Fruits Basket 1st Season

May 10, 2019

6 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

Krunchyman (All reviews)

147 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

“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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May 20, 2019

6 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 2

EnigmaOlivia (All reviews)

127 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

No Reason to be:

Another Shoujo series brought back to life is Fruits Basket with furor and craze surrounding it. Fruits Basket despite having done a couple things right is not.

As a starting story Fruits Basket is catchy and interesting. I see what all the hype is about. If I was younger I would go nuts over it too. However, being older & wiser I see Fruits Basket suffers bad writing, art, music, tone, comedy, & editing making it one of the cheesiest series of the year.

The allure of the show appears to be in characters. However, I see them as two dimensional at best. The lead, Tohru, is the queen of showing happy facial expressions, acting all cute, & being overly friendly. However, this is artificial. Nobody, especially a teenager, is that much of a saint. Tohru is presented as perfect thus what is the appeal to watch? Tohru has no goals outside this new family. It's as if her life was a haze of nothingness until she entered a house to become a maid. Definition of a Manic Pixie dream girl. Only around to be a self insert for those lonely fans & service the males instead of focusing on her aspirations.

The supporting cast is generic. Kyo is a hothead & Yuki is a prince. The story is these super model humans have a zodiac curse where they turn into their associated animal if hugged by the opposite sex. Everyone has a miserable past but I don't care because its used to manipulate my emotions. Weak series use sob stories instead of making characters interesting. Fruits basket has terrible characters who use sad pasts as a crutch when they are the equivalent to sandpaper.

I don't know what possessed the writer to make this so boring. The dialogue is dry. The humor is lackluster. For example they show how awkward Tohru is when she interacts with any man. As if she's never spoken to men in general. The show uses this joke every episode excessively. At a point it makes you question if Tohru is mentally impaired do to the way she talks to people.

The visual effects are bland. It looks like playing a lame visual dating game. In other words, it takes you out of investing in the story when elements are unrealistic & lazy. The art does nothing creative. Anime gives artists opportunities to create interesting perspectives in story telling that otherwise couldn't be done through live action. This show is treats itself like a live action drama with low budgets.

The opening & ending themes are not good. The opening is a dry uninspired song that makes me brace for impact of the boredom that will occur. I watched the previous show recently. It had similar problems but they were handled better. For one the humor exceeds this show by miles in visual gags, dialogue, & voice acting. The Opening and Endings songs are beautiful. The music soundtrack is overall fantastic. The characters have a bit more personality. Yet I found out the creator hated it & got it cancelled. What a cow. Now she has full control over this mess. Good job you made your series awful. What an accomplishment.

Overall: Why do a remake that's worse than its origin and just repeats everything? There is no originality or pick up from the previous series end. It's a pathetic cash grab that is dull & uninteresting as most modern romance anime's. It's a basic slice of nothing happens with sides of forced romance & tragic backstories. Yay insert me into Tohru so hot men will fawn over me! Woo Hoo! Pathetic.

Romance Anime Recommendations: The Tatami Galaxy, Kare Kano, Kodocha, Macross, Princess Tutu, Kaiba, Chobits, Full Moon, Rose of Versailles, Daddy Long Legs, Nana, Paradise Kiss, Candy Candy, Ouran High School Host Club, Orange Road, Haikara San ga Tooru, Brigadoon, Hana Yori Dango, Ranma, & Oniisama e... Watch those to get your romance fix. Support quality series.

Story - 2/10
Art - 4/10
Sound - 1/10
Character - 1/10
Enjoyment - 1/10
Overall- 2/10

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Sep 20, 2019

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

Stark700 (All reviews)

90 people found this review helpful

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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May 11, 2019

6 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

DarkDiamond16 (All reviews)

97 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

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 read more

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May 28, 2019

8 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 1

juneboba (All reviews)

89 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

[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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Sep 20, 2019

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

TakamakiJoker (All reviews)

57 people found this review helpful

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 read more

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Sep 20, 2019

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

Walpurgies (All reviews)

44 people found this review helpful

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 read more

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Sep 20, 2019

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

dotta (All reviews)

38 people found this review helpful

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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May 31, 2019

7 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

moviesonlinefull (All reviews)

29 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

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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May 26, 2019

7 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 5

ramenpucci (All reviews)

20 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

This is the over hyped remake of the original anime which 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 reboot's art direction reminds me of a dating sim. I'm referring to those really 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.

You're better off watching the original. The soundtrack, including Ritsuko Okazaki's music really sets the tone for a calming slice of life/rom-com: for example, the reoccuring 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". While the original anime is a little more static and less moves, you get to witness the marvel of the directing and storytelling at its finest.

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. I'm crying from the original's portrayal of Hatori's story with Kana and yet, 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.

Voice acting is alright for the most part. Reboot Tohru sounds nearly the same as Yui Horie's rendition. Yuki actually sounds like a man. What stuck out noticeably was Hatori and Momiji's voice. Momiji sounds like a girl instead of a boy. Hatori's voice sounds way too deep.

This is for those who just want the manga fully animated. This is like a better animated Sailor Moon Crystal that lacks good directing and memorable music. For those who have never seen the original, I highly recommend it or even listen to the songs Ritsuko Okazaki provided. You will laugh at times or be left nearly sobbing like I was when I watched the ending credits featuring Kyo with his Shishou as the piano of "Serenade" played: now that alone is excellent directing and storytelling. The original didn't need as many frames to convey a thoughtful story.

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May 19, 2019

7 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

Richard_J (All reviews)

20 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

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 read more

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Jul 6, 2019

14 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

paradi_GM (All reviews)

16 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

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 read more

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Aug 3, 2019

18 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

Sommeil-Eternel (All reviews)

15 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

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 read more

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Jul 5, 2019

14 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

soranogab (All reviews)

14 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

(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 read more

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Sep 20, 2019

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

Ryuseishun (All reviews)

12 people found this review helpful

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 shojo 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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May 22, 2019

7 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

-SAiNTS- (All reviews)

12 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

I haven't seen the old version of Fruit's Basket nor have I read the Manga, so this review is entirely based on my first impressions of the show!

From the looks of it and from what I have heard the old Fruit's Basket was a great anime and a large community still loves it. So for this show to get a remake is kinda delight for those viewers and fans and for me as a first timer, I really like this show so far. I won't drop any spoilers but from what I have seen so far I get the whole message of this show very vividly.

It's a show about a girl who despite losing everything appreciates the smallest of moments with her everlasting optimistic heart and this nature will change even the most brutal heart there is to find later on and changes those who weren't willing to change before. This in my opinion is what this show is all about and I guess this is a great plot.

Why I like this show is not only how great the story is building up but also its snapshot moments that are really captured beautifully with one of the best soundtracks to be heard to really enjoy the scenes.

Story is great, Characters are likeable, Animations is also great considering this is a remake and also it has one of the best OP & ED I have heard in a very long time, so I love its soundtrack a lot especially the inserts and theme tunes around the emotional scenes because they really hit your soul if you are willing to handle the emotional plot this show has to offer sometimes. I think the highlights of the shows are the most phenomenal ones with the soundtracks they have used so far.

Of course, this show is Romance, Slice of Life and a bit Comical as well but it really is enjoyable if you aren't nit-picking any stuff but enjoying it with full dedication.

Some of the reviews I saw rated it as 2/10 or 4/10 and that really got me to think, is that really how bad this show is? Now that I am watching this show as its ongoing, I am enjoying it a lot but I would say this to every anime fan out there that plots like this are based on fantasy of course but the message is sometimes deep that you really have to see for yourself to be able to really enjoy the full premise.

I would recommend this show to every anime fan who enjoys the anime without any complaints for how great animes are in general because it has great balance between every genre that it has been described as. But be sure to ready your heart because I believe sometimes this show will make you cry due to its great plot.

I am glad I found this anime right before I could have skipped it for any other one. I hope everyone who has seen the old one still smiles and everyone who's watching for first time smiles even more!

Have a Nice Day! :D

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Aug 17, 2019

16 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 3

akechigoro (All reviews)

11 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

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 read more

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Jul 20, 2019

16 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 2

dulcetrefrain32 (All reviews)

10 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

[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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Sep 20, 2019

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

HereticHunter (All reviews)

9 people found this review helpful

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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May 19, 2019

6 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

animeamoeba (All reviews)

9 people found this review helpful

Preliminary

From the perspective of someone who watched the original anime and read (most of) the manga, this remake has been absolutely amazing to watch, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested enough to be reading this.

The plot seems to follow the manga source material a bit more closely than the original 2001 anime. I found this refreshing because certain characters and key scenes are presented differently from the 2001 version.

While the portrayal of the manga plot deviates slightly from the original anime, the visuals, animation and character art are certainly significantly different, and this may take awhile to get used to, especially if read more

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