Fruits basket is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya. Its chapters open its doors to viewers on the Semi-monthly Japanese magazine Hana to Yume, published by Hakusensha from 1998 to 2006. The anime adaptation consisted of 26 episodes which aired in 2001.
The story revolves around Honda Tohru, a high school girl who loses her mother in an accident. Orphaned with no one in this world to call her own, only her Grandfather exists. Her grandfather had to make renovations to his house, not being a burden to him she thinks of moving somewhere alone.

Honda Tohru is a character that you may not see in real life, but a fraction of her is present in all of us. She is pure, positive, and optimistic. Her outlook on life is what drives this series further. She lives in a tent and days pass by, she misses her mother. One fine day her classmate Souma Yuki discovers that she has been living there for some time. He invites her into his home, where his family members live. Shigure and Kyo Souma.
She moves into a room in their house. Shortly after that, she finds out the secret of their family. They are literal animal incarnations of the animal spirits. A hug from the opposite sex triggers the transformation and they turn into animals.

Throughout her school year, she finds out that, the Souma clan is a prestigious family, in which zodiac signs are born into their families. Each individual in this world wears a mask behind their smile. This anime has been influential and it changes everyone’s perspective.

It is a masterpiece that, makes you think for hours about your shortcomings and past experiences. If it went a little bit differently, how would your life change?

Tohru Honda mingles with each one of the zodiacs. She brings a profound effect on their outlooks to life. Shigure, a writer has a separate motive to keep Tohru in their home. It is a selfish one, but it is something that can save their whole family.
Different types of characters associated with the zodiac bring different personalities. Different relationships have different dynamics. I can’t remember how many times I have cried watching all of these episodes. We feel as if the hardships we face are nothing at all.

The parents of the Zodiacs hate their children. They consider them to be a bad omen or some kind of monster. Outcast and forgotten, they meet Tohru Honda the ever so pure and optimistic being. She treats them as normal humans and that is all anyone needs now. To feel normal and special. To feel acknowledged and accepted for being who you are is a feat of its own. In this time and day when no one cares about you, there is at least one special person who always looks out for you.

The zodiac power is a burden to its owners. To create relationships with the opposite sex is a big task that many cannot achieve. Akito, the leader of the clan has a strong grip on the members of the clan. She is selfish and wants to confine all the zodiacs to one place.

Confining a bird in a cage hinders its ability to fly free. It is the same for humans as well. The parallel between the confinement of society on humans and the control of their God towards the Zodiac signs is a factor in this story. Each zodiac sign has a story tell. Each wishes to escape their cage and be free. To escape from the shackles of the curse is Shigure’s goal and he feels that Tohru can be the key to doing that.

There are some beautiful messages in the anime that makes you look at the world differently. Tohru associates people with being consisting of rice balls. Each rice ball contains different kinds of filing and those fillings are appeal to some people. In that way everybody is special. Writing this is one thing but watching it is truly something else.

In the scene where Yuki and Kyo go for the gathering while leaving Tohru back home alone at New Year, her friends approach them. She tells them that for every New Year she has been with her mother except for this one. Yuki and Kyo rush towards her side, which is such a touching and powerful scene. The emotionally distant siblings, feel so much for someone because they can relate to not receiving a parent’s love. To be with someone in trying time is what friendship is all about. It forms the crux of life.

The music and the visuals of this anime are breathtaking. It conveys to us the feels and the twists and turns involved in fruits basket. The will to live on and to be kind amidst losing everything you hold dear is something amazing. Many people are not able to do this but those who do become the kindest people. They have known life till the brink of destruction of one’s self. Tohru Honda’s influence on every character wraps around everyone like a twine, just supporting each other and going.

The message conveyed to the viewers consists of many life experiences. Everyone has only one life and to good in that lifetime is the main protagonist’s goal. Help others and in some or the other way, when you hit rock bottom, they help you.

Fruits basket, is a spectacle of positivity and new perspectives. Do not miss this wonderful anime. Please give it a watch because it made a lot of changes in me and I’m sure it will create some in you as well. The world is a wonderful place when you have someone special with you. That special person exists in each and everyone’s life and they can reduce the pain a little bit. I know I have one, you may have one as well.