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35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gut-wrenching ending..., January 22, 2004
This review is from: Fruits Basket, Volume 4: The Clearing Sky (Episodes 20-26) (DVD)
The final disc of Fruits Basket starts out with a few stories almost unconnected to the main plot. Yuki decides to try to get to know his brother better and makes a surreal visit to Ayame's store...Tohru meets Hiro Sohma, Kisa's ill-tempered little friend....we get to have a peek into the head of Yuki's fanclub president, a reminder of teenage passion which is as touching as it is funny and psychotic....and we briefly meet Ritsu Sohma, who definitely takes getting used to. The final three episodes are grim, dark, suspenseful and emotionally powerful, as once again, Tohru must confront the fact that parts of the Sohma curse--and family--are not at all adorable. And this time, rising to the occasion to offer comfort and encouragement might even be beyond the abilities of Tohru. Kyo's horrific darkest secret is revealed, and Akito finally finishes playing with Tohru, and makes his move to destroy her spirit utterly, and plunge his family back into the condition of unresisting despair which is their true curse. People who love this series should be aware that, although it feels complete and resolved, the anime only covers the first 6 books of a manga series which is just about to be released in English. I hear that there are 13 books completed in Japanese at this point. ...
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A surprisingly poignant character study, July 10, 2003
This review is from: Fruits Basket, Volume 4: The Clearing Sky (Episodes 20-26) (DVD)
If you can get past the weird name of this series (refers to a Japanese kid's game similar to duck-duck-goose) and the girly-girly packaging, it's a surprisingly deep and poignant character study. The premise: an orphaned & homeless high-school girl is taken in as a housekeeper by one of her classmates, a very shy but very popular boy named Yuki. He's living with his novelist-cousin Shigure in a rather isolated house in the woods, having run away from the main Sohma compound. But the guys have a big secret--they're shapeshifters, two members of a cursed family. Our heroine soon makes a place in their hearts with her relentless optimism and unconditional love & gratitude, and soon other disaffected members of the cursed family start to gather at Shigure's house. Chief among the arrivals is a violent-tempered but good-hearted young man known as Kyo, who bears the most difficult curse of all, and who's an outcast even within the Sohma family. The head of the family, cursed himself, is intensely and malevolently possessive of "his" family, and he starts to plot his revenge...but at the same time, he hopes Tohru can save the family from the worst effects of the curse. Very interesting mixture of genuine pathos and wild slapstick, and a great job portraying the gradual change in characters of not only the two boys, Yuki and Kyo, over a period of 18 months, but also the maturation of the heroine, as she develops courage and strength to match her innate compassion. She goes from being essentially a sweetly-smiling doormat to someone brave enough to stand up for herself and the people she loves--without getting mean about it. I have to admit I started watching this series with some skepticism, thinking it'd be hopelessly silly, but ended up loving it. A definite keeper!
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very sweet, and revealing ending to a romantic anime..., June 16, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Fruits Basket, Volume 4: The Clearing Sky (Episodes 20-26) (DVD)
If you have followed Fruits Basket THIS far, definitely finish it off. The series meanders as it tells the stories of a bizarre family in modern day japan with the odd curse that makes them turn into Zodiac animals when hugged by the opposite sex. Tohru becomes the loving (but flightly) bolt of remedy and healing for this tortured house throughout the series, and in form, she caps the series by finally opening up all the old wounds and letting everyone heal through her forgiveness and love. While these stories on this DVD do tend to be a bit more harsh and slightly darker, the task is obviously no feat for the girl who cherishes her new, odd family. Slightly puzzling is Kyo's dark secret, which is revealed towards the end of the series. Why is he hampered with an even DARKER past, and what is that thing? In a series that, although ambling with a staggered gait through a central plot, everything makes fiarly reasonable sense did they toss in this decidedly bizarre tangent? It didn't really harm the series, and helps bring a great sense of resolution but it seems contrived at the same time. A very, very pleasant anime. For what it is, the direction and art and writing is all excellent without being too showy, inappropriate or bizarre. And the sexual side of the relationships are never delved into with the letchery of reckless abandon seen in most anime. Fruits basket is a nice series for almost any age, and is a great family series for adults and children that like a good anime without sex, blood, gore, robots, guns, or lazer beams.
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