Tohru Honda decides to live in the house of Sohma Family with three members of their clan which include a novel writer shigure and his two cousins, Yuki and Kyo who happens to be Tohru’s classmates as well. These two never get along and sees each other as enemies since they were kids. Thirteen members of the Sohma clan has been cursed due to which they are transformed into their respective Chinese Zodiac animal every time they embrace someone of opposite gender. Whoever discovers their curse, had their memories erased by one of the member but, when Tohru accidentally finds about the curse, she has been temporarily given the permission by the head of the family to keep her memory while she lives with the Sohma in their house. It’s truly a blessing for Tohru to get a roof over her head while she continues her studies as she lost her mother along with her home. But Tohru is not any blessing for the Sohma as she tries to keep these emotionally broken members of the Sohma family who have a dark past of their own. Although not all members welcome her in their lives so easily.
The never-ending conflicts between Kyo (the cat) and Yuki (the Rat) does not seem to settle despite of Tohru’s presence in their home and her attempts to resolve their differences but it doesn’t change their support and care for Tohru. They are always there for her whenever she needs someone. But when, Kazuma Soma, the martial art Master and the foster father of Kyo arrives, she had no clue about the harsh reality that she will have to face.
The second part of Fruits Basket Season 1 is all about how Tohru begin to understand the hardships of living with the curse and the climax of the series is shows the worst case scenario of this supernatural curse and its impact that even affects her physically. But throughout the series we get to know some other significant facts about the curse. There were also some episodes that reveled the backstory of the two best friends of Tohru (the wave story of Saki Hanajima and the gang girl Arisa Uotani). While in other episodes were introduced to new cursed members of the Sohma family while they meet Tohru. Unlike Momoji (the rabbit), all of them do not like her immediately. Till the time we reach the last of the series we have been given vast past history of almost all the characters which has done well in covering up all the stories within 25 episodes. But some of these backstories seems very unimportant as they are not related to the plot and dragged the series having no impact on the story.
Talking about the good things about the series, the new version has done a great job with the pace as Tohru gradually becomes an important part of the Sohma clan while curing their distressed souls and broken hearts and bringing a positive change in their lives. The relationship between three main characters, Yuki, Tohru and Kyo shows focuses on how Yuki (who is referred as prince in the school by all the girls who are crazy about him to the extent, they have a club dedicated to him) tries to be ‘normal’ when Tohru is around makes him feel relieved after suffering from painful traumas in his past (due to the head of the family). By the end of the series Yuki have come to a conclusion about himself which will change how he has been living his life. He has been brilliantly portrayed by Eric Vale and Nobunaga Shimazaki, whose soft voices have put life to such a sympathetic but complicated character whose aloofness and good looks covers his self-consciousness and complexities. Whereas, the completely opposite character Kyo, the cat, with the constant perturbed fur – not when Tohru is around – has been played by Yuuma Uchida and Jerry Jewell has done well with, considering the climax and the last two episodes that reveals all about Kyo.
But before the intensely dramatic climax, we have notices some unimportant and thoughtless episodes and moments. I enjoyed Fruits Basket back in 2000 while reading the manga when it was released by TokyoPop, but there are things that haven’t gotten old even after so two decades, although the main plot of the Zodiac curse is very interesting. The ‘humor’ part – which is not one of the bet things of Natsuki Takaya – doesn’t really work, particularly episode 19. Panics, screaming and over-reacting is not humorous and doesn’t amuse all the time (can you count the amount of manga after Fruits Basket who has shown overworked female editor eagerly following their mischievous authors who never meet their deadline?) Moreover, the backstories of Tohru’s friend that didn’t make that of an impact even after two entire episodes dedicating to them was unjustified and broke the rhythm of the main plot. Their stories were interesting but it could have been shown within the episodes as it felt like a big interruption in the story that focuses the main characters. In the end it becomes hard to decide that who has the darkest past as every character in the series have a tragic story of their own.
The anime is really interesting and the character design is eye-catching done by Masaru Shindou, which fells fresh compared to the original one (considering the fact Natsuki is supervising and involved in the production of the series, the change in her own art style is noticeable)
The soundtracks are worth mentioning as they complement well with the series. Chime, performed by Ai Ohtsuka is energizing. While INTERSECTION’s “One Step Closer” is soothing and melodious. (It’s even more intriguing to watch while you listen as the voice suits the character of its respectable zodiac animal)
Fans are desperately waiting for the arrival of the next season in Spring 2020. The length of this series so far has proved to be both good and bad in this new attractive adaption. Although it’s good to know the backstories of all the characters, the series seems a little dragged and a little slow when it could have shown some other important things that matters more. It also seems to lose the passion in the middle at some point. But, despite of all those flaws, it has picked up our attention in the end that made us even more eager for the new season.
