Fruits Basket: Reviewing a Classic

Gone are the Tokyopop days...

Fruits Basket first came into my life around 2007. It was one of the first manga I got into, and carries a lot of nostalgia for me, even though in reality I didn’t make it that far in the series. I have a fondness for the characters. I have merch. There’s still evidence of me doodling Yuki’s mouse form in my notebooks to this day. I’ve only seen clips of the original anime, but I still have Momiji’s song memorized in both Japanese and English. It’s a classic that I, and many other fans of anime and manga, hold very dear.

So, I thought it was finally time I finished it. Thirteen years is long enough, right? Twenty-three volumes of a manga series is not exactly the same as a 300-page novel, but although I’m out of practice, I can still read maybe two volumes in one night when given the time. And lo, I have finally completed the series.

Fruits Basket is a shoujo manga, or a manga for young girls, by Natsuki Takaya. The story follows a high schooler named Tohru Honda who just lost her mother in a car accident, but is getting by in part thanks to her ever cheerful and strong-willed personality. One day, she comes into contact with the Sohma family, a clan cursed by the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac, as well as the Cat. The characters change into their animal of the Zodiac when embraced. Most notable are the main boys Yuki, who turns into the Mouse, and Kyo, who turns into the Cat. As Tohru grows closer to the Sohmas, she becomes determined to figure out how to break the curse and finally let them be free to live the lives they want to live. There’s also lots and lots of romance and comedy.

The same things 11-year-old me enjoyed, I still enjoyed reading this time. The story is very funny and dynamic. The characters have relationships that vary from slapstick to profound depending on the scene, and there are many touching moments that made me tear up. Uo and Hana (Tohru’s friends) are still so cool and Momiji (a Sohma cursed by the Rabbit) is still adorable. The author teases mysteries in a way that makes you want to keep reading, and doesn’t get annoying. I rarely found myself bored or uninterested in what was going on, whether I was learning someone’s backstory or watching the characters struggle to break watermelons.

It was also interesting to see the story mature as the characters do. In the earlier parts of the series, the characters often get into crazy fights with speed lines, borderline super strength, and property damage that becomes a little bit of a running joke. In comparison, the final fight is much more toned down, only the characters get hurt. It reads less like a gag manga as the characters problems become more forefront and realistic, dealing with abandonment, parental neglect and abuse, and more, and that was an interesting development.

The theme of the cycle was also interesting to read. Of course, there is the cycle of the Zodiacs and the Lunar New Year, but the series also places an emphasis on the seasons changing, particularly winter and spring. The story loves endings and new beginnings, how sad and lonely an ending can be, but also how exciting it is to gain new experiences. In fact, that idea becomes key in understanding the Sohmas and their curse, and, more broadly, in watching all of the children grow into adulthood. There is a rejection of permanency, but a celebration of what once was. An excited curiosity towards the new, but also the fear of the unknown and the loneliness of leaving one’s comfort zone, all theming I enjoyed.

As far as dislikes go, I’ll start with something small. I’m not and have never really been a huge fan of romance. So, when basically all the characters start pairing off in the latter half of the series, I wasn’t super enthusiastic about it, despite knowing that it was going to happen. The characters are also very insular, so everyone gets paired with someone another member from the central cast already knows. There is one exception for a major pairing, but a connection is made due to an incident involving the character’s brother prior to the start of the series. This is not something I like, but it’s not exactly bad. Same thing with the majority of the parents being really bad, and the good parents being mostly dead. Sometimes too much (ie. The writer wants me to cry and it’s obvious so it just makes it feel cheesy at best, exploitative at worst), but not exactly a detriment.

The way the series handles gender was something of a turn-off. No, I was not expecting a manga from 1998 to be up on gender politics, but something I remember being fond of as a child was seeing the characters play with androgyny, even if it was often for comedy. Now that I’m older, I see how essentialist the series is. In some ways, duh, because the characters change into their animal forms when hugged by someone of the “opposite” sex. It adds to the tragedy of the romance. Like oh noo they can’t touch each other ☹ There’s also the unfortunate trope of a character being forced to present as a different gender as a form a child abuse, a dangerous idea transphobes use to invalidate the existence of trans kids. All the characters that show some kind of GNC-ness get aligned with their AGAB by the end, making it a phase or a flaw to be overcome. The gender-confused 11-year-old in me was disappointed by that, but the 24-year-old was not surprised.

Then there’s the age gap stuff. “Age gap” is downplaying it, to be honest, considering it’s not two adults, but rather adults and children. One relationship gets treated as very precious and romantic, but begins with half as a junior high student and the other as her teacher (a teaching intern, but still clearly in a position of power over this child from an abusive household clearly seeking someone to care about her). Their story was uncomfortable to read, and I ended up skipping parts of it. This relationship dynamic is a shoujo manga trope that I hate, and a pretty common fantasy in general that I just don’t get. The teacher does end up (spoiler?) dying from a mysterious disease, though, so I got my kicks from that.

Reviewing Fruits Basket feels weird. Like I said before, it’s a classic that many people have a lot of nostalgia for, including myself. Its impact has already been made. So, because of that, I can’t really rate it. Do I recommend it? Sure. It’s a staple shoujo with a unique, interesting story and elements that people may need warnings for. It’s worth checking out to see why people treasure it so much, whether they read it for the first time as a middle school student or an adult. As much as what bothered me really bothered me, the series will still be special, which may be silly but such is the nostalgic mind. Our problematic faves.

Ambiguous number of rice balls out of 5

There is actually an anime reboot that started just last year! If you aren’t up for reading 23 volumes of a comic, check out that adaption here.

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