Fruits Basket has to be one of my favorite slice of life... fantasy... eh? What genre is it? It's been long enough since I've seen the show I'm tempted to go back to and watch it again.
Tohru Honda, an orphaned high school student living in a tent. Her tent happens to trespass upon the Sohma family's land, and she quickly finds herself invited to stay with them. This strange turn of events also leads her to discovering a dark secret - the curse of the Sohma family. When tired, stressed, weak, or hugged by a member of the opposite sex, 13 different members of the family change into members of the Chinese zodiac.
The anime was created while the manga was ongoing, so there are some differences the anime had to take license with, especially in its ending. What the anime did a fantastic job with is keeping to the themes and feeling of the manga, albeit the anime never went quite as dark.
Each member of the zodiac is well developed and fleshed out as a character with their own baskets of problems. The plot of the series moves from zodiac character to zodiac character, allowing Tohru, with mixed results, slowly alleviating their pains. She doesn't always solve their problems, however her life view of enjoying life, holding on to those dear to you, and her tenacity win the day. Tohru isn't perfect, but its the earnest effort that wins the day more than her intelligence or diplomacy. I found a quote the summarizes well:
The entire series of Fruits Basket proves to be a true emotional roller coaster, hiding truly deep and heartfelt drama behind a candy coating of fun and humor. Deep down, it explores many aspects of emotion as the various characters search for their place in the world, gaining strength from each other.
— Allen Divers, Anime News Network
Tohru as our heroine, is perfect. She represents values that are greater than herself, that she has to strive for, growing and learning along the way. That's what makes a real hero worth watching and remember. Today's culture is obsessed with the anti hero. These incredibly broken people that struggle, and sometimes become better, but often leave us wanting. This is incredibly true in romances. And in slice of life, we are often just left without a hero pandering to just whimsical fun. It has its place, but Fruits Basket was a story that was able to hit on all notes largely due to the success of Tohru Honda as a complete well rounded character.
I remember watching the series thinking to myself, that when I have a daughter she has to see this anime. That is what you will be watching if you go back and visit this series. Its fun, entertaining, deep, and above all, can make you a better person if you takes its values into your own life.
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