Ranked #49

Fruits Basket (Manga)

There is something that makes us painfully aware of the world around us when we look around and feel as though we don't really belong. Like a child with no parent, a family with no friendship between them, or a lone rice ball placed next to a basket of fruit.

Then there are things in this world that pull us in and show us that we are not alone, no matter how different or strange we appear to others or even to ourselves.

The story of Fruits Basket follows Honda Tohru, a recently orphaned girl with a magnificent disposition on life. She lives in a tent in the woods, tries to go to school and do her job and take care of herself as to not burden her relatives. However, what Tohru soon realises is that the forest in which she camps belongs to the Sohma family. Particularly, it houses the isolated home of Sohma Yuki, an attractive though enigmatic classmate. And the reason for his mysterious nature, and the estranged nature of his relatives who also live with him, is revealed to Tohru during an event that sets off a chain reaction that allows the rest of the plot to unfold. The Sohma men cannot touch a woman.

Why? They turn into one of the animals of the Chinese zodiac. The same goes for the female Sohma, who in turn, cannot touch men. Their curse is an unusual one, one that has haunted their family for centuries, one that has made most of them embittered or unhappy. But with the introduction of Tohru into each of their lives, the Sohma clan slowly learns through the nurturing side of this girl that they can try to enjoy and love their lives.

Fruits Basket is epic in length. Dozens upon dozens of volumes carefully illustrate the growth of each character, the development of the plot. It is romantic, funny, and extremely bittersweet. Each character has specific chapters or volumes dedicated to them, and the story never wanes or loses steam. Its slow but natural pacing allows the reader to becoming involved with the tale as it unfolds. The plot also is extremely well done. Moments in this manga are shown throughout the volumes, scenes that seem insignificant on a first read are later revealed that they have been deliberately planted into the plot, growing unnoticed throughout the story, only to flourish and surprise a reader later on.

Being a manga that had been developed and published over the span of several years, the art for the manga changed as the mangaka's skill developed. The manga has a clean look, well defined backgrounds, and absolutely gorgeous character art. The panelling is well done and there are scenes that are drawn rather beautifully. The character art for the most part is the most noticeable change in the manga throughout its run. And if you pay attention, you can see that the artist knew to develop the characters' appearances as the time passed in the manga.

Take Kyo and Yuki, for instance. While they looked young and cute, over the two-odd years in which the story takes place, you see that they have grown as young men. Their faces became more elongated, giving them a mature look of a man over the fresh look of a boy. Tohru as well is another character in which her age is skilfully shown as she ages throughout the manga. The subtle changes in the artwork are what make this manga a lot more special than others of its kinds. Not that there are many manga quite like Fruits Basket.

The best part of this manga, the thing that will have you read volume after volume, is the cast of characters. The protagonists are Tohru, Kyo and Yuki. Tohru is possibly the sweetest, most selfless and beautiful creature (do not assume it is meant that her physical attributes are beautiful, she's rather cute, actually, but it's her personality that exudes true beauty) to ever exist in the manga. A Samaritan by nature and a wonderful human being as consequence, Tohru manages to capture the hearts of those around her. It's hard for them not to love her, and everyone she meets, she has a positive influence on. Her love and respect for life and happiness are truly commendable. While most people in her position, having lost the most important person in the world to her, would succumb to sadness, Tohru tries to keep smiling.

It's arguable that she may be unrealistically chipper about the things in her life, but it isn't so. She strives for those moments of being satisfied and happy. Life is not something she is prepared to take for granted, and so she makes the best of it each day and tries to make it better for people who can't seem to remember they've been given something precious as another day to breathe.

Kyo and Yuki display the manga's greatest growth in terms of character development. Through their relationships with Tohru, they learn how to be better men, and how to quell the disdain they both have buried deeply for each other and for themselves. Both grew up knowing nothing but how to hate themselves, and through the love that Tohru brings to their lives, they are able to accept themselves.

Kyo is the stubborn, rash and abrasive sort whose attempts to get close to people has only led to pushing them further and further away. It is interesting to see that as he grows and lives with Tohru, he learns how to start love himself and how to love others. Yuki, cold, distant but inwardly longs for the warmth of friendship and family, learns through Tohru that he cannot remain far away from people, and that he must not run away from those who seek him out. A manga that actually show the characters growing both individually and together is a wonderful thing to witness.

The rest of Fruits Basket's cast is rather extensive. There are twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac, and the twelve members of the Sohma family that represent each appear. From the playful Shigure, feisty Kagura, adorable Momiji, composed Hatori, detached Hatsuharu, fidgety Ritsu, charismatic Ayame, withdrawn Kisa, troublesome Hiro, unsociable Isuzu, mature Kureno, and the extremely mysterious, volatile, and threatening Akito. If you think that those are a handful of characters to get into, there are also Tohru's close friends, Arisa and Saki, who have portions of the manga dedicated to them as well. Arisa is the tough, loyal friend, while Saki is very weird, but very dedicated to her friends, especially to Tohru.

Was this manga enjoyable? It will become part of your life when you start reading it, and if you continue to read it. 23 volumes, roughly seven years of publishing, dozens of characters and tremendous amounts of plot development later, Fruits Basket has managed to warm its way into the hearts of many, and for good reason. Reading the manga felt as though you're watching the lives of some very close people unfold before you. Any media that manages to capture an audience in such a fashion has clearly done what is was supposed to do. This is an amazing manga with an extremely satisfactory, consistently brilliant beginning, middle, and ending. Its worth to the manga world is beyond description.

Fruits Basket is the sort of manga that reminds us that no matter who were are, where we are, or what we become, there are always people there who take us in graciously, love us, and make us feel like we belong. read more

This was the first series that I actually finished, and it was also the series that got me interested in the whole aspect of manga and anime ^^. I hope to one day re-read it if I can get hold of the books, since Tokyopop disabled their upload on online manga sites.

Story: The one thing I love about this series is that there's no one set genre. One moment, you can explore deeply into your conscious, the next you can be laughing your ass off at a joke Shigure makes. Though the sudden change, the events that unfold still seem to follow very smoothly and it's very easy to link what's happening at any one part with any other parts of the series. This series also has a really good ending, it wrapped up very nicely and it leaves you with a heart-warming content feeling.

Art: The drawing at first felt weird. I think I was overwhelmed by Tohru's large eyes lol. But I think it's becoming my idea of manga drawings now, I tend to compare other series drawings with fruits basket. Just a habit of mine.

Character: Developing characters worked nicely into fruits basket. You find yourself following the path of each character, experiencing all their joy and sorrow; this allowed me to connect better with the characters. I don't think I'll ever forget them :)

Enjoyment: It's the highest scoring series in my list so far. Only reason I gave it 9/10 is cause saying it's 10/10 is saying it's the best, but I don't know if a new series will come that will beat it. So, for me 10/10 is reserved.

Overall: So very good, if only the anime is as good as the manga. read more