Fruits Basket Anime

Fruits Basket is about a girl called Tohru Honda who discovers the secrets of the Zodiac within the Sohma family. Those who are possessed by the curse transform into one of the animals of the zodiac when embraced by the opposite sex or when they are weak (e.g. illness). For more information on the story, please look for the Fruits Basket manga review in books in the entertainment section.

Adapted from the manga series by Natsuki Takaya, the Fruits Basket anime spans 26 episodes which was directed by Akitaro Daichi. It was aired from 5^th July- 27^th December 2001 on the TV Tokyo network. The anime is available to purchase in all good retail stores e.g. HMV and Powerplay. It spans 4 volumes and can be bought in a beautiful box set. The DVD’s have special features, including interviews with some of the original voice actors. English and Japanese dialogue is included with the option of English subtitles.

In comparison with the manga, the anime is a decent attempt at showing the story of the manga through animation. The anime deviates quite considerably from the manga however; only 8 out of 23 volumes were published at the time as the author was still continuing her series. There were limited resources for the producers of the anime; therefore the anime series ends leaving many unresolved matters which are coincidentally resolved in the rest of the completed manga series.

Despite the anime deviating from the manga, I like how the anime is able to show the heartfelt and emotional moments of the romantic comedy genre that Fruits Basket falls under. I adore the Japanese voice actors who add humour to the hilarious comedic moments within the anime.