Customer Reviews

Fruits Basket Box Set (Viridian Collection)

5 star:		(96)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The story of Ms. Honda and the strange family that adopts her is my number one anime of all, and I have now seen about a hundred of the things. From the sweet opening song through the sweet closing song, it's pure joy.

This isn't to mean it's saccharine. Lots of conflicts occur. You'll laugh a lot, and you might cry a bit. The operative word is "charming". If you are not charmed by this series, you have no heart at all. Hitler would laugh and cry with their adventures.

The odd conceit is that the family has thirteen members who turn into the animals of the Chinese zodiac (you know, year of the rat, and stuff, with the cat added to the normal 12). They adopt a plucky girl who has been orphaned.

Honest, if you don't find this worth the money, send me a letter, and I'll make it up to you. This is easily the most charming anime ever created.

This is the most heart-warming and touching anime series I've ever seen. It's shoujo, meaning it's geared towards girls but anyone would enjoy watching this. There are no gun or sword battles, transforming robots, or flying demons but even my teenage son loves it because of all the funny and outrageous characters (our favorites are Shigure, Kyo, Momiji & Ayame).

You meet and get to know the cursed Sohma family through the eyes of orphaned high-school student Tohru Honda. Everyone has a story to tell, some quite heart-wrenching. I was touched by all their stories. Heck, I even felt sorry for Akito!

Although I prefer to watch anime in their original Japanese, I think that Funimation did a SUPERLATIVE job of dubbing and translating these series. In my opinion all the American voice actors were excellent! I really liked Laura Bailey as Tohru but my hat goes off to John Burgmeier who was just AWESOME as Shigure!

Only 26 episodes long, it ends a little too soon. Nevertheless, this is a worthwhile investment. BUY this and add an excellent anime series to your collection!

Fruits Basket is totally original. It is sweet, funny, and totally different from what you usually see. Plus, it has a lovely soundtrack. It has all the beauty you could want from a anime and a better story line then most. I'd highly recommend giving it a try. I love it and don't know why they don't make more!

This is my favorite anime of all time! I-....why are you looking at me like that? Oh I see. Yes this is a kids review. I promise that the few naughty words and stuff shall not warp my fragile little mind. ((If you recognize that line, you'll know why.)) Although I really can't say much for a lot of people my age these days. Little monsters........
Anyways first I'd like you to do something for me. Look back at all of the other reviews although there aren't many. Do you see a bad review? No. You do not and probably never will. Fruits Basket is the best I repeat and I can prove it. I lent my books to 10 of my friends. 10 of my friends liked it. :D Now my best friend is practically beating me up to sleepover and see the boxset!
When people say, you'll laugh and cry they aren't lieing. I am a 12 year old tomboy, admitting that I cried. Mostly it was because I laughed so hard but oh well! The dubbing and animation are perfect! I prefer the dub version because the original japanese speaks really fast and I can barely say, "Hi how are you?" In Japanese without accidently saying something I'm REALLY not supposed to........but that's besides the point. Yes the name sounds weird! Forget that! Once you read the manga or better watch this the name will become much clearer. Now I want you to do one more thing for me. Yeah you! The one with the face!I want you to scroll up to the top of this screen right now and buy this boxset! I promise you will not regret it! What? Is that doubt I see in your eyes? That's it you asked for it! *Gives puppydog pout* Lol. Ok enjoy!

Definitely, Fruits Basket is a series that will capture you with its charm, friendliness, and especially, its philosophy.
Talking strictly about the series, it features Tohru Honda, a 16-year-old high-school girl that lives in a tent at the beginning of the story. One day, while going to school, she finds out that the garden where she lives is private property, as she meets Shigure Sohma, the owner. She also finds out that Yuki Sohma, one of her classmates, lives there. At the evening of thay day, she is found in the garden by Shigure and Yuki; she apologized and requested for additional time, but then they make a deal and Tohru becomes the housekeeper of the Sohmas as exchange of a room. At first she did not want to bother them living there, but she accept the proposal of the Sohmas. That is the base point where Tohru Honda begins to build a strong and enviable friendship with Yuki and Kyo Sohma, Yuki's cousin who appears later in episode 1. However, the Sohmas are not a common family. Several of its members have a strange curse: when hugged by someone of the opposite sex, they transform into an animal of the Chinese Zodiac; the animal depends on the year the cursed member was born. This fact, at first, surprises Tohru a litte bit, but then she takes it as normal. First proof of the philosophy that Tohru Honda demonstrates: Be respectful of your friends no matter what they look like!
As the story goes, Tohru Honda is always caring about others, especially Yuki and Kyo Sohma, and these demonstrations of her thinkings are the most appealing stuff of this series. She shows that one must be oneself, that one must never give up, that one must be kind with everyone without considerations... and so many other phrases that all together define Tohru's personality. I can say that is why Fruits Basket was in 2001 winner of almost every existent award in Japan: Fruits Basket won even more than Inuyasha, and by a considrable difference: Tohru Honda was so far the most popular character, even more that the sum of the votes for Inuyasha and Kagome Higurashi. This was the main reason I bought this box set, and after analyzing the series, I can say the same results.
About the box set itself, it is bigger that ADV thin boxes, but the discs are a lot better used in terms of content. This set not only contains the episodes but also extras about several facts such as how the anime was made, the seiyuus, interviews and curious features. However, although I understand that Funimation is serious about illegal copy, they go a little bit too far by putting seals on every side of the box set, even over the slots where you put your fingers to open a single DVD case. I ended up with a medium bag of garbage, full of seals and plastic. But this is a minimum and superficial matter, so it is not important after all (unless you consider it).
Therefore, Fruits Basket, this box set, is definitely a great product by all means. The series present a great philosophy that breaks any barrier, which is doubtlessly the main reason of the success of this anime. With these reasons, you must buy this one.

Tohru Honda is a 16-year old girl who lost her mother to an automobile accident. She lives with her grandfather, but his house is being remodeled and she wants to stay in the area so that she can go to school. Deciding she can't be a burden to her friends, she pitches up a tent in the nearby woods to live in. On her way to school, she comes across the home of Prince Yuki Sohma, who is the most admired guy in school.
Yuki and his cousin, Shigure, are walking back home one evening when they stumble across Tohru's tent. Feeling pity on her, they invite her to stay with them because of the impending dangers one might face out in the woods. Sure enough, a landslide claims Tohru's tent and all her belongings are buried. Yuki, along with some "friends," clean up the area and restore Tohru's things to her.
Shigure and Yuki offer Tohru a place to live, and in exchange for her room and board, she becomes their housekeeper. Things are just getting settled in with Tohru and her new "family," when wayward cousin, Kyo Sohma, comes back from training in the mountains. Kyo and Yuki do not get along. During a scuffle between the two, Tohru decides to step in and break it up. In doing so, she tackles Kyo and he turns into a cat!
So begins the adventures in Fruits Basket (episode 5 gives the explanation of the show's title). Come to find out, the Sohma clan are under a curse. If they are embraced by someone of the opposite sex, they turn into animals of the Chinese zodiac! Yuki becomes a rat, Kyo a cat, and Shigure a dog. The consequence of an outsider knowing their secret is to have their memory erased, but the exception lies in Tohru. She is trusted with the family secret and she vows that she will tell no one.
I took Fruits Basket as a very lighthearted and romantic comedy. Tohru seemed a bit too happy-go-lucky for my taste, but her sugary viewpoints seem to be just the right thing in helping members of the Sohma family cope with their particular problems. Even fiery Kyo can't help but let his guard down and talk sensible with Tohru sometimes, which is really saying something about her persona.
I was first drawn into FB by the voice acting. The English dubbing is exquisite, although Justin Cook being in charge of the VA made FB feel like a Yu Yu Hakusho reunion of some sort. Immediately, I was calling out the names of Yusuke, Suzaku, Kayko, Kurama, and Botan when it was Hatsuharu, Kyo, Tohru, Shigure, and Shigure's editor on the screen, respectively. If you are fans of the VA from YYH, then FB should be enjoyable to listen to.
Speaking of sound, be prepared to be bombarded with a lot of background music and realistic sounds. It just about drowned out the dialogue in some parts and at one point I had to put on the subtitles to find out what they were saying.
Character design is something worth seeing too. Prepare to be throttled by big eyes, especially those of Tohru. Perhaps the animators did that on purpose to really emphasize Tohru's bubbly and lovey-dovey personality. The Sohmas are all attractive, especially Yuki and Kyo, but Shigure is my personal favorite, as he is ever carefree and accepts all the Sohmas for who they are. He also likes to tease his editor and get playful with high school girls. His dialogue is quotable stuff and my sister and I like to talk in Shigure-tongue now and again.
Plenty of laughs and action (if you're into house demolition and the occasional bout of martial artistry). Language is clean for the most part - no sexual slang and the majority of swearing belongs to Kyo (because of reasons you'll find in the show).
Fruits Basket is not to be missed. Enjoy plenty of comedic performances, heart felt moments and have a hankie in hand for the finale. A must have in any anime collection!

Entertaining, useful social skills for teens, and psychologically very deep. The couple episodes with the snake guy have a lot of sexual overtones, but nothing explicit.

I'm really surprised there aren't more reviews for Fruits Basket, and I highly suspect that it's because the title is vague and possibly misleading to a lot of people. So to any skeptics out there, I say give FB a chance and you'll find out what the title means in detail. Aside from that, you'll laugh til you cry (I did anyway), and you might just cry until you feel sick. Fruits Basket runs a gambit of emotions and still comes across as surprisingly realistic. Speaking for myself, I was able to sympathize with all of the characters at one point or another, even the "Prince Yuki Fan Club" girls, though most of the time I would have been happy to strangle each one of them. (If you're wondering why I said that, you'll have to watch the show. ~_^)

FB's animation is really beautiful, the characters are all interesting and lovable in their own special ways, and speaking as a fan of the English version by Funimation, the dub is fantastic. There's a little bit of everything in this anime, and fans of happy endings will find Fruits Basket worth every penny. And so, in closing I'll say this: the last 3 episodes will hit you like a freight train, and if you're anything like me, you'll definitely be left wanting more. Enjoy! ^_^

Imagine if you moved in with a new family and friends... and found out they turn into animals when you hug them.

That's what Tohru Honda has to deal with in "Fruits Basket," the adaptation of Natsuki Takaya's hit manga. And the manga adaptation is a delightful one -- while the ending gets changed, it's still charming, quirky, slapsticky and sprinkled with darker moments.

Tohru is living in the woods, with only her late mother's photo for company. Exploring one day, she wanders down to a large house, and bumps into the owners: flirtatious Shigure Sohma, and his gorgeous cousin Yuki -- the school's mysterious "Prince." After Tohru becomes ill and her tent is destroyed, Yuki and Shigure take her into their home as their new housekeeper... especially since the place is a pigsty.

But Yuki and Shigure are keeping some strange secrets. When Kyo Sohma bursts in to fight Yuki, Tohru tries to stop him -- and the three turn into a dog, cat, and rat. Turns out the Sohma family is cursed with the spirits of the Chinese zodiac, and become those animals whenever they're hugged by a member of the opposite sex. Surprisingly, the mysterious family head Akito allows Tohru to stay with Yuki and Shigure, as long as the volatile Kyo also stays.

And soon Tohru becomes even more wrapped up in the Sohma family, and befriends many members of the zodiac. She, Yuki and Kyo must deal with crazed fanclubs, flamboyant brothers, school festivals, New Year's loneliness, Valentine's day woes, trips to the hot springs, visits to Tohru's mother's grave, and Yuki's band of loyal stalkers.

But Tohru also learns more about the curse -- the traumatic pasts that Momiji, Yuki and Kyo keep hidden, the little "tiger" girl who is bullied into silence, and Hatori's tragic romance. And finally Tohru discovers the horrific secret that Kyo is hiding, and the true role of the angry, violent Akito...

It takes a little while for "Fruits Basket" to get going, but after a few episodes it finds its footing and charges ahead like Kagura. Just don't expect it to really have an ending -- it doesn't end so much as stop, on a particularly moving story about Kyo and Tohru.

There's lots of romantic tension, slapstick fight scenes (usually involving Kyo and somebody else), quirky comedy (Ayame's kooky cosplay shop), and amusingly tongue-in-cheek dialogue ("Sometimes it feels like the whole world is conspiring to destroy my house!").

But while the anime is somewhat more lighthearted than the manga, there's also a melancholy side to the story, centering on a curse that is ruining its victims' lives. In the midst of the comedy, we get glimpses of Tohru's tragic past, the families torn apart by the curse, and the Sohmas' isolation from the rest of the world.

Tohru herself is the most lovable character of the bunch -- she has a lot of sorrow over her mother's death and the unkindness of some of her relatives, but she compensates with optimism and friendliness. She borders on Pollyannishness occasionally, but is balanced out somewhat by her oddball friends.

And the Sohmas rule as far as quirkiness is concerned -- there's the quiet "Prince" Yuki, the volatile loner Kyo, and the charmingly kooky Shigure. The rest of the family is even more eccentric -- the flamboyant, charming Ayame, Yuki's prodigal brother who is trying ineptly to mend fences. Not to mention the volcanic Haru, the tragic Hatori, and half-German, deceptively cheerful Momiji.

"Fruits Basket" is by turns hilarious and bittersweet, with plenty of wacky antics, sad backstories and quirky characters. Delightful from beginning to end.

I got hooked in a very simple way to this series. i went down to a bookstore with my brother I was origenaly only going to pick up a couple shonens(fma and naruto) but my brother would be bored and he prefers shojo(azumungo diaho and Excel Saga) so i though "hey i've heard of this" i and picked up the first volume of Furuba. i evntually read it then i read it agian.....and agian......and agian . and each time it was still fresh as if didnt know what was going to happen next. i knew it had been made in to a anime series so i rented it ... i was floored. its a great story. when i told people about they said "yhea ive heard of that" the opinion i got the most was thats either extreamly cheesey or extreamly awsome. Its a good series and not a chessey as you'd expect Its fun at first kind of like a sitcom and then as you get further and further into it you discover how deep this story is(espcially with the manga).

the story is alot of fun to In the anime you get to meet the cat, rat, dog, bunny, dragon,boar, cow,snake,sheep, tiger and monkey and in the manga you meet all of the chinese zodiac. i breing this up because its cool to see how the charecters personality blends with thier animals. the story contains some formula anime plot like a perverted charecter,cross dressing, guys with femnine faces, long hair, wierd colored hair and of corse high school uniforms. but it also has some less commen stuff like drama, love triangles,realist relationships, regret, death, hatered(true hate that is), painful times, and alot of change and people moving on. these quirky and serious factors combine for a great show entertaning for most perople

I unlike most people prefer to watch it in english(i tend to prefer english dubbed anime) manily because i was insulted when i saw it in japanese.I may be crazy but yukis voice actor was so clearly a girl it hurt. He already has a girly face and has to were a dress(funny episode^.^) at least let his VOICE match his actual gender:P any way. the only voice i dont like in the english is ritzu. anyway this is just my opinon. I sugest you buy this great seires and make your own. we may agree we may disagree. but all i can say is its deffinatly worth it!!!