Anime Hajime Review: Fruits Basket

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Fruits Basket. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Tohru Honda (voiced by Yui Horie) just lost her mother. The two were very close and it has not been easy for the high schooler. Yet there is one lesson she holds close to her heart. She always tries to keep smiling.

The last thing Tohru wants is to be a burden on others. Even at the cost of her own health, she refuses to cause trouble for anyone. Even with this unshakable mindset, fate seems to have its own plan.

In her search for a place to stay, Tohru finds her way to the secondary residence of an influential family. To her surprise, this happens to be the home of her school’s top heart throb, Yuki Sohma (voiced by Aya Hisakawa). Learning of Tohru’s plight, Yuki offers her a place to sleep.

Before anyone can settle on the details, Yuki is ambushed. The attacker is a relative of his, Kyo Sohma (voiced by Tomokazu Seki). During this scuffle, Tohru learns of the Sohma clan’s greatest secret.

Yuki and Kyo transform into a rat and a cat respectively. They and other members of their family have been cursed. Whenever embraced by the opposite sex, they will transform into an animal from the Zodiac.

While a surprise, Tohru accepts Yuki and Kyo. Remembering her mother’s words, Tohru becomes the first bright spot for the cursed Sohma’s.

Series Positives

Back in my Ghost Hound review a few weeks prior, I mentioned how long it took me to get to that series. Fruits Basket was the same way but even longer. I don’t know how I let this become such an allusive watch. Having now sat through it is a little surreal if I’m being honest.

Yet in that time, I somehow managed to miss one crucial detail. I was aware of Fruits Basket’s romantic angle. I also knew the original manga has seen great success in both Japan and the United States. This series’ presence was always apparent to me. Regardless of that, I had overlooked the fact there would be fantasy elements to this story too. When the Sohma’s first transformed, it was surprising.

No matter what kind of history I've had with this series, I’m happy to have gotten around to it. I’m even happier since it turned out to be quite good. More than that, this show was solid and a ton of fun.

Moving forward, I want to set a few things straight. Fruits Basket did have elements of the romance genre. As well as the makings of a harem anime. Yet at its core, this was neither. If you go in expecting these things, you’re not going to get much of what you came for. Had this story continued, I can see how it would have gone down those roads. From what I can tell of the manga, that is what happened.

Being a fan of these genres, particularly romance, I can’t say I wasn’t a touch disappointed. Although any disappoint gets overshadowed and overpowered by the rest of Fruits Baskets. While not the focus, these small influences helped contribute to what made this show as good as it was.

Characterization

I would say characters, but that would require going over each cast member I liked in detail. This was a big group and I liked most of them. Though I am having trouble keeping track of the sheer number of Sohma’s. Therefore, I don’t want to bother. This review will be long enough on its own.

Besides, what I can say about one will apply to most.

There were no bad characters. The vast majority I would call integral. Those that weren’t, were few and far between. And even these people had hints of positivity. As such, there was almost never a moment when there was an uninteresting group on screen.

We got to know everyone. We got to see what they were thinking. We got glimpses into their pasts. We learned what made them act the way they did. Thus, when this show was funny, it was funny. The humor felt genuine. It could be cute, silly, and pleasant. On the reverse, these characters made the serious moments much stronger.

The balance between comedy and drama was key to what turned Fruits Basket into a great sit. I'll go over more details about this soon. But to fit it in with this section, this cast was critical to making this show work.

That out of the way, there are characters I do want to discuss, the main three, Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru. This was their story. Together they formed the foundation this series sat upon. Take one away and the rest would have crumbled.

Of the trio, there isn’t much I have to say about Yuki or Kyo. Or at least there’s little I can say that can differentiate between them. Other than, they are different characters. How does that make any sense?

Yuki was soft-spoken, refined, and well mannered. He was the school idol, with flocks of admirers. There were few things he was unable to do. He seemed to have complete control over his emotions and had a logical mind. On the surface, he appeared perfect in every conceivable way.

Kyo, on the other hand, was rough and rude. He was quick to anger and could turn violent at the drop of a hat. His bad attitude made it difficult for him listen to what others had to say. Even if they were looking out for his best interest. His natural competitiveness also made him easy to manipulate. It was as if he only had a one-track mind.

Given the gap in their personalities, Yuki and Kyo didn’t often see eye to eye. It didn’t help that their Zodiac embodiments were bitter enemies. It was because of the rat that the cat didn’t become one of the Zodiac.

With this in mind, why do I say it's hard to separate them? It’s because they were two sides of the same coin. Each had qualities the other lacked.

Yuki was the talk of the school. Except he had trouble forming meaningful relationships. He believed people put him on a pedestal to admire him, rather than talk to him. Whereas Kyo put almost no effort into becoming the life of the party. He drew people to him even if he didn’t want that.

Too bad Kyo was destructive by nature. He had no sense of tack or mood reading. He wasn’t the person you turned to when you needed a kind word. Yuki was. He could move forward with confidence knowing he would get things done. At his young age, Yuki had accomplished quite a lot and garnered a ton of respect.

Adding to their similarities and complimenting what made them unique, was where these two came from. They didn't have the same upbringing, but they each had a difficult one. These two carried deep mental and emotional scars. This dynamic between Yuki and Kyo elevated Fruits Basket’s shining star, Tohru.

There is only one thing you need to know about Tohru. She gave a crap. She was always looking out for the people she cared about. And sometimes she would extend that courtesy to complete strangers.

This was never forced. Tohru didn’t have some secret agenda. She never did anything to maintain some type of image. When she was helping someone, she was giving everything she had. Others knew she was someone who was reliable and meant she said.

Did this make Tohru naïve at times? It’s okay to think that. I thought that. As did other characters. It got to the point where Tohru pushed her absolute limits. The least important person to her was herself. When we first met her, she was living in a tent because she didn’t want to inconvenience her friends. Friends who would have said “yes” without question.

While she had room to be a lot more selfish, this unrelenting kindness added to Tohru’s charm. It was cute whenever someone teased her. She gave adorable reactions. Then when someone went too far, you were ready to defend her. 

Tohru wasn’t a mindless cheery character. There were reasons behind her outlook. She didn’t speak in inspirational speeches. She gave advice. She had an ability to say the one thing someone needed to hear. Whenever anyone came to her aid, it wasn’t because the story said so. It was because a character wanted to help their most precious friend.

This cast let Fruits Basket create outstanding moments of storytelling.

Comedy and Drama

As I was saying earlier, Fruits Basket’s strength was its balance between comedy and drama. When this show was at its funniest, it was hilarious. When it was at its most dramatic, it was gutwrenching.

The success of both was due to the story knowing what each needed to accomplish. Fruits Basket understood there was a place for everything. Jokes and drama can exist in the same scene. But there are instances where these tones need to stay as far apart as possible.

A nice guideline I’ve noticed involves the order of when comedy and drama can come into play. This isn’t a hard-set rule, though it has proven to be a reliable set up.

Comedy works for an introduction. Drama works for exploration.

When we meet characters, how much do we know about them? More often than not, the answer is nothing. We need to get to know the people we will be following. If a show doesn’t make the effort to do this, you can’t expect to care later? Comedy is a good tool for this.

Fruits Basket was silly. It had energy and a bunch of anime style slapstick. It took a while for anything to turn dramatic. During this time, the story wasn’t being funny for the sake of jokes. We were getting comfortable with these characters. If we couldn’t like them here, how would we be able to feel for them later? The comedy was a way to make the serious scenes more powerful.

There is more to this than a simple matter of what comes first. This is a balancing act. There is a gap between these extremes that a story must cross if it hopes to do both. Bypassing it leads to a lopsided narrative. A prime example of a show that failed to maintain comedy and drama was Angel Beats.

Although I did the enjoy that series, Angel Beats' tone was a mess. It tried to have humor and darkness but ended up making both awkward. I don’t want to give too much away, but the general flow was as follows. Goofy pratfalls followed by something more at home in a horror series. While there were hints of some sad backstories, the show went overboard. The comedy was not conducive to this type of turn.

Fruits Basket didn’t do this. Instead, when this series used humor, we learned more about the characters. This show eased into more serious topics. When there was any major revelation, we had some idea of what was possible. That way, when something dramatic did happen it wasn’t sudden. We had a sense of what direction we were heading in. However, the full extent wasn’t apparent until it took place.

There were three scenes that embodied this.

This first involved Momiji Sohma (voiced by Ayaka Saito). From his introduction, he stood out. Unlike Yuki and Kyo, Momiji didn’t appear to care about the curse. He had no issue revealing himself to Tohru when meeting her. He was a ball of blissful energy and a reliable source of relief.

As we were getting to know Momiji, we were also seeing the difficulties of growing up in the Sohma clan. To say it was hard would be an understatement. We were aware of how bad thing got. Thus, when we learned about Momiji’s history, it fit with what was known to be possible. This show crossed the bridge between comedy and drama without burning it down.

Momiji’s story was as tragic as everyone else’s. This, juxtaposed to his usual upbeat attitude, made it, even more heartbreaking. Yet this didn’t ruin any of the humor afterward. The reality was always there, but so was the reasoning.

When Angel Beats tried doing this, it forgot it still needed to tell the rest of its story. Going about its business as though nothing had happened was a major flaw of that show. Fruits Basket got it right because it knew there was work remaining.

Another great example from this series came from Kisa Sohma (voiced by Kaori Nazuka). Like Momiji, Kisa’s character got the chance to develop. A major difference was her story came further in. As a result, it had more establishment to support it. This jump from sweet to tears was much quicker.

Granted, there were a few more differences. Kisa and Momiji’s personalities could not have been more opposite. But the process was the same.

Fruits Basket’s most dramatic turn came at the end. With this, the series now had its entire story backing it. Thus, this allowed the show the freedom to do something a little more extreme. What we got was one of the best moments of the whole thing.

Before closing this off, there are two more notes to this ending. First, Kyo’s voice actor, Tomokazu Seki, gave an outstanding performance. Second, although I liked this conclusion, it wasn’t without its problems. Problems that have to do with this balance between comedy and drama.

Series Negatives

Fruits Basket was an easy watch. That said, this show had no business being twenty-six episodes. There was a ton of stuff that was removable. This was a shame because there was unused material that could have filled the run.

This was more of an issue in the second half. Some episodes felt like filler. I have no idea if these plot lines were in the original manga. But to my understanding, there were some major changes in the anime.

Like any adaptation, this is something you need to expect. So, if you’re going to change something, why not do it in a way that benefits the version of the story you are telling?

In one episode, members of the fanatical Yuki fan club went to Tohru’s friend’s house to find dirt on Tohru.

Credit where it’s due, this episode was funny. Except it had no purpose to the story. This was time that should have gone to other areas. Such as developing more of Kyo’s character.

There may have been three leads, but Tohru and Yuki got the most attention. Things were shaping up for these two to become a couple. There was nothing wrong with that. Or I would be saying that if Kyo wasn’t the more logical route from a storytelling perspective.

While Tohru and Yuki loved each other, it wasn’t as lovers. To make matters worse, Fruits Basket even set it up so that Kyo and Tohru should end up together. Too bad Kyo was an afterthought compared to his fellow mains.

This show needed to focus more on Kyo. And if that was asking too much, then the other Zodiacs should have had more screen presence. It was great whenever Momiji was around. Shigure Sohma (voiced by Ryotaro Okiayu) was always entertaining. Kagura Sohma (voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi) was a blast. She would have also provided more moments with Kyo as well.

We didn’t even get the full Zodiac. The rooster and the horse never made an appearance. I thought the dragon hadn’t either, but it turns out he did. Except this show failed to point out a weaken dragon form apparently looks like a wimpy seahorse.

Fruits Basket wasn’t lacking in possibilities. There were more efficient ways to fill twenty-six episodes. Had this show done that, the ending would have gone from strong to amazing.

Going back to the comedy-drama balance, this show made one major mistake with its ending. Please keep in mind, the final result was fine. This was a great way to conclude this series. But in principle, I have to bring this up.

I said this story had the opportunity to go more extreme. There was a limit and this show exceeded it a little. Up to this point, what was possible seemed well defined. Yet here in the final few episodes, something came about that wasn’t once hinted at. Or at least not to this extent.

Fruits Basket’s ending did come out of nowhere. It didn’t fit with the rest of this series. Fortunately, this conclusion and the story before it was good. The place where they connected, though, was weak.

Two Questions

Despite my enjoyment of this series, there are two questions which are bothering me. Do they ruin this show? Not in the slightest, but it’s hard not to dwell on them.

The first revolves around the actions of Akito Sohma (voiced by Wakaba Murasaki). He was at the center of the Sohma’s curse. He was the God of the Zodiacs. Everyone in the clan was bound to his will. And he was a massive dick.

Akito was cruel to the other Zodiac members. He was abusive, manipulative, and vile. He expected everyone to fall in line. No one could question him. If he suspected the smallest threat to his influence, he would destroy it. One such threat was Tohru.

In Akito’s mind, Tohru was a nuisance. The people he once had an iron grip over, found solace in her. For the first time, the Sohma’s would go against their leader. This infuriated Akito. He believed no outsider could understand what they were going through.

This begs the question. Why did Akito allow Tohru to know the Shoma’s secret, to begin with? He could have had Tohru’s mind erased at the start and then boom, no more problem.

My second question reaches a little further. What was the curse?

I get how transforming into animals can be an inconvenience. It would make it a challenge to get close to other people. But as far as anime curses go, this one wasn’t that bad. I don’t see how it was as awful as everyone made it out to be.

Everyone’s backstories were sad in some way. But that had nothing to do with a curse. Or at least, not directly. Most of the characters grew up in a toxic environment. Neglect, overbearing, resentment, these were common. Except these were the results of the cruelty of people. There weren’t many loving parents in this story. And the ones that were, were dead.

There was only one example of why the curse was bad. Try and guess where this was. If you said, “the out of nowhere ending,” you would be right.

Final Thoughts

The problems I had with this show I brought up out of a sense of integrity. In reality, they do nothing to hamper how good this series is.

The characters are a ton of fun. And there are a lot of people to get to know. This meant a never-ending supply of enjoyment. This show got hilarious, adorable, and sweet. It also became somber, sad, and heartbreaking. This story knew how to navigate between these two extremes.

I have been meaning to watch this series for a long time. It was worth the wait. Fruits Basket is one to check out.

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