A quick thank you to Aune & Dawn for introducing & insisting I give Fruits Basket a try. Had a wonderful time with the series (aside from a few things I thought deserved a higher teen reader rating).

Thanks, you two!

Fruits Basket has been a wonderful companion, the characters forever friends, & I know that the Sohma home will be one I come back to from time to time, for the somen, love & laughter.

4.5

Yes I’m crying because it was too pretty

*overall series rating: five stars*

Well...I finished and I’m crying...okay

This still remains such a beautiful story, I’m so glad I discovered it in the library all those years ago.

Phew...finally made it to the end. This is maybe the oddest experience I've had with a manga. On the one hand...the story was unique and different from anything I've read before. It was an interesting story with interesting characters and I honestly didn't know how it was going to end. But the pacing...it was painfully slow for me...which made it easy to out down...which made it take forever to read.

As for this particular volume...it felt like the whole volume was basically an epilogue. The last volume wrapped up the main plot and this is kind of a glimpse at what happens after. There was one part where I cried...it got to me...but otherwise I felt kind of indifferent about it.

All in all...not sad I read this series but its definitely not a new favorite series or one I think I will ever pick up again. But it is one I will remember for its unique story and special characters.

The ending always leaves me teary eyed. So precious.

I’m going to write a review for the series as a whole because it is too hard to separate out each volume and review the story in pieces.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story as a whole. It was full of emotion and explored a lot of mental health issues. Kyo and Tohru were great. The way the mental health challenges were handled was my favorite part of this series. It was emotional and intense and hopeful.

There was an overwhelming number of characters. Many of them were compelling and wonderfully written and illustrated. Others needed to be edited out. The story stagnates in the first half when we are introduced to all the members of the Sohma family, especially when several of them aren’t seen again.

Kyo - I spent most of the series just wanting Kyo to be happy. He was shunned and hurt by everyone. Poor cat. Lucky he found Tohru.
Yuki - Halfway through the series, it seems like the author changed her mind on what she was doing with Yuki, but the change in direction didn’t really work for me. He got relegated to the sidelines for the second half of the series. All of his character growth kind of stagnated, and I’m left unsatisfied. He started out as a potential love interest for Tohru to heighten the drama. He also joined the student council to push himself and grow. But the student council business fell apart when it included several new characters, many of whom I couldn’t tell apart. Yuki’s romance at the end seemed pretty shoehorned in.
Shigure - He was always kinda shady and seemed like he was orchestrating a master plan, but I’m not sure if that actually came about.
Hatori - He was one of my favorites. I think he got shafted. No happy ending for Hatori.
Momiji - I liked Momiji. He was interesting and added a much needed energy to the core group.
Hatsuharu - I really liked Hatsuharu and his friendship with Yuki.
Kisa - I liked her introduction and her story about overcoming bullying. But beyond that, her only purpose was to wrangle Hiro.
Hiro - Hiro was a little brat who needed to change more. He could’ve been in it less.
Ayame - There’s one in every anime.... But he could’ve been used more effectively to further Yuki’s growth.
Ritsu - He served no purpose other than being part of the zodiac.
Kagura - She faded out midway through the series. Poor Kagura.
Kureno - Served as the catalyst for the plot, but not much else.
Akito - I didn’t have enough sympathy for Akito to forgive her for everything she did. And her relationship at the end still weirds me out.

I know they were trying to be true to the source material, but all of the honorifics making everybody have four names made things hard to keep track of in some cases, especially since there is such a large cast of characters to begin with.

The magic system could have been better defined. It was said that several of the members of the zodiac had extra powers, but the only one who evidenced that was Hatori with his super convenient memory erasing power. Then the curse broke just because?? It sort of seemed like it broke when each member made a crucial decision, but not really. I need some further clarification on that.