Review: Fruits Basket Collector’s Edition, Vol.2 | Natsuki Takaya

This review is spoiler free.

“But as for me, I want to live with the burden of memories. Even the sad memories, even the memories that hurt me, even the memories I wish I could forget.”

Series: Fruits Basket
Published: 2016, by Yen Press.
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
Genre: Sequential Art, Manga, Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Graphic Novels
Contains: Strong Language, Crude Humour, Death, Grief, Violence

After moving from living in a tent pitched on the Sohma family’s land to staying within their household, Tohru Honda is gradually adjusting to life with her new family. Her days are now full of life with magical powers and ancient curses… until someone new joins the fray.

I’ve held the Fruits Basket series very close to my heart from a young age, so it’s no surprise that I’d eventually return to the tale and rediscover my love for it as an adult. As expected, I fell in love with the world immediately, adoring every second spent reading.

Tohru Honda is as wonderful as ever in this instalment, taking up another few volumes of the original manga. There’s chapters 13 to 24 within this volume, exploring the entry of more Sohmas and their backstories. Tohru gradually learns more about the family she’s with, and opens up to those around her about her fears and insecurities. It’s truly beautiful to see come alive with Takaya’s gorgeous way with words and artwork.
Along with Tohru, Yuki and Kyo gradually develop more also, telling Tohru their own struggles whilst also gradually learning about each other. Kyo in particular developments in this instalment, which is wonderful to read and we learn more about his character in ways that weren’t possible with his previous demeanour.
In this volume, we’re introduced to a few more characters, and discover their own individual problems. Tohru helps wherever she can, as always and they’re able to begin to patch things up. My favourite thing about Fruits Basket is its characters, drawing them out while the most difficult are ones impossible not to love. As readers, we’re incapable of despising them, finding relatable and understanding qualities of them all and accepting them.

The writing is a beautiful as ever, consisting of humorous anecdotes, breathtaking morals and heartbreaking backstories. Everything you could want in a manga, Fruits Basket has it, and it’s simply wonderful to read. The art is as gorgeous as I remember, with beautiful colour spreads at the beginning of the volume before the story begins.

Overall, I adore this series. There’s never a dull moment when reading it and the characters will always have a special place in my heart.

5/5