Review of Fruits Basket

If I had to pick the best way to describe Fruits Basket with a single word, it would be "Delightful." I know I'm derailing the review almost immediately, but for the latter half of 2023 and early 2024, I was having a bitter relationship with anime. Part of it was burnout, admittedly. I have a list of last protocol anime I thought I would enjoy. To rekindle my passion for the medium, and to bring me back into the anime sphere once again. Fruits Basket is one of the shows I had on that list. So was Fruits Basket able to relieve the burnout?Well, I'll save that answer for the end of the review. I've been meaning to watch this anime for many years now, and I finally got to it in May of 2024. Took me a while to get to it, but hey, better late than never.

Tooru Honda, age sixteen, dead mother, and homeless. Tooru has had a pretty turbulent life up until this point. After her mother passed away, she ends up staying with her grandfather. For about a nanosecond. Due to some home renovations, and not wanting to be a burden to anyone else, she now lives in the woods. Until she encounters the most popular boy at her school, Yuki Souma. He's quiet and aloof, but doesn't seem like a bad guy. Tooru has been living in a tent for a while now, but once the tent is destroyed due to a landslide, Yuki invites her to stay at his home. We're then introduced to Shigure Souma, a member of Yuki's family. He doesn't give the best first impression, mostly because he was laughing his ass off at Tooru for living in the woods. Not cool dude. Then out of nowhere, we meet Kyou Souma. Channeling his inner vertical Kool-Aid Man by busting through the ceiling. He's short-tempered and quick to violence, but under that rough exterior he has a kind heart. I will quickly mention that later on, he does judo flip an adorble school girl who just wanted to be his friend. That was mean :(. But I promise, deep down he cares! He just doesn't want other people to see his sensitive side. He does have a strong hatred for Yuki, however.

Kyou's disdain for Yuki revolves around the most important theme of Fruits Basket. That thing your girlfriend won't shut up about. ZODIACS! Specifically the Chinese zodiac. Every blood relative of the Souma family is cursed with the ability to transform into one of the Chinese zodiacs. They transform if overly stressed or touched by someone of the opposite sex. Which begs the question...how does their family continue to have sex? Uhhh, well, now that I think about it, I don't really want to know. I'm not entirely sure if it's explained. If it was, it went over my head. Due to some ancient animal drama, and a race to determine who would be a part of the Chinese calendar, the Rat kinda screwed over the Cat by not allowing him to participate. In order it goes Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. With the Cat being the unofficial thirteenth member. Also, this is all wrapped up in a faux reverse harem romance drama. Almost forgot to mention that. Sorry.

I'm skipping a few details, but that is mostly the overall plot without delving deep into spoiler territory. There are many more characters introduced throughout the show's run. Most of which are members of the zodiac. Some good, some great, and some Ritsu. Kagura is a personal favorite of mine. And Tooru's mother, a character who doesn't even show up, is also one of the best characters in the cast. Ignoring the very Ranma ½-esque premise, I thought Fruits Basket was pretty great. After all these years, I'm still ranting about Ranma ½. I think I have a problem. Cut to me in 2032 still ranting about that disasterpiece. Just in case you're curious, I've been watching the Ranma ½ reboot. I have no strong feelings one way or the other. At least, that's what I was originally going to say. I'm actually having a fun time with it. Mostly because so far it's only adapting the early episodes, i.e. the best ones. Anyway, I had a fun time with Fruits Basket. It shifts between silly, pleasant, and dramatic exceedingly well. It doesn't feel like a Kyouran Kazoku Nikki or a Futakoi Alternative. All of the tone shifts feel natural and organic. Just like all of the Fruits I have in my basket lol. I described Fruits Basket as "Delightful" in the beginning of this review, but now that I'm thinking about it, this anime has a lot more tragedy than you would expect. Not just with Tooru, but with other characters introduced later on. One of the strongest aspects of Fruits Basket is probably the characters themselves. I find almost all of them to be loveable in their own unique ways. Especially Tooru. A hard working little lady who has been put into many sad situations, but never faltering in the face of adversity. She reminds me a lot of Sana Kurata from Kodocha. And I mention Sana Kurata because they both have the same English voice actress, Laura Bailey. I watched the English dub for this, mostly for Laura Bailey. Personally, I think she's fantastic in almost every role she plays. Her voice makes Tooru even more adorable than she already is. As a matter of fact, every girl in this anime is really adorble. They all have such cute little faces.

I'm not exactly sure how people feel about the dub. As a whole, I think it's just okay. There are a few weak links, but Laura Bailey carries most of it for me. Although, for a long time, I've had this pet peeve about people ragging on dubs. People have this collective mentality that dubs are bad, m'kay. All dubs are bad and have always been bad. When in reality, most people think of the awful dubs of the 90's. Which were terrible. That can't be denied. Back when "actors" were never actually actors to begin with. It was just your Uncle Todd, who was going through a rough patch and needed a thirteen dollar check. He played Yuji Whatshisfuck in some obscure OVA so he could fuel his crack cocaine addiction. You can make the argument that it's an inferior way of consuming anime. That's fair. However, in terms of quality, they're not inherently bad. Especially in the past sixteen years or so. I think English dubs are infinitely better these days. When it comes to the "Sub versus Dub" debate, I'm essentially on both sides. It doesn't matter to me. It all depends on my mood and what I'm feeling at that moment. I know it also comes down to a personal preference for people. Both have pros and cons. Okay, rant over.

The directing and visual presentation of the anime is very neat. From the stylish eyecatches in between episodes, to the fight scenes, to just general comedic bits that look great. Like the Yuki Girls, for example. Seeing their little Yuki chant and quirky bit of animation is always a treat. Even when nothing interesting is happening, the animation is still solid. Also any moment involving Shigure is pretty great, as well. I mentioned earlier that he was a bit of a jerk, but after finishing the show, that was definitely an exception. He's most certainly the funniest part of the show for me. Bit of a mischievous character.
Both the OP and ED songs are wonderful. There is an English version of both songs if you choose to watch the dub. In all honesty, I think both versions are great. Especially both versions of the OP. The song "For Fruits Basket" is beautiful yet somber. You wouldn't expect it, but the OP aptly sets the tone for the roller-coaster ride of drama you're going to experience later. Between Ritsuko Okazaki and Meredith McCoy, I might actually prefer the Japanese version slightly more. Ritsuko Okazaki has such a superb voice, and sings the ED, as well. Laura Bailey also sings the ED in the English version, and that version is lovely.

I love Fruits Basket! 8 out of 10! It's great! I'm thankful for having such a positive experience during that time period. Was it able to rekindle my passionate love for anime? Not...really. I still care about this medium and I'll continue watching, but my drive is "mostly" gone for now. It's like that one lyric from "If You Could Read Mind" by Gordon Lightfoot. You know the one. Maybe it's for the best I don't binge watch a lot of anime. I should take my time, at least for now. Also, I've never watched the 2019 reboot. From a distance, it seems like it lacks many of the creative directing and production choices the original has. It looks like watered down Fruits Basket. I could be wrong, but that's how I perceive it. Now, let's see how 2025 treats us. Happy New Year!

Peace.