Rating: 
Summary: AHHHH! THIS IS GREAT!
Review: This is a really really really good series! I just finished watching all 26 episodes (fan-subbed) and I LOVED it! This is a great show whether you're new to anime or an otaku! This is GOOOOOOOOOD! It's...Just....So....COOL! *sobb* If only there was more!
Rating:
Summary: An interesting, sweet story
Review: What I love about anime is many stories are more than what they seem on the surface such as this one which one could throw in the school-girl/magical group, but it's also about the fears which many teens experience in Jr High/High school of fitting in, making friends/opening up to others mixed with an interesting horoscope twist.
I was a bit disappointed on the credits(Funimation leans toward listing the actors names without linking them to their character). The English cast is full of the Texas Dragonball Z cast--Laura Bailey(Chi Chi, child Trunks), Eric Vale(Teen Trunks), Meredith McCoy(Android 18),& John Burgmeier & Jerry Jewel(haven't matched them to the characters yet, but I've seen them in the DBZ credits). The Japanese cast is even more familiar-Yuki is Aya Hisakawa(Sailor Moon's Sailor Mercury & Cardcaptor Sakura's Kero), Tomokazu Seki(Escaflowne's Van, Cardcaptor Sakura's Touya, GTO's Kunio & Real Bout's Kusanagi to name a few) is Kyo, & Yuka Imai & Ryotaro Okiayu(Excel Saga's Matsuya & Watanabe & Burn Up Excess's Rio & Yuji) are Arisa & Shigure. Kotono Mitsuishi(Excel, Sailor Moon, Dragon-Half's Mink) is Kagura(poor Kyo!), one of the characters I haven't warmed to, but like Tohru, I love kitties. According to my source Blue Seed's Kusanagi(Kazuhiko Inoue) voices Hatori Soma.
The Yuki fan club are frighteningly familiar(shades of the Revolutionary Girl Utena chorus/shadows), but not too intrusive yet. I like Kyo best as he seems to have the most distance to cover to becoming domesticated, but Yuki also has the traces of untamed skitishness in his approach to friendship with those outside the Soma family. Shigure is funny in both languages. The sleep-over ep is hilarious--I look forward to the rest of the series.
Rating:
Summary: Translation Quality
Review: I LOVE Fruits Basket! Its so funny, so emotional, so CUTE!! There are already several fine reviews of this title so I'll leave my fanatical rantings to that and just mention something that might hinder your enjoyment of the DVD if you don't choose subtitles by the language menu (and if you are a translation fanatic like me). As a previous reviewer mentioned there are two english language subtitle tracks, one that is a direct translation of the Japanese and another that works as captions for the dub track. The dub captions are the first subtitle track. I always turn on subtitles/audio using my dvd remote and when I watched the first episode I didn't know about the second set of subtitles. As I watched I kept thinking that the translation wasn't very good, sometimes completely different from what was being said. Also sometimes these subtitles seemed difficult to read-some sentences seemed to disappear too fast. Then I noticed the second set of subtitles and rewatched the episode with them. It was a MUCH better translation of the original Japanese and the subtitles seemed to be better paced. Anyways I wanted to point that out before anyone gave up on Funimation's translations in favor of other groups' renditions. Then again, maybe there aren't that many people as nitpicky as me. ...One last comment: Shigure's english voice actor does a great job!
Rating:
Summary: Comparing US Version and Japanese Version
Review: There are a lot of excellent reviews here describing the series, so if you're looking for info on the anime, look elsewhere. If, however, you want to know how this DVD stacks up to the original version, read on. Voices: B
First off, I should say that I was introduced to the series through fansubs so I have a bias toward the original voices. Sadly, I must admit that I find Tohru's English voice on the annoying end of the spectrum. Innocence and youth are usually connected but in the original Japanese version, Tohru's voice was sweet and innocent, but not necessarily 'young' sounding. In this English dubbed version our high school aged heroine sounds like a squeaky ten year old. However, that's just my opinion. Others might not have a problem with her voice. Tohru's voice could have been better, but I must admit that it could have been a lot worse. Wednesday evening will find me rewatching my DVD in the hopes that I'll learn to enjoy her voice. Kyo's voice isn't really remarkable one way or the other. His English voice isn't bad, but it's not excellent. Yuki's English voice, although nice, is quite deep and far from the alto that he has in the Japanese version... to the point that most of the time, Yuki sounds much older than Shigure. He also tends to be rather emotionless when delivering his lines. Yuki's keyword would be 'subtlety' so this doesn't work in his favor. On the positive side, Shigure's voice actor deserves some applause. The English voice absolutely matches his character and can keep pace with Shigure's quick-changing emotions. He also gets most of the best English dialogue lines. (See the translation section.) As a last note to voices... I found it sometimes difficult to follow the English dialogue because there is no change in sound quality to signify thoughts. Speaking voices and thinking voices are the same and I find myself missing the misty, echoing quality that usually accompanies spoken thoughts. Translation: A+
Between my own extensive knowledge of Japanese language and the aforementioned fansubs, I consider myself a fairly decent judge of the translation job. The DVD is rated 13+ so fans can hear all of the mild Japanese swear words in their English counterparts. On the whole, I was impressed with the quality of the translation. The English dialogue sticks very close to the Japanese, but avoids the awkward sentences that sometimes occur with direct translation. Departures are made with good reason. On this first DVD there are two spots that stick out in my mind where the English did -not- follow the Japanese. In the first example, it looks like FUNi's trying to interject some humor. Rather than being angry about it though, I appreciate it since it matches Shigure's personality. Shigure (Episode 5) Japanese: 'However, his becoming angry at you, Tohru-kun, is what you would call misdirected rage. Though I do understand why he would miss her.'
English: 'We've just witnessed a classic example of what I like to call 'misdirected rage.' ... I believe the technical term is 'being an a$$'?' The second example also injects humor, but it also serves to circumvent a potentially confusing cultural reference. Frankly, I find Shigure's English comment more appropriate to the situation. (Episode 2) Yuki volunteers to help Tohru clean the kitchen. Shigure responds to Tohru: Shigure Japanese: 'Yuki-kun is so maladroit, he can't even fold a paper crane properly.'
Shigure English: 'You'd better not. The closest thing Yuki's ever seen to a mop is his hair.' Music: A
The opening and ending songs, 'For Fruits Basket' and 'Chisana Inori' have been remade into similar sounding English versions that manage to incorporate both the style and meaning of the originals into the songs. They're actually pretty good and, of course, the originals are there on the Japanese audio track for purists. Other background music seems to have been redone on the English track as well, but don't quote me on it. Subtitles: C-
There are two sets of subtitles -- one that matches the English dialogue and one that translates the Japanese dialogue. They're accurate, so why am I complaining? Horrible graphical quality. As a literature student, I do a lot of reading. I love watching things subtitled. But even with my glasses, I can't watch these subtitles for long. They're narrow, jagged, and overall hard on the eyes. The animation style of FB is so smooth, the ugly yellow subtitles hurt to look at. Are decent-looking subtitles really that difficult to produce????? Extras: A
What would DVDs be without perks? (What would a...DVD be without perks?) Well, perhaps to make up for the ridiculous price, FUNi has included some nice extra features. There are the standard textless openings and endings and the standard character profiles... but the really cool feature of the DVD is the subtitled featurette focusing on the anime's creation. I'd seen the featurette before and was pleasantly surprised to see it included on the DVD. It's roughly 25 minutes long and has interviews with the director, his assistants, and the Japanese voice actors. Let me tell ya, it's really cool to see the faces behind the voices. Overall: A-
My biggest complaints are with Tohru's voice actress and the poor quality subtitles. Everything else is excellent. The voices I'll eventually get used to and as for the subtitles, hopefully someone at FUNimation will do something about them (but that's not likely to happen). So my recommendation: BUY IT! Support Fruits Basket in the US and buy the...DVD. From what I've heard, DVDs 1 and 2 will have six episodes each and the last two will have seven episodes each (for a grand total of 26 wonderful episodes). I'm eagerly looking forward to the next DVD coming out in January.
Rating:
Summary: A great Heart Warming Anime.
Review: Everyone says it best, it is a great anime. It will make you laugh and cry so be prepared for some shocking scenes that will take your breath away. The guys are so well drawn and My favorite is Kyo. He is the guy with orange hair. He has some beautiful eyes. This is a Anime specially to girls or guys that love the anime that has Teary scenes. This is anime that has emotions that are really how real life people feel specially people in the young ages. Like 12 to 19 or so. People that feel like they have nothing much in this world. If you get my point
of veiw. It will make you laugh and cry at the same time. It's one of the most enchanting anime I have ever seen. You will feel sorry for these charaters for what they have to go through in their lives and days to come. So come on everyone buy this anime you will not regrate it. I Promise you that.
Well Later Anime Fans.
Rating:
Summary: One Amazing Season; Many Fruits to Keep
Review: Most romantic comedies written so far are one-sided, either they are shoujo or shounan. The anime that have made the transition into the American market are mostly shounan. Fruits Basket offers a balance between the two, which makes it more real than anything you have seen before. Imagine Keitaro living in a girl's dorm with 5 lovely girls in Love Hina, Tohru is the counterpart who lives in a "man's dorm" with 3 good-looking guys plus frequent visitors from their family. Fruits Basket follows the story of a first year high school girl named Tohru Honda and her encounters with the Souma family who has a secret involving the Chinese Zodiac or Juunishi. Almost every Souma member carries a painful baggage behind his or her back. We feel the emotions, the pain, and the laughter as each episode unfolds new revelation into the lives of the Souma family and how Tohru helps bring about change in the family. The emphasis the writers of the story focuses on is not the removal of the scar, but the recovery from the pain and the change in one's perspective in life. Using Tohru as the change catalyst, the writers unveil a new understanding behind the emotions such as anger, jealousy, frustration, hatred, hurt, low self-esteem, and hopelessness, and bring them to a final conclusion of forgiveness, acceptance, renewal, and love. Our heroine, Tohru, turns out to be the messenger of all comfort. She brought a whole new perspective in the affirmation of one's self-esteem. Although Tohru is a very sweet girl, she is not the "homecoming queen" type that most guys crave on. In fact, Yuri did not even notice her in class before she walked into his life (moved into Shigure's house.) Tohru lacks imagination and is very dumb sometimes. But you will find her an amazing character once you get to know her. Growing up in America often sway us into abusing the right to free speech. We use honesty as our disguise to blast every word and thought we have in mind, and much too often to the ones we love most. We carry the sign, "forgive and forget," but how much pain your heart can withstand until it breaks? The writers of Fruits Basket show us how to treasure our relationships with our friends and love ones, how to be kind to one another, and how to mend broken relationships. In the end, it is faith, love, and hope that will heal the past and carry us forward. Indeed, there are moments when you need lots of Kleenex, especially the episode on Hatori but the anime also balances itself with lots of laughter. It's like life. There are moments when you would cry and there are moments when you would laugh. Unlike most comedy that are filled with perverted jokes, Fruits Basket makes you laugh because the circumstances are real and you identify with them. The first half of the series is very engaging-no cliffhangers but a lot of discovery into the characters' past. The second half has some fillers that are really not necessary. The series premiered in Japan starting July 5, 2001. As such, the animation and character artwork are very modern, crisp, and fluid. The characters are in the "kawaii" style with big eyes and clean-cut appearance. I love the original voice actors although I had a hard time following the subtitles. (They talk too fast!) I am looking forward to watching Fruit Baskets in English. Although the anime spans 26 episodes, it only covers up to volume 6 of the original Fruits Basket manga. By the time I got to episode 26, I found myself asking for one more season.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful anime!
Review: I was quite delighted to see that fruits basket has finally been released on DVD, especially since funi (funimation) and pioneer have had the rights to it for quite some time. And since it was lisenced, it was very hard for me to find the fansubs of it :-( I first heard about Fruits Basket on an anime website (the name has since slipped my mind) that listed and described anime that are new in Japan. I loved the sound of it, and really wanted to download it, but it was hard to find a place to do that because it was already lisenced. Anyway, a month or so goes by when i finally get kazaa on my computer and get some of the eps that i wanted to badly. And all i have to say is WOW! I loved it so much! It is one of the best anime I have seen in a while. I am still downloading the eps (only on 16, i have a 56k) but i am really enjoying it, and even though it is on my comp, i do plan on buying it on DVD (especially becsue there are 6 eps on one DVD! what a great price for it too!) Anyway, Fruits basket is the story of Tohru Honda, her mother was killed in a car crash a little under a year ago and she resides with her family. But since there are renovations being done at the house, she has to find somewhere else to go. Not wanting to be a burden on any of her friends, she ends up living in a tent in the woods. Little does she know though, that the woods belong to the Souma family, a cursed family, and Yuki Souma is one of the most popular boys in school. So she stumbles upon the house of Yuki and Shigure Souma, and too make a long story short, she ends up living with them in exchange for doing housework. But the Souma's have the curse of the Juunishi. Whenever they are hugged by the opposite sex, they turn into their chinese zodiac counterpart. This makes for a hilarous and touching shojou anime. The one down side is the animation, not my favorite style, but I like the anime so much that it doesn't bother me (the eyes are too big and i thought Yuki was a girl)
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite anime !!!
Review: The first time I saw this I was kinda scared it would turn out bad, but once i started watching it i was hooked on it.Its a light hearted comedy that everyone can enjoy. Although I'm only on episode 13 right now i am eager to watch more of it. Some of the things that make this series so great is its characters that makes you come to love and enjoy to watch like tooru, kyo, yuki, and ext.. I also like this series is, because of the interesting secret of the souma family as the more you watch the series you find out more things that only the souma family kept as a secret. i love this series. its very funny and sometimes a drama. it has a great plot so i recommend you watch this series or you don't know what yoor missing out on. =)
Rating:
Summary: An enchanting anime....
Review: This series is easily one of the best shoujo animes I've ever seen. Once I saw the first episode, I became hooked and had to see it all. The story deals with Honda, Tohru whose mother got killed in a car accident leaving her to stay in a tent by herself. However, the land she was staying on belongs to the Sohma family: Yuki, Shigure, and Kyo. They decide to let her stay at their place as a housekeeper but little did Tohru know about their "secret"....when they get hugged by the opposite sex, they change into the animals of the Chinese zodiac! From episode 1 to 26, this series will enchant you. The characters are lovable and the story deals with emotional issues, but also contains a good amount of humor. I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes a nice shoujo anime. ^_^
Rating:
Summary: An anime that everyone is bound to love!
Review: Fruits Basket is an anime for everybody who loves anime. Focusing on an old legend based on the animals of the Chinese Zodiac, Tohru is a girl whose mother has recently died and now lives her life in a tent not far from the Sohma family house. One day the Sohmas discover Tohru is living there and decide to invite her to live their home, which is currently inhabited by Shigure Sohma (a writer) and Yuki Sohma (one of Tohru's popular classmates at school). Feeling completely indebted to the Sohma family, Tohru begins her life at their house cooking and cleaning and getting to know Yuki, who she develops feelings for. Soon enough another Sohma family member shows up. He is the hot-headed Kyou Sohma, who is ALWAYS "playing the game of cat and mouse" with Yuki. Quite literally. So what's the catch? The Sohma family are the reincarnated members of the 'Juunishi' , or 12 Zodiac animals, and when they hug a member of the opposite sex, they turn into their innate Zodiac animal. Imagine Tohru's surprise when she accidentally finds this out! Up until now, no non-members of the Juunishi have been allowed know about the secret without having their memories erased, but Tohru's warm heart and kindness cause her to become the first exception to this rule. Together Tohru and the Sohma family go through lots of adventures and ordeals that are bound to make any viewer laugh and cry and want to tell their neighbor all about this crazy new show that they've discovered. As soon as I started watching this series, I couldn't get enough of it, and you probably aren't going to be able to either!
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