Fruits Basket

Fruits Basket (Japanese: フルーツバスケット, Hepburn: Furūtsu Basuketto), sometimes abbreviated Furuba or Fruba (フルバ), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya. It was serialized in the semi-monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine Hana to Yume, published by Hakusensha, from 1998 to 2006. The series' title comes from the name of a popular game played in Japanese elementary schools, which is alluded to in the series.
Fruits Basket tells the story of Tohru Honda, an orphan girl who, after meeting Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure Sohma, learns that 13 members of the Sohma family are possessed by the animals of the Chinese zodiac and are cursed to turn into their animal forms when they are weak, stressed, or when they are embraced by anyone of the opposite sex that is not possessed by a spirit of the zodiac. As the series progresses, Tohru learns of the hardships and pain faced by the afflicted members of the Sohma family, and through her own generous and loving nature, helps heal their emotional wounds. As she learns more about Yuki, Kyo, and the rest of the mysterious Sohma family, Tohru also learns more about herself and how much others care for her.
Takaya began a sequel titled Fruits Basket Another in September 2015, and the spin-off series The Three Musketeers Arc in April 2019. The original manga was first adapted into a 26-episode anime television series in 2001, by Studio Deen and directed by Akitaro Daichi. A second anime television series adaptation, produced by TMS Entertainment and directed by Yoshihide Ibata, premiered from April 2019, with its first season airing from April to September 2019, its second season airing from April to September 2020, and its third and final season airing from April to June 2021. The reboot anime series was initially a co-production of Funimation, who released the series through a partnership with Crunchyroll, although the series would later be completely moved under the latter. A compilation film titled Fruits Basket: Prelude premiered theatrically in Japan in February 2022, and was released theatrically in the United States and Canada in June 2022 and in the United Kingdom in July 2022.
As of December 2018, the manga had over 30 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series, as well as one of the best-selling shōjo manga series of all time. It has been described in academic works as "a classic fan favorite in shoujo manga around the world".
Fruits Basket was adapted into a twenty-six episode anime series by Studio Deen and premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo on July 5, 2001, with the final episode airing on December 27, 2001. Based on the twenty-three volume manga series written by Natsuki Takaya, the series tells the story of Tohru Honda, an orphan girl living in a tent so as not to trouble anyone. After meeting Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure Sohma (who later ask her to do their housework in exchange for a room to stay in), she learns thirteen members of the Sohma family are possessed by the animals of the Chinese zodiac legend and cursed to turn into their animal forms if they embrace anyone of the opposite sex or if their bodies are under great stress. The series was directed by Akitaro Daichi. During production of the series, Daichi and Takaya ran into multiple creative differences including the cast, coloring, and storytelling direction, leading Takaya to dislike the adaptation. Funimation aired the series, in dubbed English, on their anime television channel as well as on Colours TV.
Fruits Basket was released to DVD in nine individual volumes by King Records on a monthly schedule from September 29, 2001, through May 22, 2002, with a series box set released on April 25, 2007. The series is licensed for Region 1 and Region 2 release by Funimation, which released it as four individual DVD volumes containing 6-7 episodes and as a complete series box set. As part of their release, Funimation renamed all of the episodes, which originally had simple names of "First story", "Second story", etc. On November 20, 2007, Funimation re-released the series as part of their lower priced Viridian line, with the new release containing the complete series in a thin-packed box set. The Region 2 United Kingdom releases were done through a sub-licensing agreement with Revelation Films. The series was released in Region 4 by Madman Entertainment as a series box set. The series uses three pieces of theme music, all performed by Ritsuko Okazaki. "For Fruits Basket" (For フルーツバスケット, For Furūtsu Basuketto) is used for the opening theme for all twenty-six episodes. "Chiisana Inori" (小さな祈り, lit. Small Prayer) is used for the series ending theme, except for episode twenty-five, which uses the song "Serenade" (セレナーデ, Serenāde). In the English version, the theme songs were rewritten and redubbed with the English voice actresses Meredith McCoy performing the opening theme, Laura Bailey performing the 1st ending theme and Daphne Gere performing the 2nd ending theme.
Category:TV Shows