Review of Fruits Basket

I watched Fruits Basket during one of my shoujo sprees. It was thanks to Fruits Basket that I haven't had another shoujo spree since then. I honestly couldn't fathom where all the glowing reviews and loyal fanbase came from. I went into Fruits Basket a bit wary of the synopsis, but determined to enjoy it. I mean, my friends loved it and the Internet loved it, so why shouldn't I? So I dived right in, knowing little about it but the basis zodiac + hugs synopsis. I found myself plowing through the episodes, but not for the same reasons I did for other shows - insteadof craving one episode after the next, I was trying to find something, anything, to like about Fruits Basket.

The art and characters were both horrendous, which killed the entire series considering Fruits Basket is entirely built off of the "shoujo with quirky characters and fun premise" market. All "depth" the creator gave the characters and plot felt so superficial that the whole show became something of a desperate effort to get you to sympathize with the protagonists. The only saving grace came from Kyo and Shigure, but their comedic values did little to counterbalance the mess that was everything else. (Hikaru Hitachiin played the role of brash but caring much better than Kyo, too...) Yuuki and Tooru, though often praised for being deep, weren't. They were generic and the scenes showing their tragic, troubled sides were poorly executed. And god, were they a pain to look at. The main conflict and climax depended on the characters, too, so the attempt to invoke nonexistent feels in the viewer really fell flat.

If you're looking for a fun shoujo to watch, please keep on looking. Fruits Basket really isn't worth it, especially with all the other great shows out there.

(Note: I've tried to read the manga. It wasn't much better. It was slow to develop and the art was still godawful, but I do prefer it over the anime.)