Fruits Basket (2001 Anime)

Fruits Basket (フルーツバスケット), is a Japanese anime series created, written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya. The series was adapted into 26-episodes, directed by Akitaro Daichi. The series tells the story of Honda Tohru, a 16 year old orphan girl who, after meeting Sohma Yuki, Sohma Kyo, and Sohma Shigure, learns that twelve members of the Sohma family are possessed by the animals of the Chinese zodiac (十二支) and are cursed to turn into their animal forms when they are weak, stressed, or when they are embraced by anyone of the opposite sex that is not possessed by a zodiacal spirit. In the anime it is possible to transform through torso contact. The word "Fruits" in the title is always plural; the spelling originates from the transcription of the English word "fruit" into Japanese, where because there is no "tu" sound, "tsu" is used instead. The title comes from the name of a popular game played in Japanese elementary schools, which is alluded to in the series.

Plot
In the morning Tohru looks at the sky, as she goes in her tent she bids farewell to a picture of her mother. She was walking to school and notices a house. She goes to check it out and sees zodiac ornaments on the porch. Shigure makes his first appearance and talks to Tohru about the ornaments. Yuki appears and is Shigure's cousin. Yuki and Tohru walk to school. Saki and Arisa are introduced as they protect her from the Prince Yuki Fan Club. After school, Tohru goes to work then comes back home to her tent. Shigure and Yuki find her as Shigure laughs at her. They bring her to their house. Then a landslide happened by Tohru's tent. Tohru gets invited by Shigure and Yuki to live with them. Then she meets a hot-headed, orange-hair boy, Kyo, who is Yuki and Shigure's cousin. Before she can stop Kyo from fighting, she trips on him and hugs him. This turns Kyo into a orange cat, which shocks her. As she goes to get help, wood falls on her head, which makes her hug Yuki and Shigure. Therefore this turns Yuki into a rat, and Shigure into a dog. Upon seeing her friends as animals, Tohru thinks that she is going crazy.

While Tohru runs to a postman with the animal forms of Shigure, Yuki and Kyo whom she has accidentally touched when a wooden plank hits her head. Tohru exclaims at the postman to do something but the postman thinks Tohru's being crazy and passes her the mail. The dog (Shigure) seems to be clever enough to help out his 'owner' to get the mail. After the postman left, Shigure explains the curse. Shigure states that the Sohma family has this curse for generations. Whenever they are hugged by the opposite sex, they would transform. He casually tells Tohru that Yuki is the rat, he is the dog and Kyo is the cat. Shigure then warned Tohru that when they changed (halfway they changed back), they are naked. A shocked Tohru runs into the wall.

The next day, at school she has her school uniform washed after a dirty night. Yuki confronts her by saying that her memory might be erase because he witness this happening during his childhood. However Tohru tells him that if her memory is erase then Yuki has to promise that they will remain friends. She is allowed to stay in Shigure's house as long as she doesn't tell about the curse. Shigure even admits that Kyo is now going to their school, which angers Yuki. When Kyo is in their school, Arisa doesn't like him but she and Saki admits that his name is similar to Tohru's late mother. Ironically Tohru sees how Kyo in class as he hates being around others. Yuki admits to the females that they are cousins but not brothers. As more classmates look at Kyo, he runs off from the fan girls and Tohru sees how hard his life is.

When Yuki confronts Kyo outside. Kyo gets angry and yells at him. However Tohru sees this as a fight and tries to break it however she falls and makes him turn into a cat. When Tohru aploziges for the misunderstanding, Kyo yells at her and she walks away. Yuki also walks away from Kyo in disgust. Tohru then sits under a red box thinking about the Chinese Zodiac. But when Arisa and Saki find her, she hits her head and makes up excuses. While Kyo skips class, he is at Shigure's house. Shigure tells him to try and get along with Tohru as he works on something. Shigure also tells Kyo to pick Tohru up from work because it's dangerous to walk out at night by yourself. After she finished work, Tohru walks in the forest by herself. However she mistook Kyo for a stalker and hits him with her briefcase. She apologizes to him and he forgives her. The two walk home as Tohru admits that she likes the cat which shocks Kyo. But Kyo tells her that it's not great being the cat.

The next night after she finishes work she is picked up by Yuki. As the two talk outside a man pushes Tohru on Yuki and Yuki gets turn into a rat. As the two walk on the sidewalk Yuki tells Tohru that he wants to be like Kyo. However it runs out and Yuki turns back to normal. Yuki shows Tohru his secret garden and they protect it with a large sheet. As they are done Yuki says he will makes strawberries and Tohru is happy because she loves strawberries. When they are about to leave Yuki decides to bring the leeks with them. Much to Kyo's anger he has to eat leeks for dinner as Shigure admits food that Kyo hates. However he says he like Misco in soup but Yuki puts the leek in Kyo's mouth and tells him to eat. As Tohru sees how the two act she imagines how they want to be friends which freaks her out.

After hearing he was living with Shigure, Kagura Sohma, the Pig of the zodiac, pays Kyo a visit, much to his chagrin. Tohru is surprised to discover that Kagura is actually older than them, despite her appearance. Kagura is madly in love with Kyo, and she is displayed as having dissociative identity disorder. Kagura is clumsy and ill-mannered, and causes quite the ruckus in the household. At first Kagura is envious of Tohru, due to her living situation with Kyo, but she ends up befriending Tohru before departing.

Tohru finally goes back to living with her paternal grandfather, as his house renovations are complete. However, this turns out to be harder for Tohru than she thought, and leaves the Sohma family despondent. Joining Tohru in her grandfather's house is her paternal family, who view her more as a burden than a blessing. After a series of situations in which they are shown to be verbally abusive, Tohru's grandfather urges her to go where she would be happier. Since he admits that this happen with Kyoko many years. Yuki and Kyo arrive to retrieve her as she confesses that she is more satisfied living with the Sohma family. They all return to their house to meet up with Shigure. Tohru is happy to continue her new life living with the Sohma family.

Tohru invites her friends, Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima, to the Sohma household residence. Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure worry about what will happen if Arisa and Saki discover the Sohma family secret. The three struggle as they try to get acquainted with the girls while hiding their nervousness. Over the course of the visit, the boys have numerous encounters making contact with the girls, thereby transforming into their animal forms. Arisa and Saki, unaware of their transformations, become very suspicious, and Tohru gets increasingly nervous after each close call. Arisa and Saki soon realize that Tohru belongs in the Sohma household residence, after seeing how the Sohma family admires her, and depart none the wiser.

The high school is planning cultural festival, blueprinting a creative idea regarding rice balls. The class picks Yuki's hit-or-miss method over Kyo's all-or-nothing plan. Tohru realizes that Yuki and Kyo admire each other, comparing them to rice balls with pickled plums on their backs. During the cultural festival, Yuki is asked to wear a dress, much to his humiliation. Soon thereafter, Momiji Sohma and Hatori Sohma, pay a visit. Tohru learns from Hatori that Yuki has asthma, though it is steadily becoming less severe. Momiji insists on hugging Tohru just to transform into a Rabbit, causing complications for everyone. Yuki warns Tohru to not be alone with Hatori. Hatori privately enjoins her to visit the Sohma main residence, after which Tohru becomes worried that her memories may be erased.

Difference Between Anime and Manga

 * In the manga, Tohru's eye color is brown. But in the anime, her eye color is blue.
 * In the anime, when Hana and Arisa visit Shigure's house, there's a card game they play, and the three Sohma family members accidentally keep changing into their animal forms. But in the manga, the Sohma family members never change into their animal forms, and the card game is extended out. Also, during this section of the anime, we get a one-sentence background on Hana, and a brief flashback of Arisa's past and how she met Tohru.
 * In the manga, Momiji actually runs into Tohru before the Cultural Festival; she's at work at the time. Also in the manga, Momiji also tells Tohru about his father owning the bulding that Tohru works at before the Cultural Festival. But in the anime, Mommiji Mets her at the Cultural Festival. Then in Episode 15 of the anime, he tells Tohru about his father owning the bulding that Tohru works at.
 * In the manga, Haru is also introduced early;he first appears at the New Year's Celebration, and is seen talking with Shigure). But in the anime, he is introduced when Tohru's classics running laps.
 * In the manga, Tohru finds out about Hatori's Zodiac form in January. But in the anime, she finds out about Hatori's Zodiac form after New Years.

Theme Songs

 * Opening


 * "For Fruits Basket" (Ep. 1 – 26)
 * Closing


 * "Small Prayer" by (Ep. 1 – 24/26)
 * "Serenade" (Ep. 25)

Voice Cast

 * Japanese


 * Yui Horie as Honda Tohru
 * Aya Hisakawa as Sohma Yuki
 * Tomokazu Seki as Sohma Kyo
 * Ryotaro Okiayu as Sohma Shigure
 * Yuka Imai as Uotani Arisa
 * Reiko Yasuhara as Hanajima Saki
 * Omi Minami as Hanajima Megumi (Saki's little brother)
 * Kotono Mitsuishi as Sohma Kagura
 * Ayaka Saito as Sohma Momiji
 * Kazuhiko Inoue as Sohma Hatori
 * Haruhi Nano as Sohma Kana & Kisa's Mother
 * Mitsuru Miyamoto as Sohma Ayame
 * Akio Suyama as Sohma Hatsuharu
 * Kaori Nazuka as Sohma Kisa
 * Yuriko Fuchizaki as Sohma Hiro
 * Wakaba Murasaki as Sohma Akito
 * Junko Yamamoto as Sohma Okami (Ritsu's Mother)
 * Mina Tominaga as Sohma Ritsu
 * Miki Takahashi as Kuramae Mine
 * Norihiro Inoue as Sohma Kazuma
 * Reiko Yasuhara as Honda Kyoko
 * Hiroshi Masuoka as Tohru's Grandfather
 * Keiko Komyoji as Tohru's Aunt
 * Kaoru Suzuki as Tohru's Cousin & Kisa's Teacher
 * Masahito Yabe as Tohru's Cousin
 * Akemi Okamura as Mitsuru & Young Hatsuharu
 * Yuka Imai as Young Akito
 * Azusa Nakao as Momiji's Mother
 * Toshihiko Seki as Momiji's Father
 * Kyosuke Ikeda as Young Kyo
 * Miki Machii as Young Kazuma
 * Isamu Sugaya as Kazuma's Grandfather
 * Miki Nagasawa as Kyo's Mother
 * Englis


 * Laura Bailey as Tohru
 * Eric Vale as Yuki
 * Jerry Jewell as Kyo
 * John Burgmeier as Shigure
 * Parisa Fakhri as Arisa
 * Daphne Gere as Saki
 * Hollie Townson as Megumi
 * Meredith McCoy as Kagura
 * Kimberly Grant as Momiji
 * Kent Williams as Hatori
 * Christopher R. Sabat as Ayame
 * Justin Cook as Hatsuharu
 * Kate Bristol as Young Yuki & Kisa
 * Aaron Dismuke as Hiro & Young Akito
 * Chad Cline as Akito
 * Julie Mayfield as Kyoko & Okami
 * Mike McFarland as Ritsu
 * Amber Cotton as Mine
 * Dameon Clarke as Kazuma
 * Brice Armstrong as Tohru's Grandfather
 * Cynthia Cranz as Mitsuru, Tohru's Aunt & Kisa's Mother
 * Kasey Buckley as Tohru's Cousin
 * Chris Cantrell as Tohru's Cousin
 * Libby Smith as Kana
 * Stacie Jolley as Mogeta (Ep 21)
 * Stephanie Nadolny as Ari (Ep 21)
 * Sarah Hussey as Young Ritsu
 * Joshua Huber as Young Hatsuharu
 * Elise Baughman as Momiji's Mother
 * E. Bailey as Momiji's Father & Kyo's Father
 * Laurie Steele as Kisa's Teacher
 * Avery Rice Williams as Young Kyo
 * Heaven Tubbs as Young Kazuma
 * Brad Jackson as Kazuma's Grandfather
 * Wendy Powell as Kyo's Mother

Trivia

 * The kanji on the wall in the main room changes every time and it has no significant meaning eg. one of the symbols means "foot/leg"
 * Winner of the "Best Theme Song Award" at the 7th Animation Kobe (2002) for Ritsuko Okazaki's "For Fruits Basket"
 * Director Akitaro Daichi and original author Natsuki Takaya clashed quite often during production of the series. Takaya reportedly wanted a big name actor casted for the lead role, something Daichi usually does not like doing. Takaya also expressed issues with the animation director and character designer.
 * Tohru's English voice actress, Laura Bailey, wanted to sing the opening song, "For Fruits Basket". However that song went to Kagura's English voice actress, Meredith McCoy, and Laura ended up singing the ending song "Small Prayer" instead.
 * Christopher R. Sabat originally tried out for the role of Sohma Hatori but was convinced by Justin Cook to try out for the role of Sohma Ayame.

al information on the Fruits Basket (Anime) came from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruits_Basket