Fruits Basket
Miriam Herrera
Recap
When we are first introduced to the Sohma family back in 2001, we were intrigued with the hilarity that had ensued as Tohru Honda entered their lives. However, while the story moved forward, it had to end as all things must end. And slowly the childhood of that anime had ended, and unresolved feelings had settled within our hearts. The ending was not truly an ending, at least not for those that had read the manga, those whom waited and hoped for another season. We knew it would never happen-- except fast forward to today and the announcement in November thrilled those that had once seen Fruits Basket when it had begun. While the excitement for a season two for our beloved Fruits Basket was something to look forward to, we soon ended up getting another whirlwind of announcements that the upcoming Fruits Basket was not only going to be another season but a reboot of the whole series-- one that would follow closely to the manga. Now, we’ve seen this before; we've seen what a reboot can do. We’ve all been here before when the reboot for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood did what it did to us.
Review
We held our breathes as the day came closer to the season premiere of Fruits Basket and slowly the visual art for Tohru, Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure was graced onto our screens. Soon announcement of voice actors came forward, Japanese and English, and we were once again filled with another wave of excitement. And the day came, April 5th, 2019, the day the anime had finally dropped and Crunchyroll and Funimation were able to bring forward the anime we had lost so long ago. While sitting at home, I watched the scenes unfold before me, and many others joined. We saw the comparison of the Fruits Basket of 2001 and the Fruits Basket of 2019, we saw the differences– the color schemes changed, the art style had dropped the childlike ways and sharpen them. The dialogue that had once been slow and dragged was now better paced and easier to follow as we saw scene to scene on how everything had stayed the same and yet, had become so different.
We, unfortunately, have not seen the opening song or sequence for Fruits Basket but we are hoping to see what those will be in the second episode. The ending song, “Lucky Ending” by Vickeblanka, is soft and mellow as it shows us the many characters that will be coming forward in the anime. Along with some of their Chinese Zodiac forms, we also see some new ones. We see hints of Tohru, Yuki and Kyo’s love for one another in these small clips. The sleeping characters that are adorable and I couldn’t help but rewinding it back just to see them again.
Final Thoughts
While the anime has transformed and the scenes have become nothing more but nostalgia, we can’t wait to see what happens next as the first episode of Fruits Basket has ended. Episode Two will be coming out this Friday, April 14th on both Crunchyroll and Funimation, it is something to follow, to see if they will be true to the manga this time. While we hold our breaths and wait for the story to unfold before our eyes once more and watch the way that this will happen. Will this past anime that had slowly become apart of our lives blossom into old love or will it fall away and become forgotten?
Fruits Basket Returns: Episode One: See You After School
- Writing - 8/108/10
- Plot - 8/108/10
- Character Development - 8/108/10
- Production - 8/108/10
- Music - 10/1010/10