Title - "Fruits Baskets"
Alternative title(s) - N/A
Genre(s) - Shjo, comedy, ren'ai and drama

I was scared of watching and grading "Furuba" and I still am. Why? Sure, I saw the reviews and they were good for the most part. Sure, I liked how the story seemed to interest me. So, why was I scared in the first place?

After hearing a horrible dub of the "Dragonball" saga and a questionable one from "Yuu Yuu Hakusho", I'd thought that Funimation would finally bring a dub that will actually surprise me in a good way. Unfortunately, if I were to hear it dubbed, chances are that in the end, I will say, "The search of a good Funimation dub continues". Now, I haven't heard its dub yet and yes, I'm scared to do so. Most reviews have said that the dub was bad, while I have rarely ran into people who thought that the dub is actually Funi's best dub as of now. Who will I believe? I'll give an answer when I hear it dubbed or if I hear samples somewhere.

Yes, I know that it's not good to grade a series after one episode, which I did. The reason I'm still putting a review up for this series is because I want to get the warnings across, which in this case, I did. That's it. Sorry that I have been randomly saying some weird statements.

Oh! Story! Right!

Based on a manga by Takaya Natsuki-sensei, "Furuba" is a 24-episode Studio Deen series that uses the Chinese Zodiac. Honda Tru may seem like a cheerful girl at first, but what lies behind that smile of hers is a dark past. Her mom was killed in a car accident and before that her dad was gone too. She places the blame on herself for not telling her mom to be arrive back safely on one particular day. To make matters worse, she stayed with her grandfather, but on one particular day, he decided to move in a place of one of his daughters.

What now? She decides to live in a tent now in some forest. What she doesn't know is that one of her friends, Sma Yuki, lives in a place of the forest. The forest is actually property of the Sma family. Tru was about to think that she would have to go elsewhere, but then Yuki said that it was okay and that she could stay in his place. A normal and happy start to the series, right?

Nope. Tru finds out about the Sma secret. That secret is a curse. The Sma curse is that if a member of the opposite sex hugs a member of the Sma family, that family member turns into an animal of the Chinese zodiac. In this case, as Tru hugged Yuki and his cousins, Shigure and Ky, those three turned into three animals of the Chinese zodiac and then Tru starts to panic like crazy.

"Furuba" is one of the few series that made me laugh out a bit and made me touched at the same time in its first episode. You'll laugh. You'll cry, unless you can hold those tears back. You'll have to give the series a chance.

Why is the series called "Fruits Basket"? I don't know. I'm sure that as I watch more of this series, I will know the answer. Oh and there's a rumored second season.

Fun - 7

Now, yeah, the presentation looks good on paper. The general flaws are not that big of a worry like too many characters to keep track of early on being one of them. The reason why it only gets a 7 though is because of my doubts in this series.

Life - 6

Once my doubts are gone, then I can bump up the score, if all goes well.

Story - 8

For now, I'll give an 8 here. It does seem interesting, but I have a feeling I will be experiencing a rocky road.

Audio - 7

Seiy: for the most part, you should recognize them. I won't go off and naming actors. Watch the series yourself and then you'll spot people you know. The music is good also.

Dub: I don't know. Will I give it a try? If I have the opportunity, yeah. That's only if I have the opportunity.

Art - 9

Art...art...the art is fine for the most part. I don't know why, but I can't give the art a perfect. Maybe it's just me. Never the less, you have very good art.

Overall - 7

"Furuba" is one series that I can easily recommend to people. Well, the original, at least. As for the dub, when the time comes, I'll give out my comments on it. For now, a "7" for this series overall will do.

+

A nice blend of comedy and drama as well as the use of the Chinese Zodiac, that sums it up.

-

You know I want to put the Funi issue here first. Beyond that, for the most part, the rest of the flaws are minor.

Date of creation - 3/28/03

Last update - 8/10/04

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