Book Riot Read Harder Challenge #22 Read a manga or manhwa.

I think this might be the first manga that I have reviewed on this blog. And what a great series to kick off the manga recommendations. It even has an anime series which you can watch on Crunchyroll.

Fruits Basket follows a high school girl named Tohru Honda. She is incredibly kind and positive considering all of the crap life has thrown at her. She is an orphan and homeless at the beginning of the series. But where she has literally pitched her tent is on the property of the Sohma family. The family takes her in, and she slowly develops friendships and maybe even a romance or two with the family members. But the family has a secret. They are possessed by the animals of the Chinese zodiac and can turn into their animal counterparts when weak, stressed, or when hugged by someone of the opposite gender. This causes a lot of fun shenanigans.

This series does have an overarching romance, but it is so much more than a simple high school romance. There is the element of found family with Tohru and the Sohmas. Tohru’s female friendships are some of the best portrayed in media. Her friendships with the guys are just as good. Despite the potential love triangle, they prioritize their friendship with her and are genuinely good friends.

The animal transformations add a fantasy element to it that gives a fun backdrop for the exploration of a lot of themes. Tohru and the Sohma family have to tackle issues of bullying, fitting in, lost loves, battling the expectations of family, valuing yourself, the value of kindness and generosity, just to name a few.

Both the manga and the anime are beautifully done. The art is great. The characters all have depth. I genuinely care about every single one of these characters. Considering there are 12 Sohma family members that can turn into animals, two female best friends, a grandfather, coworkers, and more, this is an impressive feat.

If you haven’t read this manga, you should definitely give it a read and maybe watch the anime too.