Fruits Basket
They say that you’ll never know what a person’s real character is until you’ve started living with him/her/ them under one roof. Well, it definitely is true in the case of a 16 year old female protagonist, Tohru Honda from the series, Fruits Basket.
Fruits Basket, or Furuba as pronounced in Japanese, is a story of an orphaned teenage girl named, Tohru, who was forced to live by herself after the tragic death of her mother. After some series of unfortunate events, our not so lucky heroine met the handsome princes of the Sohma Family and lived with them as their housekeeper and later on, secret bearer of their family’s curse.
Introducing: Fruits Basket: Another Tale of Beauty and the Beast
Now, you might be wondering how the anime got its title, hen the story revolves about a teenage girl living with people who turn into animals of the zodiac. It could have been “The girl and the zodiacs” or “The Sohmas and I” ( I know those were pretty lame suggestions ) but apparently, Fruits Basket aka Fruit Basket turn over or Fruit Basket upset, for those who don’t know is a game for kids and kids at heart (Kindly go to google or youtube to check out the mechanics of the game). In episode 5, Tohru once played the game with some of her classmates when she was little, only to be assigned as the innocent " rice ball". While everyone was having fun, she just sat down and waited to be called. In her own words, " I was never good at thinking things through. There’s no way I could’ve joined the others. A rice ball doesn’t belong in a fruits basket". But by the end of the episode, one girl yelled “rice ball” and Tohru happily joined the game. Her experience staying with the Sohmas made her feel that even if she’s not a kind of fruit, but just a rice ball, she could be a part of something and has place where she can call home (sobs). And now, let’s get to know the following fruits in this basket.
The Characters
Tohru Honda: The hardworking and naive 16 year-old leading lady of the series who accidentally discovered the Sohma family Taboo.
Yuki Sohma: Stands 5’7 in height and weighs 119 pounds, He is calm and collected most of the time and is also known as “Prince Yuki” or “Prince Charming” in Kaibara High school. The purple-eyed lad is the same age as Tohru and despite his good ( girly ) looks, he turns into a silver-furred rat when stressed, sick, or hugged by a girl.I hate rats by the way, but he could be an exception, he
Kyo Sohma: Same height as Yuki, but slightly heavier (123.5 lbs and for me, more masculine ) is the Cat in the Chinese zodiac. If you guys have heard the legend, The cat was supposed to be a member of the zodiac but was tricked by the rat, hence thir hostile treatment to each other which is apparent to his relationship with the former, who happens to be the rat. This orange- haired hottie is very short-tempred, impulsive, competetive and sometimes rude especailly to his rival, but is also soft-hearted when it comes to the most important people in his life. Kyo wears a bracelet that suppresses the monster inside him, The spirit of the vengeful cat monster, which was tamed by our beloved Tohru, just like how Black widow tamed the Hulk. :)
Shigure Sohma: is a 27-ish year old writer/novelist and an older cousin to Yuki and Kyo. This preety laid-back, flirty, but caring guy is the Dog in the Chinese zodiac. He’s bestfriends with his cousins, Hatori the Dragon/Seahorse and Ayame the snake as well as the Father -figure in the house where they live in. In the manga, Shigure is said to have a dark side which is cunning and manipulative.
The other cousins.
Kagura Sohma – A sweet-looking girl who is so much in love with Kyo, although they’re cousins. She is clingy and very vocal to her feelings to the latter. Despite her girly appearance, Kagura is actually strong and shows her affection to Kyo by wrestling him to death ( well, almost ). Kagura transforms into a boar after receiving a hug from the opposite sex but, according to her the effect of the curse is not effective if the hug comes from a member of the Sohma clan, as she demonstrated it by hugging Yuki on episode 4.
Hatsuharu Sohma – Also known as Haru, He has 2 personalities, just like the color of his hair which is black and white. He’s usually in “white mode” wherein he’s pretty chilled and displays a straight face. He’s also caring, Just don’t make him switch to his dark-side because he could be really violent and attack you without mercy just like an ox, which also happens to be his animal form.
Hatori Sohma. – is a the Sohma’s Family Physician and has the ability to suppress a person’s memory about the Sohma family’s curse. He has a stoic personality but he’s bestfriends with the playful Ayame and cheery Shigure. He’s suppose to be the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac but turned out to be a sea horse. It is believed that Dragons started out as seahorses and only a few In his theory, him transforming into a seahorse is a sign that their family curse is weakening. He tried to convince Tohru to go on separate ways with his family and she reminds him of his former love.
By the way, just imagine the horror of a girl who hugs Hatori after he turns into a real dragon. Judgemental and kidding aside, everyone’s gonna freak out if someone you hug turns into a cat or dog, how much more if it’s a dragon. or Iguana even, LOL!
Ayame Sohma – is the older brother of Yuki and is cursed to be in the form of a snake. He’s got long, straight, silver-grey hair with amber eyes. He owns a boutique and likes to wear flamboyant dresses. Together with his cousins, Hatori and Shigure, they are the “Mabudachi Trio” ( Mabudachi means true friend ). They’ve been very close since they were in elementary and he occassionally plays as Shigure’s lover in their long-time bromance inside joke scenes. Since he and Yuki has a big age gap, he has no idea how to have a brotherly relationship with the younger sohma.
Momiji Sohma – A 10th grader at Kaibara High, a cousin to the rest of the Sohmas and the rabbit in the Chinese zodiac. He’s got blonde hair and brown eyes and acts in a child-like manner. He’s a loli-shota type in short. He is often seen wearing girly outfits and likes to wear hats. Momiji is Half- German and half- Japanese.
Kisa Sohma – A shy and intovert 12 year old girl in the Sohma family who turns into a Tiger. She lost her ability to speak due to her classmates teasing but slowly opened up and started talking again after meeting Tohru and treated her like an older sister. He is also close to Haru.
Hiro Sohma – Same age as Kisa and becomes a sheep in the zodiac. He loves Kisa very much but doesn’t know how to treat her.
Ritu Sohma – Has the curse of the Monkey spirit in the Sohma Clan. The cross-dressing onsen her ( onse: hot spring ) looks very feminine with his long light brown hair and often wears a kimono as it makes him feel more at ease. He’s kind but has a very low self-esteem, very apologetic even if it’s not his fault, and usually overreacts about other things. He’s the opposite of Ayame who’s very confident.
Isuzu “Rin” Sohma – The only member of the Sohma clan who wasn’t shown in the anime. She’ got long, straight black hair that reaches down her hips. Rin is the love interest of Haru and transforms into a horse according their family’s curse.
Akito Sohma – Head of the Sohma Family. Feared and respected by his clan members. He is the God of the Zodiac and exercises his powers by being cruel and inflicting pain to some of them, including Tohru, for knowing the greatest taboo in their family.
Minor Characters
Arisa Uotani: One of Tohru’s female bestfriends at Kaibara High and has a Fatherly attitude towards her. She’s a tall girl with blonde hair and was once part of a gang. Just like Kyo, she’s hot-headed and aggressive.
Saki Hanajima: Tohru’s other female buddy, She has long, wavy black hair and acts as a Mother to Tohru. She looks like she has special abilities and often wears black. If there’s one thing Kyo and Yuki agrees with, it’s about Saki’s aura, which is spooky and creepy which probaly earns her the nick name, “Demon lord”.
The Perks of living with the Sohmas:
- The feeling of being the “luckiest girl” alive since you get to live in the same house with the handosme Sohma cousins and be with them almost 24/7.
- You get to see them in their birthday suit when you hug them accidentally after they turn into their respective animal counterparts. Only effective when hugged by the opposite sex.
- Based from the E-book, “Fruits Basket Uncovered: The Secrets of the Sohmas” under Chapter 31, page 90, “The Sohmas are extremely rich”. Social- climbing aside, Tohru could really live like a princess whoever she marries among the Sohma studs.
Yaoi and Incest feels
- If not all, Many shojo series has its yaoi moments, and for Fujoshi fans out there, you could get a taste some mild bromance action from our beloved characters in the series. #LOVEWINS
- Speaking of Love, I am a firm believer that Love starts from Family…and doesn’t neccessarily have to stop there. :)
Short info about the series:
Fruits Basket is an anime about school-life, family, friendship, and love rolled into one, written by Higuchi Tachibana and Directed by kitaro Daichi under Studio Deen. It first aired in Japan on July 5, 2001 and had its finale on December 27 of the same year with 26 episodes.
For those who haven’t seen the anime yet, All I want to say is that what you will see from the series is not everything that was publish in manga, but overall, Fruits Basket is a heart-warming, feel good anime with a bite as it tackled a bit of some sensitive issues like family, friendship and relationships . From the title itself, the series gave us different flavors of life. It’s filled with complex characters, just like fruits combined together with different twists and blends perfect for your taste and thirst for an interesting plot, and if you’re a school boy/girl, a son/daughter/ or someone who’s in a relationship, this anime is just for you.