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Plot Synopsis

Honda Tohru is may be the unluckiest high school girl ever. Not only she had to face her mother's death alone, she now have to live alone and better still, has no place to live. Desperate, she tried to live in a small tent on a portion of seemingly un-owned land. However, bad luck was still on her side, as a landslide actually buried her new home and all her belongings. The Souma family, who was actually the owner of that piece of land discovered her and after listening to her story they kindly took her in and gave her a temporary place to stay in their house. Tohru, in turn, was expected to help the three Souma boys with their household chores such as cleaning, washing the laundry, and cooking. Tohru considered herself to be lucky to actually be allowed to stay in the same house as the 'prince' of her highschool.

It was all looking good til the time that one (un)fortunate incident revealed their true selves to the clueless and ever so dim-witted Tohru. Though shocked and surprised, Tohru decided to keep their secrets with her to her death. However, will the Souma family approved of an outsider knowing their deepest darkest secret? And how will this secret change Tohru's life? Was her meeting with the Soumas a fortunate encounter, or maybe it was the exact opposite?

Synopsis by: Tareren

Story & Characters

Story is based on Chinese Astrology, mainly the 12 Zodiac animals.
The main character is a highschool student, Honda Tohru, who is trying her best to live at life, as her parents are no longer alive. She is a kind person who sometimes easy to see through. Uses the memory of her mother to increase her will to live.
Now it gets interesting when she meets a family cursed with a curse that will make the person change into an animal (specifically, an animal of the 12 zodiac animals of Chinese astrology) when hugged or sexually aroused by another person of the opposite sex.
So what makes the story so much fun? Well imagine the inability to come in contact with a person of the opposite sex. How frustrated would you be? Imagine having a secret you hate so much but can't share with anyone?
The story is kinda repetitve in a way, discovering more and more of the family members as the story progresses, each with a different history, usually sad.

This shoujou contains many funny parts if you're looking for a laugh, very dramatical if you're looking for something emotional and fun if you're just trying to enjoy your time!

Rating

7 (above average)

Art

The first thing I noticed with the main character Honda Tohru - BIG EYES. Yes, the eyes are huge and kinda elongeated vertically, but truly beautiful because of the style used in it (I guess it kinda looks painted)
The way the art changes when characters get angry or shy adds more to the mood.
Mysterious characters look mysterious, funny characters look funny. You can easily tell the character's personality through the art. Enviroments are colorful, adding more life to the anime, and since this is a Shoujou, you should expect a somewhat shojou-style art. (Tall characters with long legs, usually thin. The hair having this shoujou feel to it)
Not a very unique art but still very enjoyable to view. (Unless you hate shoujou art-style)

Rating

5 (moderate)

Sound

The Opening music is nice and very calm. This helps by add to the mood of the series as a whole through emoitions.
The same is with the ending. It helps release all these emotions you have accumulated while watching the series.
The voices are perfect according to my view. Each voice perfectly fits the character's looks and personality. The hot-headed character has a hot-headed kind of voice. The calm and mysterious also has the perfect voice. I also found that Honda Tohru's voice was just perfect for Fruits Basket
Music is variant, from calm to chaos-type (rock) and even annoying ones (yep, this also fits the mood). This was done so well that even though there are sudden switches from one to the other, you don't feel the jaggedness in it, but you rather appreciate it as it adds more to either emotins or humor.

Rating

9 (very good)

Presentation

Since this was one of the first anime series I watched, it remains a favorite! I feel this is very original because I have never seen a shoujou series having a similar plotline. Yes, the transformation thing is common in anime series, but not in the way that Fruits Basket presents it. Fruits Basket uses this theme as a main thing to advance the plot.

Humor has been fitted into the series in such a good way that makes it enjoyable. You will have your laughs when watching this series. I really recommend to watch this series with friends to share the laughs and emotions.
This series is truly enjoyable to watch because it has a mix of everything and is not comlpex, so does not require deep thinking or understanding to enjoy completely. The simplness also adds to the liking of this series

The characters are unique and different, both in personality and looks. You might get goosbumps in certain areas because of the emotions that run through you. Two words mainly control the theme of Frutis Basket: Emotions and Humor.

Rating

8 (good)

Final Verdict

7.33 (above average)

Reviewed by Tatsumi09, 3y 40wk ago