Fruits Basket - Vol. 1 - A Great Transformation And (Animated) (Dubbed) (Subtitled) (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Unmemorable
Soundtrack	Good

Advantages:	An easy to watch, compelling and uplifting series
Disadvantages:	A lack of action and adventure means it's not for everyone

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Fruits Basket Vol. 1

Intro

Fruits Basket is a comedy/drama/romance anime show (Japanese cartoon) aimed at teenage girls. The series is 26 episodes long, split over 3 DVDs. Volume 1, "A Great Transformation", contains episodes 1-8. The DVD features the show in the original Japanese with subtitles, or dubbed in English.

Fruits Basket is based upon a manga series (Japanese comic books), also translated into English. The manga series is ongoing (currently around volume 10+ in English). The DVDs cover the first 7 or so mangas.

The DVDs start from scratch and there is no need to read the manga to understand the plot.

Synopsis

Fruits Basket follows the life of optimistic heroine Tohru Honda, a high school girl who lost her only living parent, her mother Kyoko, to a car accident a year before the start of the anime.

It is revealed that Tohru has been living with her paternal Grandfather since the accident, until it was decided that the house required renovations. Though her Grandfather asked her if she would be able to stay with friends whilst the renovations took place, Tohru opted to secretly live in tent instead, so she wouldn't be a burden on anyone.

Tohru's plan worked for a few weeks, until her presence was noticed by cousins Yuki and Shigure Sohma, the owners of the woodland area in which she had set up camp. Yuki and Shigure offer Tohru a room in their nearby pig sty of a house, in exchange for Tohru acting as a maid and cook.

Tohru quickly agrees to the offer, but finds out that life within Yuki and Shigure's house is not as simple as it seems: unwittingly, Tohru discovers that the Sohma family possesses a secret curse. When hugged by a member of the opposite sex, 13 members of the family each turn into a different animal from the Chinese zodiac for a short period of time (and, inconveniently, when they transform back into humans, they're naked).

The anime follows Tohru's not-so-everyday life with Yuki, Shigure, and another Sohma, Kyo. As the series progresses, Tohru meets and befriends more "cursed" members of the Sohma family and also acts as an agony aunt, helping each member with their troubles.

Volume 1 charts the story of how Tohru finds herself living with the Sohmas, and how she learns to fit into her unusual new family, and her attempts to keep their curse a secret from her friends, Hana and Uo.

The plot slowly unfurls over the course of the series and adds a foreboding and dark edge to the otherwise happy show: the Zodiac curse is more sinister than it seems, and there are members of the Sohma family who want outsider Tohru out of their lives.

Characters

High school student Tohru Honda is an overly polite, domestic and somewhat naïve girl who always tries hard to look on the bright side of life, in spite of her own troubles. She tries to help others whenever she can.

Yuki Sohma, who turns into the Rat from the Chinese Zodiac, attends the same high school as Tohru, where he is known as "Prince Yuki", due to his great grades and good looks. Over the course of the series, Yuki opens up to Tohru and reveals an unconfident, self conscious side that he tries to hide as much as possible behind a cool, unemotional front. Though he is good with people, he has an unquenchable hatred of his cousin Kyo.

Shigure Sohma, who turns into the Dog from the Chinese Zodiac is Yuki's older cousin and works from home as a novelist. Shigure invited Yuki to live with him away from the "Sohma Estate", a house where most of the cursed Sohmas live in order to keep their secret low key. Shigure is a charming, extrovert flirt, with a childish sense of humour, but has the ability to turn serious at times.

Kyo Sohma turns into the Cat: The legend behind the Chinese Zodiac says that 13 animals were invited to a banquet with God, but one of these, the Cat, was tricked into missing the banquet by the Rat, and therefore was not included in the Chinese Zodiac. For this reason, Kyo hates his cousin Yuki, and is also treated as an outsider by his family.

Unlike Yuki, Kyo is fiery, blunt and often speaks harshly before thinking, which he often regrets. Kyo also has insecurities, especially being around others, even though he is well liked. In spite of his unintentional rudeness to Tohru, the pair strike up an awkward friendship over the series.

The Pros

Fruits Basket blends the subjects of home life, friendship and romance into quality, perfectly cut 20 minute episodes with a good balance of humour and drama. Proving itself to be more than just a gimmick, the Zodiac Curse provides an interesting and mysterious main plot thread that keeps you watching, and guessing.

Each of the six Zodiac members introduced in Volume 1 are compelling and aren't simply there to make up the numbers of the Zodiac. In particular, Hatori Sohma, the family Doctor and a friend of Shigure's, possessed by the Dragon, provides particular interest. Upon his introduction, Hatori adds a darker edge to the show by telling Tohru to leave the Sohma household, to save herself, and the family, from harm.

Other aspects of the plot, such as decisions Tohru must make concerning whether to carry on living with the Sohmas, and also the romance within the show add more commendable facets to the show that many basic cartoons and Animes skimp on. The show's romance is well concocted. Within a few episodes, it become clear, but also logical that Yuki and Kyo have developed romantic feeling toward Tohru, but are too shy to admit them and Tohru is too clueless to notice. The show is cleverly written so that it seems equally likely for Kyo or Yuki to win Tohru over, and leaves it up to the viewer to pick which to root for.

On top of an easy to watch blend of plot threads, the show features good main characters. Shigure, Yuki and Kyo are all easy to like. Though their personalities are somewhat stereotypically, they are never over the top or irritating, and each possesses flaws that give them interest. Kyo in particular is easy to like: even though he's very cocksure and brash, he has enough insecurities to create a compelling character.

Tohru is undoubtedly the strongest, most likeable character of the lot. Her unfortunate past and her Mother's death are never overplayed for pity, instead, they are used to explain her determination and optimism in life. Unlike a lot of anime characters, she has no exceptional talents and scrapes by at school, and yet she's much more interesting than most in spite of that, thanks to her bubbly, but not overbearing personality.

The Cons

The show is very much aimed at teenage girls and women and I doubt many boys would enjoy it: There's little to no action, adventure or mystery in the show, and so I wouldn't recommend it anyone who prefers shows centred around plot rather than characters and emotions.

As with all Anime, there is some visual humour that seems over the top and ludicrous to the average Western viewer. Fruits Basket keeps this to the minimum though, and most of the humour translates well. For the most part, the show is not outlandishly funny and does not aim for belly laughs, but this is only worth noting for those who enjoy Animes with sharp wit.

Another problem all Animes face is a weak, limited soundtrack. Fruits Basket soundtrack is bearable, but at times repetitive, which can become a nuisance.

Animation Quality/Sound Quality

The animation is of a high quality for Anime, which is usually on a noticeably low budget. The quality of animation and drawing is equal to that of the average American cartoon. The drawing style is pleasant on the eye and easy to watch.

The sound quality is also on a par with that of an American cartoon.

Dubbing Quality

The English Dub of Fruits Basket is the best dub I have come across. The English voice actors are all spot on and suit each character well, and a clear effort has been made to try and keep the English dub in time with the lip movements of the characters, which makes the dub very easy to listen to and watch.

Subtitles Quality

For those who prefer watching animes "raw" (with Japanese dubbing), the Japanese voice actors are just as well cast, and the English subtitles provided are translated well even to understand, but the English is awkward and poorly translated at times.

Extras

The so called "Extra" on Volume 1 is a laughable minute long advertisement for another, entirely unrelated Anime show.

Overall Opinion

Fruits Basket is a great feel-good anime. There's been many a time when I've been in a bad mood, popped in a Fruits Basket DVD, particularly Volume 1 and it's left me just feeling as bubbly and optimistic as Tohru after a few episodes, for long enough to get my coursework done.

Volume 1 gets straight into action and doesn't let up or sneak in any filler episodes, revealing interesting characters and a solid plotline that's a rarity in the world of Anime.

I would recommend Fruits Basket to any Anime fan who tends to lean toward Drama rather than Action, and also to any Drama and Romance fans who are new to Anime, as this is a very easy to watch series with a good, mild sense of humour.

The rest of the series doesn't disappoint, so I would also recommend buying rather than renting, as this is a pleasant show that's easy to drift in and out of, so it's good to rewatch.

Buy it From

Amazon.co.uk - £14.99 Delivered

Play.com - £14.99 Delivered.