Title : Fruits Basket
Genre : Romance, drama, comedy, fantasy, shoujo
Production : Studio Deen
Episodes : 26
Vintage : 2001

I love this series. It’s a fresh, funny and beautiful story. At first, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see it because I don’t like romances that much, but I kept running over it and decided to do so. I was amazed by the series that I actually decided to read the manga. The illustration is amazing and the story is one of a kind. The only thing that might disappoint you in the anime is the ending. It ends very abruptly and makes you wonder what happens next. Fortunately, the manga continues on from the anime and your curiosity will be satisfied.

The story is set around a 16 year old orphan, who is living with members of the Sohma family, and her adventures with them. The members of the Sohma family are as normal as everyone on the outside, but they hide a great secret. They are cursed by the spirits of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. They turn into the representative animal if they are hugged by the opposite sex. Tohru Honda, who is our heroine, tries her best to fulfill her mothers wish by graduating from High school. She lives with the 3 members of the Sohma family — Shigure, Yuki and Kyou. The last two boys are rivals and compete with each other frequently.

The series runs a full length of 26 episodes and was aired by TV Tokyo in 2001. Studio Deen produced the series and it was directed by Akitaro Daichi of the ‘Bokura ga Ita’ fame. Some of the voice actors that worked in this anime are Hisakawa Aya as Sohma Yuki, Tomokazu Seki as Sohma Kyou and Horie Yui as Honda Tohru.

I am not sure if all of you agree that this anime could be classified as a masterpiece, but in my list it is. If anyone has a different opinion, please feel free to share it with us.

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Sources : Anime News Network, Wikipedia, Anime Covers Fan