With the first season of the Fruits Basket remake coming to a close, I thought a review was in order. Minor SPOILERS ahead.

The Show

Originally based on the manga by Natsuki Takaya that ran from 1999-2006, Fruits Basket tells the story of Tohru Honda. Tohru is an orphaned high schooler that, after a series of unfortunate events, starts living with her two male classmates, cousins Yuki and Kyo Soma, along with their other cousin, Shigure Soma. The twist? All three of the men, as well as nine other family members, turn into one of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac when hugged by members of the opposite gender.

Fruits Basket is a remake of the original show that came out in 2002. Since the original Fruits Basket show was created while Takaya was still writing the manga, its run was short, and it didn’t always follow the storyline laid out in the manga. Furthermore, it ended after two seasons, and the art was atrocious (at least compared to the current season, which I must say is beautifully done).

The Watching Experience

While I didn’t watch the show when it aired in 2001, I did binge the entire thing online in late 2010/early 2011. I absolutely loved it, and it drove me to read the entirety of the manga series during that time. I got to fall in love with the characters all over again through Takaya’s perspective, and finally got the ending I was bereft of when I finished the TV show. Needless to say, I was excited when earlier this year, I found out they were remaking the show. Not only that, but I was late to the party and they were already 12 episodes in. So, like any member of the youth today, I binge-watched half the season in one night.

Then came the hard part. This season had 25 episodes, so for the next 13 weeks, I was forced to wait week after week for my next dose of the show. And with the show’s last episode airing on VRV today, I’ve now got to wait, along with the rest of the Fruits Basket fans, at least three months for my next hit. And that’s under the doubtful assumption that the show will return in January.

The Review

Overall, I thought the season was wonderful. I’ll admit, I’m a little biased as a long-time fan, but it really was an enjoyable watch. The art was beautiful, the characters were nostalgic, and the story is just flat out fun while still sprinkling in those moments of darkness and flat out abuse that the characters have suffered. It’s a great balance of light and dark, and while the relationship between the two Soma boys and Tohru can get a little weird sometimes, I love it. I will admit, though I did have one complaint.

This is probably a bit picky of me, but I didn’t love the Uotani Arc. Personally, I didn’t really care about her as a character. I’ll admit, I watch the show mostly for all the Somas, and while, yes, it was somewhat interesting to learn that she stopped being a gangster or whatever because of Tohru’s mom, I didn’t think it was vital to the story, or as dramatic as they made it seem (apart from the part where Kyoko Honda keeps Uotani from getting completely killed by her gang when she tries to leave). Basically, I would’ve rather seen more about Kyoko or one of the Somas than had two episodes dedicated to Uotani.

Season two of Fruits Basket is set to come out in 2020.