doing everyday things. They aren't made any different then us. This is definitely an anime I would recommend! read more