Fruits Basket: Anime VS. Manga

With anime and manga being of one of my favorite obsessions, it was only a matter of time before I came across the highly popular shoujo manga series Fruits Basket. Because the manga was such a hit in both the United States and Japan, I absolutely had to dive into the frenzy and check it out myself. After immersing myself into both the Fruits Basket anime and manga, I noticed there were major differences between the two. What were they you may ask? Well, lets get to know a little bit more about the storyline of the series in order to have a better idea of what some fans of the anime may be missing.

Centering around the Chinese Zodiac, the story basically begins shortly after Tohru Honda, our kind hearted heroine, loses her mother in an horrific car accident. Left with only her gracious grandfather and a few agitated relatives, Tohru ultimately decides to survive on her own while her future home is renovated in order to lessen any imposing burden. This act eventually leads to a chance meeting between Tohru and Shigure and Yuki, members of the very mysterious Sohma family. Fortunately, Shigure and Yuki take in Tohru and also allow her to work in their home as a housekeeper while she waits for the renovations to be completed. However, the issue of the Sohma family's secret comes to light after Tohru accidentally embraces Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo, another Sohma member. Cursed at birth, each member of the Sohma family who inherit this curse also inherit the ability to transform into an animal from the Chinese Zodiac when embraced by a person of the opposite sex. Although the story at first glance may seem set up to be mainly comical, we soon learn about the Sohmas' dark and tragic past brought upon them by the Zodiac curse.

Now that you know a little bit about the story of Fruits Basket, it is time to compare some of the differences between the manga and anime. As many readers may know, the anime basically begins as the manga does and follows the manga's storyline up to around volume eight. Unfortunately, the last episode or so were not based upon the manga but rather made up material that hindered the chances of making a sequel or spin-off. Why? There are several reasons actually. One being the fact that the ending to the anime contained to much material that did not follow the manga, such as one of the characters being depicted as a male instead of a female as many readers soon discovered in a later volume of the manga. Also, the conclusive meeting between Akito, the head of the Sohma family, and Tohru kinda emphasized a resolve that would most likely have occurred much later in the manga. Another interesting piece of info is the fact that two Zodiac members, Rin and Kureno, were not shown in the anime. So if you want to see these characters, you would have to read the manga. A few other missed opportunities for the anime include a chance to depict the characters cruel past, which did include quite a few negative and sometimes brutal quarrels between Akito and the other Zodiac members, and relationship development between characters, especially between Tohru and Kyo. Quite a few differences huh?

Being someone who watched the anime first and then read the manga, I was quite pleased to see some of my favorite moments come to life through animation. Even though I was kinda disappointed to learn that the Fruits Basket anime did not follow the original storyline and go in detail like the manga, the overall story, voice acting, animation appeal, and music made the series quite enjoyable to watch. Also, I think some fans wouldn't mind seeing a "what if" scenario. Fortunately, I believe fans who also enjoyed the anime would go and pick up the graphic novels, and I think fans of the manga would check out the anime just out of pure curiosity. Hopefully, Natsuki Takaya's current project, Hoshi wa Utau (Twinkle Stars) will be embraced and enjoyed by fans just as lovingly as Fruits Basket.