Random Acts of Fandom: Fruits Basket
Jun. 17th, 2008 10:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
joiedecombatSo after finally getting sucked into reading Fruits Basket(I blame ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
evilbeej) I ran out of borrowed volumes at v17 last night and just gave in and looked up the rest online. (I know, I know, but I'm planning to buy the series for myself gradually anyhow, so.)
Then I cried like a little girl. I should stop reading things that make me cry, really. (Katsuya ;_;)
The main thing that strikes me about this series is that it's crammed full of very winning characters. I'm not entirely sure if it's just that immersion has made it increasingly easy for me to buy into the feel of the story and the particular way that things play out in it, or if it's just something about Takaya's writing style that makes it possible for her to introduce a minor character and have me firmly invested in that character's story within a single chapter. With only two exceptions (Ritsu, who... needs a Valium, and Akito), even the characters that had otherwise left me cold managed to have at least one moment of winning at life which won me over. (See particularly Ayame at Yuki's parent-teacher conference.)
I do feel that Akito's redemption came a bit too-little-too-late to really resonate with me, for all that I wasn't really expecting anything else - because Furuba is the kind of series that it is, everyone gets redeemed, even the crazy psycho who's been making everyone's lives miserable for years and has put most of the main cast in the hospital at least once. But it didn't quite work for me; after so many chapters of crazy Akito being crazy, I couldn't really work up much sympathy for her. I am not as nice a person as Tohru.
A side effect of this is that I'm also a bit disappointed on Shigure's behalf, because he established himself early on as my favorite character and held the position the whole way through, and I really could have hoped for a bit better for him, even though he got what he wanted and I'm sure he's very smug.
Yuki's ultimate resolution, beginning with his "I think of Tohru as a mother figure, not as a romantic one" revelation all the way back in whatever volume it was, seemed a bit too much like wrapping up romantic loose ends to me - like either Takaya had just decided how to resolve the Yuki-Tohru-Kyo triangle, or else like Takaya had just decided it was time to make it clear to readers which the Official Pairing was. I didn't dislike Machi or her relationship with Yuki, it just didn't seem as organic as most of the other relationships in the series, and didn't really grab me. (Compare Kureno's introduction as a love interest for Uotani, which won me over instantly for no reason I can pinpoint.)
Since I honestly didn't and don't have a particular preference between Yuki and Kyo, I wasn't really that bothered by it, though.
I'd have liked to have seen a bit more resolution for Hatori, whose storyline seems to have kind of gotten dropped completely following Shigure's matchmaking efforts, until his little postscript. Even with Akito suddenly no longer crazy, his trauma over Kana would have to take quite a bit more time to get over, I think.
So those are my complaints. Overall, though, I enjoyed it. I ended up loving almost all of the characters - especially Shigure and Momiji, who both win at life forever - and, thus, being very invested in their happy endings.
I particularly liked the last few flashbacks about Tohru's parents (even though they made me cry) and the ultimate resolution of her romance with Kyo (ditto), and the breaking of the zodiac curse - almost a cascade effect, first Momiji (did I mention how much he wins?), then Hiro (the moment in which he finally won me over, the little jerkass), and then everyone else in a rush.
It's a very sweet, feel-good series, and I'm looking forward to picking up the official releases... particularly since the translations I read of the last few volumes were kind of awkward.
I mentioned that Shigure is my favorite character of the series. The reason why is... he's such a layered character. Most of them are, I guess, but Shigure's personality in particular kind of grabs me. Lazy, irresponsible, kind of silly lecher layered over laid-back supportive older-brother-to-everyone layered over devious and manipulative schemer layered over self-loathing. I love that kind of character. So it's not really any surprise that he ended up being the one I like best.
I've been contemplating, as well, what the draw of the series is. One factor is, of course, the characters, which I've already gone into a bit, but I think the other main thing is - as perhaps it always comes down to - the element of wish fulfillment: the idea that Mr. Troubled But Cute can be saved from whatever's troubling him if you just reach out to him in kindness, and that, even more, whatever's wrong in your life and in yourself can be made better if just one person comes along and reaches out to you in kindness. This is, after all, the main theme of the series, and it's pretty compelling; it could also be pretty twee, but Takaya's skill at writing it makes it not-so.
evilbeej) I ran out of borrowed volumes at v17 last night and just gave in and looked up the rest online. (I know, I know, but I'm planning to buy the series for myself gradually anyhow, so.)Then I cried like a little girl. I should stop reading things that make me cry, really. (Katsuya ;_;)
The main thing that strikes me about this series is that it's crammed full of very winning characters. I'm not entirely sure if it's just that immersion has made it increasingly easy for me to buy into the feel of the story and the particular way that things play out in it, or if it's just something about Takaya's writing style that makes it possible for her to introduce a minor character and have me firmly invested in that character's story within a single chapter. With only two exceptions (Ritsu, who... needs a Valium, and Akito), even the characters that had otherwise left me cold managed to have at least one moment of winning at life which won me over. (See particularly Ayame at Yuki's parent-teacher conference.)
I do feel that Akito's redemption came a bit too-little-too-late to really resonate with me, for all that I wasn't really expecting anything else - because Furuba is the kind of series that it is, everyone gets redeemed, even the crazy psycho who's been making everyone's lives miserable for years and has put most of the main cast in the hospital at least once. But it didn't quite work for me; after so many chapters of crazy Akito being crazy, I couldn't really work up much sympathy for her. I am not as nice a person as Tohru.
A side effect of this is that I'm also a bit disappointed on Shigure's behalf, because he established himself early on as my favorite character and held the position the whole way through, and I really could have hoped for a bit better for him, even though he got what he wanted and I'm sure he's very smug.
Yuki's ultimate resolution, beginning with his "I think of Tohru as a mother figure, not as a romantic one" revelation all the way back in whatever volume it was, seemed a bit too much like wrapping up romantic loose ends to me - like either Takaya had just decided how to resolve the Yuki-Tohru-Kyo triangle, or else like Takaya had just decided it was time to make it clear to readers which the Official Pairing was. I didn't dislike Machi or her relationship with Yuki, it just didn't seem as organic as most of the other relationships in the series, and didn't really grab me. (Compare Kureno's introduction as a love interest for Uotani, which won me over instantly for no reason I can pinpoint.)
Since I honestly didn't and don't have a particular preference between Yuki and Kyo, I wasn't really that bothered by it, though.
I'd have liked to have seen a bit more resolution for Hatori, whose storyline seems to have kind of gotten dropped completely following Shigure's matchmaking efforts, until his little postscript. Even with Akito suddenly no longer crazy, his trauma over Kana would have to take quite a bit more time to get over, I think.
So those are my complaints. Overall, though, I enjoyed it. I ended up loving almost all of the characters - especially Shigure and Momiji, who both win at life forever - and, thus, being very invested in their happy endings.
I particularly liked the last few flashbacks about Tohru's parents (even though they made me cry) and the ultimate resolution of her romance with Kyo (ditto), and the breaking of the zodiac curse - almost a cascade effect, first Momiji (did I mention how much he wins?), then Hiro (the moment in which he finally won me over, the little jerkass), and then everyone else in a rush.
It's a very sweet, feel-good series, and I'm looking forward to picking up the official releases... particularly since the translations I read of the last few volumes were kind of awkward.
I mentioned that Shigure is my favorite character of the series. The reason why is... he's such a layered character. Most of them are, I guess, but Shigure's personality in particular kind of grabs me. Lazy, irresponsible, kind of silly lecher layered over laid-back supportive older-brother-to-everyone layered over devious and manipulative schemer layered over self-loathing. I love that kind of character. So it's not really any surprise that he ended up being the one I like best.
I've been contemplating, as well, what the draw of the series is. One factor is, of course, the characters, which I've already gone into a bit, but I think the other main thing is - as perhaps it always comes down to - the element of wish fulfillment: the idea that Mr. Troubled But Cute can be saved from whatever's troubling him if you just reach out to him in kindness, and that, even more, whatever's wrong in your life and in yourself can be made better if just one person comes along and reaches out to you in kindness. This is, after all, the main theme of the series, and it's pretty compelling; it could also be pretty twee, but Takaya's skill at writing it makes it not-so.
