Review of Fruits Basket Vol. 3

Introduction

In the grand tradition of doing things the wrong way around, I complete my Fruits Basket reviews by looking at the third volume in the four volume series. I didn`t know what to expect from Fruits Basket when I first encountered it, but I quickly fell in love with its simple charm and warm characters, and I have rarely encountered an anime so magical. It makes writing this final review a slightly melancholic experience, as there are no more episodes to date to write about.

Fruits Basket has an unusual premise. The Sohma family live under a curse, a simple hug from someone of the opposite sex changes them into an animal from the Chinese Zodiac. They also have other related abilities and quirks that have resulted in the Sohma Clan becoming insular and wary of outsiders. Into this family comes a young girl, Tohru Honda. After the death of her mother she is informally adopted by the Sohmas and she becomes their housekeeper when she inadvertently discovers their secret. This is the third volume of Fruits Basket and contains seven more tales of gentle fantasy.

Episode 13
It`s a new term at school, and Tohru is now a second year. It also means the debut of new students, including Sohma family members Momiji and Hatsuharu. Momiji hasn`t quite got the hang of school uniform just yet, while the student council president rubs Hatsuharu the wrong way. The day gets serious when Akito, the head of the Sohma family shows up.

Episode 14
It`s a nice brisk spring day, until Yuki`s brother Ayame turns up. Tohru`s a little shocked to meet him in his snake form, but then realises that Yuki doesn`t get along with his flamboyant elder brother.

Episode 15
It`s the first anniversary of the death of Tohru`s mother, and she and her friends plant to spend the day at her graveside. Kyo and Yuki decide to accompany her as well. Later Momiji explains what it means to be born with the Sohma curse to parents who don`t expect it.

Episode 16
It`s a week off, and Shigure suggests a trip to the cabin to unwind. Shigure has an ulterior motive or three, but everyone eventually starts to relax. That is until Ayame arrives, raising the decibel levels.

Episode 17
Tohru meets Kisa Sohma, a young girl whose zodiac sign is the tiger. But she is a timid child who after being bullied at school has withdrawn into herself and has stopped speaking. Tohru decides to bring her out of her shell, but this tiger`s bite is worse than her bark.

Episode 18
The Prince Yuki fan club has finally tired of Tohru`s closeness to their beloved prince, and the members have come up with a plan to remove her from the equation. To start with they have to get close to Tohru`s friend Hana. That`s their first mistake right there. Hana realises that she has to work through some negative feelings herself.

Episode 19
Tohru gets in a state when she fails a mid-term exam and has to sit a make-up test. Catching a cold doesn`t help either. It`s a chance for all the people whose lives she has brightened over the last year to return the favour.

Video

Fruits Basket gets a 4:3 regular transfer that is perfectly adequate. The transfer is clear and sharp, with only the mildest of artefacts around fine details, and you`ll purposely have to look for it to notice anything. The animation is nice and clean, following the modern trend of accomplishing the cel animation completely on computer, rather than resorting to inks and paints. The character animations are simplified but stylised, and it all works in the context of the show. This is a 2-layer disc, coded for Regions 2 and 4.

Audio

You get a choice of DD 2.0 English and Japanese. The dialogue is clear for both tracks, although as usual I opted for the original language track. There are two subtitle tracks, one that reflects the English dub, and one translated from the original Japanese. I spot checked the English dub and found it to be perfectly fine, with the actors chosen well to suit their characters. I love the music for Fruits Basket, it has a mellow gentle feel that really suits the story and the characters well.

Features

MVM do a sterling job authoring their discs, and this is no exception, boasting a jacket picture that displays when the disc isn`t spinning, multi angle credit sequences in English and Japanese, 7 character profiles and a Textless opening sequence.

The third volume of Fruits Basket also contains a couple of featurettes. In Fruits Basket Room no 2, Yui Horie (voice of Tohru Honda) interviews Tomokazu Seki, who provides the voice of Kyo Sohma in the anime. He gives an insight into the character and the ADR process, but it is mostly a light-hearted conversation. This lasts 15 minutes and is subtitled.

Eyecatch Gallery no 2 also last 15 minutes and looks at the eyecatches that herald the adverts and the kaching wipes that are placed between scenes. Usually they are a blink and miss them affair, but here you can take a leisurely look at ones from Episodes 13 through 26. They are presented as a slideshow with a commentary in Japanese from Yui Horie with English subtitles. It may be worth turning the subtitles off, as they can obscure some of the images.

Conclusion

Having finally seen the third disc of Fruits Basket, I can appreciate this series in its entirety. Taken as a whole, Fruits Basket is an outstanding story. If all you expect from Japanese animation is giant robots or tentacle beasts, then look again, for this gentle fantasy focusing on character and relationships is one of the best anime series that I have seen. It`s concisely presented too, 10 hours of animation plus extra features on four discs make it really good value for money.

It`s a wonderful gathering of distinct characters that goes a long way to making Fruits Basket special. The story revolves around the central triangle of Tohru, Kyo and Yuki. Tohru Honda is one of those characters that charm her way into the affections of those around her, melting frozen hearts and warming the coldest days. Unashamedly optimistic, she sees the best in everyone, and it`s her hopeful and trusting nature that brings out the best in those around her. To balance this, she is filled with self-doubt, and doesn`t seem to have a perception of her own self worth. She`s a character that in western hands would be sickeningly saccharine, but in Fruits Basket is handled perfectly. Yuki is the introspective thoughtful one who is popular at school, whose alter ego is the rat. Kyo is his arch rival, the cat who got left out of the Zodiac, who`s brash and outspoken, yet it is Tohru who can get these two to stop fighting for a moment and notice the wider world. Also prominent in these episodes is the elder Sohma cousin, Shigure, who provides a little emotional anchor in all the mayhem, and we also learn of the importance of Tohru`s friends Hana and Uo. However the story focuses on the central three and the other characters are gradually introduced as the series progresses.

By this third volume, most of the characters have already been introduced and the loose format of the show settled upon, although we do meet the introverted Kisa and the conversely extrovert Ayame. The stories are as usual an excellent mix of comedy and emotion, often within the same episode. Up until now, we have mostly seen Tohru`s strength, as she has helped the members of the Sohma family open up and become more confident, but here we see her fragile side as the anniversary of her mother`s death approaches. There`s some excellent character development, as we see that Yuki and Kyo have gained from their friendship with Tohru. Indeed, while Tohru is instantly smitten with Kisa, in the end it`s Yuki who empathises with her and reaches the traumatised youngster. We also learn that the Zodiac curse that afflicts the Sohmas isn`t as cute as it appears, and has a detrimental effect on their personal lives.

Fruits Basket has an amazing ability to elicit tears and laughter with equal facility, often at the same time. Once you get caught in the story, you`ll forget the stylised animation and become immersed in the characters. Fruits Basket is a sweet, gentle tale with a touch of the fantastic that is undeniably heart-warming. The comedy is broad but never crude, and if the story can be schmaltzy, it is never saccharine, and always remains true to the characters. An animation that is simultaneously moving and entertaining is rare in my experience, and Fruits Basket is great at tugging at the heartstrings while making you laugh out loud. These four discs comprise a series that I will cherish, and it`s one that I cannot recommend highly enough.