Fruits Basket, Vol. 14 [Paperback]

Natsuki Takaya (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

Inspired by the hit anime available on DVD, the #1-selling shojo manga in America continues. Rated for teens.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: TokyoPop (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595324097
• ISBN-13: 978-1595324092
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #88,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mysteries Cleared Up, More Created, August 3, 2006

By 

Xeriana (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fruits Basket, Vol. 14 (Paperback)

Well, friends, this is a lovely new volume in my favorite manga! It made me laugh and cry, and get all kinds of shivers down my back! This one mostly covers:

*Rin's story--I am ever amazed and inspired how the love of one person (Tohru in this case) can really put a person on the path of healing. We find out why Rin "hated" Tohru, what was going on between Rin and Shigure, and about Rin and Haru's relationship. Lots of light shed on mysteries that have bugged me for many volumes thus far! Now, how can Rin and Tohru work together to break the curse? Go Tohru!
*Yuki's Relationship with the Student Council--I am particularly excited about his new friend (is that what he is? As Hatori would say) Kakeru. I am thrilled to see Yuki start to trust other "outsiders". Kakeru is hysterical, in my opinion, and I was surprised to find out his relationship with Machi. Yuki gets locked in a closet, and the results leave me wondering about even more mysteries. (Such as how did Machi know it would bother Yuki so much? What's the black paint's connection to Akito?)

We also find out about:
*Hiro's Mama, and Hiro's connection to Rin. It's good to see the caring side of Hiro.
*Yuki's true feelings for Tohru. I confessed to being very surprised over this one too. Wow.
*Shigure. He has the most mysterious character in the whole story, I think. What does he mean when he talks about the curse, anyway???
*Tohru's memory of her mother. What is going on in Tohru? Please, Takaya-san, let Fruits Basket have a happy ending! It would break my heart if it were tragic!!!!!
*Tohru's class is going to put on the play Cinderella for this year's Culture Fest! With Kyo as Prince Charming?!!

As Takaya-san says, we don't see too much of Kyo in this volume. :( But what we do see is quite heart-warming! This series just awes me. Takaya puts so much detail in, and foreshadowing, that I've caught so many new things in each re-reading. There are so many "special moments" that just make me gush! (Such as Shishou's part in Rin's story. Is anyone other than me madly in love with Shishou?) Fruits Basket truly stands out as a gem among other manga.

I wonder how many of us have found a new volume of Furuba in the bookstore, and started jumping up and down, screaming? And then blushed about it later.
I have!

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Ice Princess Thaws, August 1, 2006

By 

Kellyannl (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fruits Basket, Vol. 14 (Paperback)

With the subplots starting to resolve, the series is showing signs of slowly winding towards it's end. However, with Rin and Kureno having entered the story fairly late, it's no surprise that we're going to have to take a step backwards to get their stories before moving ahead again. This volume spends alot of time giving us Rin's story.

All we really know about Rin so far is that she's hurt Haru, who we know and like. But Haru doesn't seem like the type of person to have misjudged someone so badly; and sure enough, as Yuki suspected, there's another side to the story, and Rin isn't as bad as she's making herself out to be. Through flashbacks after Tohru finds her collapsed on Shigure's doorstep we learn the history of how she fell in love with Haru and moved in with Kagura's family, as well as what's really going on between her and Shigure and the reasons why she broke up with Haru, ended up in the hospital, and gave Tohru the cold shoulder. Of course, Tohru eventually wears down Rin's defenses, and by the end of the volume she has a new friend and powerful ally in her quest to end the curse who might turn out being the biggest break Tohru has had so far.

What everyone is probably going to be talking about after this volume, though, are a few discrete frames that make it clear that, yes, Haru and Rin were sexually active during the time they were seeing eachother a year ago. The author's decision to have one of the story's heroes turn out to have lost his virginity at 15 is likely to upset more than just the futile Yuki/Haru shounen-ai fandom - especially the parents of the series early teen and preteen fans.

Also noticable is a slight change begining in Tohru. You can't love people without hurting when things aren't well with them. Akito's threats, Momiji's ongoing and deepening tragedy, the fate hanging over Kyo's head after graduation - it's all alot to handle for someone who is still coming to terms with being an orphan. And this time, we start to see signs that her association with the Zodiac might be starting to wear on Tohru a little. Shigure, too, shows signs of not liking what he sees in the mirror after the way he's been acting lately.

There's also alot of time spent with the student council. Although they're clearly being set up to have a big influence on Yuki, their new prominence at this point in the story is a little puzzling. Hopefully the whole thing is going somewhere.

A decent enough volume, but by no means one of the best.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good addition to a Furuba collection, August 12, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Fruits Basket, Vol. 14 (Paperback)

This book, while not my favorite one in the series (Kyo doesn't appear much in it) is still a good addition. This volume is largely about Rin, but ends with a chapter or two about Yuki and the student counsil. His true feelings for Tohru revealed, with a cliffhanger that will leave you counting the days till 15 comes out (why does there have to be a FOUR MONTH wait between each volume? It kills me XP)