Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Fruits Basket
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5501 Location: Iscandar |
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I never read the manga but watched the first anime and liked it for the most part. So far the first 2 episodes of this reboot have been pretty great. I expect to be in love with this new anime at the end of its run.
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KitKat1721
 Posts: 974 |
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I found this to be remarkably true after the initial announcement was made. I remembered that I loved the manga, and was slowly collecting the new Yen Press editions from the past year. Hearing about the reboot (and every subsequent promotional trailer, new character design, dub cast reveal) encouraged me to re-read the whole thing in anticipation, and I don't think I realized how formative it was for me at a young age. I mostly said how I felt about these initial episodes in the comment section of the theatrical event review, but long story short, I couldn't be happier with the new adaptation so far! |
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Akane the Catgirl
Posts: 1091 Location: LA, Baby! |
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Hi, Fruits Basket newbie here! Never read the manga OR seen the first anime, but I have enough knowledge about where the story is going so that I'm not completely going in blind. My thoughts:
* What I find most striking about this anime is the mood. It's very relaxing, almost like something that should be watched before going to bed. Looks like I have something to do on Friday nights after Jeopardy! after all. * While I didn't shed tears myself, I felt my heartstrings being tugged during the first episode. The last anime I watched where I knew I was going to be a sobbing mess was Wolf's Rain, oddly enough. * I am all in for Hana and Uo, Emotional Support Lesbians. * What really stuck out about Tohru, at least to me, was her empathy and self-sacrificial nature. She cries for the cat during her mother's bedtime retelling of the Zodiac banquet, works to support herself at the expense of a social life, and almost dies in a mudslide because of her feelings of being a burden on her loved ones. She reminds me a lot of Princess Tutu's and Madoka Magica's main characters, perhaps having inspired one or both of their existences. * Also, Yuki is a Disney Princess. He just is. In short, I am hopping onboard the Froob train to *incoherent weeping* |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18436 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Although I gave the first episode a 4/5 in the Preview Guide, I saw it mostly as just a prettied-up version of the first anime take on the story. The second episode, however, has started to convince me that this series might be able to establish its own independent identity despite the common scenes. For me the real test will come when the series reaches what I feel are the strongest early emotional scenes (spoiler[the revelation of where the titles comes from and why it matters to the story], but so far I like the way this version is being tweaked.
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Oggers
 Posts: 374 Location: Ontario, Canada |
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I loved Fruits Basket in middle school and high school, so I'm really happy to see the manga get a full adaptation. Looking forward to seeing where this anime goes!
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catandmouse
Posts: 219 |
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I like Fruits Basket. I remember buying the manga at Tower Records on a lark and was hooked, but....I can't say it's my favorite series. I like it, it was enjoyable and I was excited when I heard that the anime was being remade. Im usually very critical of female protagonists, and Tohru easily falls into the category of female protagonists that annoy me, but somehow Natsuki Takaya made Tohru endearing when she could have made her stupidly annoying. Fruits basket ended up being a series where things didn't go how you expected. In shojos, the girl is always weak, dumb, bad in school but really good at housework and somehow they manage to catch the eye of the hottest, coolest, smartest guy in school. Tohru is all that( except for the love/-crazy part), but that is not what defines her character because she's not looking for love from the hottest, smartest, coolest guy. Her love story makes sense. It was build up slowly. Ultimately I think that's why Fruits Basket works, in the end it's a live story, but not your typical teenage romance love story. It's a many-types-of-love kinda of story.
spoiler[And no, even though it might have pointed to Tohru ending up w/ Yuki and the threat of a love triangle, it never went that route. Yuki never had any romantic inclinations towards Tohru, and Tohru never saw Yuki as more than a friend.] |
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Chaos Wings
 Posts: 277 Location: Your guess is as good as mine?! |
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One of those shows I've never got around to watching and I barely read any manga so this is all totally new and fresh for me. Judging from the first two episodes though I think I'm really gonna like it.
Feels like a warm and inviting show, the kind of series you just want to sit down and get comfy with. Every character thus far has a hook of interest about them and I'm already thinking: "I want to know more". The fact that this is billed as a full adaptation only heightens my expectation of the possible great things to come. |
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Morry
Posts: 756 |
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Can I ask why this series would ever be judged as just a "prettied-up" version of the original in the first place?
Both are based on the same source material, so content (especially early on) is bound to be nigh identical, but the advertising has been not so subtle about this being a strict adaptation of the manga, something og anime was lambasted for straying from. I think making that kind of judgment call episode 1 is a little silly. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18436 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Better technical merits, but otherwise very little changed in the first episode. (And remember, that judgment call was based only on what was available at the time. For all that the advertising has said, we haven't seen the rest of the series yet.) |
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thebond&thecurse
Posts: 24 |
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But those very little changes have a huge impact. It is hard for any diehard manga fan who is was on the lookout for how this new adaptation is going to be truly faithful to the original story and differ significantly from the 2001 anime to not see spoiler[the hat] as a huge red flashing neon sign to celebrate in the first episode. I can certainly understand how previous anime-only fans or people who only casually read over the manga once would miss this and say changes were minor, but its hard to call the addition of spoiler[an entire plot line that ties together the core of the story but was cut out of the first adaptation ] as 'very little changed'. Even though the addition takes up only seconds of screen time, its implications are major. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18436 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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If you're a diehard manga fan, sure. For those of us who don't know how the manga progressed beyond a certain point, it's a minor change so far. Sounds like the impact of that addition will magnify eventually, but for now it's an extra scene being added in such a way that it seems like it might be meaningful eventually. And that's something that I will ask those commenting in this thread to keep in mind: not everyone following this series, or commenting in this thread, is going to be a diehard manga fan, and some have already indicated that this is their first exposure to the franchise. I know you dedicated guys n' gals are giddy over this adaptation being more faithful, but please keep that in mind. |
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jrockfreak
Posts: 125 |
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I read some of the Manga Back in High School but I never finished the original anime just wasnt into the guys turning into animals thing lol but so far i am enjoying the reboot and I plan to finish it this time
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Cardcaptor Takato
 Posts: 5163 |
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I watched the original anime way back when I was in high school and I enjoyed it at the time, but I wasn't ever a super fan of it, and I never read the manga, and I haven't seen the original since then. Though with the new anime, I have been going back and rewatching the original series side by side with the reboot. So far I'm enjoying the reboot and while there might be too many changes so far from a casual glance, I feel like just the tone of the reboot already feels different enough to justify it to me. It's hard to explain but the original has more of a zany comedy feel to it while the reboot has a more gentle emotional feeling to it at least at this point in the series. I'm probably not explaining it right but the reboot just has a very different atmosphere that I like about it. I'm looking forward to see where the reboot goes from here and I'm just excited we're finally getting a complete shoujo anime adaptation. I can't think of when the last time that happened because I feel like most shoujo anime these days when we get one don't adapt the entire story. Like My Love Story only covered the first half of it's source material even though the manga is finished now, Sailor Moon Crystal is taking it's sweet time with the rest of the adaptation, and CCS Clear Card's future is still uncertain, and Blue Spring Ride never got a continuation either.
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Merida
 Posts: 1946 |
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That's pretty much where i am standing (except that i was already out of high school when i first watched it...for quite a while, actually...which might be part of the reason i never felt all that passionate about it), so i'm especially happy that someone who's familiar with the source material and the old anime is reviewing it. 
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Morry
Posts: 756 |
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I'm someone who's only ever seen the original anime and still find that judgment call weird given what's been put out there in the lead-up to this remake. If it's a matter of not following the advertising very closely if at all, I can understand. But if you haven't had any exposure to the series before this anime, you certainly wouldn't be making comparisons either way. Again, I'm just curious and mildly flabbergasted by such a sentiment after only 1 episode. Adaptations tend to start off similar and only start majorly diverting after reaching content the original couldn't fully adapt at the time. On a side note, this really is a series worth having a side-by-side comparison video for, both to see how far animation has come in nearly 20 years and compare/contrast the shots, sequence, and pacing. |
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