I first read Fruits Basket when I was in middle school and so nostalgia is in full-force in my judgement of this series. So fair warning.

Language I read it in: English/Japanese

Story/Characters:

This is a story of abuse and how people deal with and recover from abuse so that they can live, disguised as a whimsical fantasy rom-com. The tone of the series does shift from a more light-hearted series to a much more serious series towards the end, but the balance of humor and drama is steady throughout and you are really given the time to explore and fall in love with the characters.

Fruits Basket has A LOT of characters, but you are given a chance to learn about each character and most are given a full character arc. This CAN mean going a whole volume without an appearance by the protagonist but the cast is strong enough that this is never an issue.

Art:

The art improves and stabilizes over the course of the series which was nice to see. It's not exceptional, but serves it's purpose and never distracts in a negative way so I found it acceptable.

Warnings:

There is a LOT of child abuse in this series. I think it's done tactfully and treats the subject seriously but if just the thought of it is bad I wouldn't read it.
At least one on-screen death, and talk of suicide. Some stabbing and other violence of that sort towards the end.