Customer Reviews

Fruits Basket, Vol. 6

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In #6 of Fruits Basket, the drama really begins. It starts out on a rainy day and Kyo is in a grumpy mood. Tohru becomes worried about it, and ends up getting yelled at! Poor Tohru.. When they get home, guess who! I can't tell you that. Then Kyo's master shows up and later that night..babum..Removes Kyo's beads, reaveling his true form. Tohru must except Kyo for who he really is or the life at the Sohmas will end! This book is mostly about that night and a fews days later. It tells you about Kyo's mom and dad In flashback mode. It really got me crying and all teary eyed. But it is well worth $10.00.

This is the darkest volume of Fruits Basket out of the first six. I LOVE this volume. It's very simply about the triumph of love over hate and other obstacles. (Which I think is the theme of the manga, maybe...)
I love the way this is drawn. Beautiful. Sometimes, though, I think the emotional stuff is a tad excessive. And of course, for any KyoXTohru fans, this is where it all started...
Kazuma (Kyo's adoptive father) is a wonderful character. He's one of the few caring and responsible adults in the entire series. His relationship with Kyo is very, very, very sweet.

Kagura Sohma arrives at the Sohma family home and whisks Kyo away on an afternoon date. Yuki decides to take Tohru out as well. While out on their date, Kagura becomes concerned about Kyo's distance issues with people. A surprise guest arrives at the Sohma home, Kyo's former martial arts trainer Kazuma Sohma. Kyo becomes truly happy in his presence for the first time in the whole series and begs his master to take him away from the Sohma home. Kazuma decides to challenge Kyo by encouraging him to reveal his "true form" to the world to get over his own worthlessness. Tohru sees Kyo's true self, and he runs from her in shame. Rather than deal with her rejection or pity he decides it would be best to avoid her at all costs. There are some wonderful, tearful moments that follow as she decides if he is too hideous in his natural form or not. Kyo runs off before his master departs, leaving everyone in the Sohma house in shock at his disappearance. Tohru sees Kazuma off as he speaks about the true nature of his feelings in his relationship with Kyo.

New feelings of distrust develop in the Sohma house as both Yuki and Kagura start to stray from the others. Hatsuharu expresses his concern over Yuki's recent mood and Tohru comes just in time to lend an ear about Yuki's plans for the summer.

Yuki takes an interest in his older brother, Ayami, and decides to bridge the gap by visiting Ayami's business. What Tohru innocently thinks to be a uniform shop turns out to be a place devoted to male fantasies, and though this disgusts Yuki he manages to stay to chat with Ayami thanks to some distraction brought on by Ayami's assistant and Tohru's decision to try on some of Ayami's goods.

Wow... the reading is getting so good, not that it wasn't before, but the character development is reaching a height at this point... Kyo is quickly usurping Yuki as my favorite, especially when it comes to him being in the running for tohru's heart... Kyo is definitely my choice at this point.

Here in the volume of Fruits Basket you go deeper into Kyo's life...being in the year of the cat Kyo has a "true form". Tohru of course sees him as he really is but will she accept him? Only you can find out but reading this volume!

Yuki is also in the volume but his story is not as deep (but gets deeper as the series goes on) and he has worried Tohru. The "boar" is back and is obsessing with Kyo of course. This volume is so much fun to read, I CANNOT help but read it over and over like 20 times in a row!

This series amazes me on so many levels. While it's classified as shoujo, it isn't the simple boy meets girl, cutesy type of story that the shoujo genre is filled with (and hey, there's nothing wrong with those!). Instead, we find an engrossing story line, intriguing characters, fun, laughs and tears! I never would have expected to be so moved by something so...cute.
But moved I have been. I wanted to cry while reading this volume. I actually feel for these characters. Despite having the aloof Yuki separate me, the reader, from his plight...it draws me in. And Kyo's efforts to be left alone just make you want to get even closer to him.
What I find the most amusing, is that I actually don't know who I would want Tohru to end up with in the end (if she does end up with someone)...and it bothers me!!! That's the funny part. I read an interaction between Yuki and Tohru and think, oh, they should end up together, Yuki needs her so much and would treat her right. But then I see Kyo being gentle just by being around her, and think...he must be the one for her. But in both cases, I always feel sorry for the one I don't think Tohru will end up with!? It's goofy, I know. I guess what I am trying to say is that this series just draws you in.
And as for anime VS. manga...I have to say, I am watching the anime as I read the manga. Sometimes I get farther in the DVDs, sometimes the manga. I think they are both worthwhile. The DVDs stay close to the manga (at least DVD 1-2...that's as far as I have gotten so far), but there is something about seeing the story brought to life that is worth the time and money. On the other hand, the anime (4 DVDs) only covers the first 8 manga, and volume 13 of the manga is being released in April....obviously the DVD ending is not the same as the manga ending. But that happens a lot. BUY THEM ALL!

I'm continuing with Fruits Basket since I have been enjoying the character interaction. Now that I've gotten to volume 6 it's getting easier to recognize the characters, but there's still a lot of cross-cultural stuff that eludes me. The most irritating part to me is...I don't even know how to explain this, but here goes:

Someone (usually a Sohma) is thinking about something. So the words are on the page, not inside thought bubbles or anything, just words on the page. But the pictures are of other people (usually Tohru, or Tohru plus other Sohmas). The thinking person is not always present at the scene being shown. For example, the book has Hatori and Shigure in a conversation. Then we have a few pages of this "someone's thinking" with pictures of Tohru et al. having a fun time. Then at the end of these 5-6 pages, we find that it was Hatori doing the thinking. So I have to go back and reread from the point where he and Shigure were talking, so that I understand what is intended. These books really are a lot of mental work to process at times.

I have picked up the first volume of Ouran High School Host Club to see if it's a problem with me, or a problem with manga in general, or a problem with Fruits Basket. I'll report back after a few more volumes of Fruits Basket!

Yes, the "Best Manga Ever According to Me" award goes to.. FRUITS BASKET!! It's absolutely WONDERFUL!!!! I loved it so much, I've read it 5 times already!
I must admit, sometimes I love Kyo so much it scares me, and this book didn't help.. now I feel bad for him too! This book has lots of character development for Kyo. It was good timing on the writer's behalf. I find myself drawn to the pages where Tohru encounters Kyo in the forest, it's such a perfect scene for him and Tohru.... oh, it makes me want to swoon.....

How does she do it? To come up with characters as deep and intriguing and I love to say it, hott and sexy as they all are; it's amazing! Kyo, the shortwired orange haired furball, is loving and kind to Tohru. Yuki, good on the outside, untrusting on the inside, he comes out with his real true self only to, you guessed it, Honda-san! Haru san, Momiji san, Kagura, Jimi, Uochan, Akito (grrr), Shigure, Aaya, Hatori, the list goes on and on! The books unwillingness to die down is as addicting as love. You can't get enough!

I think that book 6 is, by far, the best. I've read it so many times that there are actually pages falling out of it!!

The major thing i enjoyed IMMENSELY was the "Kyo" chapters, involoving reuniting with his old master, whom he trained for four months with, and the realization as he was forced to reveal his "true form", about which Kagura accidentally let slip back when Tohru first met her in volume 1.

I do admit that I have an unhealthy obsession with Kyo, that is true. The pages when Tohru is with Kyo in the forest...

I love this book, although when 11 came out, I kinda came to love that even more...particularly because of a certain confession...and tears in a certain someone's eyes...and the ANGST!

But I was poking around a manga shop and found volume 19!! yes, it was in japanese, which had just been published, and the drawings look slightly different, but I merely took that as they're all changing.

Stiil, after using up my homework-free Saturday by reading the whole of my Furuba collection (Vulmes 1 thru 12), Number six is still number one...Why? well, I'm a sucker for angst....

Alright, now i've been reading manga for about 2 years now and i haven't been hooked on one as much as Fruits Basket! It's amazing, it combines romance with comedy, it's a definate page turner! This one may in fact be my favorite one out of the series so far...it's absolutely amazing! You get to see a side of Kyo you haven't seen yet and this particular manga has alot of character developement in it. It's a definate buy for anyone that wants a good romance/comedy! Not only do you get to see an emotional side of Kyo you haven't seen before, but you also get to see his "true form." Overall, the 6th volume of Fruits Basket is a must read! Kyo is personally my favorite character and you really get to see a side of him you don't normally see and you get to see the relationship between Kyo and Tohru deepen and become alot stronger! Definatly a 10/10!
~alexis~