Name: This review only covers the first season of Fruits Basket and does not contain spoilers.
Item: Fruits Basket (2019)
Rating: 80
Author: Miliguer

Waifra

This review only covers the first season of Fruits Basket and does not contain spoilers. · Waifora

Review: Fruits Basket (2019) – Season 1

This review covers ONLY the first season of 2019 and not those to come.
Contain spoilers. (And it's my first review and ps. it's my favorite anime)
General Context Fruits Basket was one of the cornerstone anime and manga of the shoujo genre, winning the prestigious 2001 “Kodansha Manga Award (Shoujo category)” and selling over 30 million copies worldwide. It thus became one of the most influential shoujo series ever.

Introductory Plot

The story begins with Tohru Honda, a kind and optimistic girl who, after losing her mother, goes to live with her grandfather. However, due to a temporary move, she is invited to stay with a friend. Not wanting to be a burden, she ends up living alone in a tent in the forest, unaware that she has pitched it on the private land of the Souma family.

Discovered by Yuki (her classmate), Kyo (hot-headed), and Shigure (their guardian), she is welcomed into their home after her tent is destroyed. She soon learns their greatest secret: if certain Souma family members are hugged by someone of the opposite sex, they transform into one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac!

Thoughts on the Plot

The premise may seem bizarre and forced—an excuse to have Tohru live with the main family—but this narrative choice proves both original and effective in introducing the characters during the first five episodes. These episodes lay the groundwork for understanding the series’ tones and themes: drama, romance, slice of life, supernatural, and a touch of comedy.

Those opening episodes focus on typical shoujo dynamics and romance, elements that diminish somewhat in later episodes but never fully disappear. Mangaka Natsuki Takaya skillfully selects the perfect moments to weave in these aspects, often through creative narrative solutions.

Season Development

The next 20 episodes introduce the various zodiac members and several secondary characters, beginning to place the “puzzle pieces” of the overarching narrative. This season sets the stage for deeper and broader developments in future seasons.

Themes Explored

The series tackles a wide variety of important themes with surprising delicacy:

- Self-acceptance and acceptance of others

- Family issues

- Bullying

- Personal identity

Each character has a well-constructed background that resonates personally with the viewer. Protagonist Tohru embodies a gentleness and inner strength that make her almost an emotional “healer” for the broken souls around her. Despite her own insecurities, she inspires viewers to find the strength to leave their shells.

Character Development

Characters are treated like flowers ready to bloom: each is given space to introduce and grow. Dialogues and inner thoughts feel realistic and well-written. However, physical actions and behaviors can be exaggerated—a deliberate stylistic choice that alternates effectively between comedic and dramatic moments.

In comedic scenes, actions become purposely unrealistic for laughs; in dramatic moments, everything is more measured and realistic, conveying a message and drawing the viewer into the emotional core.

Soundtrack

The music composed by Masaru Yokoyama (known for Your Lie in April, Classroom of the Elite, etc.) is excellent. Each track perfectly matches its scene, ranging from light to deeply emotional. They are enjoyable even outside the anime context and play a decisive role in creating a memorable atmosphere.

Animation and Direction

The animation doesn’t excel but is more than adequate: fluid, well-crafted, with expressive facial animation. The modern design aligns far better with the shoujo aesthetic than the 2001 version.

The direction, likewise, doesn’t stand out for originality but is solid and functional, effectively supporting the emotions the work aims to convey.

Voice Acting

The voice acting is of high quality, featuring well-known talents. For example:

- Yuuichi Nakamura (Shigure, main character) has also voiced Satoru Gojo in Jujutsu Kaisen and Reinhard in Re:Zero.

- Jun Fukushima (Makoto Takei, student council president in the first season, a secondary if not tertiary character) is the voice of Kazuma in Konosuba.

Even secondary characters benefit from voices that perfectly match their personalities.

Final Thoughts

This first season of Fruits Basket is very good: it solidly introduces characters, themes, and dynamics, with significant and well-constructed episodes. It’s a series capable of moving, provoking reflection, and fully engaging viewers, while preparing for more complex developments in subsequent seasons.