Review of Fruits Basket

The genius of this anime is not a complex story full of irony and plot twists; in fact the story is somewhat predictable. However, unlike much anime, this one does not depend on the characters emphatic exclamations of ‘I will do my best’ and willful hearts to solve everything. The characters experience realistic problems and misunderstandings. They struggle with their emotions and are often unable to overcome them in the face of their own logic. The main character is kind and giving, but the reason others love her is NOT because she sacrifices herself to others petty impositions. Sheis important in the story because she can see past what people say and do, to what is really wrong underneath. She also bears up under her own past admirably, but is not flawless and is as healed by her friends as they are by her.

I did not give the series a 10 because the animation was not particularly amazing, there were a few wasted episodes that dragged on and were unrelated to the main arc, and in the end they never solved the original question of what the curse of the zodiac is. Like many anime there is more to tell, though there is more closure in this story than in most.