Fruits Basket Volume 1

Overall score:

Meet Tohru Honda. She's a fairly typical Japanese schoolgirl, except that her parents are dead, she lives in a tent, and she is overwhelmingly positive and polite. Still, life for her is pretty normal until she meets Shigure and Yuki Sohma (who are both devastatingly handsome in the way only manga men are---meaning they could be mistaken for girls).

When her tent gets buried in a landslide, Shigure invites Tohru to come and live with them, if she'll cook and clean in return, since the place is a pigsty. Tohru gladly takes them up on the offer, probably thinking that her biggest problem now is to deal with the mountain of dirty dishes, which she describes as a "garbage jungle". True, the Yuki fan club at school now hates her for coming to school with "Prince" Yuki, but she's somewhat oblivious to that, and she has her two good friends (one a "Yanqui" and the other capable of sending out poison vibes) to protect her.

No, her real problems don't start until Kyo, another member of the Sohma family, comes to the house and Tohru discovers that the Sohma family has a Zodiac curse. I won't spoil it by telling the details, but one of my favorite scenes is Tohru's reaction when she finds out about the curse.

Part of the story deals with the Sohma curse, but most of the story has to do with Tohru and her relationship with the Sohmas. She struggles to become friends with Kyo and also wants Kyo and Yuki to overcome their hatred of each other. It's a sweet story with a lot of humor, though darker elements do enter as the series progresses.

The art is fairly light and pretty, and all of the characters have huge eyes (even for a manga). As the series continues, the younger characters do age and get taller which is enjoyable to watch. This art will certainly not be to everyone's tastes, and it was drawn to appeal more to a female audience.

This is a shojo manga, meaning it is geared specifically toward girls. It is rated T for Teens for some sexual innuendo, adult themes, and discreet nudity (you know the characters are naked but it doesn't show anything offensive). Nineteen volumes have been published in the United States, with the story ending at twenty-two volumes.

If you are interested in trying shojo manga, this would be a great one to start with. It is actually the first manga I ever read, and started me down the slippery slope. I love it.

Discuss it in our forums.

Written by Sigyn on June 02nd, 2008