Fruits Basket Anime Review

FRUITS BASKET SCORE: 9.00 

INTRODUCTION & SNYOPSIS

Fruits Basket is one of the most serene, comical, and just plain adorable animes I have ever seen. This anime cheered me up every time I watched it. The story revolves around the cheeriest, kindest, and sweetest anime character of all time - Tohru Honda. Although she has recently lost her mother and is living with her grandfather, she remains bright and spirited. When her grandfather's home becomes a renovation and construction zone she ends up residing in a tent out in the abandoned woods. These woods end up not being so abandoned after all when a popular boy from her school Yuki Sohma and his older girl-crazy brother Shigure find Tohru while wandering about outside their house one day. They offer her to stay in their home so she is not left out in the open, and Tohru becomes their housemaid in exchange. Shortly thereafter the fierce and disgruntled Kyo Sohma is sent to Sohma House too, to live there against his will. So we have sweet Tohru living with the three Sohma boys Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure... but it doesn't stop there. 

As it would turn out, every member of the Sohma family is cursed to turn into whatever zodiac animal they are when they come into physical contact with a member of the opposite sex who is outside of the Sohma bloodline. Yuki is the rat, Shigure is the dog, and Kyo is the cat. Because the cat isn't a part of the original zodiac due to a legendary trick played by the rat, Yuki and Kyo are sworn enemies. Due to this family rivalry, Yuki and Kyo begin fighting and consequently stumble into Tohru causing her to find out about the shocking curse in comical order. The show focuses on the emotional back stories of different members of the Sohma family along with possible budding romances between Yuki and Kyo with Tohru through comical and fun adventures in Shoujo fashion.

PROS

Starting off with animation and music, both pass with flying colors. The animation's simplistic style fits the tone perfectly, and it switches up to match comedic moments well. The music is so soothing and relaxing, putting you in the mood to watch Fruits Basket. The voice acting was also very well done (Eng Dub).

The characters are the life force of this anime; they are all very likable and the kind of people you want to see interact. Even if they are just hanging out at home - it's fun to see. Tohru with her overly sweet nature, Shigure always singing about "High school girls, High school girls!" and Kyo acting kind of like a male tsundere. Even the side-characters were lovable, particularly Momiji Sohma; he has a really sad back story that makes you fall in love with him even more later in the series. There is one episode where they all go to a bath house and he sings the most adorable song - "Who's in the forest strolling? The birds and the bees sing Momiji."

Additionally, the love triangle between Tohru, Kyo and Yuki was really well done. It was entertaining, funny, and a mystery. Kyo was my favorite; if I could date an anime character it would probably be Kyo. Him and Tohru had the better connection of the two, and you really felt like he needed Tohru; they complimented each other. However, I had no idea who she would end up with, and by the end.. well we will get to that in the cons. 

Lastly, I want to applaud Fruits Basket for being an anime that everyone can enjoy. Even though it's shoujo, I think guys would still like this anime if they like romance or comedy genres.

CONS

While I didn't have many complaints, I do have one major one: The ending. Now, the ending is not terrible, it's actually quite good. There is great emotional climax and secrets unveiled/ questions answered - everything you could ask for in an ending right? Wrong. This anime is in the romance genre and their was a prominent love triangle in the story; while yes, you could make your guess as to who she ends up with, and I'm pretty sure she ends up with this person.. we just don't know for certain. It's ambiguous. Even though she helped this one guy with his struggle and ran after him, the way the last scenes are it's like everything is as it always is - she doesn't appear to be with him or not with him. Simply put, I would love to see another season of this although I know it's not happening.

My last con is a character named Akito Sohma. He is the leader of the Sohmas, and he is a complete jerk. He sits holed up in this dark room and hurts the characters we all love so much with no reason and no resolution. I feel like the anime would have been fine without his inclusion.

FINAL THOUGHTS

All and all, this anime is highly enjoyable. It made me laugh, feel its emotion, it cheered me up and relaxed me all at the same time. I loved how it wasn't overly Shoujo, and I wish I could watch more. Therefore, I give Fruits Basket a 9 out of 10, a near perfect anime with minimal flaws.

Watched on: www.dubs2go.net (free source)