I’d seen an episode of this a while and at the time I didn’t think much of it. I thought, “Okay, this shows quite… interesting. People hug each other and turn into animals. Okay…” Little did I know I just needed to give this show a bit of a chance and it would all be good.
Fruits Basket is a show about a little orphan girl, Tohru Honda (Laura Bailey) who stumbles upon a house belonging to Yuki Sohma (Eric Vale) and his two cousins, Shigure (John Burgmeier) and Kyo (Jerry Jewell). Little does Tohru know that Yuki and the rest of the Sohma family have members who transform into the 13 animals of the Chinese Zodiac when hugged by the opposite sex or put under stress. An odd plot device, I know, but for this, it works out marvelously.
The basic plot of the show deals with Tohru living with and helping the 3 
Sohmas with their daily life. She encounters several of the other Zodiac members along the way, and the end of this anime (never to be continued, it deals with only the first 8 manga) leaves us heart-wrenched and begging for more. I won’t divulge any more than that when it comes to the plot, but it’s worth a shot for a watching.
I know what you’re thinking. At first this anime sounds a bit gay. True. It is a Shojo manga. (For my audience, a Shojo manga is an manga/anime geared towards girls 10-18.) But when I watch anime, I go in with an open and interested mind. And this one was just fine. This anime has great humor, a reserved, cute, yet melancholy feel and art style that mixes the humor and warm feelings with a bit of sadness. Not a lot happens in the way of action or violence, but it’s the characters and their stories that fuel this anime, and that always works well.
Besides this, there are some great voice actors that appear in this. The second I saw the list, I thought, “Yes. Not gonna watch this subbed.” We have Chistopher Sabat who does a hilariously good job. (I’m not gonna say who plays what, it would give away the fun of discovering which characters are what animals and such.) As I mentioned before, Eric Vale (my favorite, TRUNKS) is fantastic along with a good opposite to him, Jerry Jewell, the always pissed off character actor. One of my favorites in this anime is John Burgmeier, he was fantastic as Shigure and became my favorite character almost instantly. His voice really added a great warmness quality to the character with that bit of outlandish perversion. There’s Kent Williams, who always does a great job. (I mean come on, Eri’s Butler in School Rumble?) Aaron Dismuke also makes a great appearance in his pre-puberty days and Mike McFarland has a great episode that kept me laughing the whole time. (I’ll just say cross-dressing apologizer.)
The songs were great, the plots of every episode were endearing, and the comedy was fantastic. This glimpse into the life of animals and relationships is really a worthwhile watch. 7.5 out of 10.
reviewsfromtheabyss 