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".
