"I don't think anyone is born to live. It’s something you have to find for yourself." -Honda Tohru

Fruits Basket. Originally airing in the early 2000’s, it had made a huge impact in the shoujo genre with the level of quality that it had brought to the table. Being an instant favorite to many, this anime would soon be known as a classic that both fans of the genre and newcomers alike should watch. With the year 2019 approaching and the premier of its remake around the corner, how would this anime age almost 20 years later? Needless to say, it exceeded all expectations. Even scoring 10% higher than the original, Fruits Basket (2019) did the series justice, and fans were ecstatic over the beautiful re-adaptation. Being a HUGE fan of the SoL genre and a sucker for anything with a Romance tag, this anime seemed right down my alley. Slice of Life, Drama, Romance, Supernatural, all of these tags looked very appealing to me when i first heard about Fruits Basket after the 2019 remake premiered. So what did i do? Put it on my PTW list, and move on to other anime that were on my list. Almost an entire year after the first episode had been released, why did i choose to watch it now? Well, its because of that exact reason! In order to celebrate this animes first year of success, I decided to finally give this shoujo classic a shot and see for myself why many have come to cherish this anime. And what did i find? A truly beautiful experience that made me grow an even deeper appreciation for the Slice of Life genre...

Art and Animation: 9.3/10

From the very first episode of Fruits Basket, it had shown off a very high amount of quality when it came down to the art and animation. The camera angles were both natural and comfortable to the eye, and i noticed that they featured shots that were a bit further back. This enabled the viewers to appreciate the surrounding and background a lot more, which is a very risky move. Normally, studios like to stick to closer up shots on characters to draw attention away from the backdrop or surroundings because of how average it is. But with Fruits Basket, you could tell that careful attention was given to these details because of how much they showed off their backdrops. I really appreciated this bold move, because i feel like not many people truly appreciate and see how important it is to have a high quality environment and background in an anime.

When it came down to the character designs, i just HAD to see how the original designs compared to their newer 2019 counterparts. And needless to say, i was VERY impressed. They not only succeeded in “modernizing” their designs to fit animation quality of this day and age, but they also respected the original designs as well. No crazy changes, no BS. Facial expressions are always what i look out for when scoring an animes quality of animation, and Fruits Basket didn’t disappoint me in the slightest. In both SoL and Drama anime especially, the quality fo the facial expressions is EXTREMELY important in adding to the immersion of the scene/setting. If you have an emotionally packed episode, but stiff character facial expressions, the immersion of the entire scene takes a huge hit. This then doesn’t make the scene have as much of an impact on the viewers emotions, and their connection with a specific character or moment is lost. But Fruits Basket almost always nailed this one when the moment presented itself, and i never got tired of seeing Honda panic over her clumsiness, or her tender and loving smile.

As you can tell, this anime did a very good job in its quality of animation, but no anime is perfect. So were there any negatives you may ask? I wouldn’t really call it a negative, but its just something that i’d noticed in the second half of the anime. In the first half of the anime, beautiful and breathtaking settings were very common, and there were even times when a single episode had multiple of these moments in them. Even in character interactions, the fluidity of movements and the vibrancy of colors were all there. How about in the second half though? Like i said, it wasn’t really a negative, but just something that i’d noticed after a few episodes in the second half. These “magical” moments where they went all out with all the glitter and effects were a bit less common, and even beautiful shots of the surrounding environment were less commonplace. While they did still occur on occasion, they were by no means as frequent as they were from the beginning of the anime. But the reason why i say that this isn’t necessarily a negative is because Fruits Basket still maintained a high quality of animation.

Storyline and Character Progression: 9.4/10

As with all anime that strive to be a high quality Slice of Life, this is where it counts the most. From the storyline it feeds us, to the character development that happens in between, this is where all the magic happens. And here it was no different. I came into this anime with high expectations because of all the praise that it had received, so needless to say that i wasn’t gonna hold anything back when it came to my personal thoughts and impressions. What did i find? In just the first few episodes, the stage is set for an impactful moment that’ll decide both the pacing and tone of the rest of the story. I was surprised when i first realized this, because i wasn’t expecting the pacing to pick up so soon. The problem was solved as quickly as it was started, and yet it still had all the emotion behind it. This moment alone was enough to tell me that Fruits Basket meant business, and that this was just the beginning. The next highlight i experienced was shortly afterwards, and couldn’t of been caught more off guard than i already was. Episode 7 came out of nowhere with a deep and touching story about a character that was just recently introduced to the viewers just a short while ago. Being that it was from a character we just met, how in the world is it possible to make viewers connect with their feelings on an emotional level? Honestly, im still trying to figure out how they did it. But it still doesn’t change the fact that they succeeded on an entirely new level. This story hit me right where it counted, and i was even moved to tears. The pacing was perfect, the short background story fit the mood, and the setting added even more to the immersion of the moment. This was by far my favorite episode of Fruits Basket because it appealed to me on a personal level. There were even more moments like these, each of them varying in both uniqueness and circumstance. But they all had enough potential to appeal to almost every viewer out there because of this diversity.

Even when it came to the actual characters themselves, this anime did a very good job for the most part. While Tohru herself didn’t receive the most amount of development in the anime, it was her relationship with those around her that developed the most. Her influence alone is what helped to develop most of the characters, and it was a vey beautiful thing to see as the episodes passed by. Every once in a while, we’d also get a short arc that delved deeper into the focused character and helped us to understand them a bit more. The most notable ones being about Tohru’s best friends. As this may not come as a surprise, both of these stories were just amazing and emotional. My personal favorite of the two being Hana-chans! Fruits Basket overall had nailed both Storyline and Character Progression because of how naturally the characters progressed and how often you wee able to connect with each story. The only negatives were in both Episode 19 and 20, my most hated episodes of the entire season. These episodes luckily featured characters you were never gonna hear from again, and that was a huge relief from me. Heres why:

Episode 19 featured a trope i wasn’t unfamiliar with, so i didn’t mind it at all. The real problem stemmed from their odd personality, which didn’t fit the tone of Fruits Basket at all. The over excessive and over-the-top apologetic personality this character had was EXTREMELY annoying to me as the minutes passed by, and i quickly got sick of it. This episode just felt like a filler that was set in order to lighten the mood a bit, but it just failed at that. This type of humor just didn’t sit well with me and it felt very out of place in an anime thats primarily focused on teaching life lessons and how to heal from them. Episode 20 was just as bad, if not worse. Don’t get me wrong, they executed this character well, but TOO well. I mean, who REALLY likes to watch a character thats a stuck up, snobby, ungrateful brat that likes to crap on others feelings and treats them like trash just because they’re a bit jealous? NOT ME. There wasn’t a single minute in this episode where i didn’t wanna reach into the screen and beat the crap out of this child and set him straight. I was extremely close to skipping this episode altogether because of how much it annoyed me. I don’t care what studio does it or how much they nailed the character, there are just some characters and personalities that NOBODY likes to watch, and this was one of them.

Overall though, Fruits Basket still earned a very high scoring from me because of its many positive qualities. From its natural pacing that helped to maintain immersion and keep the flow of the storyline, to the hilarious and yet beautiful cast of characters that you could learn so much from, this anime really did an amazing job in my eyes. The art/animation was such a joy to watch and i always looked forward to those magical moments of animation that added to the emotion. Fruits Basket truly succeeded in delivering high quality characters and stories that could leave a lasting impact on us viewers.

Soundtrack and Audio: 8.9/10

There isn’t really much to say in this department if im being honest, aside from the vocal cast. While the soundtrack did fit the anime very well, i just didn’t feel much of an emotional connection with the soundtrack and anime together. It wasn’t a soundtrack that would flood me with all the emotional moments of Fruits Basket to the point where i’d tear up. When it came down to the OPs, i preferred the second one A LOT more than the first. I felt like the first OP didn’t fit the mood of Fruits Basket at the moment because of where we were at with the story. It was a lot more cheerful and upbeat in the first half, which didn’t pair with the slow and melodic feel of the first OP. Aside from this i still enjoyed both of them very much, but i felt like their placement was a bit off. If the OPs had been swapped, i feel that it would’ve fit the mood a lot better, because the first OP gives me a sense of closure, while the second OP gives me a sense of energy and the start of a new and exciting story.

The vocal cast didn’t give me any reason to complain because of their honest and sincere performance when it came to the emotional moments in this anime. The emotion behind their words felt real and the quality of their performances were amazing. Even in day-to-day conversations, it all sounded so natural and fluid (which is very important in a SoL because of how much dialogue there is). Both in the absolutely hilarious moments and the emotional ones, the quality of the vocal cast was there.

In the end Fruits Basket lived up to its reputation of being a pillar in the shoujo genre, and for good reason too. For its consistently high quality of art and animation, its beautifully executed character development and comfortably paced storyline, and great soundtrack, this anime has well deserved the score of 9.2/10. As an anime i’ve put as one of my Top 5 Slice of Life anime, i can confidently recommend this to fans of the genre and those interested in Slice of Life. Fruits Basket has truly become a very memorable experience for me, and i so happy i FINALLY got around to watching it. As always, thank you all so much for reading this far and ill see you in the next one! <3