Fruits Basket

Fruits Basket Vol 1 by Natsuki Takaya

Fruits Basket Vol 1, written and illustrated by Natuski Takaya. TokyoPop, Los Angeles, CA, 2004.  Marvel Worldwide, New York City, 2006. ISBN: 978-1591826033

Summary

After her  mother passes away, Tohru Honda becomes an orphan. She’s forced to live by herself out in a tent in the country, after her only surviving family ignores her. Despite her lonely life, she’s optimistic and always tries to see the good in people.  She tries to get good grades, supports herself by cleaning houses, and has two best friends, Arisa and Saki, who look after Thoru.

When Torhu comes home late one night, she’s surprised to find Yuki and Shigure Sohma standing at her tent. Yuki is a handsome, quiet student at her school that keeps to himself, and Shigure is his older brother who writes romance novels. Yuki and Shigure explain that Thorhu is staying on Sohmo property and take her to their nearby home for dinner. When a landslide destroys Torhu’s tent, the Sohma brothers offer her a room to stay in exchange for cooking and cleaning duties. While the Sohma brothers are moody and strange, they do care for Torhu and take care of her as if she was their own sister.  But just when Torhu thinks everything is working out, she discovers the huge secret the Sohma's have been hiding. Their family is cursed and  when a member of the opposite gender runs into them, or hugs them, the Sohma’s turn into animals of the Zodiac.

Critical Evaluation

Good manga is known for its zany plots and likeable characters, and Fruits Basket deliverers on both points. The pacing behind Torhu finding out the Sohma’s family secret is well executed , and  Takaya does a nice job not revealing all of the secrets or the family members of the Sohma family too soon. While the plot of the Sohma Zodaic curse is different, it never comes across as too zany or unbelievable.   The translation from Japanese to English carries over well and the illustrations are sharp and eye-catching.

Torhu herself is a lovely, strong character who still hopes for the best, despite all that life has given her. Her sunny outlook is the perfect counterpart to the Sohma brother’s lonely and angry attitudes.   The characters have enough quirks and heart to make them likeable and not too eccentric. With no challenge issues and sweet, endearing characters, Fruits Basket is perfect for young and older teens that are looking for a cute and funny manga series.

Reader’s Annotation

While the Sohma family is mysterious and beautiful, nobody knows their biggest secret… Until Tohru Honda enters their life.

About the Author

“Natsuki Takaya (高屋 奈月 Takaya Natsuki, real name Naka Hatake) is the penname of a Japanese manga artist best-known for creating the series Fruits Basket. She was born on July 7, 1973; (Tanabata). Takaya is left-handed and once revealed that she wanted to be a mangaka since first grade, when her sister started drawing. She was born in Shizuoka, Japan, but was raised in Tokyo, where she made her debut in 1992. She enjoys video games such as the Final Fantasy series or Sakura Wars, or working on her different manga series, such as Fruits Basket, which is the second best-selling shōjo manga ever in Japan, and the top selling shōjo manga in North America. Fruits Basket has also been adapted into a twenty-six-episode anime series. 

In 2001, Takaya received a Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo manga for Fruits Basket. According to Takaya (in a sidebar of a Fruits Basket manga volume), she enjoys drawing girls (girly ones) more than she does boys. Takaya also enjoys electronics and music, but dislikes talking about herself. Also revealed in a sidebar of Fruits Basket, Takaya broke her drawing arm (left) after Fruits Basket volume six was published. She had to go into surgery, and as a result, had put Fruits Basket on a brief hiatus. Takaya made a full recovery, but complains that her handwriting had gotten uglier, due to the surgery. During her hospital stay, she gained an interest in baseball.”

 (Natsuki Takaya Retrieved October 10^th, 2014 from https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/26306.Natsuki_Takaya

Genres

Manga

Comedy

Romance

Curriculum Ties

Art

Mythology

Booktalking Ideas

1: Tohru’s outlook on life versus the Sohma brothers outlook.

2: The Chinese Zodiac  mythology.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Ages 13+

Grades 8+

Challenge Issues

N/A

Why included?

I included Fruits Baskets because it’s a cute, clean manga with a fun plot and loveable characters.