Fruits Basket: Manga vs Anime

Fruits Basket Review

First off, I want to say this Manga was my gateway drug; at least in middle school up to adulthood. I was born into the wonderful world of Sailor Moon and my Gameboy Color with Pokemon Gold. I snuck downstairs and watched Toonami and adult swim as a kid. I honestly cannot remember a time where I wasn’t surrounded by anime or gaming. BUT, this Manga really set my inspiration aflame for actually creating my own graphic novels. 

When I finished the manga, I was so excited to start the anime and relive the experience once again!

The story is about a young girl, Tohru Honda, who is an orphan in high school. With a huge complex about putting everyone else before herself, she lived in a tent in the woods so that she wouldn’t be a burden to her friends. She meets three members of the Sohma family, Yuki, Shigure, and Kyo, who urge her to live with them in exchange for cleaning around the house. As the story goes on, Tohru discovers that the Sohma family has a huge secret: any time they are hugged by the opposite sex, they transform into their Zodiac animals. Written by Natsuki Takaya, she has a timeless sense of humor as well as compelling writing that can appeal to people who are going through multiple situations in life, whether you’re an outcast from your whole family, a yankee, a gothic, or the popular person who is the loneliest of them all.

Although the Manga is 23 volumes, which was super expensive back in the day, it’s very enjoyable to read. Sadly, the Anime is only about 25 episodes which is my preferred length of an anime since so many like to drag it out another 4,000 episodes with a bunch of filler seasons, BUT the Anime only covered about 7 of the books. :/ I’m not sure if Funimation didn’t have enough funding for the next season, or if it was a conflict with keeping the voice actors. It was highly disappointing for me just because my favorite parts of the story are books 13 and up.  MY FAVORITE CHARACTER ISN'T EVEN IN THE ANIME!! DX And they don't cover all of the Sohma family members who have the Zodiac curse.  :(

But anyways, If you have never read the manga, the anime ends rather well. I give it a 3 out of 5 for the little they did with it! It’s definitely a fun, cute anime that you can enjoy watching with friends. ^_^

I would recommend watching the anime first and then going back and reading the books for the rest of the story!

Romeo X Juliet: why it's worth your time!

Romeo X Juliet Review

Well, the title is pretty self-explanatory. It is Gonzo Productions adaptation of the well-known tale and tragedy Romeo and Juliet. It’s 24 episodes, or “Acts”, but it’s not just your typical version of the two star crossed lovers… THANK GOD!

I love Shakespeare (although I am aware Romeo and Juliet wasn’t originally created by him). I enjoy the raw romance of the play, as well as Hollywood’s version of the story, BUT looking at the story from a logical point of view, I can see the scenarios are rather flawed. Some see it as horny teenagers who let their hormones get the better of them. Honestly, one could say it promotes 14 year old girls running off with boys they just met at some party and then killing herself after not being able to see the guy again for 3 days. After all, the story time frame is only a few days.

ANYWAYS, enough of my ranting and bashing, this review is about the anime! :D

(May contain what some to be considered Spoilers)

The story begins with the epic flashback of Lord Montague performing a mass slaughter of the house of Capulet, which already gives a different flavor to the old tale. THE ANIME ACTUALLY GIVES THE TWO FAMILIES A REASON TO HATE EACH OTHER! Yay backstories! Any-who, Juliet happens to be the only survivor, so her and the loyalist to the house of Capulet keep her in hiding (at the Globe Theater no less) until the age of sixteen (a much more appropriate age to fall madly in love in the modern age).  Although Juliet has to be kept in hiding most of her life, she is far from a damsel in distress! 

Without trying to give any of the plot twists away, there are many new and refreshing scenes in this anime that give real meat to the original play. The play is like an outline, and they fill in the cracks. A fun fact is that the same composer who featured in Final Fantasy 12 also did the music for this anime. So, if the background music makes the anime for you as it does me, you’ll really get into the moment!

In order to avoid giving too much away, I’ll give you five reasons why you should give this anime a chance:

1.       1. The love story, although seemingly unoriginal, has actual depth and growth. Ya know… instead of a reenactment of “Call Me Maybe”. The anime gives justice to getting to know someone before you give up all the goods.

2.       2. ADVENTURE!! Swordfights, Exploring outside of the small city of “Neo-Verona”, Riots, Assassins etc. I wouldn’t call this an action anime, but rather an anime WITH ACTION! :D

3.       3. Plot twists: Where characters in the original play may be friends, here they are foe. Some things are not as they appear to be and you can look forward to the occasional “whoa! Didn’t see that coming” here and there. I personally hate watching an anime where I can predict everything that’s going to happen. Surprisingly, this is not one of those anime’s even though I know the original story by heart.

4.       4. Emotional Development: Each character has their own backstory and are not created solely for filling up time in the anime. Everyone is important to the story and it makes it very easy to find a character to relate to.

5.       5. DRAGONSTEADS?! MAGIC TREES!?! SORCERY?!!!! *mind explodes* yes! This may be considered a spoiler, but gosh darn it it’s in the opening credits! XD This anime, along with its compelling characters and sword duels, has a magical twist to it that makes this my personal favorite version of Romeo and Juliet.

So there you have it! The only downside I can really see is if you simply cannot stand periodic animes, since this is set back in the good ol’ Shakespearean days. Maybe you are also put off by the romance side to it, but the anime doesn’t focus on just that. Mostly, it’s Juliet’s journey trying to live out her duty to liberate the people of Neo-Verona while also dealing with the everyday girl stuff. Romeo is trying to understand the history of his family and what sort of ruler he wants to become. Anyways, like I said its 24 Acts which makes it just the right size to give it a go!