Fruits Basket

WorldBrand briefing

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Original synthesis to sit alongside the encyclopedia article below. Not part of Wikipedia; verify facts on Wikipedia when precision matters.

Fruits Basket (often shortened to the fan nickname Furuba) is a beloved, genre-defining Japanese shojo media franchise originating as a manga written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya. The story follows kind, resilient orphaned high school student Tohru Honda, who stumbles on the secret of the wealthy Sohma family: 13 of its members are cursed to transform into animals of the Chinese zodiac (plus the excluded zodiac cat) when they are stressed, sick, or embraced by someone of the opposite sex not bound by the curse. Tohru's consistent empathy slowly breaks down the family's isolated, trauma-fueled barriers over the course of the narrative.

Key moments

1998Original Fruits Basket manga begins serialization in Hakusensha's Hana to Yume shojo magazine
2001First 26-episode anime adaptation produced by Studio DEEN premieres, with a partially original ending since the manga was still ongoing
2006The full original manga serialization concludes after 8 years of publication
2019Faithful full remake anime by TMS Entertainment premieres, supervised directly by Natsuki Takaya to adapt every panel of the completed manga
2021The final 13-episode season of the 2019 remake releases, wrapping the full animated adaptation of the core story
February 2022Theatrical feature Fruits Basket: Prelude premieres, covering prequel backstory and the canonical epilogue of the series

Subversive Thematic Weight Under a Whimsical Premise

While initially marketed as a lighthearted romantic fantasy for teen female audiences, the series deliberately avoids shallow tropes to explore heavy, nuanced real-world themes including intergenerational family trauma, domestic abuse, marginalization, and the harm of rigid traditional Japanese family hierarchies. The zodiac curse operates as a clear metaphor for unaddressed emotional burdens people inherit from family systems, making its story relatable to audiences across age and demographic groups outside its target shojo demographic.

Pioneering Role in Global Shojo Popularization

Fruits Basket was one of the earliest shojo manga properties to break through to mainstream international success in the early 2000s, becoming a top-selling translated shojo title in North America and Europe at a time when the genre was seen as niche for Western anime fans. Its gentle tone, memorable cast, and accessible emotional beats helped introduce wide new Western audiences to the full range of storytelling potential in shojo media, not just the narrow romantic tropes many international viewers associated with the category.

Dual Adaptations Create Distinct Fan Communities

The 2001 and 2019 anime adaptations occupy separate, complementary niches rather than competing with each other. The 2001 version retains a softer, more whimsical nostalgic tone that draws long-time original manga readers who grew up with the partial animated story, while the 2019 complete, manga-faithful remake has won over a huge new generation of Gen Z anime fans who prioritize full, accurate adaptations of source material that honor its mature emotional themes.

episodes	63

episode list	Fruits Basket (2019 TV series)

Fruits Basket (フルーツバスケット), 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 manga magazine, 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 gender who 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, produced by Studio Deen and directed by Akitaro Daichi. A second anime television series adaptation, 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.

By 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".[6]

Plot

When high school student Tohru Honda's mother dies in a car accident, Tohru is taken in by her grandfather. A few months later, her grandfather decides to remodel his house and asks Tohru if she can stay with one of her friends until it is finished. Not wanting to impose on her two best friends, Tohru buys a tent and begins living in a forest near her school.

While exploring one day, Tohru discovers a nearby home where her popular classmate Yuki Sohma lives with his cousin Shigure. Soon after, a landslide destroys her tent and the Sohmas invite Tohru to move into their house. As Yuki and Shigure show Tohru her new room, they are interrupted by Kyo Sohma, Yuki and Shigure's cousin, who crashes through the ceiling and challenges Yuki to a fight.

Tohru tries to stop him, and—accidentally falling into him—causes him to transform into a cat in front of her, discovering the Sohma family curse; that twelve members of the family, excluding Kyo, are possessed by the spirits of the Chinese zodiac (十二支), and turn into their zodiac animal when they are weak, under stress, embarrassed, or when hugged by someone of the opposite gender. Kyo is possessed by the cat who was excluded from the zodiac, and is cursed to be similarly bullied and abused by the clan.

When Tohru discovers the Sohma family secret, she promises not to tell anyone, and is allowed to keep living with them. Although the Sohma curse stretches far deeper and darker than Tohru initially thinks, her presence and her acceptance of them soon become a large, positive influence on those possessed by the zodiac. She sets out to break the curse and, on the way, meets and discovers the Sohma's vengeful zodiac spirits, including their leader, Akito, who occupies the position of "God" in the Chinese legend, and who both keeps the family together and chains them to their spirits.

Production

The title of the series is taken from a children's game, Fruits Basket (フルーツバスケット), in which the participants sit in a circle, and the leader of the game names each person after a type of fruit; when the name of a child's fruit is called, that child gets up and has to find a new seat. When the protagonist, Tohru Honda, first plays this game in kindergarten, she is not given a fruit, and is instead assigned "" by her classmates, who do not want her to play. However, Tohru, thinking that are delicious, does not realise that her classmates are intentionally leaving her out of the game; once the game is finished, and all of the children but Tohru have been called, Tohru realizes that are not a type of fruit at all, and she realizes that she does not belong.

Tohru comes to associate this game with the Sohma family, and that she does not fit in among them any more than an does in a basket of fruit. In volume 1 of the manga, after Yuki and Kyo bring Tohru home from her grandfather's house, she begins to feel like she belongs with the Sohma family; after this, she imagines herself as a child hearing called in the game, symbolizing that she has finally found her place.[7]

Natsuki Takaya named most of the twelve Sohmas cursed by zodiac animals after archaic names of month in the former Japanese lunisolar calendar that correspond to their zodiac animal.[8] The exceptions are Kureno and Momiji, whose names were swapped by mistake;[9]

Media

Manga

The 136 chapters of Fruits Basket were originally serialized in Japan by Hakusensha in from July 1998 to November 2006.[11][12] These were collected into 23 volumes, released from 19 January 1999 to 19 March 2007.[13][14] On 4 September 2015, the first two volumes of Fruits Basket: Collector's Edition (愛蔵版フルーツバスケット) were released in Japan under the Comics Special imprint.[15][16] The 12th and last volume was published on 20 July 2016.

Reception

Manga

The Fruits Basket manga series is one of the top manga series in both Japan and in the US. More than 18 million copies have been sold in Japan, and 30 million copies worldwide.[97][98] It is Tokyopop's best selling manga series, with more than 2 million copies sold by 2006.[99][100] The fifteenth volume of the English release rose to the fifteenth position on the USA Today Top 150 Bestselling Books, which is the highest position ever achieved by a volume of manga in the United States.[97] The eighteenth volume debuted at the top of the Nielsen BookScan sales list, while the nineteenth volume was the second bestselling graphic novel in March 2008.[101]

External links

Manga

Anime

References

Brigid Alverson. 8 Reasons Fruits Basket Is the Most Irresistible Romantic Comedy You'll Ever Read Barnes & Noble, 6 February 2017, retrieved 2 September 2020^
Allen Divers. Fruits Basket DVD 1 – Review Anime News Network, 11 March 2003, retrieved 24 June 2019^
Watch Fruits Basket Sub & Dub

Anime

First series (2001)

Directed by Akitaro Daichi, the twenty-six episode Fruits Basket anime series was animated by Studio Deen and produced by NAS and TV Tokyo. It premiered on TV Tokyo on 5 July 2001, with the final episode airing on 27 December 2001. Some parts of the plot deviated from the manga and were portrayed differently, such as Momiji and Shigure's mannerisms.[46] The opening and ending themes were performed by Ritsuko Okazaki. The opening theme is "For Fruits Basket" (For フルーツバスケット) (performed by Meredith McCoy in the English dub version). The first ending theme is "Chiisana Inori" (小さな祈り) (performed by Laura Bailey in the English dub). The second ending theme is "Serenade" (performed by Daphne Gere in the English dub).[47]

The series was released in Japan in nine individual DVD volumes by King Records, with each volume containing three episodes except for the first volume, which contained two.[48] The first volume was released on 29 September 2001, with subsequent volumes released on a monthly basis until the final volume was released on 22 May 2002. A series box set was released on 25 April 2007, containing all twenty-six episodes, as well a message card from Natsuki Takaya, a 60-page deluxe booklet, and a bonus Fruits Basket CD soundtrack.[49]

Funimation aired the series with their English dub on the Funimation Channel as well as on Colours TV and also licensed it for Region 1 DVD release. It released it in the form of four individual volumes containing 6–7 episodes and a complete series box set. On 20 November 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,[50] and then on 1 August 2017 on an upscaled Blu-ray in a standard and collector's edition. In the United Kingdom, Funimation originally distributed the series through MVM Entertainment, but then changed distributors in November 2006 to Revelation Films.[51] Revelation re-released the four individual volumes under their label. They also released the series box set on 22 January 2007.[52] MVM re-licensed the series in late 2011.[53] In Region 4, the series was released as a complete series box set by Madman Entertainment on 15 October 2003.[20]

Second series (2019)

A new anime adaptation was announced in November 2018.[54] The new adaptation would start in April 2019, and would adapt the entire manga. It features a new cast and staff, as per Takaya's request, with TMS Entertainment handling the production. Yoshihide Ibata directed the series, with Taku Kishimoto handling series composition and Masaru Shindou handling character designs.[55] The first season ran for 25 episodes from 6 April to 21 September 2019 on TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, and TV Aichi.[56][57] The first opening theme for episodes 1–13 is "Again" by Beverly.[58] The second opening theme for episodes 14–25 is "Chime" by

Compilation film (2022)

The 2019 series received a compilation film titled Fruits Basket: Prelude, which premiered theatrically in Japan on 18 February 2022. It recaps the 2019 anime series, and includes a prequel episode titled Kyо̄ko to Katsuya no Monogatari that focuses on Tohru's parents, and an original story written by Takaya set after the series.[79][80] The film's theme song is "Niji to Kite" ("Rainbow and Kite") by Ohashi Trio.[81] The film had a 3-day theatrical release with both a subbed and a dubbed version starting on 25 June 2022 in the United States and Canada, and ran on 25 June 28 June, and 29 June respectively. Additionally, the film had a 1-day release with the English dub only in the United Kingdom on 20 July 2022. Crunchyroll distributed both versions.[82]

Other media

In 1999, the magazine released a special Fruits Basket drama CD which had a four-chapter original story and short talk sections between each section. Released before the anime came out, this CD had a completely different voice cast. The CD was a promotional item with a limited run and is now unavailable.[83] As well as the drama CD, there have been two music CD releases of Fruits Basket to coincide with the anime adaptation, Memory for You and Four Seasons (also known as Song for ).

Natsuki Takaya has created one art book and two fan books for Fruits Basket. The art book, containing 101 pages of illustrations, was published by Hakusensha on 16 April 2004.[84] The first fan book, Fruits Basket Fan Book - Cat (フルーツバスケットファンブック〈猫〉), which contained 192 pages of story summaries, character biographies, and activities, was published in Japan on 19 May 2005.[85] Tokyopop released it in English on 11 September 2007.[86] The second fan book, Fruits Basket Fan Book - Banquet (フルーツバスケットファンブック/宴), was published in Japan on 19 March 2007 and contained 187 pages;[87] it was published in English by Tokyopop on 27 April 2010.[88]

Fruits Basket has also resulted in the creation of a variety of merchandise, including plushies of the various zodiac animals, wall calendars, clothing items, key chains, wall scrolls, buttons, figurines, and school supplies. A collectible card game based on the series was also created and published by Score Entertainment which can be used for playing Dai Hin Min as well as other games.[89] On 5 July 2022, during Anime Expo 2022, Crunchyroll announced that the series would get a collaboration with the famous Hello Kitty franchise, which debuted in August 2022[90][91]

In 2008, the all-male theatrical troupe Gekidan Studio Life announced it would be producing a theatrical adaptation of Fruits Basket, using only performers who would be making their stage debuts. The production ran for two weeks at the Galaxy Theater in Tokyo starting 25 February 2009.[92] Another stage play adaptation titled Fruits Basket The Stage ran from 4–13 March 2022 at Tokyo's Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall.[93] A sequel to the stage play ran from 6–15 October 2023.[94][95] A stage play titled Fruits Basket Stage: The Final is scheduled to run from 18 to 27 October 2024 at Hulic Hall Tokyo.[96]

Anime

The first Fruits Basket anime adaptation has also been well received, ranking third in Anihabara's list of top televised anime series in Japan for February 2002.[117] In the June 2002 issue of Animage magazine, the series was first in a list of the best twenty anime series in Japan.[118] In 2001, the Fruits Basket anime won an Animage's Anime Grand Prix award. In 2006, five years after the series finished airing in Japan, it was 93rd in TV Asahi's list of Japan's 100 favorite animated TV series.[119] Animerica reviewers felt the anime adaptation was similar to Ranma ½ in terms of premise and its using a similar musical score. Julie Davis found the characters to be "superficially pretty" and "so-clean-they-look-almost-like-paper-cutouts" with "really, really gigantic eyes", though she notes that the animal alter forms of the zodiac members were "cute and cuddly". Fellow reviewer Urian Brown disagreed, stating that "the characters are designed in a sleek stylish manner that is classy" and felt the animation was "refined".[120] Though it only covers part of the manga, critics felt the ending brought the story to a good stopping point while making it clear that there was much left for the Sohma and Tohru to deal with, including the curse and Tohru's future choice between Kyo and Yuki.[121] Though some felt the plot was lacking in development, they also praised the series for the strength of its character relationships.[122] Allen Divers of Anime News Network called the series a "true emotional roller coaster" which hides "truly deep and heartfelt drama" behind humor, adding that the show explores many "aspects of emotion."[121]

In April 2005, Funimation Entertainment started a project calling for convention attendees to help them fold 1,000 origami paper cranes. In Japanese folklore, folding 1,000 paper cranes would grant someone a wish. When they had at least 1,000 cranes, Funimation sent the cranes and pictures of the events to Studio Deen and Hakusensha to try to convince the company to produce a second season of the Fruits Basket anime.[123] Fans successfully folded the required 1,000 cranes by the end of the 2005 convention season,[124] starting at least a 13-year gap that culminated in the announcement of the new Fruits Basket anime in 2018.[54]

The 2019 version has also received positive reception. Thrillist listed the 2019 Fruits Basket series among the best anime of the 2010s.[125] At the 4th Crunchyroll Anime Awards in 2020, the anime was nominated in three categories including Best Drama;[126] its second season won Best Drama while Akito Soma was nominated for Best Antagonist at the fifth edition;[127][128] and the final season was nominated in four categories including Best Drama and Best Romance at the sixth edition.[129] In February 2022, Fruits Basket: The Final won three awards including "Anime of the Year" at the 8th Anime Trending Awards.[130][131]

last
type	tv series
director	Yoshihide Ibata
writer	Taku Kishimoto
music	Masaru Yokoyama
studio	TMS/8PAN
licensee	Crunchyroll
network	TV Tokyo, TVO, TVA, AT-X
first	6 April 2019

Fruits Basket

WorldBrand briefing

Subversive Thematic Weight Under a Whimsical Premise

Pioneering Role in Global Shojo Popularization

Dual Adaptations Create Distinct Fan Communities

Plot

Production

Media

Manga

Reception

Manga

Further reading

External links

References

Spin-offs

Spin-offs

Anime

First series (2001)

Second series (2019)

Compilation film (2022)

First series (2001)

Second series (2019)

Compilation film (2022)

Compilation film (2022)

Other media

Anime

Compilation film (2022)