Anime Reviews ⇢ Fruits Basket (2019)
Fruits Basket (2019)
Fruits Basket (2019)
Average Rating: 10 / 10

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Content Overview
Violence: 3 / 10
Nudity: 4 / 10
Theo Theme: 3 / 10
Neg Theme: 4 / 10

Brief Description:
Tooru Honda has always been fascinated by the story of the Chinese Zodiac that her beloved mother told her as a child. However, a sudden family tragedy changes her life, and subsequent circumstances leave her all alone. Tooru is now forced to live in a tent, but little does she know that her temporary home resides on the private property of the esteemed Souma family. Stumbling upon their home one day, she encounters Shigure, an older Souma cousin, and Yuki, the "prince" of her school. Tooru explains that she lives nearby, but the Soumas eventually discover her well-kept secret of being homeless when they see her walking back to her tent one night.

Things start to look up for Tooru as they kindly offer to take her in after hearing about her situation. But soon after, she is caught up in a fight between Yuki and his hot-tempered cousin, Kyou. While trying to stop them, she learns that the Souma family has a well-kept secret of their own: whenever they are hugged by a member of the opposite sex, they transform into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.

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US Release Date: 2019
US Distributor: FUNimation Entertainment
Suitable for ages 13+
User Reviews
09/12/2021: Rose Faerie [ Already Rated ]

Violence: There is quite a bit of slapstick violence, particularly in the beginning, as the characters get into marital arts battles. There is quite a bit of physical abuse, as well. This entails regular beatings and getting scratched on the face. A character gets thrown out the window, and there's blood. Another character is stabbed. There is a car accident scene, which depicts a character lying dead in a pool of blood. A character's mother is stated to have committed suicide. A character is attacked and loses the use of his left eye.

Sex and Nudity: When the zodiac members transform back to human form, they aren't wearing any clothes. Everything is covered with steam, hair, or objects. In the first season, the worst you see is a female character's bare hip and the top of a male character's rear end. The second season takes things a bit further, where the only thing censoring a female character's top is some strands of hair. A female character is shown topless, but with barbie-doll style nudity. This is shown only once, to highlight an important plot point. It is non-sexual.

There are three scenes that imply characters have had sex. The most you see is them in their beds and their bare backs. Two characters have a conversation about who they have and haven't slept with, which sets up some tension and drama in between them.

Ayame's shop specializes in male fantasies. Two characters like to joke about being a couple and doing...things. Hatsuharu occasionally makes suggestive comments about two of the female characters. Shigure sometimes says weird and occasionally inappropriate things to annoy people. One of Yuki's friends makes suggestive jokes about Yuki getting together with girls. The same friend hands Yuki a girl's bra when they're at her house.

Some of Rin's outfits are a tad revealing, but she isn't sexualized.

Theological Themes: There's the zodiac curse, though it causes more pain than pleasure. The zodiacs have a "god" figure. Eastern funeral practices are featured. One of Tohru's friends is stated to have a type of psychic powers.

Problematic Themes: There is quite a bit of swearing, primarily towards the beginning. Kyo can't seem to refer to Yuki without using the d-word. The s-word, h-word, the word for illegitimate child, and the b-word are all used. Shigure is implied to be drunk at one point. I will also mention that domestic and child abuse are portrayed, though negatively.

Overall: This is my favorite anime ever. I love Fruits Basket. The plot is very nice. It starts off very light and comedic with dramatic undertones. Then, things gradually get darker and more dramatic. There is still comedy, though it's less prevalent than it was in the beginning. There are also tons of positive messages about love and how we treat other people.

Everyone in the show is damaged in some way, and it shows how they cope with their brokenness and move on.The Sohmas may be cursed to turn into animals, but the real curse just might be the bonds that hold the family together.

The characters are all amazing. I don't think there are any I could actively hate, just a few I was indifferent towards. All of them undergo some sort of development, even the random side characters. In the beginning most of them seem stereotypical: Tohru is the happy sunshine girl who sacrifices everything for others, Kyo is the angry, hot-headed bad boy, Yuki is the cool, charming prince of the school, ect. However, Fruits Basket really digs deep into the characters' psyches and goes into what makes everyone the way they are.

The animation is nice and fluid. I just didn't like the character designs at first, because it reminded me a bit of a strange drawing phase I had, but it grew on me. The music is superb. I adored every single opening and ending, though "Prism" and "Pleasure" were personal favorites.

I strongly recommend this, though for older teens and up, due to the mature subject matter and the sexual content. It's a very well written tale of family, friendship, and love without being cliche. It's a 10/10 in my book.

Added: August, 2021