Having lost her mother to a car accident and her current
residence being renovated, ever determined Tohru Honda has been living in a
tent that just happens to be on the grounds owned by the mysterious and
powerful Sohma Family. Feeling bad for
her, the handsome Yuki Sohma invites Tohru to come live with him and his
cousins, Shigure and Kyo. It isn’t long
until Tohru literally stumbles into the family secret: 12 members of the family
have been cursed to transform into their Chinese Zodiac member when hugged by a
member of the opposite sex. As Tohru
learns more about the difficult life of the Sohma Clan, the closer she becomes
with several family members…and becomes determined to find a way to free them
from their curse forever.
It cant be just me noticing several Anime from yesteryear
getting reboots or continuations in the last decade. Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball and Devilman are
just a few examples getting a new lease on life in this new age of Anime. So it’s strange to see Fruits Basket getting
the same treatment nearly 20 years after the original Anime aired. But id be lying if I said that I wasn’t all
onboard with it while checking out the first episode. Believe it or not, I did read the Fruits
Basket Manga and check out the original Anime when both were coming to the
States (courtesy of it being one of the first big Anime and Manga my sister got
into). It’s been a long time but I do
remember bits of Fruits Basket fondly. So
I know I’m not the only one whose nostalgia strings were tugged on in this new
debut.
I was surprised how faithful this new Anime is staying
not just to the story but the artstyle too.
There are certain images recreated from the Manga that invoke that feel
good nature of early 2000’s Anime. It’s
hard to describe but the new Fruits Basket doesn’t try to look anything like
most Anime you see today. This is a
nostalgia train on full steam power and it’s kind of awesome really. From the
first appearance of Tohru, everything came flooding back to me at once: the
gorgeous scenery of the Sohma household; the always entertaining banter between
Yuki, Kyo and Shigure; the whimsically funny but heartbreaking storyline. Fruits Basket’s first episode plays beat for
beat the first couple chapters of the Manga and the first episode of the original
Anime without attempting to really spice things up beyond the new
animation. And that’s perfectly ok for
now. I suspect that one thing this new
iteration is destined to do is tell the complete Manga story, unlike the
original series which only went up to Volume 6 (I think) and deviated from the
original story at times too). So it’s ok
to run at a leisurly pace like the Manga and get the story going properly. At least by the end of the episode we did get
the big reveal of the Sohma Family secret and Tohru’s eternally priceless
reaction.
I feel like for the high school kid in me, that first
read a bit of the Manga in a preview guide, that I should continue on with this
new Fruits Basket. It’s hard to say if
the final product will finally bring the entire Manga to life at last. But it’s undeniable how good it is to see
these characters again, feel the magic of the story and enjoy a glimpse of artwork
that has aged very well and is being recreated in good hands. I never knew how much I missed Tohru Honda or
the Sohmas until I saw them again. If
you’re just discovering Fruits Basket for the first time, I think sticking with
it for a bit wouldn’t hurt. You might be
in for a surprise, and I hope I am too.
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