Fruits Basket 1st Season

On November 12, 2018 last year, I woke up to a string of Twitter feeds and news alerts. Fruits Basket got announced for a new anime based on the manga. During that same week, I pinched myself several times and realized it’s not a dream. It’s a reality. Fruits Basket, one of the most celebrated shoujo manga series in North America, is making a comeback after all these years. And to my delight, we also got the announcement that the new Fruits Basket would adapt the entire manga. That’s right, all 23 freaking volumes of them.

There’s one thing for certain: Fruits Basket is a best-seller in the West. Whether you’re a fan of shoujo genre or not, the series has a large fan base that still exists today. As a fan myself, I’ve read the series many years ago and have seen the first anime adaptation. Coming into the new Fruits Basket feels like a trip down memory lane. Only this time, we have enhanced visuals updated to more modern quality and a commitment to bring a full adaptation. For an emotional story and character driven show, Fruits Basket is a classic.

It’s 2019 and bringing a show from the past isn’t that simple. The biggest question on many people’s mind revolves how many episodes will the new season consist. With the actual amount of content from the manga, it’s not enough for just 25 episodes. Hence, it’s labeled as “first season” serving as a remake continuation of the franchise. However, something else came to my mind with its staff and cast. Fruits Basket’s characters are significant and to bring their personalities on the TV screen would need an A+ level of talent. Luckily, there’s no need to worry as the voices in this show are able to step up to the plate. Tohru Honda’s VA has changed for the new adaptation but her personality remains relatively the same. For those new to the franchise, she is the main female protagonist and an incredibly kind high school girl. While her character introduction may cause some heads to turn away (I mean, who would be impressed by an orphan living in a tent?), there’s no doubt she is a selfless person. She is loyal and often optimistic about her life. There’s many times in the show where she treats others with respect and is well known for her kindness. At the same time, Tohru’s weakness shows in her personality with her being too forgiving of others. Her character growth this season is slow but should be respected as the anime wants to flesh out her personality as much as possible. Most importantly, the show establishes her as an iconic shoujo character.

Meanwhile, we shouldn’t forget about the other main cast. Fruits Basket is a shoujo after all and isn’t complete without important male characters. These consist of members the Soma family. Most prominently, there’s Kyo and Yuki. The characters themselves are based off of the Eastern Chinese Zodiac with 12 animals. Strangely enough, Kyo himself is not part of the Zodiac although he is still a member of the family. He is portrayed as a young man with a short temper who often gets into pity arguments with Yuki. Their rivalry is relentless with battle of words, contests, and occasional physical fights. However, their rivalry is more about Kyo trying to prove himself and whether he truly can be accepted as a member of the Soma family. In other words, it’s not really some blood feud with lives at stake. Plus, a princely guy like Yuki isn’t the type that would want to harm others. His gentle and reserved personality at school earned him many fans, including his own personal fan club. Despite this, Yuki is portrayed as a distant man who isn’t easy to make friends with. Throughout the show, he develops a unique bond with Tohru as the two understands each other more. It’s also important to realize the season occasionally shows cryptic parts of his darker past. We don’t see it often but there are windows of moments where he shows insecurity and fear. Any new fans would no doubt be curious to learn more about Yuki. And as the more episodes progresses, the more complicated his character gets.

On the other hand, the more you look at Kyo, the more you can probably realize he’s growing a deeper affections towards Tohru. There are some episodes that shows his curiosity about her and even transforming into a genuine friendship. From a character relationship perspective, their chemistry evolves surely, although slowly. Tohru herself also begins to see his true character, beyond that of a hotblooded youngman. It’s important to know that outside of the Sohma family, she has close friends such as Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima. It’s noticeable that the anime dedicates time to focus on all three of them ranging from when they first met to how much they deeply care about each other in the present timeline. Similarly, Tohru has a deep devotion for her deceased mother. Known for its flashbacks, Fruits Basket both shows and tells a story about the importance of family. It’s a tear inducing story once you truly understand how much Tohru’s mother cares about her. At the same time, Tohru inherits characteristics from her mother as being a selfless woman who isn’t afraid to protect her friends.

The more I watched this new version of Fruits Basket, it made me wonder how they can introduce the other characters properly. Remember, there are 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac and outside of the two main guys, there are at least 10 others. Shigure Sohma is introduced early on after taking in Tohru in as a house guest. Being much laid back than others, there’s not much we understand about him although he is a man with a word of wisdom. Unfortunately, this season doesn’t fully explore his character so anime fans will have to wait a bit longer. Others such as Kagura, Momoji, Hatsuharu, Hatori, and Ayame are also introduced in various episodes. While not being prominently featured as the main cast, they do have value in the show despite some portrayed as being very childish. Kagura and Momoji are key examples of this with their behavior. I mean, who can forget about the episode with Kagura practically jumping herself into Kyo’s arms? Indeed, while Fruits Basket often carries a melancholic mood, there’s many comedic moments. There’s even a running gag in the show with the guys losing their clothes after being hugged and transforming into animals. Now that’s a curse to really be careful of. But perhaps one of the most mysterious character is someone named Akito. This character is mentioned many times by the main cast, most prominently by Yuki. Just who is Akito? What’s this character’s purpose? And why does Akito make Yuki react in such fearful ways? If you want answers, you’re going to be in for a long ride.

TMS Entertainment is honestly a studio I have mixed thoughts for. They do have a history of producing shoujo anime such as Kamisama Kiss and even bringing back long running franchises like D Gray Man a few years ago. After seeing the promotional material for the anime, I’m thankful to say there’s no need to worry. The animation quality lives up to modern standards with the vibrant and colorful character designs. They’re faithful to the manga on most parts with updated quality compared to the 2003 version. The setting itself presents a youthful field of decorated visuals full of life. And of course, the ladies will be in for a treat with the guys getting the bishounen makeover.

The fact that I’m even talking about Fruits Basket in 2019 is amazing by itself. Not too many franchises gets the golden treatment of having a complete remakes these days especially for the anime medium. Fruits Basket is a great example of a show that deserves this continuation for the 2003 version didn’t truly live up to its expectations. Here, we have the beginning of a beautiful journey and a reminder of why certain franchises deserves to be revived.

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I enjoyed the original Fruit Basket anime.

I know that's an unpopular opinion as the author and manga readers despised the original anime for dropping the ball in terms of adapting the manga but I thought it was a pretty good show, despite its flaws.

When Fruits Basket 2019 was announced around late 2018 I was very excited as I finally got to experience this tragic tale in complete form.
I went into Fruits Basket 2019 with very high exceptions as I expected the series to deliver it's promises and fortunately the series managed to meet and surpass my high exceptions as Fruits Basket 2019 is only the best anime I have ever encountered but it's easily the best Shoujo anime I have seen from this decade.

Watching Fruits Basket 2019 story unfold was like picking up light hearted fairy tale book only to find out that the fairy tale book that picked has a lot of dark and mystery elements in it. That's Fruits Basket 2019 plot in the nutshell. It's a dark and intriguing story that was disguised as a fluffy and light-hearted story.

One of the things you begin to notice while watching the first couple of episodes was how it simply got straight to the point. The series wastes no time establishing its characters, themes and mystery elements to the viewer. It felt like a proper introduction and the way the show did was astounding.

Naturally this is an anime remake and the whole point of an anime remake is not only to fix the flaws were presented in the original adaptation for that particularly series but to also tell the present the classic story again to newer anime fans. This is Fruits Basket 2019 second biggest strength.

You can clearly tell that the Fruits Basket 2019 director Yoshihide Ibata had passion, respect and ambition towards this remake as he made sure it was accurate to the manga from story elements, themes and characterisation and it shows especially in the second half where the original anime went out of bounds.

Before we talk about Fruits Basket 2019 biggest strength I want to talk about the other aspects that it does well-staring with the well handed tonal shifts. One of my biggest issues I have with modern anime is how they struggle to have a consistent tone and many anime that shall be nameless end up being bad.

Thankfully Fruits Basket 2019 doesn't suffer from this as it knows how to use its tonal shifts and it never feels out of place due to the show understanding pacing.
Speaking of pacing that's an another aspect that Fruits Basket well.
The plot moves at the smooth and consistent pace that never bores the viewers. The smooth pacing also gives characters as its mystery and plot elements enough time to shine. Which leads me to Fruits Basket biggest strength theme exploration.

The series explores the themes of child abuse, family, bullying, memories, pain, love, accepting your true self, guilt child abandonment and discrimination. I loved how the series was able to execute and present its theme to the viewer without feeling forced or hamfisted thanks to great writing and direction. This was in retrospect absent in the original anime.

Obviously a well-written story like this is nothing without strong and likeable characters and fortunately the characters are just as great as the well written plot.
Thoru is one of the best Shoujo protagonists I've ever encountered in a long while. I know you guys are thinking right now. But you called her a great character already in your original Fruits Basket review.

It is true that I called Thoru a great character in my review for the original anime however the reason why she was not one of my favourite Shoujo leads period is that she a bit of a Mary Sue. 2019 Thoru is not a Mary Sue whatsoever she a caring but mentally damaged person.

Throughout the series we see trying her best to break the Shoma family curse by getting to know the Souma family as well not losing her cool in life due to her tragic past that damaged her mentally as a person. She also a nicely developed character as she changes through the plot with each new Shoma counter.

In the original anime Momiji was my character in series however in the remake Kyo is my favourite character. I just low how aggressive and caring he is when interacting with other characters. Kyo is also a well-developed character as he goes from an angry individual who hates everyone especially to a friendlier person who is able to his peers. Kyou strong characterisation is only better with his sad and well-written backstory.

Yuki is an another character that I really liked. I loved he's clam, charming and mysterious personality when he talks to other characters in the series. He also develops through the anime as he goes from an isolated individual who has a hard time communicating to his peers due the Shoma family curse in him to a more spoken individual who is able express his feelings towards others.

The supporting characters are just good and well-written as the main characters.

In the original series Saki and Arisa were mostly comedic relief characters that only embraced the comedy nature of the original series.
They were hardly relevant in the original plot minus a few key scenes notably episode 25. The remake turns Arisa and especially Saki into more serious and relevant characters and it was honestly for the better.

Seeing them properly characterised in this remake put a smile on my face as my wish for the now defunct season 2 of the original anime was granted. They finally became more than just tools of the plot as both Arisa and Saki as just as interesting as the Shoma family.

This is not to say Saki and Arisa aren't funny characters at all they still retain they gags and personality quirks that never fail to make the laugh their asses off.

The other Shoma members are also great. Every Shoma member is unique in terms of personality and seeing them interact with Thoru and the other Shoma members was fascinating due to Fruits Basket 2019 outstanding character chemistry.

The series also manages fantastically characterise every Shoma member to a point where you can sympathise with them including the some of the more loud and bizarre members like Kagura and Hrio.

If there was one word to describe Fruits Basket 2019 it would be gorgeous. Studio TMS did an outstanding job at bring the show to life with the smooth and sharp character designs that were only the enhances by the smooth bright and vibrant colour palette.
The background scenery is bright, well-detailed, and the lighting is spot on. As for actual animation it's pretty good. Character movement is smooth and there's hardly any still frames used.
The series may not be visually stylish as Demon Slayer and March Comes in Like a Lion but it makes up by great direction and shot competition especially towards the final 4 episodes.

Fruits Basket 2019 soundtrack is for the most part very good. The soundtrack features an upbeat, cheerful and melancholic score that perfectly the tone of the anime.

The first opening theme Again by Beverly is a beautifully composed song that perfectly captures the tone of the series.The second opening theme Chime" by Ai Otsuka is an upbeat and sparkling song that captures the more light-hearted elements in the series.
The first ending theme Lucky Ending by Vickeblanka is one of my favourite ending themes of all time due it's calming and beautiful bass. Fun fact the singer who did the ending theme for this also did the famous kickass third opening theme for Black Clover Black Rover.
The second ending One Step Closer by INTERSECTION may not be as great as Lucky Ending but it's still a pretty solid song.

The voice acting is strong in both languages but if I had to pick between the original Japanese audio and the Funimation English Dub I would easily pick the Funimation Dub. Not only the dub was very well-acted, but the audio quality was top notch. Returning voice actors Laura Bailey, Jerry ewell and Eric Vale absolutely blew the Seiyuus counterparts away.

The new voice cast for certain characters is also very good. My favourite newcomer for the dub is Mikaela Krantz who did a great job of portraying the bubbly Monoji especially with that German accent.
Overall its personal preference but I suggests giving the English Dub a shot.

Watching Fruits Basket 2019 reminded me why I love this medium. It is a fantastically written and charming series that screams passion and love.

Compared to FMAB and Hunter x Hunter 2011 where you have the opinion to check the original adaptations for more detailed versions of earlier arcs there's little to no reason to watch the original anime as this remake from head to toe did everything better.

Sure the original series may have nostalgia factor but nostalgia is only as good as it's overall quality and that where Fruits Basket 2001 unfortunately falls flat on that regard.

Fruits Basket 2019 is not only great it's the type of great that makes you laugh, smile, cry and happy.

Studio TMS and Yoshihide Ibata thank you for bringing this classic story to the modern day.

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“Grief is normal, but not eternal.” — Krunchyman

Life cares not for our emotions, as tragedy strikes without a moments notice. Due to our finite existence, we are bound to lose someone special. But we mustn’t allow ourselves to become trapped by emotions. Life moves forward, and so must we. Despite the uncertainty in her volatile life, Tooru Honda remains optimistic in the face of despair. Her daily struggles are physically and mentally taxing, yet she persists. Pressing forward with determination of mind and body. Turning an unfortunate circumstance into a springboard to cultivate a new life for herself.

A joyous life. An endearing life. And a life full of laughter.

‘Slice of life’ has always been a misnomer in the anime industry. In the strictest sense of the definition, it involves the depiction of mundane experiences to capture the essence of ‘real life.’ Anime/manga, however, rely on melodramatic — exaggerated — scenes to elicit a desired reaction. This becomes evident in “Fruits Basket (2019)” when Kyou challenges Yuki to a martial arts match on the fly, resulting in a humorously quick victory for Yuki. Or when the piggish Kagura displays her love for Kyou by twirling him at such a speed to self-propel herself like a helicopter.

This, however, brings up an interesting question: how did Kagura attain upward thrust without a tail rotor? Clearly, Issac Newtown’s third law of motion states, “to every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.” Without an anti-torque system to oppose the torque reaction, upward thrust would not be generated.

But despite this aerodynamic contradiction and genre misclassification, “Fruits Basket (2019)” is a hilarious show with plenty of heartwarming moments. The success relies on its fleshed out characters. Now, to be honest, they are rather tropey. But unlike the majority of anime that hinge their entire plot on character tropes, “Fruits Basket (2019)” slowly unravels the tapestry that is our main characters to provide a rich experience.

In contrast to Tohru’s naive, awkward personality, she excels at giving advice to others. Several episodes display reminiscent visions of Tohru’s mother, Kyoko Honda, as she imparts wisdoms in her daughter. Tohru’s passing of knowledge to her friends shows her caring nature and her willingness to tacitly accept her mother’s passing. Remember. Although she exhibits positivity, Tohru is attempting to live for herself despite her unselfish personality.

Yuki, “The Prince,” is a reserved individual that feels isolated from the other adolescents his age. While his good looks garner a lot of positive attention, he feels incapable of ‘opening’ up to others; hence, why he envies Kyou for his ease of developing friendships. Kyou, on the other hand, sees his disposition as unfavorable, due to his estrangement from the Sohma family.

And this is the appeal of “Fruits Basket.”

Underneath its silliness, there are real problems that need to be confronted. Each member of the zodiac is shown to be ‘broken’ in some sense. Hindering their ability to express their true self to the world. And “Fruits Basket” does an excellent job of piercing through their barriers to talk to us on a personal level. Chances are, you’ll discover a character of the zodiac that you feel akin to, and you may learn something from their struggles. It can be heart-wrenching to watch, yet so beautiful. Combine this with the improved animation and wonderful OST, and you’re in for a real treat.

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[Spoiler Warning]

This review is coming from someone who read and watched the original run manga and anime.

When I was first introduced to Fruits Basket, it was supposed to be a cutesy, slice of life series with what I thought were realistic themes. Almost 2 decades later, and me having much more experience in the world, I've found that that's not the case. Far from it.

Now that I know the producers are taking the exact same themes from the manga, that makes everything to come so much worse. The author introduced many sexist themes—from matriarchy being a bad thing, to women with mental illnesses being irrational and/or violent—this is a recurring theme with almost every Sohma female character. Matriarchy was written like it’s a bad thing—a sexist ideology because it assumes women are incapable of being the head of anything/anyone.

There are unrealistic gender expectations (ex: boys must be hyperaggressive, girls must be selfless homemakers). Kyo and Yuki are violent in their own ways—they manhandle Tohru, they forcefully touch her whenever they feel like it, and they express their emotions aggressively or straight up yell at her altogether. Men yelling at and touching women should not be normalized. Tohru is constantly sacrificing her autonomy for this fuck of a family. She always throws herself in physical danger for the Sohmas, her comfort is always dead last on her list of priorities, and she goes on A LOT of monologues about how she smiles through the pain—she is literally a walking TedTalk for the entire Sohma family. It’s not good to teach girls to be a mother figure to everyone—it’s overdone and it’s exhausting.

In the first episode, it’s established that the family curse consists of members being unable to hold someone of the “opposite” sex so straight sex with people outside of the bloodline without revealing themselves is not possible. Hence, the multiple incest (shudders). All of the themes I’ve mentioned are really dated and doesn’t make for good writing. It’s been so long since I’ve seen an anime that pumps out these archaic ideologies. I thought we had moved past this, but I guess not. The fact that I know the horrifying things coming doesn’t help; I have an expansive list which you can see a link to on my profile (major spoilers). The only positive thing that came from this Furuba reboot are the cast and animators. They did a wonderful job. I will praise them and nothing else.

I don't know why I expected better from a 2019 remake as opposed to the original manga and anime runs. I don't mind these themes being explored but, if you're going to write them, you need to write them with nuance and respect for the subject matter. I really hoped this would improve on the basic idea without all of the convoluted ideologies and violence. It would have been a great series otherwise. It’s the exact same thing as the manga—they took everything verbatim. If any anime should get a reboot or continuation, I have many suggestions. For starters: Chihayafuru, Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun, and Cowboy Bebop. Fruits Basket should have remained buried, along with its outdated themes.

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Disclaimer : I didn’t watch the first fruits basket anime and neither did I read the manga. So this review will be purely on Fruits Basket (2019). Second review ever and French reviewer, sorry if bad english, gambarimasu.

I’ll go through each point that made me love this anime that didn’t please me as much in the beginning. Firstly, let me tell you that this anime is perfect for shoujo lovers, BUT I’ll try throughout my review to interest the people who skip this only because it’s categorized as a shoujo.


Fruits basket is a simple shoujo story as we could have seen at first sight. Our main girl, Tohru Honda helps certain people affected by a curse that makes them transform temporarily into a cute animal of the zodiac when they hug someone of the opposite sex. What is the big deal you would say?

Yeah doesn’t mean much as a problem for me also when I started this anime. The beginning is what you expect from a typical shoujo show. A cute and simple girl flirting with handsome males that makes jealous others random female students at school. And she starts to live with them from the very first episode! In the first episodes, you could find that all is going well without any strong pressure and you will probably think: “Ah, another shoujo/slice of life anime without interest”.

You could’ve never been so wrong.

As the anime and the story advances, you will discover a very dark and mysterious story behind all the characters, and it doesn’t limit at the mains ones! That’s one of the strongest point of Fruits Basket (2019), the characters are really well written. Theirs backstory are roughs, deeps, unpleasant, frightening but also sometimes happy and they made them as they are today. All their interactions with the other members of the cast are coherent and really well thought taking into account their own experiences, traumas, etc… even if the spectator doesn’t know them yet.

From a certain point in the anime, the mysteries about the past lives of some characters start to be revealed. And it’s done in a magnificent way. Trust me when I say you will need more tissues than you usual jerking week routine. More seriously, the way this anime conveys the feeling is incredible and is on par with Violet Evergarden as an example. Those few episodes really hit the spectator because for some characters, all the pressure built during the anime releases suddenly as a flow of beautiful flashbacks, hidden memories and sickening past situations that explain a lot about how they are behaving today. Even for the characters that were not hinted to have a dark past, we do get some breathtaking moments that will stay on your mind for a while after.

I also must highlight that Tohru is one of the strongest characters I’ve seen in this genre of anime. Being able to put on the truest smile you’ve seen and being constantly a flurry ball of cheerfulness for everybody she met while staying reasonably true is something truly admirable if we consider what she has been through.

Enough about the characters, the music/sound in Fruits Baskets (2019) serves perfectly its role. Accentuating the emotional moments when it should and give a relaxing tone when the story goes on. And God I love the endings, they did a really good job, the songs are very emotional and remind us at the end of every episode the feels that went through during the last 24-min (If you saw episode 24, you know how powerful it can be haha). Moreover, they are meaningful both in their lyrics and in their visual.
F-yeah we could do a complete review on the second opening about how Tohru is giving hope and peace for all the characters as we see the cast bring down their umbrellas one by one while the rain stops and the luminous sunrays lightens up their faces.

For a remake, the animation of Fruits Basket (2019) is so worth it. Not much to say about it, it’s just beautiful. The sceneries are great, the movements are fluid and the expressions on the characters faces really feel authentic and is giving a lot to the spectator.


Overall Fruits Basket (2019) is close to a masterpiece of its genre. A story of love, friendship but mainly a story about life itself. The hard times that we all had once at least can be found and reflected in this anime. Thus, the spectator can easily relate to the various tragic event and it’s so well done that even if he didn’t encounter them in his life, they will still get through him. As Tohru brings peace and joy to the people she loves, Fruits Basket (2019) brings us tears of understanding and a very strong feeling of compassion that makes us want to take into our arms every single character of the show (and it’s not because we only want to pet them after!).

If you loves shoujo or you seek anime like Violet Evergarden with strong emotional moments with beautiful music and smooth animations, you should 100% go for it RIGHT NOW.

And if you are not particularly interested by shoujo nor slice of life anime, why not give it a try? You might be surprised by how moving an anime about simple things in life can be!


~ Walpurgies

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This anime is so heartwarming and so darn cute! The art is outstanding, the music is good, everything is so colourful and it brings me so much joy!
I am very intrigued by all the zodiacs. Seeing how cute they are when they transform into animals, I would hug them all day long. This teenage rom-com is everything I could ask for. Tohru is a precious cinnamon roll who must be protected. I love Yuki, he is definitely my type. I ship them.
Kyo is cool and I love cats, but in this case, I prefer Yuki because I love grey haired anime boys who are sweet. The male tsundere might seem cool and new at first glance, but I grew tired of it. I mean, Kyo is ok, but his personality is sometimes irritating for me personally.

In conclusion, a great story to enjoy when you want something cute and heartwarming.

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Sixteen episodes in, I have finally reached the point which urges me to write a review to this series. Being not familiar with both the manga and the original run, I decided to pick it up due to omnipresent excitement and love towards the title. Needless to say, I was disappointed to the boot.

Story: 3/10

I really wanted to like the story, I swear. The concept itself is not THAT bad, but really - it's too cheesy, even for a shoujo series. Later on, the author tries to add a darker twist to the plotline, which by itself wouldn't be such a bad idea if it wasn't done poorly. There are so many plot holes I just want to be filled and this anime fails to answer all of them, leaving the viewer with even more questions. The storyline just keeps flowing, events happening, and the cast goes along with it like no big deal - they're barely engaged in their own lives for some reason. The worst part- it feels like everything reloves around the main character, Tohru, as if she were the singularity of the world they live in. And that wouldn't be so bad either (since she's the mc after all) if she weren't the most boring person in the world - which leads me to my next point-


Characters: 2/10

Bad. Extremely bad. One-dimensional, boring, with one personality trait. Tohru Honda is a prime example of that. You can't just justify the characters entire personality by saying her mom died and now she's smiling through pain to make everyone happy. No normal 15-year old acts like that, and I refuse to believe there isn't some savior complex going on there, because holy crap - she lets everyone treat her like a doormat just to trigger a monologue scene where the animation is suddenly 10 times better and the other party starts praising her kindness and input in their life. Her entire personality revolves around being cute, polite, an overall ditz, and of course - her mom being dead, so why not please everyone around her just for the sake of forced emotional crap? If it wasn't enough, she also cries all the time and for everyone, which makes the series annoying to watch. And that's just the mc - her male love interests are equally as bad. One is the prince, the other the angry tsundere, and they both suffer from traumas we know nothing about. They manhandle her, scream, treat her like a housemaid (i bet she pays the rent too), and of course, both fall in love with her because she cured their trauma and saved them from the heavy emotional baggage just being the vegetable she is. Of course, let's add the perverted older man to the mix (who is surprisingly one of the more decent characters), a parody of a person suffering from a bipolar disorder (you know, he has two sides, pure and horny), and a villain whose motives are known to very few, because so far, they only were shown hurting people without any reason. Despite that, I'd like to praise Tohru's friends, because Uotani is a damn nice character. Can't say much about the other one yet, but she seems decent too. Sadly a few characters can't carry the entire series on their shoulders, so this anime fails miserably at story-telling and keeping the viewer engaged. It becomes more apparent in later episodes, though.


Art: 6/10

The arts pretty nice, you can see that the animators are doing a great job at their work. However, the quality isn't consistent (all the budget goes to the monologue scenes, probably) and something about the way Tohru is drawn just ticks me off. She just looks too cutesy, even for the animes own art style, and her eyes are for some reason twice as big as others?


Sound: 5/10

The openings and endings are pretty nice, especially the second ones, and they're the entirety of my rating. Why? Because the sound in the actual anime is dreadful, especially the sound effects accompanying comedy scenes. Other people have already written about this issue, so I won't paraphrase their words. It's just really damn bad.


Enjoyment: 3/10

Sometimes I am physically not able to watch this series. It fails to keep me engaged, I get annoyed at most characters and the slow-paced story-telling keeps getting on my nerves. Despite that, I still want to know what exactly is going on in the Souma household and how the story will resolve, so to a certain extent, the story has to be interesting. After all, it's widely known all around the world. If you want something to just watch with your brain turned-off - sure, go on, maybe in that state, you might find the cross-dressing gags about Yuki, which occur every other episode, funny. But do I recommend it? Definitely not.


OVERALL: 3/10

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Perhaps the difficulty of understanding yourself is equal to the amount you feel alive when doing so. Fruits Basket understands this. Character driven and dramatically told, it is able to embed its most important themes inside of the story and characters.

What starts as a girl finding out a secret quickly becomes understanding the reality they shoulder.

The Souma zodiac secret, transferring into one of the zodiac members when hugged by the opposite sex, is a means to tell a story. Of course Honda Tohru wouldn’t have forged a relationship with them without discovering it, but more importantly it contains single-handedly the most important theme the show pertains—People are born with burdens. Each and every Souma carries some form of ache. But surprisingly enough, their issues are not foregin to what are real problems that real people have to overcome. Having no place to belong, holding resentment towards others because of one's own uncontrolled circumstances, parental issues, losing loved ones, not being able to get along with others. Each of these complications get conceptually visualized through very unreal means, but at their core are not unreal problems. It is this balance between a larger than life setting, but with a core focus on reality, that gives the show its charm.

Fruits Basket is about many things, however, and probably just as important as having burdens is about how to live and move on from them. This is mostly presented through a character, Honda Tohru. To the Soumas, she is exactly what they needed. Inspired by her late mother, Tohru is driven to be compassionate with a way of words. She learns to understand all of them because she understood her wonderful mother. She's kind, caring, and always seems to know what to say to them. She can inspire them with her words or actions, and manage to crack all of their shells to become friendly with all of them. Is she too perfect to be believable? Well, that is sort of her point, because she is in fact vulnerable and flawed, it just isn’t necessarily clear. Her “perfection” in a way feels its adding another layer to the show. Honda Tohru is extremely romanticized as a person, but that doesn’t mean she has no core issues. We learn she is naive, absent-minded, and often forgetful. But the show doesn’t necessarily present these flaws as a means to simply make her cuter. They are real with real consequences. She wants to believe the best in everybody, she wants the moments she loves to last forever, out of fear of not having a place to belong, again. This is only to a fault, because eventually—like everybody else, she will have to face reality. This is best displayed when she is called back to live with her Grandfather. But more important than any one issue the the show gives her is how she views herself. Even though most of the characters in the show (and probably most viewers) can admit she is doing all the right things, she doesn’t necessarily think she is living up to those expectations herself. This excerpt was one of my favorite moments of the show, an analogy Tohru uses to cheer up Kyo:

“If a person is a rice ball and what’s great about the person is a pickled plum, than maybe your plum is on your back! Maybe everyone is the world has plums on their backs, of all different shapes, colors, and sizes. But since they can’t see their backs, they can’t see the plums they have. They think they don’t have anything—that they’re just plain rice. Even though that is not true at all—even though they really do have a plum there. Maybe the reason we get jealous of others, is because other people’s backs are easy to see.”

It’s almost like this was written to describe how Tohru is projected to others. It's an important lesson, however, that we all have doubts about ourselves, no matter how perfect we may come off to others. This is how dynamics between characters in the show are formed. Through both understandings and misunderstandings about one another. Characters hiding things about them, or not being totally honest to themselves or others. It is surprisingly realistic.

The original Fruits Basket TV anime aired 18 years ago, so this rendition surges greatly in its animation/art/sound quality(though not necessarily the music pieces themselves can be compared, however). I can imagine, however, that there will be some loyal towards the original (just like some people are more loyal towards the original FMA and not Brotherhood) If you are looking to watch the series modern day and haven’t watched either, it is hard to not recommend the 2019 version. It is important to mention that just like the original Furuba, the way its assed will likely be polarized. Of course, like most drama anime, this series isn’t free from melodrama, or black/white conflicts every now and again. Not every character is well put together, and not every episode contains something special. But what I found always consistent about the show is how it remained faithful to its wonderful themes.

Fruits Basket is an impressively layered show. It manages to be both character driven and contain a relevant plot, all while never losing focus on its core themes. The characters, while possessing supernatural phenomena and having issues arise in a rather unusual way, contain familiar troubles that are very real. It's in that way the show tries to tell you no matter how distant a person feels from you—we all have to carry the burdens we get for simply existing.

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"Do people exist to be punished?" - Episode 22.

Should you watch this if you've seen the 2001 version? Narratively it ends off in the same spot as the 2001 version. The episodes mirror each other, so there's not much new in terms of content. This version offered phenomenal episodes for Uo-chan-episodes 16 and 17 and Hana-chan-episode 22 that the 2001 didn't include. They mirrored so exactly until episode 6.

This is the remake of the original anime that came out in 2001. Due to creative differences, the mangaka requested a literal page for page remake of her beloved creation. Sometimes slight changes work better for the medium versus sticking exactly to the book. Think of this like another Sailor Moon Crystal. Yes the backgrounds are more detailed and things move more, but you lose the tight framing and really good directing from the original. The series suffers from awkward frames and some bad animation: i.e. when Tohru is walking back from work, her back is awkwardly animated that it just looks bad.

The differences are the 2001 version established the members of the Sohma family with more personality. The last two episodes of the finale are phenomenal. It established Kyou's relationship with Shishou with so much nuance and finesse. I personally prefer how Yuki and Tohru were involved, instead of Tohru just being by herself. I prefer Akito much more in this version. Akito is barely seen and feels menacing and scary thanks to the VA. I can see why the Sohmas are afraid of her.

I ended up watching episodes where it offered additional or different content from the 2001 version. The 2019 version offered more of a presence to Uo-chan, Hana-chan, and Kyoko-san, but lost the personalities of the other Sohma characters, like Hatsuharu in particular.

It did handle the Valentine's Day episode better in that there was Kyou character development in that episode. I enjoyed Hana-chan's role in the New Years Episode. I did enjoy the sleepover episode (6). It did fine on the Momiji episode/Tohru's mom's funeral and hinted that Kyou knew her mom near the end. Where it shined was establishing the backstories to Uo-chan and Hana-chan and you understand why and how they became Tohru's best friends. That's where the praise comes from. Then there's the hat that will be brought back again and again in season 2 and 3.

The finale was devoid of the emotional resonance from the 2001's finale. I was bored at episode 25.

The reboot's art direction resembles that of a dating sim. I'm referring to those awkward shots of two characters in a frame against a gray background/backdrop. What you sacrifice is the nuanced color palette for a more saturated Sailor Moon Crystal/dating sim like color palette. You lose the magical charm Ritsuko Okazaki's music had on setting the original tone from the original anime. In fact, there's barely a memorable track. The first episode alone didn't have any music. This new rendition is devoid of music most of the time.

I recommend the original for establishing the Sohma family plot and the 2019 for Uo-chan and Hana-chan, those episodes were phenomenal.

The soundtrack, including Ritsuko Okazaki's music, really sets the tone for a calming slice of life/rom-com: for example, the reoccurring theme titled "Memory for You." You would think the remake would give nods to Ritsuko Okazaki, but it doesn't. It tries to erase traces of its predecessor but you still see stylistic moments that borrow from the original, like in the framing of the opening scene. The themes songs pale from "For Fruits Basket" or even "Serenade".

Really, compare the emotional weight and impact of the original episode 8 to the reboot's episode 7 of Hatori. The soundtrack of the original is a character in it of itself for the way it sets the tone and the mood. I watched both. Due to the awkward directing, I'm not emotionally invested or impacted by the reboot's take at all. This is one of the saddest moments from Fruits Basket and yet the impact is completely lost by awkward framing and awkward arrangement of dialogue/scenes: there is just too much clunky dialogue that would work better in manga/book format than on screen. Those shots of two characters framed in a gray backdrop cheapens the experience.

It wasn't bad. I couldn't get through all the episodes when they were literally the same as much of the 2001 version. It lacked the emotional resonance of the final 2 episodes. It did have a few good episodes.

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*Minimum Spoiler Review*
TL;DR: Nostalgic Fans will gush over it. New Viewers will just glance upon it. Fruits Basket: "Brotherhood" isn't that bad. If you usually binge shitty slice of life/shojou crap, you can cleanse your palette with this.
[Story: 5/10 , Characters: 5/10, Art: 8/10, Sound: 8/10, Enjoyment: 6/10]

Before I start this review, I want to preface this with saying, this will be my first time watching Fruits Basket. I have not read the manga nor have I watched the original. However, I have done ample background research to know & differentiate the changes and improvement for this new adaption.

“A conscience grows, just like the body. It’s bred within your heart. That’s why the shape of people’s kindness is so different.” – Tohru Honda

Fruits Basket S1 (2019) aka Fruits Basket: Brotherhood (/s) was one of the most anticipated anime of this year since it is a readaptation of Fruit Basket that aired 18 years ago. There was so much hype surrounding this new adaptation, that it made me wonder, what was wrong with the old one that it so badly deserved a new adaptation. From my research and understanding, it was the Mangaka, Takaya Natsuki, who specifically requested that this adaptation be done anew; new studio, new anime staff, new voice actors, new everything. Nothing from the previous anime would be brought back. Which begs the question, the old one was beloved by so many fans & rated pretty highly on MAL, why did it need to be readapted? Turns out, beside the toxic relationship she had with the previous studio, she just felt her manga wasn't adapted properly and the characters were not given its due diligence. So 18 years later, TMS studio brings back the shojou classic, Fruits Basket, where they will fully adapt the entire manga over 60+ episodes and not just the first major arc & leave the readers to read the manga like the previous one. Now that we know why it was revived, let's see from the perspective of a first time Fruits Basket anime watcher, putting nostalgia aside, whether this shojou classic will be a hit or a miss in today's anime culture.

“It would be so great if it was possible to go through life without making a single mistake.” – Yuki Souma

Fruits Basket at first glance is a very laid back slice of life style shojou series about a homeless orphan girl named Tohru Honda, who gets taken in by the Souma Family. They have a dark secret that they are people of the Chinese Zodiac and if a human hugs them, they transform into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Somehow they just coexist, procreate and live a dysfunctional abnormal life riddled with emotional & love conflicts. However, enter Tohru, this saint of a girl, who grew up hearing stories of the Chinese Zodiac from her now deceased Mother, as she will transform the people's lives around her. The story is very linear however it's riddled with flashbacks of the characters' childhood traumas. Every episode or two, the story focuses on her changing the viewpoint of the people around her as they learn to grow and love the person they are. There is romance, there is drama, there are tears and there is comedy. In the beginning it seems funny since we start to get introduced to different zodiac animals and their unique quirks & upbringing traumas. However in the middle it sort of drags on since it becomes very repetitive but near the end you realize this whole season is just the first arc where they establish the major characters' flaws and growth so they can move onto to next arc. So from a first time viewer's perspective, it's not that great of a story but for nostalgic fans, it's a great treat as they get to revisit their old fav show in new limelight.

“For there to be pain, there has to be kindness. For darkness to stand out, there has to be the sun.” – Kyouko Honda

When you have a series like Fruits Basket that has a multitude of characters, you have to accept that these characters will be nothing more than two dimensional caricature of various character tropes. The main character is Tohru, who is an ubiquitous over the top super innocent saint that only just have love and tears for everyone around her. The major side characters are Kyou Souma (Cat), Yuki Souma (Rat) & Kazuma Souma (Dog). Besides them, you have her polar opposite friends Uo-Chan and Saki-Chan. Each of the character she meets as the show progresses represent different facets of emotional vulnerability that she overcame to become this saint that she is now. So to help them overcome their fears & struggles, she pours her heart out and tears to make them learn to love and accept who they are and carve the future they want for themselves. What's odd is that no characters really stick out to me, despite each of the zodiac characters having their unique character designs, personalities, quirks & traumas. If I have to dig deep, the major complex character is probably Tohru's mother Kyouko Honda, who learned many life lessons from being a troublemaker gangster to a doting calm mother. It's hard to really relate oneself to the main character because she is too perfect for a common human. She's like this Gandhi like figure in this anime and even then you can't even compare her to Gandhi because let's be real, even Gandhi wasn't a saint. As for the zodiac characters and other side characters, they are somewhat relatable but due to them being very two dimensional and rudimentary trope characters, there's not much substance that lies with them.

“Just as no matter how hard you try to keep it away, despair will attack you again and again. In the same manner, hope will return to you. Again and again.” – Kazuma Souma

Now that we know what type of story and characters that makes up Fruit Basket, let's focus on few technicalities of the show that makes this the better anime to watch. From an animation standpoint, TMS Studio, blew it out of the park with their animations. If you compare this with the 2001 (and you should not because technology) it is a vast improvement and the colour palette as approved by the Mangaka, just shows how rich this anime can be. It's vibrant, it's moving, it's emotional and it's constantly breathing. The frames are animated well and the colour seamlessly switches from bold to cool to give the viewers an eyegasmic relaxing treat. Beside the animation, the OST is very soothing. The OP songs are sung very well and the ED songs are nice as well. It's a slice of life style shojou anime and the music composition fits the bill. Great job by the studio. Moreover, the seiyuus did a phenomenal job evoking emotions and excitement with the material they are given. They made the show better than this show can really be. Without these technicalities, this new adaptation, really wouldn't be worthwhile. It just goes to show, how heavily this series dependent upon such.

“If you love someone, they could make you sad. They could even make you feel lonely sometimes. But, that someone can also make you happier than you’ll ever be.” – Kyo Souma

Overall, looking at it holistically, Fruits Basket at its core is about exploring the many universal facets of love; from familial, parental, platonic, romantic, self-sacrificing to even toxic or destructive. Moreover, it looks at the importance and struggle of empathy, forgiveness, personal growth and ultimately self-acceptance. I can see why back in 2001, people really enjoyed a show & manga as such. It is a pivotal show for teenagers learning the world around them and maturing to become a functioning adult with emotional understanding. However, looking at it objectively, this show is very simple with a story that is still scratching the complexity of the human condition. It's neither archetypal of a hero's journey nor is it a show that will transcend the modern shojou or slice of life culture. I can see why nostalgic fans love and revere this show, however, as a first time watcher, I just found it a fine feel good anime. Maybe because I'm not an avid slice of life/shojou anime watcher or maybe because I've passed my teenage emotional rollercoaster years that I'm unable to identify with these characters. Regardless, viewers whether new or nostalgic, should give this show a casual watch and be on the lookout for its sequel; for I'm curious, with how this season has ended, what will be in store for the next. Anyways, thank you for reading this review & feel free to share with me your favourite quote from the anime. Ciao.

P.S. Thank you for reading. I hope you found this short and supaishi review helpful!

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The calm and quiet Honda Tour is a much more resistant and resourceful person than its fragile appearance would indicate. After the death of her mother, who died several months earlier in a car accident, Touru lives with her grandfather, goes to school and works, earning her living. However, the grandfather's house needs renovation, and he moves to his family at the time. Touru promises him that he will move to one of his girlfriends, but not wanting to disturb them, he decides that he may well live in a tent set up in the forest ... And this story begins here.

One day Touru goes to a property in the forest. He meets there a handsome young writer, Shigure Souma, with whom he gets into a conversation, but in a moment he is awaited with a real surprise ... Here is a writer who is adored by almost all the girls in the school "prince" from her class, Yuki! He turns out to be a rather shy and very nice young man. Soon, as a result of a series of events (or necessarily unfortunate?), Touru loses his temporary shelter and agrees to live in the Soumi house. He also gets to know their secret: here is a curse on the family that reaches some of its representatives. Under the influence of strong emotions, and (worse) hugged by the opposite sex, they turn into one of the animals of the Chinese zodiac. Do you need to add that both Shigure and Yuki, as well as the soon-appearing ruthless and rebellious Kyou, suffer from this curse?

We are dealing here with a specific reversal of the situation known from the so-called Harem comedy - here one girl lives among handsome (and more or less interested) men. The series, however, contrary to appearances, is not a romance and in principle does not determine which of the gentlemen (and in time also appear more representatives of the Chinese zodiac) will ultimately win the heart of Tour. Besides, is that what it's all about? Living in rigid rules imposed by the family, forced to hide the curse on them from all over the world, they are quite helpless in the face of heat and acceptance shown to them by Tout.

The series, to tell the truth, feeds on the lowest feelings that do not affect any woman, regardless of age: the desire to take care of and mothering a guy who desperately needs her warmth ... The more so if the guy is an extremely handsome bishounen. But one must honestly admit: if it feeds, it does it in a perfect way. The best proof is that during watching I felt rather warm in the heart area than irritation (and the latter feeling is much closer to me in such situations). Characters are full of unforced grace, interesting and nice - including the main character. Even if at times she is irritated by excessive idealism and naivety, it is easy to put down a young age. Anyway, you can also see that this type of attitude is sometimes the only right ...

The series "sells" one important truth in all: that tolerance belongs to everyone and no one is allowed to judge after appearances. Of course, it is a cliché, as are numerous parables illustrating this topic (including the story about the title "fruit basket", or the game in which children play). But it is a cliché which is sometimes worth remembering. Even if someone could be maliciously noticed that it is quite easy to be forgiving and tolerant towards intelligent and handsome men, whose only disadvantage is that sometimes they turn into cute animals ...

The plot does not really exist. We watch a series of episodes from the life of Touru and its hosts, more or less dramatic (usually less), with one dramatic (but really nothing explanatory or unchanging) culmination in the finale. On the one hand, such a formula works quite well - after all, the thing "draws", inducing you to reach for the next episodes. On the other hand, however, lies the greatest weakness of this anime. It is an adaptation of only a part of a long manga and therefore it does not contain an ending, an explanation of what a Souma curse really is and what else can be done with it. As a result, one gets the impression that the curse (about which we do not learn anything concrete - even where it came from) was invented only so that some bishounen could make a tragic face and bend over their fate.

The music is very successful and delicate, you can even say - warm, emphasizing the atmosphere of the anime. The pastel colors are similarly warm. The characters are drawn in a very "beautiful" way, large-scale up to exaggeration - they can make the impression of being sweetened. They are a bit off-animal - inherited from the manga - their animal characters, resembling rather plush toys, than any specific creatures.

To sum up - the series enjoys unflagging popularity for a reason, but I suppose it is more "women's" and addressed to the women's audience. This does not mean, of course, that no representative of the ugly sex will be able to appreciate her grace. My good advice - it's worth a try, an ideal thing to improve your mood and should work even on people who usually bother with "warm romantic comedies".

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[SPOILERS]

To be honest I didn't that I would be writing this review. After episode one, I was thrilled for next week's episode to come. Episode one of the series is almost word for word of the original, which was what made me hopeful for this new series. Then episode two came and it was fair, but it didn't quite live up to the expectations of the previous episode. Then it kept getting worse. Much worse.
{ART}
Now let's get out the art and animation out of the way. It's pretty, but that's about it. It doesn't add anything or even begin salvage how bad this reboot is. I cannot excuse some pretty frames for an awful execution. Most of the time the art is only pretty when it wants to be, there are countless frames that look ugly and sometimes downright scary. That's mostly a problem in far away shots. Not to mention this new art doesn't fit very well with the show's comedic moments, well when there is any, and I'll get into that.
{SOUND}
I don't really have a lot to say about the sound, other than I don't like it. the music is nothing special, and the ops and eds are pretty sucky. Especially the first op, I have an extreme dislike for that one. There is also one background track that the show uses during dramatic that feels really unfitting and makes whatever dramatic moment that is occurring less shocking. That track honestly makes the scene less dramatic.
{CHARACTERS}
I have a lot to say about the new characters. Tohru, the main character, has been demoted to a pretty doormat. Tohru does pretty much nothing and waits for the plot to happen to her. She feels like a doormat that the plot and people constantly step on. her two friends are the best characters because they are the only characters you can't screw up no matter how hard you can try. Now let's get into the Zodiac, Hatsuharu and Ayame, my two old favorites, have been demoted to extra and exposition about Yuki. They only to serve that purpose and are not onscreen for any other reason. Ayame essentially lost all of the charm and comedy that he had in the old anime. Hatsuharu is the same way, the prove that's your real hair color scene is no longer as effective in pulling a laugh from me or anyone else I show it to. It gets worse, now let's talk about Kyo and Yuki. The old Kyo, the hot-headed, but soft-hearted Kyo, has been replaced. has been replaced by what, you may be asking, well, he's been replaced by a straight-up asshole. He's mean to essentially everyone, even Tohru and doesn't seem to give a crap about anyone around him. this new Kyo doesn't give me a reason to care about him or anything he wants to achieve. Yuki is just as bad, the sarcastic and satirical Yuki we all knew and loved, has also been replaced by a dry cracker. This new Yki has zero character, whose jokes always fall flat. This new Yuki has nothing, he's a cracker. A stale cracker that's out of date. Kyo and Yuki have some sort of trauma, but I don't even know what it is because it's only briefly implied, so I don't know the true extent of it. Like Yuki's backstory just seems like Akito painted freaking Picasso on the walls and it somehow scarred him. I don't even know where to begin in the supporting cast. Momiji and Hatori are characters only there for exposition as well. They don't do much of anything other than show up, give exposition and leave. I'll get into their backstories and how bad they are now, but other than that they don't really need to exist. This new Momiji is excruciatingly annoying, and I hate when he's on-screen. Now let's get to the most egregious examples of bad reboot characters, Shigure, Kisa, Hiro, and Akito. Shigure and Akito suffer the most in this reboot. Shigure lost everything that made him funny, for the sake of making him dark, mysterious, and sinister. That's his whole character now and it sucks to watch on screen. This twist was also revealed pretty early on making me hate every time he's on screen. Kisa is very crappy now. She's pretty much if Tohru and Yuki had a baby. A pretty doormat that has very mysterious trauma. She was bullied and stopped talking and then learned how to do it in like maybe 5 minutes because Kisa'a episode became Yuki's. I mean honestly, the show should be called Yuki's basket. Hiro is very bad too, like, I mean I know we all remember the old Hiro episode. And how dramatic the whole thing was, well they replaced Akito's slap with just Shigure and Hatori talking about it. We don't see it, we don't even see a reaction from Akito about it either. It's not very good. Akito, on the other hand, suffers another way. all of what made Akito scary and fearful in the old anime is gone. I don't know where it went, but it's gone. In the one scene with Hatori, I know we all remember who Akito threw that vase at Hatori then it hit him and then Akito went all crazy asking "Hatori what's wrong? Who hurt you?" Well, that's not there anymore. Akito isn't abusive or borderline bi-polar. This new Akito doesn't feel like an antagonist either, Akito feels more like an anti-hero and I don't like that. I don't even know what new Akito is. I guess he can paint though. It almost feels like this new show is trying to excuse Akito's actions on a sad childhood, and I will not stand for that.
{STORY}
The story suffers greatly because of the characters. The plot just kind of happens and nothing feels genuine. The story doesn't feel like it has an antagonist, and there's really only one protagonist with a bunch of extras. The story of the old anime goes as follows, A girl learns that a family is cursed and she goes down a path she never expected learning new things about herself and those around her, while ultimately accepting the curse as a new part of her life. You see that sounds great and that's what the old anime accomplished. This new anime however I don't even know what it's trying to do. the story feels like it has pacing issues, it goes fast then it slows down. Every element to the plot feels out of place as well. There is comedy, but only where you least expect it. The actual comedic moments in the show aren't funny, not even close. The funny moments come from the dramatic moments. Whenever one comes on I burst out in laughter because of how poorly they are handled. Like when Momiji's mom tried to commit suicide well when she tried to stab herself this big bass drum pounds. The music also makes the moment funny because right, when whatever is shocking, is shown all you hear is a bass drum pounding once. The bass drum is so random and it makes the scene funny.
{ENJOYMENT}
The only thing I enjoy about this show is how bad it is. I only come back weekly to see if the new episode can stoop even lower than the last. I don't recommend to anyone who hasn't watched the old one. If anyone is saying this show is a masterpiece then they haven't watched the old one. If you get anything from this review watch the old one if you haven't.

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Me personally watch a lot of Anime, but when I first sought my eyes on the alluring and captivating cover image of this anime, evidently I was skeptical on whether to watch it, but I thank myself for my inquisitive doing that day for watching Fruits Basket never I had saw the previous series back in 2001. All my intuitive Knowledge of anime ceased to exist when I watched this inspiring and breathtaking Masterpiece. This series comprises of a lot of genres with Slice of Life being its main point, some other genres like drama and even Supernatural activity that's an interesting phenomena which has a lot to do with the essence of the story but your going to have to watch the rest for yourselves. I highly recommend everyone watch [Fruits Basket 2019]. Thanks for Reading my Review.
You can watch Fruits Basket here: https://www.funimation.com/shows/fruits-basket/

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I’ll admit that I’m not a particularly big fan of most shojo series out there, but something about this show really impressed me a lot. The first time I heard about this series prior to its debut, I found out that it had an original version that aired way back in 2001, which I promptly went ahead to watch. I ended up finding myself quite disappointed by it due to the number of plot holes, lack of depth in overall cast of characters, uninspiring displays of typical shoujo cliches and tropes. So I went into this reboot, which I jokingly called “Fruits Basket: Zodiachood”, with mixed expectations. Long story short, I was extremely pleased with what I was presented with this time around.

So what is Fruits Basket? Sometimes abbreviated as “Furuba” or “Fruba”, it’s a Japanese shojo manga series written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya, the title being based a popular kids’ game played in most Japanese elementary schools. It tells the story about an orphan girl named Tohru Honda, who starts out trying to live by herself, and winds up meeting the likes of Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure Souma, and ends up living in the world of the Souma family and finding out about its twelve members being possessed by the animal spirits of the Chinese zodiac and cursed into turning into animal forms when they’re weak, stressed, or hugged by someone of the opposite sex who is not from the family. The manga ran up to 26 volumes from 1998 to 2006, with an anime adaptation that aired in 2001, as mentioned before. Apparently from what I heard, the author was not pleased with how that particular version turned out, and I honestly don’t blame her, having watched that version and noting how it really didn’t age well as a classic. So when the reboot came around nearly two decades later, the author herself actually actively participated in the production to make sure that every single aspect of the series was properly adapted. A great decision, in my honest opinion.

In this remake of a rather aged story, Fruits Basket initially doesn’t seem that appealing with the usual laundry list of anime tropes. However, this reboot series doesn’t utilize these cliches in the usual way that most other anime out there do; rather, it doesn’t let them draw too much attention or unneeded fanservice that would otherwise hinder the overall tone and complexity of the story. They are simply presented as if they are mere background aspects that actually nurture the story and characters while keeping themselves as moderated sources of entertainment. Additionally, the story doesn’t try to appeal by being mean-spirited, sappy, or pretentious, or overly slapsticky. Fruits Basket, in terms of its structure on the surface, functions as a hilarious slice-of-life show with plenty of funny moments, especially the ones involving Sakura and Kyo (poor guy...lul). However, beneath the surface, Fruits Basket tells the endearing heartfelt stories of its cast members, main and supporting, in order to get us as viewers emotionally attached and invested. For me at times, the feeling was as if I’m reading content out of Aesop’s Fables, cause the character backstories basically teach us the morals and lessons of life. While the story and characters themselves are admittedly tropes, the unwrapping of the plot and the cast lineup provides a rich experience that often make us forget that this story is still quite cliché to the core, but in a good way. As a remake, this version of Fruits Basket also added important support characters and backstories that were completely missing from the original. I do want to note that this is the 1st season, so the main purpose of the story here is to construct our characters as human beings before we will get exposed to the deeper roots of the overall story later on in upcoming sequels.

Animation-wise, TMS Entertainment upgrades the derpy-looking character designs from the 2001 anime to a far cleaner-looking, waifu/husbando material to cater to the current mainstream audience. The brighter background art and details are quite beautiful to look at as well in many of the screenshots, as opposed to the more shaded, underwhelming scenery from the original version. There are some issues, though; in most of the action scenes, the frames are rather chunky and awkward, which can feel a bit off-putting at times; however, in fairness, due to the sort of comedy that is tied with such scenes, it can actually sell the cheesy satire a lot better. The OST is beautiful and appeals more on an emotional level, especially for the part when we look into our character’s backstories. With the significant changes to the voice acting lineup from the original version, the voice acting has far more empathy than in the original series, especially during the more melodramatic moments, so it doesn’t make the latter seem overly self-serious.

As mentioned before, the overall cast of characters we get in Fruits Basket are obviously screaming tropes, but the presentation of them on a more realistic perspective lets us actually care about these characters, even the ones we would normally hate. Each member of the Souma family has suffered and/or been emotionally broken at one point, to where they were unable to truly express themselves prior to meeting our main girl. The 2001 version, on the other hand, wasn’t able to dive into those characters often enough, resulting in unfortunate lack of content to really make us care about why these characters are the way they are. I do want to focus a bit in particular on our main girl Tohru, though.

Tohru Honda is what I would consider as a “perfectly flawed” main female protagonist. While a character like him would be normally passed as a generic “overly likable” MC, there’s more to Tohru than meets the eye. Due to her own experiences of losing something or someone dear and important to her and her livelihood, Tohru was naturally able to approach people who would otherwise to be hard to talk or communicate with. Her cheerful optimism and selfless nature lets her be able to accept and sympathize with people for who they are, regardless of what they went and suffered through. As a result, though, she often tries to shoulder too much of those burdens without thinking about her own well-being. This goes back to the importance of the other cast members, especially her two best friends, Saki and Ura, and the other two primary characters, Yuki and Kyo, being there for her like family, as they’re aware of how emotionally broken she is on the inside and how much of a facade she tries to hide her pain with.

I enjoyed this show (or rather, 1st season) more than I initially thought I would, to the point where I forgot this actually has romance tagged on it...for some reason. Tohru as a main character is particularly enjoyable for me, as she neither came off as some dry and bland Mary Sue character, nor felt like a trope-driven aspect of the entire story. The heartfelt storytelling had me overly sentimental to where I notably ramble about how I can understand and/or relate with my own real life experiences and struggles. Characters I would normally hate or get annoyed by like Ritsu, Momoji, and Hiro...I ended up liking in the end due to being able to understand how they feel via their own backstories. The balancing comedy hits the mark much better for me than in a majority of other comedy shows I’ve seen in the past few years.

I’m not gonna say Fruits Basket is the best shoujo series out there, but I will recommend this show to those who want to dive into the genre firsthand. The show doesn’t try to be unique, groundbreaking, or extensively creative; it simply presents itself as the way it is. It doesn’t try to be something of a cheesy romance. It doesn’t try to be a straight-up slapstick comedy despite its many lighthearted moments. It's able to present and develop our cast while keeping a very relevant plot and never derailing from it. It’s a near perfect example of an anime that has not been brought down by the degrading standards of most modern anime shows, nowadays.

Hopefully the next season can be just as great, if not better!

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I am not a person who writes reviews, but I couldn´t stand seen so many bad reviews related to this beautiful anime.

The STORY is a shojo, which involves drama, it havent reached any point of talking about love, you can get a hint of it, but the story doesnt goes aroung people getting in love and dating. The ART the animation is good, is a shojo story so you cant expect to see an awesome battle animation that you get to see in shonens. The MUSIC is beautiful and relaxing and makes all your problems to go away and just enjoy the show, it keep the same type of music during the whole show.

For me the best part of this anime so far is the CHARACTER development, is not rushing, and they touch topics that resembles real life (taking a side of the zodiac animals), it passes to topics of overcoming a parent lost, gangster bands, bullying, being apart of someone you love or from your parents. I have to say it and its not a "normal/typical" shojo as some describe it, it doesnt follows a love relationship of just to highschool students (which I dont believe is boring or bad), it goes deep in the story of all the characters, not just the principals.
I ENJOY it a lot it makes my heart to feel warm, I highly recommend it for someone that wants to get a calm and relaxing feeling, if what youre looking for is action, battlef ights like in a shonen, this anime is not for you. If you´re going to watch it you have to do it without any prejudgment

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How much pain and suffering can a person endure before they give up? How long can they keep it all bottled up while still showing their warm and earnest side?

"Fruits Basket" is indeed a product of its time, beginning serialization in 1998 and ending in 2006, it's ripe with the anime tropes that defined the early 2000s. Tsunderes, loud characters, girls aggressively showing their love and all the good stuff is present here. Yet, behind these cliches lie persons that got this way because of their circumstances. Tohru may seem like a happy-go-lucky person who sees the world in the brightest nuance of pink, but that's only on a surface level. As we spend more time with her we get to know her past. The bullying she's gone through in school, her mother's death, her relatives not having her best interests. Yet she continues to smile and not let these define Tohru, because to her life is so much more than the few bumps in the road.

One major theme the show tries to portray is that of change and how life can take an unpleasant turn, while leaving it up to the characters to decide how to react. I'd go into detail, but I'd enter spoiler teritorry and with there only being 1 season I can't give a detailed analysis on the matter.

While my first paragraph may have given the impression that the show is a grim and depressing tear-jerker, that's far from the essence of "Fruits Basket". The show focuses most on the interactions between the characters, which at times is serious, it is predominantly hilarious, with jokes that almost always find their time to connect. Tohru's positive energy combined with her being the cutest little sweetheart should be enough to combat the more impactful momets of the show.

As I've said previously, "Fruits Basket" is a product of its time, as coming in contact in 2019 with the tropes of the early 2000s may feel a bit jarring, but also nostalgic for those who grew up with the anime of that time. However, once you get past those inconveniences, only then can "Fruits Basket" invite you to its colorful world inhibited by its huge and diverse cast which more than make up for its shortcomings.

Will you accept its invitation? What you'll take part in might just be a few life changing lessons.

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Ahh, I don't usually write reviews, but this anime is close to my heart since the original run of Fruits Basket was pretty much my introduction to anime.

Story: 3/10
Honestly, I was really excited to see how this version of the anime would differ from the original run, and... wow I was so disappointed. It's like a more boring version of the same storyline. The story followed the typical pacing for most anime where the beginning is slower than the ending. The only problem is that the end of this season is still basically the introduction to the show. For god's sake, we are still meeting characters by the time the show has picked up the season finale type pacing. I also didn't really enjoy any of the subplots within the show. Learning the problems that all the other Sohma's had because of the curse... I couldn't connect with any of their struggles. It was kind of just annoying hearing them whine about stupid things. I really enjoyed being able to have those few episodes dedicated to Uotani and Hanajima, though. They were kind of just mindless best friends of Tohru's before, but now you can understand why they love her so much and are so protective of her. Plus, you really feel a lot more connected to them in general.

Art: 5/10
Honestly, it was just generic art. Basic. Nothing amazing, but nothing terrible either. There was a lot dating sim vibes to it... It also just felt a little outdated with the backgrounds of some conversations. All of those pinky backgrounds with bubbles floating around? Yeesh, time to update those toners.

Sound: 2/10
I don't usually pay attention to sound in a show, but wow. I could not stand any of the music in this show. All of the terrible instrumental pieces thrown in throughout were just unbalanced and entirely uninteresting. The only things that prevent me from giving this a 1/10 were the intros and outros. And no, they weren't good. They were just not absolutely horrid like the rest of the soundtrack. But I really had no desire to listen to them.

Characters: 3/10
I was honestly going to give this a 4, but Tohru's character pissed me off so much. Maybe I did not pick it up in the original version because I was a child, but I don't think she has a single line in this show that isn't about her mother or being a doormat for others. I used to think her character was inspiring before, and now I just feel like she's actually a big idiot. All the characters around her praise her for being not wishing for anything more than what's in front of her. You know what that is? It's called lacking any form of ambition whatsoever! And it pisses me off. Being a passive complacent girl is not anything to look up to. As for Yuki and Kyo... Generic. And Kagura annoyed me so much! Every time I saw her character show up, I dreaded it. She's annoying and violent, all in the name of... love? What?? The biggest disappointment was the way Hatsuharu's and Hatori's characters were shown. They were two of my favorite characters before, but I felt like their appearances were boring and short. Haru's backstory was bland, and Hatori's felt so rushed that the emotional connection was a lot weaker than I would have liked. Otherwise, I did enjoy the other characters pretty well. Uotani and Hanajima were so lovable! And surprisingly, I really liked Momiji and Shigure's characters way more than before. Momiji has all good the qualities Tohru has, but isn't the dimwitted doormat she is. And Shigure felt like he was pretty rounded, although I still don't understand any of the motives of his character.

Enjoyment: 6/10
I mean, yeah I had a lot to complain about when it comes to reviewing this show. But like, I watch anime not to criticize it but to simply enjoy it. And shoujo anime like this is the perfect kind of mindless entertainment. Was it amazing? Definitely not. But it kept me entertained with how simple it was. Had I not watched the original run and formed an attachment, I might not have enjoyed it so much, but nostalgia does play a huge factor!

Overall: 4/10
I was really excited for this show because it has so much nostalgia for me. But I also was really excited to see how they would update it for 2019.
Answer: It remained outdated, and for the most part, almost the exact same as the 2001 run but with worse pacing and better art. And somehow the characters felt even more one-dimensional than before.

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(I know we're only halfway through the episodes but I do plan on editing this and adding more afterwards. After episode 14 I just felt the urge to give a good review. That's how much I loved it.)

Before anyone calls me out for being biased because of "nostalgia feels", no I have not watched the old Fruit's basket nor have I read the manga at all. :)

For now let me cut to the chase. Fruit's Basket honestly has one of the most subtle and emotional storytelling that only a few could appreciate. It may seem like a simple slice-of-life, shoujo-manga feel but as it progresses hints of a deeper storyline peeks through. Each episode is overwhelmingly wholesome if not a tear-jerker. Characters are slowly yet wonderfully developed and the music man! The background music, OP's and ED's are beautiful and full of emotion befitting of the anime's either melancholic or vibrant themes.

I would also like to give huge props to the way they dealt with the romance aspect of the story. Nowadays anime have been so fast-paced or rather bland with romantic relationships. In Fruit's Basket it happens so subtly and slowly, but you see the development grow so well despite that. I.E with Kyo, even 14 episodes in, he's still not head over heels over Tohru because his character just isn't the type that would. Unlike Yuki, who's more gentle and observant. And honestly even Yuki still isn't SO in love. It's slow, he's still in the infatuation stage. And I honestly love that.

TLDR if you're looking for something wholesome, cute, occasionally sad and overall just something to make you feel warm and fuzzy, then Fruit's Basket is definitely for you. Just be prepared for a few emotional rides ;D

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Fruits Basket is a special anime, it not only exceeded my expectations but it turned to be one of the best shoujo I've watched in ages. Fun Fact, I actually expected a reverse harem romance anime, but I end up getting something way different instead, Something that would make me grin like an idiot for 24 minutes straight, something that would suddenly change my emotions several times in the spawn of only 24 minutes. Not many anime is able to do that with me, and here is why.

The story of this anime is most of the time Episodic as it slowly introduces each member of the Sohma Family as they hint us their personalities while doing some slice of life comedy and heartwarming moments. Earlier episodes focuses on Honda Tohru as she finds herself with the Soma Family while she struggles to live since she doesn't have a place to call home. It isn't until a certain character lets Tohru live on his house that she finally has a place to call home after getting back from high school and work despite the many circumstances where she's driven apart of the things she love. Later episodes focuses on each member of the Sohma family and Tohru's best friends as they shows us their backstory, how they struggled through very difficult moments and, in some cases, how they managed to move on from it and live on.

Each story is carefully developed with great pacing while the animation and the soundtrack gets the job done portraying the themes it handles greatly. Wisdom, Knowledge, Happiness, sadness, any kind of theme is handled greatly and even if these stories ranges through 1 or 2 episodes, is more than enough to make the viewer engage with the amount of feelings shown in screen, making each situation these characters go through easy to understand and easy to sympathize with. It does help a lot that each story delivers a powerful impact thanks to the great voice actin, great animation and soundtrack that these stories ends up being really meaningful.

Best part of this anime is Honda Tohru, at first, she may look like your typical airhead who is extremely kind because why not. But in reality, she is a bridge, a bridge that links with each person she meets and how she is able to make them open their eyes and realize all the things they were setting apart, be it a love tragedy, being listened at, being loved, to be understood, being friends with each other no matter their differences and what not, after all, the magic of developing flawed characters is what Fruits Basket does the best. Honda Tohru is just so adorable and pure, its all thanks to the relationship with her deceased mother that everything fell in place perfectly. Honda Tohru is the kind of friend we all need but don't deserve... God Damn it, where is my Tohru? ;_;

Last but not least, Animation is pretty much really consistent. Beautiful scenery is often the key to the masterful execution of each scene, even to comedy gags. The color palette is amazing as it shifts depending on the tone of the scene; a Dark tone for those really sad moments, a cheerful bright tone for those heartwarming moments and the goofy over the top silly faces and over exaggerated physics for the comedy gags. The Soundtrack is amazing and really fits the ambiance and KNOWS when to be silent (I'm looking at you Violet Evergarden), Each OP and ED are beautiful, I'm not a personal fan of the first ones, but the second OP "Chime" by Ai Otsuka is really beautiful and has a very melancholic feeling to it, and the second Ending "One Step Closer" by INTERSECTION is one of the most beautiful endings I've seen this year and probably since forever, its so damn beautiful and boy I can't count the amount of tears I shed each time an episode ended.

I can't recommend this anime enough, If you liked the older version of this anime then you'll probably love this anime twice as much and even if you are unfamiliar with the source or the old anime, if you like slice of life anime with romance, comedy and really heartwarming stories, then this anime is for you.

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A fun review (this is my first MAL review yey)
Respectfully as a member of a romance genre fan, I have to declare that this is one of the cheesiest series that I ever watched. It did fail me due to the great expectation I had knowing that this has been so many people's favorite shoujo anime.

The start wasn't bad at all, I quite like the fast pacing, all though a lot of silly decisions were made for romance scenes, it was still bearable, It has been done before and I'm not complaining yet. But as the series goes on (maybe 5 episodes in)

Oh my god how cringe everything. And Tohru, the so-called angel, the healer, the trauma doctor, everyone's favorite, is not the type of heroine that I expected at all. She reminds me of Sawako from Kimi ni Todoke but without a quirk, she's flawless with a tiny bit of trauma. At first, I thought maybe it was the lack of trauma that made her less interesting, but then I thought of so many other main chara with no trauma at all yet they still made it pretty entertaining.

I was expecting someone calm, strong (yes ik she is strong,, But is it necessary that every time she tries to do something courageous the show gotta make the scene depressing so that everyone starts taking pity) and not cry every time someone fights/or tell her a sad story then moderately giving them wise mommy quotes and sweet smile, and 5 seconds later, all the somas somewhat head over heels fall in love with her. she's y/n yall. Now, this sounds like I'm a Tohru Slander, Yes. She's not radiating empowering persona and it hurts the fact that she's in the center of everything.

Some points that might cause the plot but hear me out.
1. Tohru, our sweet dear Tohru, somehow thought living in a camp in the middle of the forest is safe, taste (ik this is the comedy, but please, the idiocy, I can't.

2. She prefers to live in a house full of MEN! compares to living with her best friend that has offer a stay in their house. Like logically even if the men in the house seem nice, what an idiot gal. They were strangers!

3. second point people be like, "but she doesn't want to bother her bestie's family, their house too small to cramp in." like hello? is the soma not a family that she should've consider also? that she could've also been a burden to them? and start packing and leave like she considers her friends "family"?

4. The fruit basket origin analogy idea. oh, how trauma it is to be called an onigiri and wanting to be a part of the game fruit basket (God it was when she was so young thooo, and yet she remembers that, wow, living in the past I see). My question of the day is, HAS SHE NEVER THEN BEEN A PART OF A FRUIT BASKET? Does she not realize that she is already a part of something before meeting the soma. Are Hanajima and Uo not fruit baskets enough for her? Idk if this is me reaching too far, but come on, just admit that you want to live with the hotties I won't judge gurl, I would too, but don't start pulling the fruit basket shit like it means something lol.

5. Tohru has a family to come home to. THE GRANPA, GURL like istg. It's better to just make tohru straight out homeless and family-less. It would make more sense for her to come back to the soma. Ik she is bullied by her uncle and auntie? but seriously I can't with having everyone defending her both sides. Like why the grandpa gotta be nice too, make him bad, like that make more sense for Tohru wanting to go back with full hottie house.

6. Side character has a far more interesting story, it overshadowed her completely.

That is it. I wish the second season can be more soul-friendly for me since this season had me boiling. I hate that I can never drop an anime as much as I want to, I admit that I'm still curious about Akito's redemption, so I'll give the second season ago.

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