Customer Reviews

Fruits Basket, Volume 2: What Becomes of Snow? (Episodes 7-12)

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

 

 

To read the title you'd think this was just another boring anime. WRONG! This wacky series about the Sohma family that are all cursed as one animal of the chinese zodiac and get turned into them whenever someone of the opposite sex hugs them. Ranma, move over! The Sohma family is a zany bunch of misfit personalities from Momiji, too cute for words and older than he looks, to Kyo and Kagura who when approached the right way are sweet but have vicious tempers. And lets not forget Hatsuharu and Black Haru (eep!). This is a must see for any true anime fan. The characters alone will keep you in stiches so much you'll have to watch it again to see what all you've missed laughing. This anime definetly rates 5 stars. I'd give it 10 if I could. Although waiting a month for it to come out with the next one is hard. Oh well, just rewatch this one!

I picked up the first dvd after viewing the preview dvd with the Dragonball GT preview & enjoyed it, but this one was better. Having set up the story on the first dvd, Fruits Basket adds several members of the Sohma family, cursed & not, all who seem to know about Tohru knowing the family secret (major word of mouth?). Haru's probably my fav of those intro'd(cool look, interesting personality), but Hatori's sad & interesting. Momiji's just scary(tooooo cute, but older than he looks/acts). I still like Kyo best & he's developing well on this one. We meet Akito in Hatori's memories & see him hanging on a window sill watching Tohru--forboding enough. At this point he seems the stereotype selfish invalid(like Colin from Secret Garden), thus very threatening as the head of the family with the power to order Tohru's memories erased bt Hatori. My daughter & I died laughing at Shigure teasing his editor over the 500 pages she wanted from him & when he went off to school to pick up Yuki's homework singing "High school girls", we had to back up the dvd to see what we'd missed laughing. This dvd actually gives us a good reason for Tohru needing to be so darn sweet to remain in the Sohma household. The preview is horrible-I can hardly wait 2 mos for the next one to come out to see what they mean about Akito & Tohru.

The magic of Fruits Basket continues with this second volume. If you liked the first one, you absolutely have to get this DVD (although I probably don't need to tell you). It's just got as many moments of laughter and tears, if not more!

Life at Shigure's house is far from dull, what with the upcoming school cultural festival and New Year's coming up. Tohru is happy as ever living with the Sohma family, but her worries aren't over yet. She is soon introduced to two new Sohmas: adorable, childish, but surprisingly insightful Momiji and tall, dark, mysterious and handsome Hatori, whose cold behaviour has Tohru somewhat disturbed. Meanwhile, her relationship with Yuki and Kyo continues to deepen, as she grows to understand them more and more and is able to help them bit by bit.

New Year's comes and goes, and it's soon time for the school marathon, where Hatsuharu Sohma (yup, another cousin) makes his first appearance. He is by far the most eccentric Zodiac member we have met so far. I'll tell you nothing more!
Before you know it, it's Valentine's Day, and you just know it'll be a day to be remembered! The final episode is all about Momiji's surprise White Day gift to Tohru (White Day is the day the boys who received Valentine gifts have to give something back): a trip to the hot springs!

This volume is very much in step with the first one, it still has that delicate balance of humour, tenderness and grief. There are absolutely hilarious moments, my personal favourite being Shigure's reckless behaviour towards his quasi-suicidal editor. There are also those moments of warm fuzziness we've come to know and love, that just make you feel like everything will be all right, no matter what (and that's the whole point of this anime, isn't it?). And there are absolutely heartbreaking scenes as well... I wept when I first witnessed Hatori's tragic tale, even though I already knew about it from reading the manga: it's just extremely well done. I still get teary whenever I watch it.

Also, in this volume, you get another glimpse of the ominous Akito... Just what does he have in store for Tohru?

I thought this series looked like a dorky, lame series. I was blown away when I began to watch and was instantly addicted. Not only does Fruits basket give you a warm fuzzy feeling, but the ending is spectacular. (I won't ruin it for you though!) I recommend this to any anime fan, it has the comical aspect right alongside the incredible cuteness. go get it..hurry!!

In this volume, Tohru meets three more Zodiac members as word of her starts to spread through the Sohma family.

First there's Momiji the Rabbit, a hyper, friendly boy who's both more childish and wiser than his years. He hits it off with Tohru immediately and in most ways it's perhaps her easiest introduction. She'll need it, because soon after she's unnerved by a meeting with Hatori the Dragon. Although decent in and of himself, it's Hatori who will have to erase Tohru's memories if that's what word eventually comes down from Akito, so Yuki warns her never to let him see her alone. Finally there's Hatsuharu the Ox, who's pretty tight with Yuki (and not so much with Kyo) as the Zodiac legend told earlier implied. Haru's just about the nicest guy you could meet, his street tough appearance contrasting a sweet personality. Unfortunately he suffers a split personality that makes Kagura's seem tame by comparison, which makes his first meeting with Tohru a bit of an experience.

After the meetings, we get one of the funniest episodes so far. Let's just say it involves Kyo, Kagura and Valentine's day. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

As usual, mixed in with comedy is more than a little drama. Tohru sees Hatori in a different light when Momiji tells her his story; and she learns a little more about Yuki from Haru, who tells her how he developed a crush on him when Yuki helped him overcome his humiliation at being the family joke because the Ox blindly gave the Rat a free ride to the banquet.

A wonderful continuation.

In this, the second DVD of the brilliant Fruits Basket series, Tohru gets her first indication that the Sohma curse is not all as cute and cuddly as she finds it. At a school festival, she meets the affectionate and enthusiastic child, Momiji Sohma, and his attendant, the cold family doctor, Hatori. Hatori speaks to her privately and orders her to meet him secretly at the main house of the Sohmas...a large mansion, far removed from Shigure's cosy, fragile little house in the woods. There, Hatori warns her to flee the Sohma house while she still can. Momiji tells Tohru later of Hatori's own private tragedy at the hands of the Sohmas. On her departure, Tohru catches her first glance at Akito, the dreaded head of the family.
Any fear that Hatori instilled is short-lived, though, and soon Tohru is her happy self again, planning New Years festivities and taking part in a trip to a hot spring...she meets two of the more psychotic members of the enormous Sohma family, outspends her budget, and takes part in a school endurance run. Some very funny stuff on this disc, including Shigure's evading his editor, and Hana's participation in the school run.

The second Fruits Basket disc is probably the sweetest one of the three that are out so far. More of the Soma's history is shown, and more of the family's intricacies as well. The bonds between the characters are all strengthened and characterization is reinforced. Just more fun cuteness from Fruits Basket!

Fruits Basket is an anime that you watch with a girlfriend. It's warm, fuzzy, and pink, and it knows this. Not saying it's a bad series, it's very nicely drawn and animated. The story draws you in, and the characters are interesting. The soundtrack is lilting and sweet. Heavily episodic though, there is some character growth, but Honda Tohru is in many ways a flat character, making profound changes upon the lives of others though. It's a good series, one that I would recommend, especially if you want to get your girlfriend into anime.

Disc 2 of season one of Fruits Basket begins with an episode about teamwork. The students in Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo's class must make a rice ball stand, and they all have different ideas of how to run it. Ultimately they end up going with an idea of Yuki's, much to Kyo's annoyance. He also reveals to Tohru that he is envious of some of Yuki's personality traits, as Yuki revealed in the previous disc that he sometimes wishes he was like Kyo. This causes Tohru much contemplation, as she wishes that they could each openly admit their admiration for each other. On the day of the sale more Sohma's enter the picture. Momitchi (or Momiji) Sohma, the young boisterous lad who is possessed by the rabbit and Hatari (Ha'ri) Sohma who's animal manifests itself to appear as a seahorse, but in actuality is a dragon. They were both born in 1987 and 1976 respectively, as close as I can figure it.

Hatari becomes an important plot element as some of his past is quickly revealed. He was, in fact, engaged to a woman, a member of the Sohma clan who is not a zodiac member (not all Sohma's are). He encounters difficulty when he tells Akito, the head of the Sohma house hold, that he and Kana are to be wed, and Akito acts out against this by harming Hatari permanently. This scene was actually one of the first in the series that made me cry...one of the first, which implies that there are more tear-jerker moments, and trust me there are many heart sickening moments that these unfortunate cursed people end up having to endure.

Another character is also introduced, in fact it's my favorite character, Hatsuharu Sohma, Haru to the family. This young man is possessed by the spirit of the ox and is born in the year 1985. He physically resembles his animal counterpart, what with his white tipped hair and black roots... his hair is so white that Tohru mistakenly thinks he is an older man passed out on the ground when she first meets him. The thing that draws me to Haru is his "white/black" sides. See, when he is "white" Haru he is docile and pleasant, like a cow, but when he is "black" Haru he becomes enraged like the bull, and it's hard to keep him from harming people. He also seems to suffer Tourette's syndrome when he is black Haru, which I find hysterical. I guess I have always been inclined to split personality characters, I can blame this on the fact that I am a Gemini, I suppose.

Again, the series is wonderful. I can't say enough good things about it. I love the animation, the soundtrack is wonderful, most of the scores are very well done. I have been watching it in the dubbed version (eek, I know, I'm so unfaithful) and I find all of the voice actors to be very good. One thing I have noticed in my years of watching anime is that the dubbed voice acting has improved ten thousand fold. This is good for me, as I can never sit down and just watch anything, so I must have the dubbed on in order to be able to hear it with whatever else I am doing. I guess my only complaint is that there are not enough girls in it, but there are enough beautiful boys in it that I am not unhappy. It is Shojo after all, and what would Shojo anime be without bizarre circumstances, beautiful boys, and gut wrenching scenarios... oh, and there is, indeed, the delicious love story/triangle in place, which I imagine will only become juicier as the series progresses. What's not to love about this series?

Fruits Basket is quite an interesting anime, at first the show seems to over the top, and can turn off potential viewers with the giant eyes and the crazy fan club girls, but on episode two the show really kicks off, and with the introduction of new characters, each of whom are unique and different in their own way and devolop quite a bit over the course of the series, the show becomes even funnier, as a note Fruits Basket has an amazing dub, for those who like dubs, in fact, most of the time I watch this series dubbed.

As a note I consider the Fruits Basket DVDs to be really the first truely amazingly done DVDS, at the time (Or at least to my knowledge) most Anime discs had 2-5 episodes and th only features were textless endings (Can you say crappy and boring?) but Fruits basket has not only previews for other Funimation stuff, but interviews, a documentary of the "eye catches" (Which are explained in the documentry) and even behind the scenes footage. AND 6 episodes per disc, and the disc has 3 regions, any fan of special features would freak out, why the only way they could get any better would be is if it came with a poster or something rather.

Overall I suguest Fruits Basket to anyone who is willing to give it a chance, the anime has elements from many genres and is a perfect balance of Comedy and Character devolopment.

Buy it today.