Fruits Basket Anime Review

"Fruits Basket, sometimes abbreviated Furuba or Fruba, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya" (Wiki) and then turned anime series. I have only read volume one of the manga but the anime I just finished. There was an original series but it ended with the first season. Fans seemed to think that the first series wasn't doing the manga justice when it came to representing the material. That series (from 2001) is the reason I discovered Fruits Basket. Now there is a new series that started in 2019 and just finished in 2021.

The story was beautiful, I felt like I could relate in some way to almost every character and this series had me in tears until the end. They pull every emotion out of you throughout the show and that is what stood out with me. The writer(s) and director(s) knew exactly what they were doing! The voice actors especially, I feel voice actors don't get enough credit. The voices in this series matched so well with the characters and their personalities as well as their appearances. Tohru and Kyo especially. Kyo and Tohru are honestly the main characters by the end of the series.

I guess one of my reasons why this anime was so great was because I'm more into romance animes that aren't too sexual. This romance wasn't straight-up romance and it is often considered a "slice of life" type anime. And it is! All the characters have something in their lives going on and it shows what some people have to go through in real life. I love that so much because so many of us who watch it feel more understood and not so alone with our issues and whatever mental health problems we face. This is why I recommend everyone over 13 to give it a watch. There is no nudity (from what I can remember) but there are some words younger audiences would probably not want to hear. I mean it's anime so usually, the audience is late teens to mid-adult-hood. But anime is for everyone in my opinion.

The first season started slow for me but take into consideration that I did watch the original first season of the series so it felt like I was watching it over again. However, it was way different and it had way better character development than the original season one. When I started watching the series I was rooting for Tohru and Yuki or rather, "prince Yuki" as his little fan club in the series likes to call him. But later as the episodes progressed it was like a switch. KYO AND TOHRU WERE MEANT FOR EACH OTHER. And you'll see it in the final season or even in the middle of season two on why that is.

The second season was a really attention-grabbing season and that's when the story started to pick up for me. If I had to rate the seasons based on which I think is better it would go 3,2,1. Backward of course, but for me, I enjoyed the last two seasons. The third season is when a lot of shiz hits the fan! Yes, I meant to say shiz. But seriously! Season three has been one of the best seasons of any anime I have ever watched.

Let me bring up Akito before I forget to mention the most important parts. Akito comes off as a "prick" and some may mistake her/them as a boy but that is how their mother raised them to be. I disliked Akito the whole series until the last few episodes and if you finished the series you'd probably agree. But I felt guilty after the last episode for feeling those hatred feelings towards them. But they are complicated characters. You want to understand them but they make it so hard throughout the whole series especially after their and Tohru's first encounter. But they do get better.

I don't want to give too many spoilers but I do want to finish this review letting you all know that this will forever be my most favourite and cherished anime season ever. If you haven't seen it then you're going to have to. There are so many life lessons and beautiful stories and backgrounds told in this beautiful anime and even the manga. I give this series 10/10 stars!

One more thing... This story also involves a zodiac curse on the Soma family. How did I not list this first? I have no clue but here you go; do with this information what you will. If I say too much, I'll spoil the whole series and you won't watch it! So go watch! It is streaming on Funimation right now.