Fruits Basket

Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya is a very special series for me. The series ran from 1998 to 2006 and consisted of 23 volumes , it was the first manga series I fell in love with. I started reading the series when I was a young teen and right away I become engrossed in the story and characters. I obsessively awaited the next volume and the three months between them was not fun. Once I got the next volume I just read all the ones I owned over and over again then had to patiently wait for another few months. The year the box set of the anime series came out I got it for Christmas and spent the entire day watching all 26 episodes in one sitting. I enjoyed the anime series but there are some very important things that are changed and the story only goes through about volume 8 of the manga.

The story follows Tohru Honda and the Sohma family who are cursed by the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac plus one outcast Cat. Yuki and Kyo who are the same age as Tohru are the main characters next to Tohru. A few of the members take Tohru in as she is an orphan and for a time homeless. She finds out about the curse after several unfortunate events and is oddly allowed to stay with the family. Usually outsiders are forbidden from learning the secret and avoided. There is so much to the story and each character is well written. They all have their own problems and are all helped by this very special girl to grow and overcome issues.

I can re read this series over and over again, it starts out light and slowly becomes more serious and complicated as the characters grow. It has comedy, romance, and drama. This series will always be high if not number 1 on my favorite manga list. Definitely check it out if you haven’t already.

What do you think of this series? Who is your favorite character out of the diverse characters? Let me know in the comments.