Fruits Basket

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Synonyms: FuruBa

Japanese: フルーツバスケット

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 23

Chapters: 136

Status: Finished

Published: Jul 18, 1998 to Nov 20, 2006

Genres: Award Winning, Drama, Romance, Supernatural

Themes: Love Polygon, School

Demographic: Shoujo

Serialization: Hana to Yume

Authors: Takaya, Natsuki (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.53¹ (scored by 76,275 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #152²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #90

Members: 151,700

Favorites: 14,894

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8.53

Ranked #152Popularity #90Members 151,700

MangaHana to YumeTakaya, Natsuki (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /23

Chapters: /136

Fruits Basket Collector's Edition

Vol. 1
$12.99

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Synopsis

Tooru Honda is an orphan with nowhere to go but a tent in the woods, until the Souma family takes her in. However, the Souma family is no ordinary family, and they hide a grave secret: when they are hugged by someone of the opposite gender, they turn into animals from the Chinese zodiac!

Now, Tooru must help Kyou and Yuki Souma hide their curse from their classmates, as well as her friends Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima. As she is drawn further into the mysterious world of the Soumas, she meets more of the family, forging friendships along the way.

But this curse has caused much suffering; it has broken many Soumas. Despite this, Tooru may just be able to heal their hearts and soothe their souls.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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BackgroundFruits Basket won the 25th Kodansha Manga Award in the Shoujo category in 2001.

The series was published in English by Tokyopop from February 10, 2004, to July 6, 2009. The publisher later released a box set with the complete series and ultimate edition omnibus volumes that include new cover art. These releases were met with mixed reviews, as they were exact reproductions of the previously released volumes and did not adjust page numbers or correct prior errors. Yen Press republished the series in 12 omnibus volumes from June 28, 2016, to April 18, 2017. It was also published in Brazilian Portuguese by Editora JBC from April 2005 to July 2007.

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Characters

Souma, Kyou

Main

Honda, Tooru

Main

Souma, Yuki

Main

Souma, Hatsuharu

Supporting

Souma, Momiji

Supporting

Souma, Shigure

Supporting

Souma, Ayame

Supporting

Souma, Hatori

Supporting

Hanajima, Saki

Supporting

Souma, Isuzu

Supporting

Reviews

Nov 7, 2025

Eze-Z

Recommended

Fruits Basket is a unique story. At first, it might give the impression of being a "generic" romantic story with a love triangle, but nothing could be further from the truth.

It has a very profound plot that explores themes like family bonds, romantic relationships, trauma, personal growth, and the search for purpose in an exceptional way. It has many moments of humor, joy, and hope, as well as many moments with heavy dramatic, sad, and reflective weight, much like life itself. It often achieves a unique blend of all these elements in a very natural and moving way that I have rarely seen.

It has many ...

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Nov 7, 2022

Rollapoid

Mixed Feelings

2022 edit: the opinions expressed in this review are currently outdated, take with a grain of salt.

Young adult/teen characters in a abusive and closed-off family environment with a variety of resurfacing childhood traumas, and how a girl whose greatest strength is her kindness manages to awaken new changes in dealing with that trauma.

Fruits Basket was one of my first manga series ever. I started reading when I was about 12 years old. I didn't know what I was getting myself into- going from enjoying the animal transformations and the cute edgy orange haired teen boy, to seeing the series to the end ... even though I couldn't make sense of the themes and volatile relationships. Now, about ten years later, with much more perspective on un/healthy relationships and family dynamics, and better taste in people I date, I wanted to see if any of my nostalgia needed debunking and if I could clear my past confusion.

The short answer is that the good parts are better than I remembered, and the bad parts are as bad as I remembered. The main characters are still likable (except for Shigure and Akito), whoever your 2008 Sohma crush was they're still dreamy, the character interactions are engaging, and even when they're put in simple scenarios like The Hot Sprints Chapter, The Beach Chapter, The School Festival Chapter, ect, there's still great story and personality development. Before rereading this month, I thought Tohru was probably actually really bland and didn't do anything but I was wrong. You'd be surprised how many of the Sohmas have never had just a single straight up polite semi-nice person interact with them. She's not just a magical cure all fix for problems either, she has her doubts and moments where she has to learn something new, just like any other person, thus she is interesting. Tohru's best friends are often understated on why others like this series. Hanajima and Uotani are not only unique but lovable. I feel that I am vicariously living through them when they confront bullies in high school.
It wasn't just the silly handsome ratboy being eye candy, it was seeing my own personal desire to care for people an try to "fix" their problems and the cascades of twisted relationships found underneath. We've all had to deal with emotional issues between ourselves, friends, and family at some point, so you might see a scenario between these characters mirror something that happened to you. And even if that's not the case, you'll probably feel empathy and the desire for change towards these characters.
Like this, there are a lot of great moments in Fruits Basket, but no need for me to spoil the whole show.

This isn't Natsuki Takaya's first manga, but the art definitely improves from the first chapters onwards. For my tastes, peak Takaya artwork happens between about chapters 35 through 77. I know that post chapter 77 Takaya has some sort of permanent hand injury and the only way she could continue to draw was by changing her style, however on a level of my personal preference, I dislike the new style. I feel it's much less expressive and less detailed than before and I feel it literally shows on the character's faces, and there's more lack of variety in other things like screentones and patterns. I have to give her props though, for not giving up and pushing through a lot of pain.

Now...for the bad unfortunately. Most of the main and side characters are part of a family community. This means that everyone is related to someone in some way. There are cousins who love their cousins in this story and it's put in a positive light, which really puts me off, especially when one of the central themes of this series is learning to find a better way in life with people who aren't connected to you in unhealthy ways. Incest is a pretty big moral taboo, and a lot more bad has come out of it compared to any good.
There is also a very large age gap between Tohru's mother and father. It seems she was about 14-15 years old when they got married and he's about 8-9 years older than her, putting him around 23 years old. They joke once that he's a pedophile, while all the chapters previous explained what a nice guy he was. Most if not all relationships with this kind of age gap where one side is 15 years old are abusive. Chapter 90 portrays the father in too positive of a light, and that's where I ended my reread this year because I was ready to make my full judgments.
I don't consider these to be spoilers though I know others might disagree. But it's a big part of my hangups about the series and I feel I couldn't complete this review without the above information.

Closing statement:
If you've never read this, you're curious, and can push past the incest and the one age gap, I say go for it. It's got a great mix of fun and seriousness, the characters are gems.
If you already read this and your nostalgia is creeping up on you, I say revive those old memories, and just hit the pause button after chapter 77. In addition to my warnings above, I feel that the story pacing after 77 becomes slower and starts to suffer.
If you read this and don't like it by the end of volume 2 or 3, drop it.

Thanks.

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Apr 11, 2019

6fortius

Not Recommended

Funny

Art was dreadful. Series would be ended within one chapter by this era's current standards.

Characters were unrealistic. Where in the world would you find such 15/16 yo who understand and express themselves clearly? Tohru can be summarized in one word: Perfect. She's so blessedly perfect her flaws are also made into pitiable things that make her 'endearing'. You can just skip over every interaction she has with the 12 zodiacs. They can be summarized in one sentence: Tohru charms them over to her side. Also, the villain is impossible to sympathize with. Childhood trauma does not justify the things they did, and the author certainly ...

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Poll: Fruits Basket Chapter 1 Discussion Alicia3000 - Aug 22, 2009	8 replies	by ADumbNut »» Jan 13, 5:10 PM
Poll: Fruits Basket Chapter 11 Discussion bluegummiworms - Jan 26, 2009	5 replies	by Subii_ »» Nov 8, 2025 4:29 AM
Poll: Fruits Basket Chapter 7 Discussion bluegummiworms - Jan 26, 2009	6 replies	by SuperJohnDoe »» Nov 14, 2023 3:14 PM
Poll: Fruits Basket Chapter 136 Discussion crimsoncryst - Feb 2, 2011	22 replies	by marquinti2 »» Jul 28, 2023 8:23 AM
Poll: Fruits Basket Chapter 131 Discussion Zekkenshin - Jul 20, 2023	3 replies	by marquinti2 »» Jul 21, 2023 6:41 AM

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