Anime and Manga Lovers

This Will be updated with a new Anime every month

Vol 22 came out last month!

The manga came out long before the anime

Fruits Basket follows the life of high-school student Tohru Honda, who was recently orphaned when her mother, Kyoko Honda, died in a car accident. After that, Tohru lived with her grandfather, but when his house needs remodeling, Tohru resorts to living in a tent in a forest and holds down a job to support herself. Despite suffering many hardships, Tohru remains optimistic.

One day, Tohru comes upon a house in the forest that is the home of her classmate Yuki Sohma and his cousin Shigure Sohma. When the Sohmas discover that Tohru is living in a tent, they are quite surprised by her inner strength. The entire area is Sohma property, and Tohru asks to be allowed to stay in her tent, but then collapses because of a fever brought on by working too hard. A landslide buries her tent, including her mother's picture and school clothes, and she moves into Shigure's house for the night. Desperate for a break from the filth of the house and takeaway meals, she is asked to become a permanent guest in the house, if she cooks and cleans. She accepts, and is being shown her room by Yuki when Kyo Sohma bursts in (through the roof) to challenge Yuki. Tohru, not knowing Yuki's strength, tries to stop Kyo by grabbing him, and as a result he transforms into a cat. She is then hit on the head with a plank of wood, and collapses into Shigure and Yuki, turning them into a dog and rat respectively.

Tohru discovers the Sohma family's secret, and the reason why Yuki is so private and secretive at school: thirteen members of the family are possessed by the 12 animal spirits of the Chinese Zodiac (jyûnishi in Japanese) plus the spirit of the cat who was, according to legend, left out of the Zodiac. They transform into animals when hugged by the opposite sex or when put under a great deal of emotional or physical stress (such as being sick). When she promises to keep their secret, the Sohmas allow Tohru to keep her memories rather than hypnotically erasing them, a fate that had previously befallen anyone not "Inside" the Sohma family who had discovered the secret.

The story follows the lives of Tohru and the Sohma family, as they deal with each other and a society where neither quite fits in, as well as the feared Akito Sohma, head of the Sohma family. Soon, after living with the Sohma family she began to like, then love, all of the Sohmas, and sets out to break the zodiac curse.

Differences between manga and anime

In many places, the anime episodes are very similar to the corresponding manga chapters. However, the anime does make some changes to the story. Several events are combined, and some events, such as Tohru's first meeting with Momiji and all references to Tohru's baseball hat, never happen in the anime at all. The anime series also added more instances of Sohma members being accidentally transformed by Tohru. For example, in episode six when Tohru's friends Hanajima and Uotani visit the Sohma house, the anime has a lengthy series of accidental transformations, while in the manga, no transformations occurred during their visit. Much of the events surrounding the revealing of Kyo's true form are greatly changed in the anime, including adding an extended chase sequence, Tohru meeting Akito in the woods, her meeting with Hanajima and Uotani at her mother's grave, and Yuki having also chased after Kyo, none of which happen in the manga.

While the anime keeps most of the characters exactly the same as in the manga series, it does make some changes. In the manga, Momiji is half-German and half-Japanese and regularly speaks German, particularly when he first meets Tohru, while in the anime his bi-racial status is never mentioned and no German is spoken. Shigure's darker tones are toned down in the anime, with many remarks he makes in the manga that hint at a hidden agenda are left out, along with most of his early scenes with Akito. In the anime, Akito is biologically male and will die at a young age because of the curse, while in the manga, Akito is biologically female but brought up as male.

Tohru Honda

Tohru is an orphaned high school student that goes to live with her grandfather after her mother's death. While his house is being renovated to make room for his daughter and her children, Tohru has to move out. Rather than be a burden on her friends, she decides to camp out in a tent. Eventually, she winds up living in Shigure's house with him, Yuki and Kyo. She's very well mannered, loves to cook, is an excellent housekeeper and has an afterschool job as a cleaning woman to help pay her school tuition. Both of her parents are deceased and the only family members we've seen in the manga so far are her grandfather, aunt and cousins. It seems that she is estranged from most of her family.

 

Yuki Sohma   The Rat

Yuki is the rat, or in this case, the mouse of the zodiac. Known as " The Prince " at school, Yuki is very feminine-looking and has a severe complex as a result. He has many admirers at school, but has a hard time being social. With Tohru's help, Yuki is able to slowly loosen up. Generally quiet and polite, Yuki is an amazing martial artist that enjoys gardening. He's also not much of a morning person, but interestingly enough, he's even stronger when he's sleepy! There's no info on Yuki's parents, but he has one older brother, Ayame.

 

Kyo Sohma    The Cat

Although not a member of the Jikkan Juunishi (Japanese/Chinese Zodiac), Kyo has the ability to transform into a cat. Because he is in essence an "outsider," the rest of the Sohma family seem to dislike him. According to legend, the cat was tricked by the rat into missing the enkai, or party, where all the animals were inducted in to the zodiac. It is because if this betrayal that Kyo sees Yuki as his rival (among other reasons...) and has dedicated his entire life to someday beating him. His hobbies include martial arts and sleeping. Kyo is also pretty studious and gets good grades at school! He's also a pretty good cook. Kyo can be pretty bad tempered and is particularly sensitive to rainy/wet weather. Kyo's mother is deceased, and his father refuses to have anything to do with him. His guardian is Kazuma.

Shigure Sohma  The Dog

Shigure is the dog of the zodiac and the owner of the house where Tohru, Yuki and Kyo live. He's a writer who, in addition to writing serious/highbrow books, also writes romance novels under a pen name as a hobby. You'll always find Shigure wearing his "writer's kimono" at home because he thinks it's the proper attire for a novelist (BTW, Shigure spends most of his time at home...). He loves to drink tea, eat takoyaki (a japanese snack made of octopus), drive his publisher crazy, sleep in late and smoke. Er, despite what you see in the picture to your left, Shigure does not have a tatoo of a cross on his neck...too bad. There's no info on Shigure's parents, but we do know that he has no siblings. You could argue that his best friends, Hatori and Ayame, are his family ^_^.

Hatori Sohma   The Dragon

Hatori is the dragon of the zodiac, but for some reason his transformation is that of a seahorse! He is literally the Sohma's family doctor, and spends most of his time caring for Akito at the family compound. He has the ability to erase people's memories and has done so in the past when ordered to by Akito. You'll usually see Hatori with his hair covering his left eye - he is partially blind in that eye. Hatori is serious, rigid and very very cool. He can often be seen wearing dark-colored suits and he likes to smoke. There's no info on Hatori's parents, but his best friends, Shigure and Ayame, are his family.

Ayame Sohma   The Snake

Ayame is Yuki's big brother and the third member of the "Mabudachi Trio" or "The Three Musketeers." Along with his long silver hair, which he sometimes wears in a braid, Ayame often wears feminine-looking, Chinese-influenced clothing. A tailor by profession (although I tend to think that he's more of a designer), Ayame runs his own store also called "Ayame." He makes made-to-order *female* clothing (cosplay-looking stuff such as maid uniforms, sailor fukus, etc.) for *men* with his assistant, Mine. Ayame loves tea and will sometimes make tea for only a few select people (Hatori, Akito, Shigure). There is no info on Ayame's parents, but his younger brother is Sohma Yuki. Mine, Hatori and Shigure can be considered his family as well.

Kagura Sohma  The Boar

Kagura is the boar of the zodiac. She is head over heels in love with Kyo and intends to marry him one day even though Kyo doesn't seem all that enthused about the idea. As one of the three female members of the zodiac, she is able to hug any of the male members and not turn into her juunishi form. Despite her love for Kyo, whenever she even gets near him, she winds up punching and kicking him into a bloody pulp! Kagura is a pretty good martial artist and she trained under Kazuma (who also taught Yuki, Kyo, Haru and Hiro), so believe you me, she can kick ass. She enjoys making things by hand and her favorite object seems to be her orange cat backpack which she wears constantly. Believe it or not, Kagura is actually a freshman in college! Kagura's mom lives at the Sohma compound, but there's no info on her father.

Momiji Sohma   The Rabbit

Momiji is the rabbit or hare of the family. Half Japanese and half German, Momiji looks and acts a lot younger than he actually is. Characterized by his kawaii clothing which is usually *very* bright and the candy/snacks he's always munching on, Momiji frequently interperses his japanese with german. Although he may act young, Momiji is actually quite intelligent and wise. Momiji first meets Tooru at his father's building...it's the building where Tohru has her cleaning job! Momiji's father is Japanese (he's a Souma), his Mother is German (she met Momiji's Dad in college) and he has a younger sister named Momo.

Hatsuharu (Haru) Sohma  The Ox

Like Kagura, Haru has something of a split-personality. "White Haru" is the lazier, calmer, kinder, mellower side of him, while "Black Haru" is the rude, arrogant and violent other side. Haru is generally "White Haru," but when he's angry, he'll turn in to "Black Haru" without warning. Haru has a *really* bad sense of direction, always dresses up in J-rockish attire (lots of leather and biker boots...although he rides a bicycle ^^) and he has a green tatoo on his left forearm. Haru lives at the Sohma compound and has something of a "crush" on Yuki. There's no info on Haru's parents.

Kisa Sohma  The Tiger

Kisa is very shy and diminutive. Characterized by her light blond/orange hair and bright brownish-green eyes, Kisa has a hard time being social even when she's in the company of her own family! She *adores* Tohru and can often be seen tagging along behind her. Kisa's other good friend is Hiro. She likes strawberry and chocolate crepes ^_^. Kisa lives with her Mother at "Sohma Central,"

Hiro Sohma  The Ram

Hiro is an *extremely* precocious (not to mention obnoxious ^^;) 6th grader. He walks around with a attitude and is rude to pretty much everyone (except for Kisa). This attitude problem of his is attributable to an incident that happened between Akito and Kisa... Hiro loves Kisa, but is insecure over the fact that he's younger than her. So far, according to him, he doesn't hate nor does he like Tohru. He does, however, view her as his rival. His favorite pasttime seems to be insulting other people and picking on Tohru ^^; We've seen Hiro's mom in the manga and since she's pregnant, I think we can assume that his father is around too ^_^.

Ritsu Sohma  The Monkey

Ritsu is a nervous, shy and very effeminate-looking guy that wants to be more manly. It doesn't help that he dresses like a girl and has panic-attacks like every other minute ^^; Ritsu's mom runs the Sohma family Onsen or Hot Spring, and I gather that he gets his nervousness from her. Ritsu apologizes for anything and everything TO anyone and everything (he'd apologize to a wall if he ran into it! lol). As you can imagine, Ritsu's self-esteem is extremely low, but his ultimate hero is his cousin, Ayame. His mother is still around and it's possible that he lives with her at the omsen, however, there's no info on his father.

Isuzu (Rin) Sohma  The Horse

Rin is the horse of the zodiac. She's mysterious and, as of this writing, *very* little is known about her background. She does, however, seem to have an affinity for tight, short, trendy clothing and thigh-high boots ^_~; The vibe I get from her is that she's rebellious, angsty...and she's planning something. Whatever it is, it seems to involve Shigure... Also, Rin and Haru were a couple once, but Rin wound up breaking up with him for an "unknown" reason. Rin was hospitalized for a while, but is now living with Kagura and her mom. Little is known about Rin's immediate family, but check out Rin's "more info" link if you want to know more.

Kureno Sohma  The Bird

Kureno is the very last juunishi to be revealed in the manga. All indications seem to imply that he really is the "tori" or the bird/rooster of the zodiac. Little is known about Kureno other than the fact that Akito likes to keep him away from the other juunishi (they only get to see him on New Year's) and that he is always at Akito's beck and call. It would seem that of all the juunishi, Kureno is the only one that must tend to Akito's needs 24 hours a day! Despite being around the same age as the Mabudachi Trio, Kureno seems to lack the freedom that they and the younger juunishi enjoy. Kureno hardly ever gets to go outside the Main House and on one of the occassions when Akito did let him leave, he met Uo at the convenience store where she works! As of this writing, there is no available info regarding Kureno's past or immediate family.

Akito Sohma   GOD

Akito is the tyrannical head of the Sohma clan. He is very frail and effeminate looking. Apparently, Akito's health isn't very good, so in the manga, he usually stays at home with Hatori nearby to treat him for any illness. Akito has a definite mean streak and has physically and emotionally scarred many members of the juunishi. He has a special interest in Yuki and despises Tohru. There's no info on Akito's parents. Akito IS a woman in the Manga.