Customer Reviews

Fruits Basket, Vol. 9

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I think this is one of the best if not the best books in the Fruits Basket series so far. You definetly have to check this volume out...
Fruits Basket 9 has chapters 49-53, with new charecters introduced! (Finally!)
Chapter 49 (Machi and Kakeru)- It's summer vacation and Yuki is hard at work. He goes to school to do some work as the upcoming student body president. We meet two of the four student council memebers, Machi Kuragi and Kakeru Manabe. That was the main theme in the chapter, but I think something of importance is shown in Tohru, who actually YELLS at Yuki and Kyo to stop fighting! (swinging around a hot iron no less) This is the first time she truly has used some force to stop the two from fighting. I found it significant myself.
Chapter 50 (Arisa and Kureno)- Wow! 3 new charecters within 2 chapters! Awesome isn't it? In the ever so special chapter 50, we meet Kureno, Arisas now love interest. I don't want to give too much away about him. There is a lot of stuff you have to learn about this guy. It becomes clear if you read spoilers too much. I'll just tell you that he is the Tohru-like person Arisa was talking about before in volume 8. She met him at the convienience store where she works and couldn't stop thinking about him. And when she saw him again she grabbed (literally) at the chance to talk to him again. They went on a little date for lunch. But what was Kureno doing with Akito at the end of this chapter?
Chapter 51 (Saki Hanajimas past)- We finally find out about Sakis sad past. Apparently, people at school treated her as a witch. She started to wear black after nearly killing a classmate that made her life miserable. The torture only got worse. It got so bad, her family moved and she transfered to another school, where she met Tohru and Arisa. As much as she didn't want to, she couldn't help but befriend the two. But then some students find out about her past. Hanajima tries to break off the friendship, but can't resist Tohru. Of course we know she did get control of her power, and is still the best of friends with Tohru. :D
Chapter 52 (Kazuma and Kyos dad)-
Kyo and Tohru visit Kazuma at his home. There are many Kyoru moments here. But there are three major things of significance could be seen in this chapter. 1) Kyos maturity. He looks as if he is a whole foot (if not more) taller than Tohru! He is also becoming kinder to Tohru and others. This is a huge difference from the angry Kyo we saw at the start of the series. 2) Kyos dad. Of course this is a big thing. We learn that he hates Kyo, calls him an it, a monster, and that Kazuma is truly the only fatherly figure out there for tohru. We also learn from this part about Kyo bieng locked away after graduation. That is huge. HUGE! 3) Kazumas flashback. Kazumas flashback only helps confirm a theory that Kyo killed Kyoko. If you think about the circumstances, and the timeline, it seems almost obvious.
Chapter 53 (Rin and the Red Cap)-
Yuki starts talking to Tohru about the red cap she says is precious to her. She tells her part of the story/ He is about to tell her his part of the story, and more importantly, who the red cap boy is. But then, right when Yuki is getting to the good part, the wind breaks the window in the room. Scene change to Shigure downstairs, where he meets Rin outside. Rin is there for an obvious reason, that only becomes obvious later on ;) this situation is resolved in first chapter of the next book. We end the book with the red cap boys identity bieng revealed, and Rin seducing Shigure. (Don't worry, like I said it will be resolved)

And that's it! There is also this cute bonus chapter at the end. Everyone beware the Rain Shelter of Terror!

Now with summer vacation here the Sohma house is relaxed and the occupants are free to do whatever they want...all except for Yuki, who must spend his days with the student council. He meets two other members of the council one early summer day. Later Arisa Uotani meets an older gentleman at her work who begins to occupy her thoughts. Little does she know the connection this enigmatic man has to some very close friends of hers.

Hanajima's past and true powers are revealed further, plus the connection that she shares with Uotani and Tohru. Also a lunch date at Kyo's Master's house unearths surprises as the host suddenly has to depart for a meeting with Kyo's real father. Some of the plans for Kyo's future are revealed.

Momitchi Sohma invites everyone to a vacation retreat. A baseball cap, one of Tohru's prized possessions, comes into question from Yuki. Apparently, when she was a child, Tohru met a young boy who helped her and left behind his hat. What connection does this have to the Sohma family? And at the end, a surprise guest shows up, another Sohma, but who is this mysterious young woman, and why is she being so affectionate with Shigure?

Hmmm... prediction, naturally it's obvious but what the heck, I'll say it. Does anyone else think that Arisa's older gentleman friend is involved with the Sohmas? Yeah, no one can be that mysterious and not be. Still hopelessly addicted, as my mad reviewing is proving, I just love this series so much, it's completely sucked me in.

This is one of the best volumes of Fruits Basket ever!
A brief list of why I love this volume:
1. New Characters! Yuki meets the irresistably funny Kakeru Manabe, vice president of the new student council, and Machi Kuragi, his step-sister, the secretary, who becomes quite important later in the series...
2. A little bit of romance... for Arisa! She has one fateful meeting with a young man at the grocery store...and then we find out he's a Sohma! (But why is he so close to Akito?...)
3. A little bit of mystery... So what does the mysterious Rin Sohma want, anyway? And what's going on between her and Shigure?
4. A little bit of fun-ness... Tohruyukikyo and momijiharu visit a haunted house... Haru tells an extremely strange story about the relationship between one of the ghosts and it's mother in order to calm Tohru down. (I love him! Where does he come up with all this stuff?)
5. A little bit of not fun-ness... we get to meet Kyo's biological dad (I'm pretty sure it's in this volume) He's a lot like Kyo- only without any of the redeeming qualities. It made me cringe to see how much hatred he has for his son- uck... :-(
6. A LOT of Hanajima... We learn the story of how Hana-chan becomes friends with Arisa and Tohru. (The only thing I have to say about this story is, I didn't think that there were any supportive, functional families in Fruits Basket- glad to know that Hana-chan's got one!)
Anyway, if you are a FB fan, please buy this! If you're not a FB fan, read volumes 1-8 and then buy this! ;-P

When the Fruits Basket anime series was being produced, it was being done at the same time that the manga was being written and produced. When the anime was nearing its end, the manga was far from finished; so, the anime version includes an ending section that isn't part of the manga. Since I was already familiar with the anime before I started reading the manga, I was very curious to read the remaining manga volumes to see how the story progressed beyond the anime series.

In this volume, Yuki has been elected as student council president, and we get to meet two new characters (Machi and Kakeru) who are also part of the student council. At this point, Yuki isn't sure how well he'll be able to work with the others on the council. Also in this volume, Uo meets Kureno Sohma, who doesn't tell her that he's a Sohma (Kureno turns into a rooster when he's hugged by a member of the opposite sex). Uo falls in love with Kureno, but nothing really progresses in the way of a relationship at this point. The reader also learns about Hana's past. We get to see Kyo's father, and how Kazuma (Kyo's teacher who appeared in an earlier volume of the manga) is more of a father to Kyo than his own father is. At the end of the volume, we meet the final member of the Sohma family... Rin Sohma (she turns into a horse when she's hugged by a member of the opposite sex).

By the time I finished reading this volume, I was very pleased with how the story was progressing. I definitely wanted to continue reading more volumes and see how the story would continue to develop. If you've read the previous volumes of the Fruits Basket manga and enjoyed them, I think you'll also enjoy this volume.

I wrote this review after checking out a copy of this manga volume through the King County Library System.

I bought it used since Tokyopop is out of business. But, I was intrigued by the story.

The story so far includes a look at both of Tohru's friends. The Yankee of the two tells of her crush on an older man (about a 9 year difference between the two). The Goth of the two reveals her struggle to be accepted by others, including her skirmishs at school which led to rumors that she kills others because they assume that she is a witch.

I could personally identify with the two friends, which is a little scary.

Overall, if character development is your thing, purchase it used from a good seller.

Tohru hasn't told Kyo that she liked him yet, but what happens to her best friends, Uo-chan and Hana-chan? I found this story very enjoyable, especially about the parts where the zodiac members each found their loved one whether they were part of the zodiac or not. Anyone who is a Fruits Basket fan will definitely get this book and many others.

i waited for 3 weeks to get this book from amazon.com because my package was lost in transit. I believe that this website should find a different primary transport method if the very first order i made from them was lost. true i got the books i ordered, but it still took way longer than it should have.