Fruits Basket

[mysngoeshere56]

So I've been going through the manga. I've been collecting it for a few years now and since Tokyopop's gonna be closing down at the end of the month, I'm jumping on finishing up my collection... I now have all but 3 volumes either on my shelf or scheduled to be delivered.

Anyway, anybody else completely adore the story? I mean, it's just sooooo emotional... I can really feel for the characters, and the story is so much deeper than most other manga I've read. ^_^

[Atria35]

I have to admit, I'm fond of it. The manga more than the anime, most definitely. When watching the anime, I was very, very bored- she just seemed like a perfect happy person. You know, the type normally labeled as a Mary Sue in writing. (yes, I know she had terrible circumstances. So do most Mary Sues.)

However, having been recently introduced into the manga, I have to say she's a deeper character than I gave her credit for, and the circumstances and people around her are far more fleshed out, which I greatly appreciate. As dramatic as it may be, I can't stand the story without it- especially since the anime left so many loose ends with characterization and circumstances. You knew there was deeper stuff going on, but it was never resolved or anything.

[R86]

I too got much more out of the manga than out of the anime, but the manga needs to be read to the end to get the full effect. Some really amazing events that I would like to say more about, but will resist it because I don't want to spoil it for others.

[Seto_Sora]

OOOh! Me! I was touched by the manga! I felt so happy after finishing it... feeling refreshed as only Jane Austen has been able to do to this point. XD I love this manga! Its in my top three all time ever! I love it!

SDG

[mysngoeshere56]

So happy to know that you guys prefer the manga over the anime too! I think it's sooooo much better. The anime leaves way too many loose ends and the ending was just so abrupt. The story in the anime was just scratching the beginning of the story in the manga. I want them to remake the anime to follow the manga someday... ^_^

[R86]

Well, I can't be sure how representative I am of "us guys," and indeed my interest in the manga was not so much in the romance aspect as in (GAH I can't talk about it anymore without using spoiler tags):[spoiler]the breaking of curses.[/spoiler]Not that I have anything against romance, just that it wasn't my main focal point in the series. Also, while there is elsewhere a thread about anime / manga that made people cry, both the anime and the manga versions of Fruits Basket had moments that made me gasp out loud. The anime moment, which of course also came up in the manga, was[spoiler]at Kyo's line, "You didn't have to love everything!"[/spoiler]And the manga moment was near the end, when[spoiler]Kyo ripped off the bracelet that had sealed his beast form -- really twice, also when the rat spirit said to Yuki, "You're the last."[/spoiler]Powerful stuff, I'd say, regardless of the gender of the reader.

[Seto_Sora]

Yo I'm a dude and I totally loved it for the romance!

[Atria35]

As I once saw on a forum, Fruits Basket is "100% approved for manly men"

Not that I am one, but, you know.

[mysngoeshere56]

[quote="Seto_Sora (post: 1477687)"]Yo I'm a dude and I totally loved it for the romance! ]

I can relate to this! ^_^ The romance is so amazing... And yes, I even think so as a male.

[MangaRocks!]

...anybody else completely adore the story?

*points at footer*

[Cadence]

I am one of the--oh, I don't know, maybe three--people in this world who has both watched the anime and read the manga and still likes the anime better of the two. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love both; but I enjoy the more lighthearted and sweet approach of the anime, as well as its focus on familial-type love, as opposed to the manga, which was more heavily focused on romance and drama.

I think the main draw of the series--for me, at least--is the characters. I absolutely love each of the characters in Fruits Basket. Tohru, especially, appeals to me, with her Christ-like love, optimism, innocence, and selflessness. I know a lot of people who dislike her for those very qualities, ("she's too good") but I am really drawn to that. If everyone was a little bit more like Tohru, the world would be a much pleasanter place to be. =) Another character I've come to love is Yuki, who I initially disliked. A lot. But, the last time I read the manga, I suddenly realized how much I related to him and how he really is the second protagonist of the series...his growth throughout is fantastic. I also really love Hatsuharu. <3

I've read the entire manga series about three times, and re-watched the anime more times than I can remember. And each time, I cry. In either form, Fruits Basket is one of my favorite stories.

I just re-read the manga in its entirety about a month ago...but after reading this thread, I want to go read it again! =)

[Atria35]

With the anime, though, she really is too good. You really don't see her struggle or suffer or make hard choices. The only thing that she suffers is having her mother die and for some reason is homeless- I don't even remember whether they actually show why she's not living with her grandpa and relatives. She doesn't feel like a real character.

Even though she rarely shows it in the manga, and actually most of it is shown through other characters, you still realize that she's going through hard times, far harder than what they show in the anime. I respect her a lot more in the manga for being able to put up with what she does and still manages to put on a happy face.

And again, plot threads.

I loathe when plot threads are left unresolved.

[mysngoeshere56]

I'm gonna agree with Atria on this one. In the anime, we really only see Tohru go through certain struggles that really get her down. Granted, she overcomes them either way, but in the manga she's a more developed character than she is in the anime. In the anime, her character almost seems like a Mary Sue. She can overcome anything and still smile. In the manga, she's still very sweet, but you see her more sensitive side every now and then. As such, she actually seems like a believable character who just has a more sweet and gentle behavior to her personality.

And yes - loads of plot threads are left unresolved. Not to mention, two of the zodiac members didn't even show up in the anime!

But, I do see where Cadence is coming from. The anime really does have a more lighthearted and loving tone about it, which is definitely a great thing. I enjoy the anime quite a bit. I also like my stories dark and dramatic, though, which is probably yet another reason why I prefer the manga. But, I never would've read the manga if it wasn't for the anime.

Anywho, I just bought the last few volumes I don't have on Amazon today. I figure I might as well snatch 'em up while I can, since they're published by the soon-to-be-gone Tokyopop. :-/ I'd imagine Furuba will get re-licensed, but I don't know when so I figure better safe than sorry (and even if it does happen, the new publisher would likely re-release the volumes in order and the only ones I didn't have were the very last ones).

[Atria35]

But, I never would've read the manga if it wasn't for the anime.

You see, all those issues with the anime stopped me from reading the manga. For 4 years. I thought it would be more Mary-Sue, more unfinished plot threads.

[mysngoeshere56]

You see, all those issues with the anime stopped me from reading the manga. For 4 years. I thought it would be more Mary-Sue, more unfinished plot threads.

I can understand that. I guess I picked up the manga sooner because I was looking for more manga to read, and I heard it was a lot better.

[Lynna]

O.O T....Tokyo Pop will be GONE?????
This is new news for me.
I adored This manga. It made me cry lots :') <3 I actually haven't read it for a loooooooong time. I was thinking of reading it again recently ^_^ I love it to death. And you know what else I love? I love Machi (I might be spelling her name wrong by now though) I've heard some people call her
[Spoiler] Yuki's consolation prize[/spoiler]
But I don't think that at all! Her and [Spoiler] Yuki [/spoiler] made a great couple!
Let's see...I actually fealt kind of depressed towards the end of the manga, with...y'know...everything...And, I also couldn't help but feel all the character's were having a bit of a fight [spoiler] Like Tohru and Kagura and what not [/spoiler] But I liked the ending ^_^

[Atria35]

O.O T....Tokyo Pop will be GONE?????
This is new news for me.

Oh, Lynna, it's been a while, hasn't it? xD (the announcement was made about 2 months ago. Here is the original thread.

[Lynna]

Oh, Lynna, it's been a while, hasn't it? xD (the announcement was made about 2 months ago. Here is the original thread.

O.O...How could I have missed that....this is bad....I have very few Fruits Basket Volumes and I don't have enough money to buy the rest T.T

[Atria35]

O.O...How could I have missed that....this is bad....I have very few Fruits Basket Volumes and I don't have enough money to buy the rest T.T

Fruits Basket is a title that's guaranteed to be picked up. It's perhaps their biggest one. So why is everyone freaking out about this even though it's been restated several times?!

It's okay. Really. Get a few that you're missing, but don't worry about getting them all.

[mysngoeshere56]

Yeah, Fruits Basket seems to pretty much be Tokyopop's biggest title (with D.N.Angel, Hetalia, and Gakuen Alice probably being the runners up). They milked it for all it was worth in their last few years, and it was probably because they knew they needed the money and knew it was their biggest title. I imagine that these four will definitely get re-licensed. I'm not sure when, but it's likely to happen. If you don't own very many volumes, then I'd suggest doing what Atria said. Just get a few more and then start collecting from where you left off once the new publisher re-releases them (or just watch for good deals on volumes on Amazon - it seems volumes 18 and 21 are hardest to find, but Amazon's a great place to go for discount manga).

Anywho, back on topic...

So, who else was SUPER surprised when they found out that...

[spoiler]...Akito's actually a woman?[/spoiler]

[Maokun]

Isn't it a better advice not to buy any more? Whomever picks Furuba is definitely going to try to top Tokyopop in terms of quality/bonus elements/revised translation/etc. and most likely the old Tokyopop tomes (especially if they are few) will look awkward and poor when you get the rest in the new edition so very likely, you'll just end getting those tomes again.

[ShiroiHikari]

I wasn't surprised by

[spoiler]Akito being a woman[/spoiler]

because somebody spoiled it for me a long long time ago.

Furuba was a pretty entertaining read, but I'm not crazy over it like I used to be. I know Takaya tried to make us feel sorry for Akito, but...I still don't like him. And I never warmed up to Tohru, though it's true she has a lot more depth than she did in the anime. She's still too unbelievable to me. I also don't really like Yuki. I didn't like him in the beginning, and I don't like him after he changes either.

I think I pretty much kept reading this manga for Kyo, and for Haru, and I actually liked Tohru's friends Hanajima and Uotani.

The thing that gets me about Furuba is the sheer number of horrible parents in it. It kinda pushes my suspension of disbelief.

[mysngoeshere56]

Isn't it a better advice not to buy any more? Whomever picks Furuba is definitely going to try to top Tokyopop in terms of quality/bonus elements/revised translation/etc. and most likely the old Tokyopop tomes (especially if they are few) will look awkward and poor when you get the rest in the new edition so very likely, you'll just end getting those tomes again.

This crossed my mind, but isn't Furuba already a pretty faithful translation? Granted there could be a few errors (and a few things I'd rather have worded a bit differently - most notably terms of... erm, stronger language). But as a whole, wasn't it pretty true to the original?

When I thought of this, Sailor Moon came to mind. They're going to start re-releasing it later this year and they're promising better quality. But, the original English translation was very sloppy, switched back and forth between names from the dub and sub, was flipped to be left-to-right instead of right-to-left, etc. Sailor Moon's original English translation honestly needed a better quality manga, and the re-release of the manga should follow up with the Japanese re-release and promises a more faithful translation.

Fruits Basket, on the other hand, was already pretty faithful to the original (to my knowledge, anyway). Whoever picks it up might add some interesting bonus features, but I would say that the Tokyopop edition of the manga really doesn't need to be changed very much. They could just change the Tokyopop logo on the side to their own (and revise some of the stronger language, but I doubt they'd do that much - it's just what I'd do) and I'd be happy with it.

[R86]

Well, I for one was actually relieved to learn that [spoiler]Akito was totally not a dude[/spoiler]because, by my memory, we find out right after[spoiler]she was embracing someone who totally was a dude![/spoiler]The Tokyopop thing doesn't affect me, maybe, since I am lucky (and, as a result, broke) enough to have all 23 volumes of the manga. I wouldn't mind owning it in Japanese too, but then I'd be even more broke. It is good to hear, though, that this translation is pretty faithful.

I have been doing some guest-writing for TWWK's blog, since he has been generous enough to let me do so, and since I am not terribly interested in starting my own blog at this time. I would like to do a series on the Fruits Basket manga sometime soon, but with there being 23 volumes, I am thinking I would need to write at least 4-5 columns in order to do it justice.

[MangaRocks!]

Well, I for one was actually relieved to learn that [spoiler]Akito was totally not a dude[/spoiler]because, by my memory, we find out right after[spoiler]she was embracing someone who totally was a dude![/spoiler]

Exactly. [spoiler]Akito's real gender[/spoiler] was certainly a surprise, of course, but it wasn't anywhere near as shocking as the scene right before that! So, for me, the reveal that [spoiler]she's a girl[/spoiler] was also quite a relief.

[R86]

While it's very tempting to mention in a spoiler tag yet again about[spoiler]Akito being of the female persuasion,[/spoiler]I want to bring up something I appreciated about the manga series -- which was watching the characters change and grow through time, even physically. For instance, was anyone as surprised as I was on seeing[spoiler]Momiji[/spoiler]after the first dose of adolescent hormones finally kicked in? I would never have recognized him had not[spoiler]someone called out to him by name![/spoiler]Once I realized it was him, at first I was like
But then I was like
And I'd bet his female classmates were all

[mysngoeshere56]

Well, as of yesterday, Furuba is the first super-long manga series I've collected all the volumes of. ^^ Granted, I got 1 - 4 in the boxed set and 5-6, 9-10, and 11-12 in the Ultimate Editions, but I still have all the volumes (some of them are just bundled together XD).

[Atria35]

Nice! Ultimate Editions or not, you have the whole series.

[Destroyer2000]

Yes, Fruits Basket is by far one of my favorite manga. I think one of my favorite parts was the ending of the series.

[Spoiler]"Repeat the good and the bad, and pile on the years." or something like that; and then the second to last page, you see an old version of Tohru and Kyo holding hands, with their granddaughter talking about them. Then, on the very last page, the cabinent, still holding a picture of Tohru's mother and Kyo's beads.[/spoiler]

[mysngoeshere56]

Haha, I love how stereotypically, Fruits Basket is a shojo that only females are into... but half of the people who've posted here are males! ^^ It does have universal audience appeal after all!

Yes, Fruits Basket is by far one of my favorite manga. I think one of my favorite parts was the ending of the series.

[Spoiler]"Repeat the good and the bad, and pile on the years." or something like that]

[spoiler]I think I almost cried when I saw that last page with the picture and the beads... >_> So sweet...[/spoiler]