Forum - View topicSo why don't I like Fruits Basket?
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Aaron White
Old Regular
Posts: 1365 Location: Birmingham, Alabama |
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It's the kind of thing I want to like. Relationship-oriented, gently paced, subtle color scheme. And admittedly I only watched the first episode, but it was so disappointing I was afraid to go any deeper.
So what's the problem? The world's most generic character designs don't help. And the story had absolutely nothing that hasn't been done a hundred times before in a hundred other anime. It's just too generic-as if a computer had created the entire thing with a random anime plot generation program. And the storytelling is routine as well. The fact that this show has fans is a sad testimony to Planet Otaku's unslaked thirst for real drama in their entertainment. Or something. I do, however, recommend renting it for the behind-the-scenes bonus feature-it's pretty funny, without meaning to be. |
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FallenAngelFish
 Posts: 17 |
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Most shows can't be judged by the first episode alone. For many shows the first episode is just the set up, and thus can be kind of misleading. I though it was great and that it managed to be pretty original in some respects and could be very sweet. If you want to like it, don't look for all the things that's been done before, but enjoy it for what it is (in fact I seem to remember Shigure pointing that out to someone in that episode with the pokemon ripoff...can't remember which one though). Besides a lot of "random anime plot generator" stuff is what people like, and that's why it's used again (not to say that it's not a valid point, but let's face it, a lot of anime seems to now be nothing but rehashed cliches, and yet, we watch anyway).
I recommend that you a least watch a full disc before you make up your mind on whether or not you like it. ANd of you don't thats fine, maybe it just isn't your style. If you don't want to be dissapointed, don't watch anymore, but please don't complain about how sad it is that the show has fans. |
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Aaron White
Old Regular
Posts: 1365 Location: Birmingham, Alabama |
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Maybe that was misleading-what I mean is that fans want real drama, but good drama comes along so rarely in anime, which almost always thinks it has to squeeze into some tired genre or other, that people are forced to settle for tepid substitutes insted of real drama. Fans of FB should go get Jules and Jim, or Claire's Knee. That's the straight sauce, baby! Frankly I'd be willing to give FB more of a chance if the character designs weren't so painfully generic and the animation weren't so poverty row. If you're going to sell yourself as a feel-good show, at least look good. Love Hina is generic and formulaic as well, but I can enjoy it with a couple glasses of wine because it's very well crafted on the art direction and animation fronts. |
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FallenAngelFish
Posts: 17 |
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I liked the art designs personally, but maybe that's because they remind me of Utena, to which I have a great deal of affection for. As far as character design goes, yeah pretty generic, but it's a shoujo and so the male character are all sort of your stock bishies. Maybe that's why you don't like them and I do. Actually I hate to say but it was during one of the many kyo/yuki arguements that I realized that I had mysteriously tranformed into a fangirl without noticing...*shudders* Gonna have to watch a lot of Berserk now in order to balance myself out again...
And yeah it's not really drama, it's just...i don't know, whatever it is really. It's got some sort of sweet sad stuff in it at times, but it's harder to see if you're not in the mindset of the show. It's not so much about learning to love people regardless of faults (because Tooru being the typical not-too-bright anime girl is so sweet that she loves everyone) but possibly about learning to accept the fact that others can love you despite of yours. But it's not necessary to read that deep into all anime, I just do it because I like to. There are however some really funny parts as you get into the series, I'm a big fan of Hatsuhara, and the little brat who complains about everything, I can't remember his name. But if you hate the generic characters then you'll probably really hate Ayame and some of the others. But, hey, you gave it a shot, and it didn't work. At least you didn't spend a lot of money on it right? |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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THe animation in Fruits Basket is actually not that bad. I've seen much, much worse, and more recently. Anyone who watches a lot of anime could tell you that.
"Jules and Jim, or Claire's Knee" This is the part where Aaron throws out references to obscure dramas so he sounds hip. Just because something is obscure doesn't mean it's better; a lot of wanna-be hipsters have a tendency to think that way. Obscure does not equal good. If you want to give us examples of what you think is better drama, use something people might have actually heard of. Yeesh. -Zac |
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Aaron White
Old Regular
Posts: 1365 Location: Birmingham, Alabama |
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Jule & Jim is now available in a Criterion Edition, which pretty much means it's one of the key film texts of our time. Mention J&J or Claire's Knee to any film aficianado and they'll probably at least have heard of them.
At any rate I wasn't mentioning them to dazzle the crowd, since there's only one thing that can ever happen if you dare to mention a foreign film that isn't from Japan to anime fans, they call you a snob. I was telling people that if they want substantial drama that doesn't fit the Hollywood mode that they don't have to settle for Fruits Basket, because better things are available. |
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caulfield
 Posts: 80 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Off-topic but...
I'd forgive a person for not watching Claire's Knee in their lifetime. Jules et Jim on the other hand, is up there with Breathless and The Third Man. Its a masterpiece. And I'm buying Fruits Basket this weekend. Its based on a very popular award winning manga right? |
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GATSU
Posts: 15624 |
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Well I just saw the trailer and thought, "A shoujo Ranma 1/2".
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Emerje
 Posts: 7427 Location: Maine |
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When I got that preview DVD from a while back I was so excited about the release, I really enjoyed everything about the series and was looking forward to it more than just about anything recently available. Man, i was shocked and totally disapionted in FUNi when I found out they were charging $40 for the DVDs! Sure it's got 6 eps on it, but Kenshin often runs 5 eps for $30, and Saber Marionette J and Outlaw Star run 9 eps for $45. I've never complained about domestic DVD prices before, I own hundreds of them, but this is a little much. Looks like I'll be picking these up either on the after market or wait for some sort of sales.
Emerje |
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Case
Posts: 1016 |
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You didn't like the character designs?
Why again? I thought that the character designs were one of the nicest parts of the show. They're very simple and shoujoish - to the point that its apples and oranges to compare it to the designs of a Miyazaki film or something like Jin-Roh or Akira - but I thought they were quite appropriate considering the subject matter, maybe even a little cute. I really enjoyed the issue of Newtype that had the Furuba character sketches. (The Ox Sohma brother is a Tru B.A.  ; )
So... There are no 3 foot tall pink mohawks. Most of the characters have simple short or long hairdos in a selected palate of colors ranging from black to blonde. Welcome to real life. I was far more bothered by Tohru's spasticness and the creepy absense of music in key scenes. If it wasn't for that, I might actually have bought into the series. Too bad... |
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ashram12
Posts: 86 |
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I loved Fruits Basket from the first episode mostly because of the comedy. I like Tohru's weird friends, and the little dance the Yuki fan members do and Shiguure's comments. I'm not too keen on the more dramatic moments though...
Anywoo, I can relate to your feelings, wondering why a certain anime is so popular. For instance, apart from the Tenchi Muyo movies, I don't like any Tenchi Muyo series. I also think judging a series by the first episode is kind of harsh. Berserk and Escaflowne really didn't impress me in their first episodes, but now they're some of my favorite series. [quote="Zac"] "Jules and Jim, or Claire's Knee" This is the part where Aaron throws out references to obscure dramas so he sounds hip. Just because something is obscure doesn't mean it's better; a lot of wanna-be hipsters have a tendency to think that way. Obscure does not equal good. If you want to give us examples of what you think is better drama, use something people might have actually heard of. -Zac[/quote] I second that opinion. I've seen plenty of french new wave films and other foreign films, so I'm really not biased toward foreign films. But if you wanted to point out better drama than Fruits Basket, in this forum, it would be more relevant to give another anime series as an example. |
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Jlbkwrm
Old Regular
Posts: 94 |
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One word: Armageddon Despite Criterion's tagline, a movie being included (or excluded) from their catalogue means very little.
Right, but all of Fruits Basket is going to be released on 4 DVDs. 4 DVDs x $40 = $160 for the series That's $20 cheaper than the current standard release for a brand-new 26 episode series (6 discs @ $30 a disc = $180). So, despite the higher per-disc cost, Funi's release of Fruits Basket is actually overall cheaper than the majority of new series. |
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Emerje
Posts: 7427 Location: Maine |
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Just the same I think I'm going to be waiting for the box set, FUNi atleast does a good job with those (assuming they do do one). Emerje |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Aaron, I didn't say I hadn't heard of the films you mentioned. I've been in film school for 5 years. I've seen them. I just think it's pointless and show-offy to sit around and rattle off obscure foreign films when trying to prove that there's "better drama than Fruits Basket". Speaking of which, aren't you going a little overboard in your comparisons? of COURSE Jules et Jim is better frigging drama than a Japanese cartoon about boys who turn into animals. The films you mentioned not only aren't in the same ballpark as Fruits Basket, they aren't even playing the same game.
So let's all take off our "pretentious film lovers" hats and put on our "Reasonable anime fan" hats, okay? -Zac |
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garry
Former ANN Editor
 Posts: 120 |
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I love foreign film!
A Fistful of Dollars, A Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Fist of Legend, Enter the Dragon, and on and on. I defy you to say I do not sample the banquet of international film! |
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