Why do you love fruits basket?

Nurguburu said:
I never watched the original anime from 2001 and I like this show, I'm not fan but it's really difficult for me to like this kind of shows because most of them end up boring me so I gave Fruits Basket an opportunity and it really impressed me.

Of course, I have my issues with questionable methods in some side character stories like Hatori's past or maybe some jokes that are not funny but besides that, the pacing is quite nice and something always happens, not like other similar anime that nothing happens or its is repetitive. Some complained that this season is too slow or nothing happens, but I was surprised when I'm watching this season because things really happen and they are not minor.

MAL scores don't matter in the end.

merk43 said:
Just to add on after your own comments, I would argue fruits basket is less of a romance and more of a deep character study.

On the surface I could see why people would think this is a common Shoujo. Tohru seems like the perfectly cute, does nothing girl, Yuki is a prince, Kyo is comic relief etc etc.

However, as you watch the show, and the second season especially, the characters are not just their tropes. I don’t want to be longwinded so I’ll focus on two characters and call it a day... also minor spoilers

Tohru: On the onset, she is the perfect girl who is way too nice and is somehow so kind hearted she changes everyone. While she is kind, it’s to a fault and the show isn’t really quick to say this is ALWAYS a good thing. Because she is kind to a fault, she consistently fails to care for herself. She is oblivious and, worse, is not in any position to handle the grief of losing her mom even one year later. She is a broken character at heart. Her smile is what she feels she HAS to do to not burden others — ie live in a tent instead of asking friends for help, telling Kyo and Yuki to go to soma house for holidays leaving her alone, etc. she is the embodiment of someone figuring themselves out.

And Yuki: my absolute favorite character in maybe any anime. I won’t go too in depth because you yourself said how much you liked his arc so you see the beauty in it. I just want to add, yuki being self aware enough to know he doesn’t want Tohru because it would be an unrequited love where he doesn’t feel he has equal footing IS a big deal and I think separates this show from 85% of SOL shows on the market.

The truth is the characters and the way they are written are what set this show apart.

Nostalgik said:
This is NOT a thread about Fruits Basket being "overrated" or anything of the sort.

I just want to understand one thing: the extremely high score of this pure, innocent fantasy-mellodrama-slice of life. This is not the type of show to have an 8.50+ score, so here's my theory: the vast majority of people who made it this far into the series are those who already loved the original and are here to experience the new, well animated, fully adapted version of it.

Is this the case? I'd mostly like to hear the opinions of people who are having their first contact with fruits basket through this new adaptation.

UPDATE: I liked the 2nd part of the 2nd season very much! Especially because it actually made me like Yuki due to him finding the core of his and Kyo's relationship with Tooru respectively, and the Souma family feels way more unified with their story going towards a proper conclusion!

So basically I can now understand why this story touches many people this much.

Alex82829290 said:
Don't judge a book by its cover, that's the best suggestion I could give you with this sort of series. Fruits Basket isn't just happiness and wholesomeness, it's a balance between light and darkness, like life should be ala Clannad After Story. This is especially evident in the 2nd season. It starts all nice and fun, but gets extremely depressing at times, still getting through a hopeful note. Many checked it out at first since it was a reboot in the Brotherhood style, so many assumed it was that good to receive such treatment, and of course stayed for the story but especially the characters afterwards. For a show with a silly premise like some hot dudes and chicks getting naked, that might seem like a fanservice reverse harem, but it's actually the maturity in which fruits basket explores its vast variety of themes and how it subverts every trope you might know about, making it instead beautifully real, in a way that only adds bulk to the characters and I dare to say it wouldn't be hard to mistake them actual people, that makes it standout, in fact you can find one of the best examples of character development in this series, being real and authentic, even too much for what you tipically find in the anime media.