It’s worth pointing out this is my first exposure to the franchise. I have neither read the manga or watched the original 2001 anime version. I went into the series with a mind clear of expectations or assumptions. And I came away impressed but not floored.
There is a lot to like about Fruits Basket. It has an ever-expanding cast of colorful characters with unique backstories. While there are plenty of light-hearted moments, it’s the pain that these characters carry with them that drives the show. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that the characters’ backstories are typically filled with grief. That’s where our protagonist, Tohru, comes in. If you have a problem loving and accepting yourself, she’ll provide both of those in spades to make up for it. This is despite the fact she herself has been touched by tragedy. You see, she literally starts the series homeless, having just lost her mother. After discovering her in a tent on their property, the mysterious Soma family takes her in, and the story begins.
A lot of other members of the Soma family are introduced, but initially it’s Shigure, Kyo, and Yuki she is living with. Shigure is the eldest, a writer, and a bit of a smart alec. Kyo is the fiery tsundere. And Yuki is the calmer and more collected school “Prince”. And oh yeah, they turn into animals from the Chinese Zodiac, which is an area of interest for Tohru, whenever a girl hugs them.
This is very much a character-driven show, and it comes through for the most part. So many of the characters are brimming with personality. But, if I’m being honest, I don’t think Tohru herself was one of them. She’s a very sweet girl, but as a character, she always felt a tad generic to me. She goes around “fixing” people’s problems with her kindness, which is admirable, but that describes too many anime protagonists to count. Tohru is the typical “nice guy/girl” MC. Luckily, she’s buoyed by the interesting characters around her, so it’s not a deal-breaker.
The main over-arching stories would probably be the drama surrounding the Soma family and Tohru’s love life, and they both move a bit slow. But in the meantime, there are plenty of day-to-day shenanigans and backstories to tell. In a way, this first season sort of feels like it’s setting the table for the rest of the show. Most of it is a hit as opposed to a miss, and there are even a couple instances that really do pull on your heartstrings. At times, it can feel a little formulaic. As I alluded to before, too many problems are simply solved with Tohru’s kindness.
The art won’t blow you away, but at times it will make you laugh. Some of the expressions during funny moments really add to the comedy. Being a shoujo, as the audience demands, there are plenty of pretty anime boys. So it has that going for it.
The sound is really superb across the board. Both openings and endings are quite good, and the voice acting really had no weak links. If I had to pick one stand-out, it’d probably be Yuuma Uchida, the VA for Kyo. He really nailed both his angry tsundere moments, and his softer, more vulnerables ones.
I enjoyed the series quite a bit. Some of the little mini-arcs I was more invested in than others, but for the most part, it held my attention throughout the 25 episode run.
Overall, I feel pretty confident in saying the first season of Fruits Basket is a very good shoujo. It does plenty of things right. The protagonist was a tiny bit vanilla and at times the way problems were resolved felt formulaic, but neither of those were deal-breakers. Unless you really don’t like shoujo, I would recommend this show to any anime fan.
8-8.5 out of 10 from me.
