Fruits Basket was my first manga and at the time, I got quite far with the volumes. However; I recently started over with the books for the sake of not confusing myself with the events. Just a little something to keep in mind.

The series starts out as a typical comedy with silly antics that you would usually see in almost any manga, which makes one believe Fruits Basket to be simple and light hearted tale. But the further you read in to the story, you begin to learn dark secrets that different characters are hiding about themselves. The interesting thing to note about the series is that it gets in depth about practically each individual character from the Sohma's to Tohru's friends, which in my option makes them far more likable and gives them a sense of realism.

Natsuki Takaya's art style starts off somewhat off-putting (Though this is just my own personal opinion) to begin with, but her style begins to improve with each volume and eventually it becomes much more pleasant to look at.

Each character in the story goes through some type of development, even though the steps are quite small, you do begin to notice a difference in their attitudes over a period of time. Again, giving of a sense of realism. You find yourself relating to the characters and even rooting for them.

If you have a lot of time on your hands, I highly recommend reading Fruits Basket wither you are new to the concept of manga or you are simply interested in reading it. Although you must keep in mind that the series is quite long and might take a few days to complete.