Hey all, Dani here.
Happy Manga Monday, and welcome back to another review post. I think I might be starting to get back into the swing of things. My work and life schedules keep shifting on me before I can fully figure things out and it’s made everything feel rather chaotic and difficult. Oh, and my work schedule gets to change again in a couple weeks. Due to the availability of parts as well as the availability of manpower, we’ve had to reduce production in some areas and that unfortunately affects me and my new/current job. So I’ll be getting a pay cut once again and going to a different work shift schedule all over again. I’m just so tired of not having a reliably consistent schedule. It makes it very difficult to plan anything.
Anyway, I’m not here to groan about my life, because I’m still getting a decent paycheck, I can afford to pay my bills and have a bit extra money to support my geeky hobbies, so everything will be fine.
All right. Let’s just go ahead and jump into the review.
Book Details
Format: Paperback
Pages: 392
Publisher: Yen Press
Publication Date: Aug 30, 2016
ISBN: 0316360651 (ISBN13: 9780316360654)
Summary
Tohru Honda’s cheerful optimism acts as a balm to many in the Sohma family, who are no strangers to darker emotions. With Tohru in the mix, the household passes its days in relative harmony, even having Kisa over for a “sleepover” and some good old fun. Unfortunately, not every Sohma looks kindly upon the intrepid interloper! Kisa and Tohru have become fast friends, but sharp-tongued middle schooler Hiro Sohma isn’t too happy about this turn of events–and decides to take it out on Tohru?! Later, as everyone’s thoughts turn to summer and fall, the normally docile Hatsuharu suddenly snaps, turning into a raging bull at school and putting even “Black Haru” to shame. Will Tohru’s soothing presence have any effect at all?!
My Thoughts
Rating: 4 stars
First off, look at Momiji on that cover…he’s so darn cute. I’ll be honest. I’ve enjoyed about 90% of the Sohma clan that I’ve met in the series so far. I’m trying to figure out who my favorite is though…because frankly Momiji, Kisa, and Hatsuharu are all really cool. I mean, okay, yeah Kyo and Yuki are great, and they are the main two male characters, but I feel like that means they get enough love from the fandom as it is.
Hey, I pretty much just reached this section with the anime finally. Cool. I love when timing works out well. Of course that means I’m also worried about continuing on in my series watch, because I really do want to read before I watch. Hmm…I might need to go visit my local public library. They have the whole set available. Since I’ve been spending my money on buying all sorts of books to support bookstores and authors, I put aside buying these Collector’s Editions for now. I do want to have the whole set eventually, especially since that means I’ll be able to jump into the spin-off series Fruits Basket Another.
This series is such a bright spot in my days. Yes, it does cover some traumas and abuses and darker moments, so it is rightfully labeled as a Teen or older manga, but with Tohru’s cheerful demeanor and positive attitude, reading these volumes or watching the episodes always seems to put me in a good mood.
I know that I came into this series pretty late, and that’s true of quite a few manga series, but I’m glad that I have found all of them. So many of them mean so much to me. Yes, Fruits Basket is a bit heavier on the contemporary aspects as well as the high school romance aspects, but there is enough supernatural/magic to keep my fantasy loving heart satisfied. Plus, seriously, I admire that Tohru can face so many speed bumps and set backs and darkness in her life, and still find a way to search for the bright spots. I wish I could be more like her in that, because I focus too much on the bad or sad or not fun parts of life.
And I feel like we’re slowly starting to learn more about the Sohmas and the zodiacs, and I feel like some big moments and reveals are probably coming soon. I mean, we are about a third of the way through the series at this point. Oh man. I’m excited to hopefully read more of this soon.
Where to Get a Copy
You can pick up your own copy of this book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository, or from your local indie bookstore through IndieBound.
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