Japanese: フルーツバスケット 1st season
Episodes: 25
Aired: Apr 6, 2019 to Sep 21, 2019
Studio: TMS Entertainment
Genre: Drama, Slice of Life, Supernatural, Shoujo
Duration: 23 min. per ep.
Rating: PG-13 – Teens 13 or older
Add to list on MAL
MY RATING: 9 out of 10
Tooru Honda has always been fascinated by the story of the Chinese Zodiac that her beloved mother told her as a child. However, a sudden family tragedy changes her life, and subsequent circumstances leave her all alone. Tooru is now forced to live in a tent, but little does she know that her temporary home resides on the private property of the esteemed Souma family. Stumbling upon their home one day, she encounters Shigure, an older Souma cousin, and Yuki, the “prince” of her school. Tooru explains that she lives nearby, but the Soumas eventually discover her well-kept secret of being homeless when they see her walking back to her tent one night.
Things start to look up for Tooru as they kindly offer to take her in after hearing about her situation. But soon after, she is caught up in a fight between Yuki and his hot-tempered cousin, Kyou. While trying to stop them, she learns that the Souma family has a well-kept secret of their own: whenever they are hugged by a member of the opposite sex, they transform into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.
With this new revelation, Tooru will find that living with the Soumas is an unexpected adventure filled with laughter and romance.
via MAL
I remember how I had a lot of tears watching the first Fruits Basket anime that was aired last 2001. So when I found out that there’s a new anime reboot for Fruits Basket, I knew I had to watch it. But unfortunately, I lost track and only watched it last year, hahaha.
I am actually not planning on creating a separate review for each season, but for this anime, I knew I had to after rewatching the first season. Even after watching it a second time, it was still so emotionally beautiful.
Opening & Ending Themes + Song
I’m still watching the opening and I can already feel my tears welling up. The song is just really emotional and the theme looks really good. Although I liked the 2001 Fruits Basket, I am really loving the glow-up, *wink.
The 2nd opening gave me a hopeful feeling, not just because of the theme but also the song. It was beautiful.
The 1st ending looks really relaxing with all of the zodiacs sleeping, and the song just fits perfectly. But dang! That 2nd ending took my heart. I absolutely love it especially when it was played on the last part for episode 24 while Kyou was talking, that was just perfect <3
Story
I remember the first time I watched this series, I was really impressed with the plot. I love how the creator combined slice of life, supernatural, drama, a little bit of comedy and romance together. It was perfectly blended, I can’t even remember if there were any episodes that left me disappointed or confused.
The pacing of the story for me was done pretty well – not too fast and not too slow either. I actually love that even though the main focus was Tohru, Kyo and Yuki, other characters were still given enough screen time giving us the opportunity to really get to know them. The common denominator of each character is Tohru, who for me is one of the best girls in this series. It’s just amazing how she can say the perfect words to each character, especially those that are really struggling. In return, you can’t help but get really interested in her mother – the woman who shaped Tohru into the wonderful girl that she is. Hopefully we can get to know more about her in the next season.
Overall, season 1 gave us a little bit of information about the soma clan’s curse that revolves around the Chinese zodiac. We were also introduced to most of the soma clan members that are part of the zodiac, Tohru and her friends, as well as the progress of Tohru, Kyo and Yuki’s relationship. There’s no romance yet but I can already see some hints which makes me even more excited for the 2nd season, since the 2001 Fruits Basket only ends in 1 season.
Characters
What I love about Fruits Basket is that it has a really good line-up of characters, each with their own “unique” personalities. I have to highlight the word unique because they really are, hahaha, so I am sure that they will not just make you cry but will also make you smile and laugh.
The character development here is something that I’m sure you will all love. Each character has their own screen time giving us enough time to really get to know them. This is just the first season but it felt like I know all of them that well already. Can’t wait to see what season 2 has to offer.
Art
I am absolutely digging the graphics of this one and I love the glow-up looks of the characters. I don’t think I have anything negative to say in this aspect because everything just looks pretty to me. It looks so much different from the 2001 Fruits Basket, but both of them are beautiful in their own way.
Voice Actors
I watched this season in English dub when I first watched it last year and I find some characters’ voices quite awkward, but then again, if you have no other choice, you will learn to get used to it eventually. But even if that was the case, I still shed a lot of tears watching this series.
But when I decided to watch all the episodes in this season in straight Japanese dub, ahhhh, it just hit differently. The raw emotion is too hard to handle, heck, I think I cried in each episode. It was just so emotional that thinking about it makes me teary-eyed again.
***
I haven’t read its manga counterpart yet, but I have been meaning to read it way before, I just seem to always lose track lol. That said, I can’t really be sure if the anime is good compared to the manga, but I’ve read some reviews that it follows closely to the manga. Ahhh I can’t really wait to finish the remaining 2 seasons and finally get on with the manga and compare the two.
Are you looking for a good anime that will make you cry? Look no further my dear, Fruits Basket is worth to watch, *wink.
I also made another batch of gifs, incase you’re interested. Please see them here.
this sounds very clever and I love the blend of genres and how it touched your emotions.
Yes it definitely was. I actually have to watch it twice already but I still enjoyed it like the first time 🙂