fruits basket

Fruits Basket (フルーツバスケット, Furūtsu Basuketto^?) is a shōjo manga series created by Natsuki Takaya (pseudonym, real name unknown^{citation needed]}) serialized in the semi-monthly Japanese Hana to Yume (Flowers and Dreams) magazine, which is published by Hakusensha. It won the 2001 Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo. Fruits Basket is also a 26-episode anime series, adapted from the manga by Akitaro Daichi (director). The word "Fruits" in the title is always plural.

The title is often shortened to Furuba or Fruba, a portmanteau of the two parts in the Japanese pronunciation of the title, Furutsu Basuketto.

Story

Fruits Basket follows the life of high school student Tohru Honda, recently orphaned when her mother is killed in a car crash. Tohru lives with her grandfather, but when his/her family moves in, and remodelling is needed the house, Tohru resorts to living in a tent, unwilling to impose on her friends, and holds down a job to support herself. Despite suffering many hardships, Tohru remains her cheerful and optimistic self.

One day, Tohru comes upon a house in the woods which is the home of Shigure Sohma and Yuki Sohma (a first year at her school with an unwanted fan club) from the Sohma family. When the Sohmas discover that Tohru is, in fact, living in a tent in the woods, they are quite surprised. The entire area is Sohma property, and Tohru pleads to stay, offering to pay a rental fee for living on their land. Feeling sorry for her, and desperate to end their take-out eating habits and filthy living conditions, the Sohmas offer her their spare room in exchange for cooking and housework. When her tent is buried that night in a landslide, she has no option but to accept.

Tohru soon discovers the Sohma family's secret, and the reason why Yuki is so private and taciturn; thirteen members of the family are possessed by the 12 animal spirits of the Chinese Zodiac ("Jyūnishi" in Japanese) and the spirit of the cat. They transform into animals when hugged by the opposite gender, or when they are under great amounts of stress. When she promises to keep their secret, the Sohmas allow Tohru to keep her memories rather than hypnotically erasing them, a fate that has previously befallen everyone who had found out from outside the Sohma family.

The story follows the lives of Tohru and the Sohma family, as they deal with each other and a society where neither quite fits in, as well as the feared Akito Sohma, head of the Sohma family.

Characters

Main article: Fruits Basket characters

Origin of the title

The phrase "fruits basket" means simply a basket of fruit in Japan. In Japan, where arable land is in short supply and fresh food very expensive, a basket of fresh fruit is a costly and desirable item. It is written in Japanese as フルーツバスケット, fu-ru-u-tsu ba-su-ke-t-to, where the 'tsu' kana represents the 's' in "fruits", making it plural.

The series is named after the children's game, Fruits Basket, in which everyone sits in a circle, and the leader of the game names each person after a fruit; when the name of a child's fruit is called, that child gets up and swaps positions with others with the same name. When Tohru first played this game in kindergarten, she was assigned "Onigiri" (rice ball), which was fine with her, since she believes onigiri are delicious. However, everyone but her was called, and she was the only one left sitting when she realized that an onigiri isn't a fruit and that she'd never be called. She was purposefully excluded from the game; another of the mean tricks that other kids used to pull on her. She realizes that an onigiri can never belong in a Fruits Basket.

During the course of the story, lines spoken by members of the Sohma clan are often illustrated by a super deformed (SD) head of the corresponding animal: for example, when Yuki speaks from off-screen a small mouse head might appear, and when Kyo snaps a reply there might be an angry cat face. Uotani and Hanajima's SD heads are based off their names and are a fish and a flower, respectively. As the series goes on, Tohru's comments are illustrated in the same way with an animated onigiri: illustrating that although Tohru might have been rejected by classmates at school, she has found a place she can belong with the Sohmas.

The manga

Fruits Basket is still being published in Japan. It has 133 chapters as of September 20, 2006, and appears to be nearing its conclusion. It is unclear at this time how many chapters remain to tie up loose ends. Twenty-one collected volumes have been released in Japan, and at least two more are expected. In an August 10, 2006 interview with Time.com, Natsuki Takaya said she plans "to conclude it within the year." [1] In 2003, the manga was licensed for United States distribution by TOKYOPOP after it topped a poll of requested manga on their website. The first translated volume was released in February, 2004. In Singapore, an English translation is adapted by Chuang Yi, and the Singaporean translation is imported to Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. Meanwhile, in Europe, the French translation of the manga is available up to volume nineteen, as of September 2006. In Brazil, the Portuguese translation is published by Editora JBC since April, 2005. A runaway hit, by volume five in the U.S, it had taken the title of "Best Selling Shōjo Manga in 2004." [2]

Manga cover

The volumes each feature a specific main character on the cover. They are, in order:

Manga volumes

Japanese Volumes to date: 21

English USA Volumes to date: 14

English Volume 15 scheduled for release December 12, 2006[3]

English Singapore/Australia Volumes to date: 19

20 for release on the 11th of October 2006

[4] [5]

French Volumes to date: 19

Currently (September 2006[6]), no official date for French Volume 20 yet.

The anime

The Fruits Basket anime is a 26-episode series adapted by Akitaro Daichi. It aired on TV channel TV Tokyo from July 5 to December 27, 2001, at 18:00 on Thursdays. The beginning and ending songs are "For Fruits Basket" and "Chiisana Inori" (Little Prayer).

The anime series closely follows the manga up to approximately the end of volume 8 of the collections.

Following the series release in North America by FUNimation, a grassroots effort has been mounted by the fan base to have a second season of the series produced in Japan. Funimation has had a sizable hand in this effort, organizing origami crane folding events at various anime conventions. These cranes were then sent to Japan as a form of petition for the production of a second season. It currently airs as part of the FUNimation programming block on CoLours TV.

Production staff & Books 21 , 22 & 23

• Studio: Studio DEEN
• Director: Akitaro Daichi
• Assistant Director: Nagisa Miyazaki
• Series Story Editor: Rika Nakase
• Character Design: Akemi Hayashi
• Music: Seji Muto

There are many Fruits Basket books you can find. One of which is number 21 this book is about Yuki finding out that Machi is leaving, but then finds out that she has a boyfriend already and was tricking Yuki.We go back to Kyo and Tohru, they have recently been together, however now Kagura is no longer wanting to treat Kyo as a loving brother so want to love him as a boyfriend. So fights Tohru for it, unfortunatly Tohru gives up her love for Kyo because she can't fight Kagura (since she is her friend) for Kyo. So right now Yuki is starting again to like Tohru(since Machi has left and was tricking him.) Tohru also (since she no longer with Kyo) falls in love with Yuki too. Will they come together? How will Kyo feel about breaking up with Tohru and going with Kagura?..... Book 22: The relationship between Kyo and Kagura is coming together, Kyo now knows that Tohru has no love for him anymore so has a chance with Kagura and is willing to go with her. Meanwhile, Yuki confesses his love for Tohru and so does she so they are well together. Since Yuki has not broken free from the curse(unlike Kyo) he is still unable to hug Tohru, but.... a kiss on the lips is enough for Tohru and binds there relationship together. Is Mayu on the other hand falling in love with Hatori? Is Shigure still in love with Mayu?....... Book 23: Is Shigure falling in love with Mayu again? Mayu is acting weird around Hatori and where's the picture of Kana in his office gone? Mayu found it hidden for no one to see. Mayu is stressing because Shigure is acting weird around her. Does he tell her? No, he only said he has a small passion for her. However, Shigure soonfinds out Mayu's love for Hatori and he forges a plan with Mayu to win Hatoris heart, but does Hatori like Mayu? (Note: Yuki,Tohru,Kagura&Kyo are not included in this book!) Meanwhile, Ayame and Mine have a strong relationship, but will Akito let them be? What happens to Hiro when Kisa may like someone else that she meet? Will Rin forgive Haru and go back with him?...

Natsuki Takaya

Cast

Distribution

In North America, FUNimation has released the Fruits Basket anime on DVD in R1, comprising four volumes. This is also available as a complete Boxset in Australia and New Zealand from Madman Entertainment The anime is produced in English in Singapore by Odex. FUNimation has received high acclaim for their work in dubbing the series.

A note on Romanization

The name spellings used here are only one possible romanization and have been chosen to correspond as much as possible to the officially licensed R1 DVD names. Names are given in Western order, with the family name last. The romanization style according to the Manual of Style is given in parentheses to the right of the official romanization in Japanese order, with the family name before the given name.

See also

• Dai Hin Min - The card game frequently played during the series.

External links

Official sites

• (Japanese) TV Tokyo's Fruits Basket Site (anime)
• (English) FUNimation's Fruits Basket Site (anime)

Unofficial sites

• (English) TokyoPop's Fruits Basket Site (manga)
• (English) Chiisana Inori (fansite anime/manga)
• (French) Suba Furuba (fansite anime/manga)
• (English) Otaku Corner (manga)
• (French) Fruits Basket Temple (fansite anime/manga)
• (English) Time.com's Interview with Natsuki Takaya (manga)
• (English) Silverstar's Fruits Basket anime fansite (anime)