Fruits Basket review

Hueco14
Apr 02, 2021
For people who enjoy shoujo, Fruits Basket is a must-read. I've been told that for years, but every time I tried to get through it, I had a very difficult time. I would get through the first few chapters, feel like it was too juvenile and predictable, and tuck it away to try again later. I must have started it 10 different times. Finally, I managed to power through the clumsy beginning and get to the heart of what I discovered was one of the most moving stories I've ever read. The mangaka did a huge bait-and-switch with this series. Either that or she had some traumatic life event halfway through and channeled her pain into her work. Either way, it's brilliant.

>Story-----------------10

In the beginning, Fruits Basket gives the impression that you'll go through 130+ chapters just giggling at the heroine's clumsiness and awwing at the the touching moments between her and her apparent love interests. All of the characters have difficult pasts, but they hide their pain well, even from the audience. However, as time goes on and their bonds strengthen, you start to get a glimpse of just how deeply their childhood scars affect them. Despite the supernatural element, this really is a slice of life more than anything else.

>Art---------------------10

Clean style without a lot of unnecessary details, which I appreciate. The characters all had unique designs and were easily recognizable. I wasn't a huge fan of how angular their faces got as they got older, but that's not something I'd bump off points for.

>Characters-----------9

All of the characters were extremely well developed and had intriguing backstories that interwove with each other. When you're talking about over a dozen characters, that's really impressive. The story doesn't solely focus on the heroine or the "love triangle", but instead takes a lot of care in making sure everyone gets their chance in the spotlight so that we can understand and relate to them, both as individuals and in relation to the other characters. It's really a huge accomplishment.

The reason I'm rating it a 9 instead of a 10, though, is because I'm picky about my heroines, and Tooru falls a little short for me. Her main purpose throughout the story is really to help all the other characters find courage through her kindness and generosity. It's a little cliched, and I feel like she didn't develop as much as she could have because she was constantly existing for other people. We get a small glimpse into her "true" self near the end, and it was very touching, but it just wasn't as fleshed out as it could have been.

>Enjoyment-----------10

I really love this series, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who likes shoujo or slice of life. I'll probably be re-reading it at some point once it's not so fresh in my mind because all the twists and turns ended up leaving me a little dizzy, and I feel like I could definitely get something new out of it the next time.
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Fruits Basket
Fruits Basket
Auteur Takaya, Natsuki
Artiste