The Artist Alchemist: "Fruits Basket" Review

Hi everyone! I have recently finished the animate series "Fruits Basket" and I really enjoyed it! I'm going to do a (mostly) spoiler free review first, but if you have already seen it, feel free to skip down to the not-so-spoiler-free end.

Synopsis (taken from here):
After her mother's death, Tohru Honda finds herself living with the Sohma family consisting of three cousins: Yuki, the 'prince charming' of their high school, Kyo the hot headed, short tempered outcast, and Shigure the mischievous novelist, if not sometimes that of a pervert. Tohru finds out the Sohma family secret that when a member is hugged by the opposite gender or they are tired out, they turn into the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. Filled with many lovable character and many plot twists along the way, life at the Sohma house will never be the same again. -Written by Anonymous

Warnings:
There is some minor nudity, when characters change back to their human form, but this is "cleverly censored by little puffs of smoke"(here). There is very little cursing, rarely using anything stronger than "damn" and "bastard". There is little violence, and Arisa is an ex-gang member. There are a few characters that seem homosexual, but in the end it turns out they are not. There are also a few mentions of abuse.

The show is rated PG, and I recommend it to anyone 12+. Younger viewers will have a harder time relating to and understanding the characters and high school setting.

Availability:
All 26 episodes are available through instant-play on Netflix. Multiple box-set editions are available for $20+ on Amazon and Ebay.

Characters:
One thing in particular that I really loved about the series is how well the characters are developed. Main characters are very well rounded, and so are many side characters. There is one character, Ayame, who makes me uncomfortable, but that may just be because he reminds me of someone I had some bad experiences with. So episodes 14 and 20 are difficult for me to watch (but I sufferd through 20 because of my BroTP).

Animation:
Keep in mind that the show was released in 2001, so the animation isn't at the same standard we have now. Aside from that, the animation is very well done.

Fruits Basket was my first Anime, aside from some movies and Pokemon (ATLA isn't technically Anime). If you are considering getting into anime, like fantasy stories and are looking for a new show, Fruits Basket is defiantly a good place to start. (If you don't like the first two episodes, though, don't bother continuing)

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(Here is the not-so-spoiler-free end)

I LOVED LOVED LOVED Fruba!

Yuki wins the prize for most adorable animated character ever.

But he can be a nasty little rat ;P

But seriously, the way that he was abused when he was younger is so sad. The fact that so many of the Zodiac members were abused by Akito is so sad and every time they mentioned it I just wanted to hug the character.

My BroTP :)

I think one of my favorite moments in the entire series was when Yuki and Kyo go and get Tohru back from her grandfather. That scene was just so amazing and showed how much they cared about her. Another scene that I loved was when Kyo and Yuki go back to Tohru on New Years eve. It was so sweet!

I love this cosplay!
Arisa is probably my favorite character out of the series, though. We look alike, and both are short tempered and are very loyal to our friends. I think I'll cosplay as her soon! And to add to my list of favorite scenes, Arisa's first introduction when she beats up the Prince Yuki Fan Club is one :).

It's funny, I don't actually ship anybody in the series. I know Kyo and Tohru end up together, and thats great, but I just don't care that much. Well, I guess if I had to ship people I would ship Kyo and Arisa, they might work well together.

I just love some of the quotes from the show, too.