「行ってきます」 (Ittekimasu)
“I’m Off!”

I won’t lie — I wasn’t hyped to see one of my all-time favorite shows (I blame nostalgia) remade. Though, after watching this first episode, I’ve completely changed my mind and want to fast forward time to next week.

General Impressions

Seeing how it’s been nearly two decades since Fruits Basket finished its original run back toward the end of 2001, you can bet I barely remember anything minus the general plot and the fact that Tohru has one hell of an experience waiting for her. Which is precisely why I was super happy when I realized that the show was going to ease us into things with one of the better first episodes in recent memory. From explaining Tohru’s unique living situation to quickly reminding me about how much I dislike the Prince Yuki club, I was very appreciative that this first episode took a very similar approach in how it got the ball rolling.

Now, seeing how this is a remake, it’s tough for me to figure out how I want to tackle this post. Especially when I went back and rewatched the original first episode just to see how much of a difference there was (or wasn’t). For this introductory post though, I think it’ll be safe to just draw some general conclusions since both episodes could be considered near perfect copies. And by near perfect copy, I mean a copy that also takes decades of advancement and technology to make something that feels like the original but is slowly taking on a shape of its own. That said, it makes me wonder just when and where this remake will make its stand and demonstrate to us that it’s its own thing. If I were to point out one thing thus far though, I have to profess my love for how much more the remake is animating instead of leaving up to static images that employ a basic parallax effect.

If I were to pick something that did catch my attention though, the difference in voice actors really caught my ear. With a lot of big names appearing in the first 5 minutes, I must admit that it was a little jarring not to hear Horie Yui’s voice coming out of Tohru’s mouth. Fun fact, one of the biggest reasons why I even watched Fruits Basket originally was just to hear more of her after watching a crap ton of Love Hina. Tiny disappointments aside, I couldn’t find a fault in any of the casting especially if the showrunners are trying to help appeal to an even wider audience by giving Yuki a much deeper voice.

Overall, I still can’t believe how much I loved this first episode of the Fruits Basket remake. With near perfect character designs be it people or animals to the way the episode captured the spirit of the first episode, I don’t think we could have honestly asked for more — except maybe a double length episode ala how Sword Art kicked off Alicization. In any case, I’ll catch you guys next week where we’ll get to see Kyo just be Kyo as we take a nostalgic trip down memory lane. See you then!

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「Lucky Ending」by ビッケブランカ (Vickeblanka)

Preview

31 Comments

  1. modern touru < old alien eyes touru.
    watched the ep, felt somewhat strange, but could not figure out why. yarr'd the first ep of classic and figured after watching. it's like you get to relive your nostalgia, but this bit here, that bit there is different. it's freaking cognitive dissonance: the anime. dunno if it's a good thing or a bad thing, most people on /a/ were gushing like op, which is understandable, but i did find couple people who felt the same.

    justice for alien eyes touru!

    cpn mango
  2. I’m going in to this blind, and I loved every minute of it. I’ve never seen the first series, but I do own it, nor have I read the manga. So no spoilers please :/

    Having not watched the first, I won’t have to constantly compare this to the original, but I most definitely prefer the character designs of this version versus the old one. Honestly, it’s been a long time since I watched the first episode of an anime and loved every minute of it.

    slimertheghost
    1. Fruits’ mangaka requested an anime art upgrade.

      “(I don’t want the remake’s)…art (to) look too much like my art.
      This was partly because my Furuba art is old now, pure and simple, and also largely because I was in poor health back then…so my drawing was awfully shaky…I wanted them to rebuild the art as well.”

      zztop
  3. Fruits’ mangaka specifically requested this adaptation to be fully new; new studio, new anime staff, new voice actors, new everything.
    https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2018-11-19/natsuki-takaya-full-comments-for-new-fruits-basket-anime/.139699

    She even directly supervised the anime production to ensure all details were exact to her manga, down to character colour design.
    https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2019-03-29/fruits-basket-creator-comments-on-character-hair-color-change/.145187

    Rumour is she hated the 1st anime’s plot handling; specifically the 1st’s director changing key elements of some character personalities, and especially a key point of the family curse plotline (a work in progress during the 1st anime’s run). She did love the 1st’s voice acting and music though.

    She even recently made a pointed comment on the 1st’s plot liberties:
    “There are no people involved in the (current) production that will just make selfish decisions about the characters and story and move forward. I’m so relieved…since not everyone is good at that.”

    Some viewers however, feel the 1st director’s story changes were acceptable – that he helped spotlight the manga’s strengths and downplay its weaknesses, and did their best adapting a plot that still hadn’t finished yet.(Even the studio at the time supported the director’s efforts.)

    zztop
    1. Yeah, I have the same opinion the mangaka is rumoured to have. I watched the first anime after reading the manga and I have to say, I thought it was awful. The music, the animation, everything was “cheap”. The opening is absolutely representative for this: it wasn’t “quiet”, it was lifeless, didn’t fit the tone of the story, it was patched together without appearantly any effort, boring and someone appeared to be saving money… Then they distorted the “ending”, I had tears in my eyes because I felt so ashamed for the story they made up there.
      I’m glad that everything is “new” now and we have a clear brake between this adaptation and the other one.
      The first episode was VERY faithful to the manga. I am looking forward to finally seeing a good adaptation 😀

      Lia
  4. I think the biggest thing is that this series will be complete, unlike the 1st which
    happened before the manga was finished.

    Now, it’s a problem of “is she good enough” to oversee the adaptation without making
    it worse? Let’s face it, despite her complaints about the first’s director, it turned
    out to be a classic for its time. Will this be another Kino no Tabi remake which
    wasn’t bad and about the same as the original?

    But I agree, it’s gonna be tough to beat the original VAs and music in this remake…

    Gonna follow anyway — I wonder where we’ll begin to see a divergence from the 1st
    adaptation…

    mac65
    1. Agreed. If you finished and loved the complete manga, I think it’s hard not to be hyped. Especially if they have time to animate the flashback about how Tooru’s parents met, and other memorable side stories and after stories.

      Player
  5. I read the manga two years ago with the thouhgt that it won’t be animated ever again. The story is really good and memories of previous adaptation make reading even beter. Despite it I had thoughts about shortening some parts of the manga a little.

    The best memories I have with the previous adaptation is voice acting and music. I like character’s design too. It will be tough to get used to new Yuki’s voice especially.

    Seya
  6. @Fruits Basket

    – Funny one
    – the Zodiac’s Horoscope animals playing here a big part
    – not exactly fluffy one, but it give me an smile on my face
    – Voice actors are good
    – looks like slice of life with Animals… There was other animes with the same base an good cgi, right “Etotama”?

    Passed with “fluffy and smile on my face” 1/3

    Worldwidedepp
    1. you guys remember the emotion you felled when watching “Clannad”?. Right now both animes feels like similar warmth for me.. but we still have 2 Episodes to go

      – extra notice

      Worldwidedepp
  7. I’m so happy with this remake!

    In my opinion Fruits Basket is one of the best shoujo mangas ever made. I really like how every character has some sort of development and a satisfying ending.

    The new voice actors are very good, too. They fit everyone(until now) perfectly. Yuki’s voice is so much better!

    Sfalcin
  8. Overall, I am enjoying the reboot of this. Though I do admit that it’s still taking me some time to get used to some of the voices of the characters and for some reason I kept expecting “For Fruits Basket” to start playing. But this is definitely on my watch list now and finally after close to 20 years we may see the full story unfold.

    WhiteCrow
  9. I really liked the first ep.! Still can’t believe it’s actually happening and it’s not a dream. ;_; I le both the manga and the old anime, so I’m super excited for more Furuba! Oh, and the ending is so nice! <3 I'm a bit worried about the opening, though. Ritsuko Okazaki's "For Fruits Basket" holds a very special place in my heart, so I hope the new opening doesn't disappoint.

    PerlaNemesis
  10. The character designs are spot on. Great.

    https://randomc.net/image/Fruits%20Basket/Fruits%20Basket%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2024.jpg

    https://randomc.net/image/Fruits%20Basket/Fruits%20Basket%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2058.jpg

    All they have to do now ride with the WHOLE story and all with go very well. That will be at the very LEAST a 3-cour. But 50+ episode would be ideal. Hehe.

    https://randomc.net/image/Fruits%20Basket/Fruits%20Basket%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2001.jpg

    Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (2022)
  11. I watched the first anime ( yes, I am that old ) and I was so happy and grinning silly with everything. I hated how things ended on the first anime and I hoped I could see the other animals and her parents backstory. Everything is so beautiful and fresh! I am super excited and cant wait for the op!

    neko_in_blue
  12. I couldn’t be happier with this remake so far. I was damn near tears at the levels of nostalgia that hit me; from the English VAs to the story beats that refresh my memories of reading the manga, coupled with the lovely animation quality and faithful-yet-modern character designs. I am fully on board and am already wishing for that BD box set.

  13. I haven’t watched this episode yet because I know that I’ll just be impatient for the next one, but i have watched the ED over and over. I have to say, as a fan of the original anime version, this was my most anticipated anime of the season. Glad to see its living up to the hype.

    Blue
  14. I just hope these transformations back into their Animal form only work at their House or something, or they can suppress it while knowing it will happen

    https://randomc.net/image/Fruits%20Basket/Fruits%20Basket%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2020.jpg
    here he toss away this girl. So controlled touching seems to work

    https://randomc.net/image/Fruits%20Basket/Fruits%20Basket%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2059.jpg
    surprised touching (they did not saw this coming) can break their Illusion

    Oh well, lets see

    Worldwidedepp
    1. I think it’s because it’s specifically caused by ‘hugging’, not just touch, although the series definitely takes liberal use of the definition of embrace haha

      the characters can touch other genders with their hands and such, but probably full body contact is where it’s a danger zone

      Mysteri
  15. I wonder how many superfans will be tracking the progress at which the anime adapts the manga material? It’d be a good way to predict how many episodes this series will last. If its averaging say x amount of chapters per episode and continues this for 26 episodes by the end of the season you’d know if we’re getting 13, 24, 26, etc more episodes.

    Lyfe
  16. This really doesn’t feel all that dissonant if you’ve read the manga. I remember I watched the original anime and loved it, read the manga afterwards and thought it was a thousand times better, and upon rewatching the anime and rereading the manga concurrently recently, it really hit home how broken the original anime is. The original anime takes the warm charm and emotional weight of the manga and throws it in a gutter and pees on it.

    Watching the first episode of this reboot, I felt like I was finally seeing the origin story in its proper context. The music makes SUCH a huge difference: it as a slow and melancholy quality to it that contrasts so distinctly with the anime’s upbeat, drums-heavy soundtrack.

    I’m cautious, of course, but I’m optimistic. This episode actually feels like the real Fruits Basket. I am so, so excited to see the original stories re-treaded, with proper attention given to the emotional turmoil the characters are facing, and I’m looking forward to seeing Tohru being treated as an actual fully-realized character as opposed to a sort of hybrid manic pixie dream girl-slash-yamato nadeshiko.

    existentialqueer
  17. Ep 02:

    – i get now “visual” strong Vibes of an “otome” anime
    – the “otome” cliches are strong here. Girls admire an Boy or Boys in School, the Main girl “loves” them all and so on
    – Well lets see how strong this gets

    Ep 02/03 passed

    Worldwidedepp

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