Like a Sohma sushi bar, Fruits Basket is keeping those introductions coming one after the other, as if by conveyor belt. Following Kisa’s introduction during last week’s episode, this week we’re introduced to the monkey of the zodiac: Ritsu. After Kagura, Ritsu is probably my second least favourite Sohma. It will come as no surprise to you, then, that I didn’t particularly like this episode. Despite that, I still have plenty to say about it!
Do you want to hear something coo coo for cocoa puffs crazy? As we get older, we change. Yes, shocking, I know! As we meet new people, become more mature, and experience new things, our beliefs, perceptions, and preferences change too. OK, OK, I’ll admit that everything I just said is actually common knowledge… But I think that this stuff is so obvious, that it had kind of slipped my mind. That’d go some way towards explaining why my most recent brush with the Fruits Basket franchise has taken me by complete surprise…
Spring 2019 is positively stacked with highly-anticipated sequels, including One Punch Man’s 2nd season, the continuation of Attack on Titan’s 3rd season, and Bungou Stray Dogs’ 3rd season. Between all of these big names, it’s hard to decide what to look forward to the most! But the Fruits Basket reboot is definitely a strong contender! The original series, which strayed from its source material, may have been underwhelming, but Fruits Basket (or Furuba) has long been one of my favourite manga series, so, naturally, I’m pumped that the franchise is, after all this time, getting another iteration! In anticipation of this, I thought that I’d dedicate this month’s Character Spotlight to its plucky heroine, Tohru Honda. I hope that this whets your appetite for the upcoming anime!
Princess Jellyfish is about a young woman called Tsukimi. Tsukimi, who has been obsessed with jellyfish since her youth, lives a peaceful, man-free existence with a group of similarly strange women, the Amars, until, one night, during a campaign to rescue an endangered jellyfish, she meets Kuranosuke. It isn’t long before Tsukimi discovers, much to her surprise, given his impressive drag act, that Kuranosuke is actually a prince, not a princess! Thus begins an unlikely friendship between the two characters. Over time Kuranosuke helps Tsukimi to grow in confidence, Tsukimi helps Kuranosuke to open up to other people, and the pair combine their love of fashion and of jellyfish to help save the Amars’ home from a group of predatory landsharks. See MAL for more info.
Caterpillar Girl and Bad Texter Boy (let’s call it CGBTB, shall we?) is a single volume (or standalone) manga. It was first published in Japanese in 2017, but has only recently (this June, to be exact) been published in English. As such, CGBTB seems to not yet be widely known and cannot be found on MAL’s manga database. Since that’s the case, I’ll briefly summarise its premise to you here! Suzume’s a cute, smart, popular highschool girl, the kind of girl who seems to have it all, whereas her childhood friend, Akane, is brusque, socially awkward, and prefers his own company. Nevertheless, Suzume has loved Akane for a long, long time. So when she finally confesses her feelings to him and is rejected (“You’re too perfect”) she’s devastated! So much so that she feels her only option is to have herself transformed into a monstrous caterpillar creature to try and win Akane’s heart… Naturally!
CGBTB took me by surprise. Its premise is so outlandish that you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s probably some kind of weird (even by Japan’s standards) romcom. But, whilst there were cute and funny moments (who knew that caterpillars could be so moe?), CGBTB was predominantly a moving story full of lessons about love.
Watashi Wa Bucho!! 