Fruits Basket

I discovered Fruits Basket in the books section of a Walmart in Oklahoma in about 2008. I'd never seen manga before; I think I maybe had heard of Naruto, but that would've been about it, and honestly I don't even remember that. I'd definitely discovered Nintendo Power by that time, so I'd seen occasional articles about JRPGs and stuff--i.e., the art style itself wasn't totally new to me, and obviously I, like, knew where Japan was. I was a fucking sushi fiend, even at that point in my life, and I'd had an elementary school art teacher go on a cultural exchange to Japan a few years prior and come back to teach us all about calligraphy and haikus, all in a very white-bread way and boiled down for our tiny caucasian minds. None of that actually came to mind when I was flipping through that volume of Furuba; I was more captivated by the plot, to be honest, instantly drawn into the idea of a curse and a mystery and people that turn into cute animals at inopportune, comedic moments.
That was actually volume 3, as I recall, so I didn't pick it up. But I did go by the public library pretty quickly after that for volume 1, and it was all downhill from there. I used to spend my entire allowance on a single volume from Barnes & Noble's (at that time, very limited) manga section and then read it cover to cover in about 20 minutes, which baffled my parents endlessly. I tried to explain that I read each volume over and over again (and, as a point of fact, I still have the same copies and I still read them over and over again), but they were stuck on the part where I was done basically before I left the store, which to them made it not a very good use of money. In their defense, yeah, I probably could have gotten them from the library and saved the $10 a volume or whatever, but then I couldn't have taken them with me to YMCA camp in the summer and read them by the lake with a flashlight, so who's laughing now?
Okay, none of that actually has very much to do with Fruits Basket itself and why I love it, so let's lock in.
Over 23 volumes, Fruits Basket covers about three years of its characters' lives and builds a web of relationships between them that you couldn't cut with a diamond-bladed saw. The first time I realized Tohru's homeroom teacher was Shigure's ex-girlfriend? Dude. Let me tell you, preteen AKA shit his pants at many moments throughout this series, but that was one of them. And it's not just in the ways the characters connect with each other--the whole concept of the zodiac curse, or, a little more broadly, of having a character to represent each member of the zodiac, means that every single person can go "hey, that's my guy!" (Fuck off, Homestuck, Fruits Basket did it first and better. And, as far as I know, no Fruits Basket fans ever threw buckets full of bodily fluids at anyone else at cons.) Seriously, I'm sure I would have liked Hatsuharu regardless, but I know I liked him that little bit extra because I'm an ox, too. I'm a pretty character-driven guy in general--that is to say, I love my blorbos--but I really do feel that this series is uniquely positioned to draw readers in and make them fall in love with its immense ensemble cast.
Even the villains are lovable. Well, most of them. Well, the antagonists, anyway. In a lot of ways, this is a story about generational trauma, but more than that it's a story about healing generational trauma. Nowhere is that more evident than with Akito--who, by the way, is totally a trans icon, #slay. But the fact that this character who's built up as the ultimate crux of the abuse and manipulation that is the Sohma curse itself--and not without good fucking reason, can I say!--is also shown to be a victim of that same abuse? Is allowed to recover, make ammends, move on with their life? That's a mentality that's stuck with me. People obviously joke about The Power Of Friendship and The Power Of Love and all that jazz, and I won't pretend it's not a prevalent and, yes, okay, even over-used trope, but like any over-used trope, I'll fight to the death for the idea that it can still be incredibly meaningful and effective when used right. And Fruits Basket uses it fucking right. Because it's not everyone who gets that healing hug from Tohru and atones for their sins--Yuki's parents are fucked. Kyo's dad is fucked. That old lady who's been a major proponent of Akito's abuse all along is fucked. For that matter, Ren is fucked. This isn't a story that says, "you should always forgive your abusers, they're people too!"; quite the opposite. But it is a story that says, "sometimes we're all victims of the same hurts and we turn that on each other; that's not okay, it's not right, but it can be healed. It's important for it to be healed. We can move past those hurts together, and we can form a stronger community on the other side of them."
On a lighter note? Furuba gave me a lifetime subscription to Tsundere Addicts Anonymous. Kyo Sohma, wherever you are in the multiverse, I would never seek to part you from your adorable and precious wife, but if you guys ever want a third, call me. To this day, if I'm playing an otome game or something and there's a red-haired tsundere in particular, it's game over. Not that I don't like Yuki--in fact, I love Yuki--but my stance on the love triangle was clear from literally the first instant my prepubescent self clapped eyes on Kyo. Truly a brain-chemical-altering man. Blorbo of all time. (Also probably gave me an additional subscription to Monsterfuckers Anonymous, come to think of it. That panel of Tohru embracing monster!Kyo in the forest, and then the panel of her cradling kitty!Kyo as she carries him out? Diabolical. Absolutely unfair, Takaya-sensei, how could you.)
I'm not sure how to wrap this up. Uhhhhh... I love Fruits Basket, everybody go read Fruits Basket if you haven't. If you have, read it again. Don't watch the first anime but definitely watch the reboot. Peace and love and animal transformations on planet Earth.

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