Print Review: Fruits Basket volumes 1-14

Review Fruits Basket volumes 1-14Written by WarpshadowRating excellent

Fruits Basket is the #1 Shojo manga out there. To sum this review up in one sentence; That many fans can't be wrong.

Tohru Honda is an orphan living in a tent. Unbeknownst to her that tent is on the property on the property of the Sohma family. The night when she is discovered an avalanche coincidentally destroys her tent so the Sohma's decide to let her stay the night find's out the family secret, when they get too close to a member of the opposite sex they turn into animals of the Chinese Zodiac. While the usual policy for people who find out the family secret is to have their memories erased they make an exception and let her stay with three of the Shoma's as a housekeeper.

Reading and thinking of how to review Fruits Basket made me realize that the quality of a story is not determined by it's plot elements but it's ability to emotionally affect those that read it. Emotional impact is something that Fruits Basket excels at. It has a large cast of characters and in time explores them thoroughly. One thing that somewhat unique is the manga's ability to change perspective, allowing the reader to get inside of the head's of the characters. Even though the manga does deal with many dark emotional topics it manages to handle them in a respectful and positive manner rather than having angst for angst's sake. I found this manga well worth my time and money and suggest it to just about everyone.