My Heart Belongs In A Fruits Basket

I have patiently waited and now the wait is over. It's time to talk about Fruits Basket.

I have talked quite a bit about why I started this blog. But I still need to give credit where credit is due. My thoughts on starting a blog had mingled around my brain for quite some time, for all the reason's I have detailed here on My Mess before. But the final push came from the characters you see above. When the Fruits Basket 2019 reboot was announced I talked about it endlessly on social media. I expressed my excitement at the first announcement, I laid out my predictions leading up to the first trailer, when the first trailer came out I gave it my blessing, I reviewed the first episode after watching it three times in one day and when the season was complete I reviewed that too. I put so much passion into those posts... and not a single person really cared about what I was talking about. Which is fine but it made me realize that maybe I needed a different platform to share those passions.

Thus the birth of My Mess. Shortly after Fruits Basket season 1 completed, I made my website and dedicated half of it to my Nerdom. James made me promise though that I wouldn't open the website with Fruits Basket [Fruba], since I had already bombarded my social media with all of my thoughts on the reboot. So, we made a deal. I would not write an article about Fruba until season 2. And now we're here. Granted, I did talk about Fruba during my coverage of the 2020 Anime Awards since they were nominated for two categories. But that doesn't count! Today, Fruba gets the full spotlight, so let's give them the space to shine.

I first want to break down the series a little bit for those of you that are unfamiliar with it. You may or may not have seen on our homepage here on My Mess where we feature a little blurb called "Pick of the Month". Fruba is the PotM for the month of April and I do give a little snap shot of what the series is about. Here I will break it down a little further. Fruba follows a high school girl named Tohru Honda who recently lost her mother and finds herself striking out on her own as to not be a burden on her friends while her grandfather's house is under construction. In this time she stumbles across the house of two cousins, Shigure and Yuki Sohma. Due to a number of unfortunate circumstances the Sohma's decide to take Tohru in until her grandfather's house is finished being remodeled. But no sooner do they make this dangerous decision does another Sohma appear. Kyo Sohma's abrupt arrival leads to Tohru stumbling upon the truth of the mysterious Sohma clan-- They are cursed. Possessed by the animal spirits of the zodiac and Tohru is the only outsider who knows the truth. But why? The journey continues as Tohru continues to meet the zodiac members and other members of the Sohma clan which unveils a darker side to the curse. And as she watches all of them, she begins to realize there is more to this curse than meets the eye and decides she wants to free them all. This series shows the aftermath of life long trauma, the struggle of mental illness, and the compassion that can help bring healing to those wounds. The author/artist, Natsuki Takaya, has written a story that helps answer a lot of life's harder questions, including "can I heal from this?" and "do I deserve to heal from this?". The whimsical art and comedic relief will draw you in but it is for the character growth and plot development that will make you stay. Tohru is a heroine worth following. And that, is all I will say about that.

If it wasn't already apparent I am very much a fan of this reboot. That passion comes from falling in love with the original manga series back in 2007 and then being horrible burned by the anime adaptation in that same year. After that I waited 12 years for redemption and was beginning to think it would never come when in 2019 they finally aired the Fruits Basket reboot which changed the game. It was beautifully done with new art, new voice actors, and the pure intentions to follow the manga series as closely as the could. The first season had minimal changes from the books and the creative liberties they did take made a lot of sense to me. They allowed scenes to flow smoother because an anime watches differently than a manga reads. The only change they made that I wasn't a fan of came in the seasons climatic scene between Tohru and Kyo in episode 24 "Let's Go Home". This is a turning point in the series and I was greatly looking forward to seeing it animated. I was disappointed that they felt it needed the extra flare they gave it and still find the original scene much more moving. But even with that being said, I didn't hate it.

All of this leads to what happened this past Monday, April 6th. The premier of Fruits Basket season 2! It was only a week and a half ago that the trailer for season 2 dropped and what a trailer it was. Giving glimpses of big scenes to come this season and hearing Tohru's resolve solidify, gave me goosebumps! But what about the premier itself? They still followed the manga but there were a number of changes for this seasons opening episode. Luckily, it fell into the category of "makes sense to me". They seemed to adjust to help the flow of the episode in small ways in order to spend more time at the parts that matter most. With that being said it was a nice opening episode, as it set the scene for this new arch to begin. We got some of our new characters for the season and it makes me excited for what's to come. The art is still gorgeous and the voice actors are still doing well. Speaking of the voice actors, I am very happy to be watching Fruba in Japanese again. I watched the first season, first in Japanese with my husband and sister and again in English with my mother. And let me just say I prefer the Japanese cast and translation much more, for those of you debating on which to watch. The Japanese cast stays truer to the characters where as the English cast feels a bit over done to me. It is also important to note that I could just be being a snob.

Continuing with me being a snob, the only thing I was hoping for a bit more from this season premier, was a killer opening and ending sequences. Both were fine, but I guess after watching all the nominations from the 2020 Anime Awards, I was hoping for something... more? But if you were to ask me what exactly I wanted, I don't have a satisfactory answer for that. So, what we get will have to do. Plus, they did change the opening and ending sequence mid season in the first season so I am sure we will see new ones again at mid season this time around as well.

Overall, I still stand by my recommendation to both read the manga and watch the new anime if you are looking for a new series. This is classified as Shoujo for those looking for genre specifics. It also has the subgenres of: school life, harem, occult fiction, and comedy. I will say though it could probably have even more subgenres, it does have a little bit of everything. Either way, I hope if you do take on this journey that you enjoy the ride. I hope your heart grows a little more and if you end up crying in the end, I won't apologize.

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Thank you so much for tuning into this long awaited installment of Nerdom here on My Mess. I hope this week is treating you well, make sure you get out and enjoy some of this nice weather but remember to still practice your social distancing, we are in quarantine after all. I will be back on Sunday with The Mess but in the mean time, stay nerdy and stay messy my friends.