Fruits Basket Opening 2
Rosalie Checca
Fruits Basket tells the story of Tohru Honda, an orphan girl who, after meeting Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure Sohma, learns that 13 members of the Sohma family are possessed by the animals of the Chinese zodiac and are cursed to turn into their animal forms when they are weak, stressed, or when they are embraced by anyone of the opposite gender who is not possessed by a spirit of the zodiac. As the series progresses, Tohru learns of the hardships and pain faced by the afflicted members of the Sohma family, and through her own generous and loving nature, helps heal their emotional wounds. As she learns more about Yuki, Kyo, and the rest of the mysterious Sohma family, Tohru also learns more about herself and how much others care for her.
Takaya began a sequel titled Fruits Basket Another in September 2015, and the spin-off series The Three Musketeers Arc in April 2019. The original manga was first adapted into a 26-episode anime television series in 2001, produced by Studio Deen and directed by Akitaro Daichi. A second anime television series adaptation, by TMS Entertainment and directed by Yoshihide Ibata, premiered from April 2019, with its first season airing from April to September 2019, its second season airing from April to September 2020, and its third and final season airing from April to June 2021. The reboot anime series was initially a co-production of Funimation, who released the series through a partnership with Crunchyroll, although the series would later be completely moved under the latter. A compilation film titled Fruits Basket: Prelude premiered theatrically in Japan in February 2022, and was released theatrically in the United States and Canada in June 2022 and in the United Kingdom in July 2022.
By December 2018, the manga had over 30 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series, as well as one of the best-selling shōjo manga series of all time. It has been described in academic works as "a classic fan favorite in shoujo manga around the world".[6]
When high school student Tohru Honda's mother dies in a car accident, Tohru is taken in by her grandfather. A few months later, her grandfather decides to remodel his house and asks Tohru if she can stay with one of her friends until it is finished. Not wanting to impose on her two best friends, Tohru buys a tent and begins living in a forest near her school.
While exploring one day, Tohru discovers a nearby home where her popular classmate Yuki Sohma lives with his cousin Shigure. Soon after, a landslide destroys her tent and the Sohmas invite Tohru to move into their house. As Yuki and Shigure show Tohru her new room, they are interrupted by Kyo Sohma, Yuki and Shigure's cousin, who crashes through the ceiling and challenges Yuki to a fight.
When Tohru discovers the Sohma family secret, she promises not to tell anyone, and is allowed to keep living with them. Although the Sohma curse stretches far deeper and darker than Tohru initially thinks, her presence and her acceptance of them soon become a large, positive influence on those possessed by the zodiac. She sets out to break the curse and, on the way, meets and discovers the Sohma's vengeful zodiac spirits, including their leader, Akito, who occupies the position of "God" in the Chinese legend, and who both keeps the family together and chains them to their spirits.
The title of the series is taken from a children's game, Fruits Basket (フルーツバスケット, furūtsu basuketto), in which the participants sit in a circle, and the leader of the game names each person after a type of fruit; when the name of a child's fruit is called, that child gets up and has to find a new seat. When the protagonist, Tohru Honda, first plays this game in kindergarten, she is not given a fruit, and is instead assigned "onigiri" by her classmates, who do not want her to play. However, Tohru, thinking that onigiri are delicious, does not realise that her classmates are intentionally leaving her out of the game; once the game is finished, and all of the children but Tohru have been called, Tohru realizes that onigiri are not a type of fruit at all, and she realizes that she does not belong.
Tohru comes to associate this game with the Sohma family, and that she does not fit in among them any more than an onigiri does in a basket of fruit. In volume 1 of the manga, after Yuki and Kyo bring Tohru home from her grandfather's house, she begins to feel like she belongs with the Sohma family; after this, she imagines herself as a child hearing "onigiri" called in the game, symbolizing that she has finally found her place.[7]
Natsuki Takaya named most of the twelve Sohmas cursed by zodiac animals after archaic names of month in the former Japanese lunisolar calendar that correspond to their zodiac animal.[8] The exceptions are Kureno and Momiji, whose names were swapped by mistake;[9] Kyo, as the cat, is not part of the official zodiac, and so does not follow these naming conventions. Yuki's name also does not follow this naming convention, since Takaya came up with it before deciding the other names.[10]
The 136 chapters of Fruits Basket were originally serialized in Japan by Hakusensha in Hana to Yume from July 1998 to November 2006.[11][12] These were collected into 23 tankōbon volumes, released from 19 January 1999 to 19 March 2007.[13][14] On 4 September 2015, the first two volumes of Fruits Basket: Collector's Edition (愛蔵版 フルーツバスケット, Aizōban Furūtsu Basuketto) were released in Japan under the Hana to Yume Comics Special imprint.[15][16] The 12th and last volume was published on 20 July 2016.[17]
The series is licensed in English in North America and the United Kingdom by Tokyopop[18] and in Singapore by Chuang Yi.[19] The Singapore edition is licensed to be imported to Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment.[20] All 23 English-language volumes have been released in North America and Singapore. In addition, Tokyopop released a box set containing the first four volumes in October 2007, and started re-releasing earlier volumes in "Ultimate Editions" combining two sequential volumes in a single larger hard-cover volume with new cover art. The first Ultimate Edition release met with mixed reviews, however, because they exactly reproduce the first two volumes without correcting changed page numbers or prior errors.[21] As of June 2008, six Ultimate Editions have been released, covering the first twelve volumes of the series. After Tokyopop ceased publication, the series was re-licensed by Yen Press, with plans to release it as twelve omnibus editions corresponding Hakusensha's collector's editions.[22] Starting in June 2016, Fruits Basket: Collector's Edition was released in English by Yen Press.[23]
On 4 September 2015, a new series, Fruits Basket Another (フルーツバスケットanother, Furūtsu Basuketto Anazā), began serialization in HanaLaLaOnline.[24][25] In August 2017, it was transferred to Manga Park.[26] Originally, it was announced that Fruits Basket another would be finished on 3 December 2018,[27][28] however, in March 2020, it was announced that the series would return with "chapter 13" (split in three parts) on 20 April 2020 (originally scheduled for 6 April).[28][29] The second part of "chapter 13" was published on 4 May 2020[28] and the third part of "chapter 13" was published in September 2020, and Takaya announced that this would be "tentatively" the last chapter of the manga.[30] The first collected volume was published on 19 August 2016.[31] The series finished with its fourth volume, released on 18 February 2022.[32][33] In November 2017, Yen Press announced the acquisition of the manga.[34]
The series was released in Japan in nine individual DVD volumes by King Records, with each volume containing three episodes except for the first volume, which contained two.[48] The first volume was released on 29 September 2001, with subsequent volumes released on a monthly basis until the final volume was released on 22 May 2002. A series box set was released on 25 April 2007, containing all twenty-six episodes, as well a message card from Natsuki Takaya, a 60-page deluxe booklet, and a bonus Fruits Basket CD soundtrack.[49]
A third and final season, titled Fruits Basket: The Final, aired from 6 April to 29 June 2021.[66][67] The fifth opening theme is "Pleasure", by Warps Up, and the fifth ending theme is "Haru Urara" by Genic.[68][69]
The reboot is a co-production of Funimation,[70] who released the series through Crunchyroll-Funimation partnership.[71] Mighty Media has licensed the series in Asia-Pacific, and is streaming it on Netflix and Animax Asia.[72] Funimation has also licensed the series for home video distribution.[73] The English dub features many of the English voice actors that voiced in the first Fruits Basket series.[74] Crunchyroll streamed the English-subtitled version, while Funimation streamed the English-dubbed version.[75] Episodes 9 and 10 were temporarily delayed internationally due to the French Open tennis tournament coverage in Japan.[76] In March 2020, Funimation announced that the SimulDub production would be delayed internationally due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, starting with episode 4 of season 2. The SimulDub's was later resumed as scheduled starting with Season 3.[77] Although the series was initially produced under the Crunchyroll-Funimation partnership, following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was fully moved under Crunchyroll.[78]
The 2019 series received a compilation film titled Fruits Basket: Prelude, which premiered theatrically in Japan on 18 February 2022. It recaps the 2019 anime series, and includes a prequel episode titled Kyо̄ko to Katsuya no Monogatari that focuses on Tohru's parents, and an original story written by Takaya set after the series.[80][81] The film's theme song is "Niji to Kite" ("Rainbow and Kite") by Ohashi Trio.[82] The film had a 3-day theatrical release with both a subbed and a dubbed version starting on 25 June 2022 in the United States and Canada, and ran on 25 June 28 June, and 29 June respectively. Additionally, the film had a 1-day release with the English dub only in the United Kingdom on 20 July 2022. Crunchyroll distributed both versions.[83]
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