A few months ago my friends and I somehow got on the subject of anime, and one of them recommended that I should watch Fruits Basket. At first, when she told me what it was about, I thought it sounded really wierd. Apparently, there's this really sweet girl who's living in a tent in the woods when she comes across this family, mostly made up of boys. This family, the Sohma family, decides to let Tohru stay with them, but what Tohru eventually learns is that the family is under a curse. Whenever they are really stressed out or hugged by someone of the opposite gender, they turn into one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. Even though this anime is set in Japan. Oh well. Anyways, the Sohmas take her in, and the rest of the series is basically about their misadventures and the breaking of the Sohma curse.
I thought it sounded okay, so I gave it a go. And really, even though the series has its uber-wierd and slightly awkward moments, it was pretty amazing. I thought that Tohru Honda, the girl protagonist, would annoy the crap out of me. Well, she did a little, because she's just so dang cheery all the time, but I mostly ended up liking her strength of spirit to be happy in spite of recently losing her mother, and her selflessness. Tohru never thinks of herself. She spends all of her time thinking of how to make those around her feel happy and welcome; and in one instance in the series, she even spends all of her hard-earned money to buy her "family" Valentine's day chocolates.
The first three Sohmas whom Tohru meets are Shigure, the dog of the zodiac and a novelist/pervert; Yuki, the purple-haired rat and the self-conscious "Prince" of the school; and Kyo (Lord, I hate being a fangirl, but... fangirl scream!!! AHHH!!!) the orange-haired cat of the family who has major anger issues. See, the cat is basically the utter outcast of the zodiac, and thus the outcast of the Sohma family. To see the whole story, watch the anime!
Over the scope of the series, which is quite impressive, Tohru meets various other Sohmas, such as Ayame, the snake and Yuki's older brother; Hatori, the "dragon" of the zodiac and the mysterious family doctor; Rin, the horse of the family who also struggles with some anger issues; Haru, the cow whom you do NOT want to upset; and Momiji (another one of my favorites), the rabbit of the zodiac who looks way younger than he really is. All in all, they were a very colorful, intriguing, and fun cast of characters, each of whom I came to love and care about. All of them struggled with anger and pain due to neglect and abuse and the hands of their leader, Akito; but Tohru helps each of them to overcome their struggles and issues with her enduring cheerfulness and strength of character. That is most of why I loved this anime. There were a lot of lessons to be learned from watching the lives of these characters, such as how to love somebody more than yourself, that happiness is a choice, and that forgiveness is the most powerful thing in the world. It is also downright hilarious, and never gets bogged down in the heavy issues it represents. And lastly, who can ignore the romantic conflict in this shojo anime??? Tohru-Yuki, Tohru-Kyo, Tohru-Momiji... who will she end up with???
So all-in-all, I would definitely recommend this award-winner to anybody who would love a good, solid anime; and not just girls, although there are a lot of guys in this anime to fangirl-swoon over. Apparently this show has a large male fan base, and has a lot for them as well. It is definitely NOT just about romance. If it was, I probably would not be recommending it right now. But even more than watching the anime (which can be found on Netflix dubbed), I would very much recommend the manga, which tells the rest of the story that the 26 anime episodes only begin to unfurl. You can read it here; I'm pretty sure I read it all in about 5 days in the middle of studying for exams (http://mangafox.me/manga/fruits_basket/).
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