Welcome to Gaia! ::

Love the anime....read it and watched it...since it first came out in America

vol 14 came out a couple days ago, but i haven't seen it yet sad

i hear Yuki gets locked in a closet ninja ...

Fruits Basket (フルーツバスケット, Furūtsu Basuketto?) is a shōjo manga series created by Natsuki Takaya (pseudonym, real name unknown[citation needed]) serialized in the semi-monthly Japanese Hana to Yume (Flowers and Dreams) magazine, which is published by Hakusensha. It won the 2001 Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo. Fruits Basket has also been adapted into a 26-episode anime series by Akitaro Daichi (director) on TV Tokyo. The word "Fruits" in the title is always plural.

The title is often shortened to Furuba or Fruba, a portmanteau of the two parts in the Japanese pronunciation of the title, Furūtsu Basuketto.

Characters

Non-Sohmas


Tohru Honda(本田 透, Honda Tōru?) is the protagonist in the manga and anime series entitled Fruits Basket. Her altruistic nature, benign heart, and usually cheerful bearing earn her a special place in the story. Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima are Tohru's best friends. Both of her parents had died before the story took place, leaving her orphaned and living on her own. An orphaned high school student, Tohru ends up sharing a house with Shigure, Yuki and Kyo Sohma. She loves to cook, is an excellent housekeeper and has an after school job as a janitor to help pay her tuition fees (since she doesn't want to be a burden on her grandfather). She's always polite, and is extremely kind and selfless; in fact, the other characters sometimes have to tell her that she needs to look out for her own interests. Both of her parents are deceased. Her mother, Kyoko, was a celebrated "yankee"-gang leader, and her father was a young high school teacher. Her father died of pneumonia when Tohru was three years old and her mother in a car accident when Tohru first entered high school. (Seiyu: Yui Horie, VA: Laura Bailey)


Gender Female
Age 16-17
Height 156.7 cm (5' 1⅝")
Blood Type B
Sign Taurus
Occupation End of anime: 2nd year at Kaibara High School
Manga: 3rd year at Kaibara High School

arrow Background

During the beginning of the story, Tohru lives in a tent because both her parents (Kyoko Honda and Katsuya Honda) have died, and her Grandpa's house is under construction. Despite the less-than-comfortable conditions, Tohru remains characteristically optimistic, affectionately calling her tent 'my castle'. While leaving her tent to explore the area, she was discovered by Shigure Sohma and Yuki Sohma, whose land she had been camping on. This, the earliest major advance in the plot, leads to her entrance into the Sohma household, where she cooks and cleans in return for shelter. Over time, Tohru's relationship with the Sohmas grows much more complex.

It's also revealed that several of Tohru's quirks (like her speech) actually originates from her imitation of her father's character, or al least what she can recall from what Kyoko and her grandfather had told her about Katsuya. This behaviour seems to stem from that fact that Tohru looked much like Kyoko and almost nothing like Katsuya. Some relatives actually wondered if Tohru really was Katsuya's daughter, and at one point Tohru overheard them discussing this; since then, she decided to imitate her dad's quirks as much as she could, to prove herself as a member of the Honda family.

Another one of her quirks, her tendency to be concerned for people with diseases, comes from the situation surrounding her father's death. Katsuya was originally diagnosed with a fever; however, he did not recover and eventually died of pneumonia.

******************
Tohru once had a symbolic experience in kindergarten. The class was playing a game called Fruits Basket, in which everyone sits in a circle. The leader of the game, who stands in the center of the circle, names each person after a fruit; when the name of a player's fruit is called, that player gets up and hurriedly changes positions with others with the same fruit name while the person in the center attempts to claim a seat for himself. The player left standing will then take up the center position.

When Tohru first played this game, she was assigned "onigiri" (rice ball), which was fine with her, since she thinks onigiri are delicious. However, it turns out that she was the only person to be assigned onigiri, and as everyone but her got called and she was the only one left sitting, Tohru realized that an onigiri isn't a fruit, and that she'd never be called. Tohru was purposely excluded from the game, merely another of the cruel tricks classmates used to pull on her. She came to realize that there would be no room for a Riceball in a Fruits Basket.

arrow Story

Tohru has helped many of the Sohmas, most notably Kisa Sohma, helping her regain her confidence and voice, and Kyo Sohma, staying by his side even when he attempted to push her away by physically harming her. Later in the manga, Tohru and Kyo fall in love with each other, but when she confesses her feelings to him, Kyo - consumed by guilt over Kyoko's death - tells Tohru it's an illusion and runs off.

Tohru goes to follow him, but is confronted by Akito, the head of the family, who has heard the whole thing, and tries to stab Tohru, claiming that she should be happy now that everyone prefers her than Akito, who is now completely alone. Akito stops however, when Tohru tells her how she now knows how it feels to be left behind, causing Akito to flash back to the previous banquet, where she was all alone, even though everyone was there. Tohru wants to start anew with Akito, since the way they met was so poorly done.

After a bit more encouragement, Akito extends her hand to Tohru, just as the ground beneath Tohru crumbles, causing Tohru to fall. Fortunately, Akito reacts and starts screaming for help, which brings Shigure and Yuki running. Tohru remains on the ground waiting for an amblence.

Kyo, at the mainhouse, overhears Shigure telling Hatori what has happened, and shocked goes to find Tohru as Shigure takes care of the panicking Akito. When he sees the badly-injured Tohru he starts crying and pleads in his mind for her recovery. He realizes that he has made the mistake of leaving the one you care about without saying goodbye, not knowing that that may be the last time you can ever speak to them. This also happened with him and Kyoko.

For a moment, Tohru regains consciousness. She tells him that she's alright, but it sounds almost like she's saying goodbye. He tells her to stop talking and that he understands. Then, he gives Tohru her first kiss, and his.

Luckily, Tohru survives the fall, and is released from the hospital soon after. However, on seeing Kyo (whom had come to take her home), she blushes and pelts off in the opposite direction. She was only semi-conscious when he kissed her, so she does not remember very well, and still feels rejected. Kyo, the faster runner, catches up to her and finally reciprocates her feelings. Soon after confessing they kiss and Tohru tells him that her love for him cannot be beaten. He then pulls her into a hug, expecting to transform into his cat form; however Kyo does not change, indicating that his curse has been lifted(chapter 130).

Since then, she and Kyo have become a couple (much to the jealousy of several girls at their school), and Kyo has asked her if, after graduation, she would come with him when he moves out of town (chapter 134). Though she realizes that it will be sad to leave their friends behind, she knows that leaving Kyo behind would be even sadder. That is why she happily agrees to follow him wherever he goes (chapter 135). In the final chapter(136) Yuki opens the lid that has closed his memories for so long, and confesses to Tohru how he feels. At the end on the chapter it flash forwards to the future where a middle-aged Kyo and Tohru are seen from behind, holding hands still very much in love. Their young granddaughter is also shown, and she bears a striking resemblance to Tohru. Now Tohru and Kyo know that they will never again be separated from each other.

Kyoko Honda (本田今日子, Honda Kyōko?), née Kyoko Katsunuma (勝沼今日子, Katsunuma Kyōko?), is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Fruits Basket.

Kyoko is the late mother of Tohru Honda. Since she is not among the living, her appearances are through flashbacks.

arrow Role in the story

When she was young, Kyoko caused trouble and cut classes, and was disowned by her parents. She was also the leader of an all-female gang/suicide squad. In this she was called 'The Red Butterfly', the name originating from the legend of how the tail lights on her motorcycle danced like a bright red butterfly when she rode at night. However, Kyoko later moved on and got a job.

She fell in love with student teacher Katsuya Honda which contributed to her leaving her gang. They shortly married and had a daughter— Tohru. Katsuya became a positive influence in her life, and they worked through difficulties in a joint effort. When he died from illness, however, Kyoko descended into depression, neglected Tohru, and almost committed suicide by throwing herself into the sea. Eventually though, Kyoko came to her senses as she saw a girl and her mother by the seaside when she was about to jump; she came back home and found little Tohru waiting for her return at the door. Kyoko then vowed to never again disregard Tohru for whatever reason; she raised Tohru by herself, not to mention the care she offered Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima, Tohru's best friends.

When Tohru disappeared one day as a young child Kyoko was in hysterics, even going so far as to threaten the police if they did not find her. After she was eventually found by Yuki, who had heard Kyoko's description of Tohru and lead the confused girl home, Kyoko was overjoyed.

arrow Relationship with Kyo Sohma

Sometime in the story, Kyoko met Kyo Sohma when he was young and mentioned a word about 'a man's promise', asking him to look after Tohru. This could explain Kyo and Tohru's growing bond. Over the years Kyo remained friends with Kyoko. He was even there when the car hit her. Though he saw the car coming, and had the chance to save her, doing so would cause him to embrace her. It was either his secret or Kyoko's life. Kyo swears that he heard her say "I'll never forgive you", as she was dying, something that still haunts him to this day.

arrow Death and legacy

Near the initiation of the series, when Kyoko's past had not yet been revealed, she died in a car accident on the morning of May 1st, and her daughter Tohru went to live with her grandfather (Katsuya's father), and later, Shigure Sohma's house.

Tohru holds Kyoko as the most important person in her life (which causes her an immense amount of pain later in the series) and always carries a photograph of her. At times, she talks to her mother in her mind, recounting the day's experiences or simply basking the memories they shared.

Later, it is revealed that on the day of the accident, Kyo (whom she had met years ago) was standing nearby and spotted the car. He was about to pull her away, but that would involve embracing her, which would turn him into a cat in front of many people. So he did nothing, and Kyoko was hit. The driver of the car (who was the father of Kakeru Manabe's girlfriend) died instantly and Kyoko died later at the hospital. Seeing her lying on the ground covered in blood, Kyo swears he hears her say "I won't forgive you." He then ran to Kazuma Sohma and trained in the mountains.

As of chapter 135 we now know Kyoko truly said this but not with the intention Kyo thought she had. Before she died Kyoko's thoughts were that of Tohru and seeing Kyo she wanted to say "If you don't protect the child I won't forgive you." but in her weak state wasn't able to say it all.

Katsuya Honda

(本田 勝也 Honda Katsuya) - The late father of Tohru Honda and husband of Kyoko Honda. He had met Kyoko when she was still in school. He was a student teacher at the time. He helped her set aside her gangster lifestyle and straighten herself out. The two later fell in love and married despite the eight-year age gap between the two. Katsuya died of pneumonia shortly after Tohru was born.

Arisa Uotani (魚谷 ありさ, Uotani Arisa?) is a fictional character in the manga and anime series Fruits Basket.

Arisa is the best friend of Saki Hanajima and Tohru Honda.

Arisa is a former gang member (a "yankee"; a Japanese version of the American "gangster thug" image) and has been one of Tohru's closest friends since Tohru's mother helped her escape from the gang (called "The Ladies") when she wanted to leave it. Arisa is tough, brash, and sometimes violent but cries easily when it comes to her friends. She wears long skirts, carries a lead pipe, and often speaks like a man (in Japanese, different word choices can categorize a speaker as male or female). Arisa likes to play cards, protect Tohru from Yuki's fangirls, and swim. Her "convoluted" personality stems from home problems early in her life, when her mother left Arisa and her father for another man; her father became an alcoholic after his rejection. This caused Arisa to become harsh and jaded in her views of the world until she met the kind Tohru and her mother, Kyoko. With her overprotective and rather "parental" protection of Tohru with Hana-chan, she comes off as the brash and direct "father" figure. In Chapter 127, she tells Kureno that she has been waiting for him all this time and needs him. (Seiyu: Yuka Imai, VA: Parisa Fakhri)

Gender Female
Age 16-17
Height 168.5 cm (5' 6⅜")
Blood Type O
Sign Aquarius
Occupation End of Anime: 2nd year at Kaibara High School
Manga: 3rd year at Kaibara High School

arrow Role in the story

Kyoko Honda, Tohru's mother, helped Arisa Uotani give up life as a member of an all-girl gang (Kyoko was an ex-gang member herself). Since then, she— affectionally called Uo-chan by her friends (see Japanese honorifics)— has been very protective of Tohru, and grateful for her mother's influence. Her rough exterior is a misleading first impression, for close friends know her true generous spirit. In school, Kyo Sohma is her adversary (though they are very much alike in certain ways), and they bicker often. Due to her background, The Prince Yuki Fangirls find her scary and violent, and generally stay away from her.

Later in the manga, she falls in love with Kureno Sohma, not knowing he is related to her rival as well as is the personal assistant to the ruthless head of the family, Akito Sohma. Also, In Chapter 71 of the manga, it is revealed that Arisa may be considering becoming a model due to Tohru's suggestion.

arrow Background

During her childhood, Arisa's mother eloped with another man when Arisa was in first grade, causing her father to turn alcoholic after his wife left. This severely saddened Arisa and, like her father, caused her to resort to something in which she believed would make her pain easier to deal with, though this time it being releasing her sorrow and anger in becoming a violent, aggressive gang-member. One day when she was in middle school, already well into her 'career' as a gangster, she heard gossip from her other gang-members stating that her hero, Kyoko Honda, who had gained a reputation for being a ruthless leader of 'Yankee' gang, was living nearby and had a daughter going to her school. Extremely excited, Arisa went looking for Kyoko's daughter and managed to bump into her during school, though discovering that she was not the Yankee daughter she imagined, but a cheerful, joyful girl named Tohru Honda. Later through Tohru, Arisa met Kyoko, though was furiously upset at seeing that her hero had matured and changed from a terrifying gang-leader to a warm, adorable, caring mother.

Afterwards, Arisa frequently began bumping into Tohru and her mother and slowly began to change through speaking to them and staying at their house, little-by-little learning what was really most important in her life. Finally understanding, Arisa opted to leave her gang and announced her resignation as a member, though was fiercely beaten as 'punishment' by her fellow members. One gang member, however, only known as "Senpai", sympathised with Arisa and rushed to Kyoko's house before Arisa's beating, telling her that she can not save Arisa by herself and needs help, and that she [Arisa] should have the life she wants. Kyoko succeeded in saving Arisa, and ever since then Arisa became extremely close to the Honda family. Kyoko and Tohru helped to continue to heal Arisa emotionally, and with assistance, Arisa's father finally began working on leaving his alcoholism and soon became a responsible parent. The pair now lives in a unit with one bedroom and one living room. Both she and her father have jobs, his of unknown origins, hers at a coffee shop and convenience store. It is in this convenience store that she meets Kureno Sohma. As of Volume 13 Arisa has changed the places she works, no longer wanting her hopes to rise and get shattered to pieces at the hope of seeing Kureno Sohma again, but realizing that it is not him. She claims she is tired of abusing herself, and that it was time to move on.

arrow Relationship with Kureno Sohma

While working at her local convenience store as a cashier, Arisa bumped into a young man carrying a heavy load of bags of food. Suggesting he should not carry such a large amount of things by hand, Arisa directed him towards the baskets in the store. Touched by Arisa's kindness, Kureno thanked her and bowed which caused all of his items to crash onto the floor like dominoes, sending Arisa into laughter, because she thought it was something Tohru would do (In fact, that was Tohru had actually done when they first met in middle school, except it was a stack of notebooks rather than food).

Later, when Arisa takes her lunch break from her new job at a coffee shop, she spots a man that resembled Kureno. She ran up to him and grabbed him by the shirt, and was indeed the same man she met at the convenience store. The man offers to buy lunch for Arisa (because her stomach growled pretty loudly when she was talking to him). When they are seated in the restaurant for lunch, Kureno laughs at the fact that he had went to buy groceries, because it was "pointless" and he did not usually do things like that. Arisa, though, is hurt by his words, because she thinks that he meant that their meeting was pointless. She then asks if he is happy, and he says he is very content. This causes her to lose her temper and yell at Kureno, and she storms off. Kureno runs after her, and clarifies the meaning of his words, and admits that he, too, was very glad they met once more. He stroked Arisa's hair and, to her, felt like it was his own way of saying "I love you" (Chapter 50). Arisa's crush on Kureno continued to develop, constantly thinking of and talking about him, but she did not know he was a Sohma. Tohru decides to investigate if the Kureno Sohma is the same Kureno that Arisa loves. She believes that his sudden departure after lunch was because of their nine-year age difference, but in reality, Kureno feels it is for the better if he does not love her back due to the will of Akito, the head of the Sohma family, who does not allow Kureno to associate himself with outsiders. Kureno is also afraid for her, possibly thinking that Arisa would get hurt if Kureno were to admit his love to her (which is what Akito does to many of the people the juuninshi loves).

In Chapter 127, Kureno and Arisa do meet again, this time in the hospital that Tohru is located. Kureno tells Arisa that he doesn't know what to do now that Akito doesn't need him anymore. Arisa then tells Kureno that she has been wanting and needing him ever since.

Saki Hanajima (花島 咲, Hanajima Saki?) is best friends with Arisa Uotani and Tohru Honda in the manga and anime series entitled Fruits Basket. Affectionally called Hana-chan by her friends (see Japanese honorifics), Saki Hanajima has an electromagnetic power that allows her detect waves, sense the true nature of people, and see others' auras. Perhaps because of this, Saki is phenominally good proficient at card games like "Dai Hin Min" and poker, claiming highest victory each time she plays them. Her gothic way of bearing also contributes in frightening many of her classmates, but she is, in essence, wise beyond her years.

Saki is a psychic girl with a goth-like appearance who has the ability to sense people's "auras" and send out electric waves (denpa in Japanese). Much like Arisa, Saki is extremely protective of Tohru, who was the first person in school who had truly accepted her. She is very observant, polite, and loves to eat (and is rarely seen not eating outside of school). Her nickname (Hana-chan) and her manga symbol, a violet with fangs, relate humorously in that hana means "flower" in Japanese. Hanajima has a close relationship to her family who accept and even nurture her gifts (her younger brother, Megumi, looks up to Hanajima, has his own special ability so that she wouldn't be the only "weird" one in the family). Her mother seems to resemble Tohru's protective and caring nature (maybe explaining her attachment to Tohru). In the near "parental" protection she and Arisa give Tohru, she acts as the protective "motherly" figure. When Kazuma comes in for Kyo's parent/teacher conference, Hana notes that he is "handsome". Kyo is not too keen on the idea of Saki as his "mother". (Seiyu: Reiko Yasuhara, VA: Daphne Gere)

Gender Female
Age 16-17
Height 162 cm (5' 3")
Blood Type AB
Sign Aries
Occupation End of Anime: 2nd year at Kaibara High School
Manga: 3rd year at Kaibara High School

arrow Background

When Saki was younger, the first discoveries of her power frightened her. A boy, one of her classmates, taunted her, called her a witch, and forced her to devour a live newt. In uncontrollable anger and outrage, Saki commanded the boy to die in her mind. With this thought, the boy suddenly collapsed unconscious onto the floor, nearly dead. Realizing what she could do with her power, she became wary and terrified of herself. She knew that she had a great ability, but was horrified that she also had the power to harm people. From then on, she decided to remind herself of how dangerous she was. She began ignoring people and dressing in a gothic manner, not to frighten others for vanity, but to scare them away, and to remind herself of her threat.

After the incident at her school, Saki and her parents decided to transfer her so that she would begin a new life at another school. There she met Tohru Honda and Arisa Uotani, who welcomed the 'new kid' with open arms. Unfortunately, one day another student heard a rumour about Saki's reputation at her previous school and questioned her about the boy she tried to kill in front of Tohru and Arisa. Saki, thinking of the word "kill" (with no intention of hurting the student) from the student's question, caused her waves to accidentally strike the student's head. Horrified, Saki ran out of the room in tears and was followed immediately by her friends, later on a staircase she shouted at them, telling them "not to go near her" for her fear that she would hurt them. The two friends spoke against Saki's wishes, stating that they would love her no matter what and did not care for her past and what powers she had. With these words Saki and Tohru cried with happiness and embraced in true friendship, the three now promising to be best friends regardless of what had happened in the past or would happen in the future. A little while afterthat, Saki managed to control her powers. She promised she wouldn't use her powers lightly, but did use them once for "punishment" referring to the time when Minami Kinoshita hit Tohru on her head (this is only in the manga).

Arisa and Saki later vowed upon the grave of Tohru's mother Kyoko Honda that they would always be there to protect Tohru. Therefore, Hana always stands up for Tohru, and Arisa and Saki were later the first to 'inspect' Shigure Sohma's home when Tohru began living there to make sure she was comfortable and well-cared for. In the anime, this particular event was troublesome to the three cursed Sohmas living in the house. In spite of their caution, the three were continuously transformed and had to avoid being seen, lest Hatori Sohma would have to suppress Saki, Arisa, and Tohru's memories.

arrow Family

In the manga, Saki's past as well as her family is more so depicted than in the anime. In regards to her family, she has a brother, a grandmother, and two parents. Her brother is Megumi Hanajima, who is around 13 years of age, and her mother, father, and grandmother are as of yet unnamed. When Saki was having difficulty with classmates at school, her family encouraged her to keep going. Her family, being very supportive of her constant anguish in the past due to her powers, agreed to transfer her to another school due to her problematic, rumour-based reputation. Due to her troubles in academics, as well, her family also is strongly helpful and passionate towards getting Saki through high school and moving her towards a promising future. Saki and her family are very close.

Saki and her younger brother, Megumi, are extremely close especially considering that they are such distant siblings. Like her family, Megumi has always been there for Saki, and when he learned of his sister's powers, he, not wanting his sister to be the only "weird one" in the family, studied the art of curses until he finally mastered it. He and Saki both enjoy wearing black, because they feel "calm" in that color. He joined Saki in her predicament so that she would not be alone in her sufferings. Megumi's name is a small joke, for the name "Megumi" means "blessing", while Megumi himself studies how to put curses on people.

Megumi and Saki are very alike in many ways whether it be personality or appearance (though Saki insists that they do not look alike, it is more than obvious that they do). Like his sister, he is also highly mature for his age, not only in intelligence and behaviour but as well as in sexual maturity, as Arisa (slightly jokingly) states when he makes a comment how he came to her restaurant only to see her in a miniskirt: "You know, you really don't act like a middle schooler; more like a lecherous old man."

arrow Love Life

Saki has not been out with many boys and seems quite content with just her closest friends, although in the manga, she has shown some degree of romantic feelings for Kyo's caretaker Kazuma Sohma when he appeared at their class play. Kyo, seeing that Kazuma arrived and was speaking with a very unusually happy Saki, asked Kazuma to never get married.