{"id":643,"date":"2008-12-18T21:05:12","date_gmt":"2008-12-18T21:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog-test\/?p=643"},"modified":"2024-01-26T12:35:14","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T17:35:14","slug":"takaya_01-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/2008\/12\/takaya_01-02\/","title":{"rendered":"Takaya, Natsuki: Fruits Basket<\/cite>, vols. 1-2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Basket<\/cite><\/strong> is one of the most well-loved shôjo manga series out there. I resisted reading it for years because the art sent me into sugar shock. But recently, a combination of deep discounts and greater familiarity with manga conventions led me to try it again. I read the first two volumes as collected in the first “Ultimate Edition,” a larger-size hardcover volume (cheaper, more durable, but could have used things like a re-paginated sound effects guide for the second volume).<\/p>\n

Tohru is an orphan who ends up living with three members of the Sohma family, who are under a curse: they are possessed by vengeful spirits corresponding to the Chinese Zodiac, and when hugged by a member of the opposite sex, they turn into that animal. There’s much that’s, well, sweet and cute about this—Tohru is amazingly optimistic and self-sacrificing; the transformed Sohmas are intrinsically comic and look very cuddly; and many of the conflicts are played for laughs. Yet even in the first two volumes, the darker undercurrents are apparent: Tohru’s optimism hints at an underlying desparation; one instance of the curse leading to heartbreak is revealed; and extremely screwed-up family dynamics are suggested. Between my interest in the mystery of the curse, curiosity about Tohru’s mom, and sympathy for the characters, I’ll keep reading.<\/p>\n

For examples of the art and how it works, see these two posts of Stephanie’s on visual<\/a> flow<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Basket is one of the most well-loved shôjo manga series out there. I resisted reading it for years because the art sent me into sugar shock. But recently, a combination of deep discounts and greater familiarity with manga conventions led me to try it again. I read the first two volumes as … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Takaya, Natsuki: Fruits Basket<\/cite>, vols. 1-2″<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,15],"tags":[406],"class_list":["post-643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-manga","category-sf-and-fantasy","tag-takaya-natsuki"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2579,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions\/2579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}