Sakura of DOOM

Oh, I cannot believe it is over (even though I know it has been over for two years now)!

First, I've extremely grumpy at TokyoPop for the lousy quality of the final volume. The paper for the cover and the pages are much flimsier compared even to volume 22. Yes, there's a nice color insert, which I appreciated, but seriously! I shouldn't feel like I can tear the pages by accident when I'm turning them.

But overall, this is a lovely grace note to the series. There isn't much plot movement; mostly it's tying up loose ends and giving the characters a proper send off.

( Spoilers pile on the years )

I love this series so.

And the Great Manga Reread Project: Fruits Basket edition continues, albeit somewhat late on my end.

Spoilers for this volume under the cut; spoilers for later volumes further hidden using spoiler code. Please use spoiler code for later volumes in the comments! Also, I've only read up to around ch. 126.

( Spoilers for vol. 3 )

Sample spoiler code:
<span style="color:#666666;background-color:#666666">Spoilers here.</span>

Links:
- Thread collecting all vol. 3 GMRP posts.

Finally, I start a week late in the Great Manga Reread Project: Fruits Basket edition!

Spoilers for this volume under the cut; spoilers for later volumes further hidden using spoiler code. Please use spoiler code for later volumes in the comments! Also, I've only read up to around ch. 126 (aka, I am where Akito is female, Momiji and Hiro have had the curse lifted, and Tohru has just fallen off the cliff).

Uh, I may have gone a little overboard in taking notes; I suspect I will get lazier as I reread and much less detailed.

( Spoilers for vol. 1 )

Sample spoiler code:
Spoilers here.

Links:
- Thread collecting all vol. 1 GMRP posts.

I'm going to post another entry with tons and tons of spoilers, so please keep this one spoiler-free. Thanks!

I watched the Fruits Basket anime a while ago, which I liked, but didn't completely fall in love with. I now adore the manga, which nearly made me cry a few days ago.

The Sohma family is under a curse that makes some of the members turn into a zodiac animal when hugged by a member of the opposite sex. Somehow, the orphan Honda Tohru, possibly the most optimistic and nicest person in shoujo manga, which is really saying something, ends up living with Yuki, Kyo and Shigure.

While the curse sounds rather cute to begin with, later volumes reveal how damaged the entire Sohma family is because of it and because of the machinations of the somewhat insane Akito, head of the Sohma family.

The anime follows the manga very closely up till vol. 6, after which it ends. But I really started loving the manga after that point, when things really start to get darker. Almost every one of the Juunishi (the twelve zodiac Sohma people) are horribly damaged and abused, and each reacts to it separately.

I really liked seeing how Takaya kept up with the different parent-child relationships, particularly the two extremes of overprotection and complete abandonment. And I'm sure everyone has already said this, but I love that while Tohru is impossibly sweet, her sweetness and kindness makes sense in the story, since it's about learning kindness and using kindness as a way out of abuse and pain and hurt. It's about making things better, one day at a time.

Um, yes, I am a total sucker for that type of story.

But I like that Takaya has Tohru say that people aren't born kind; they have to learn it.

I had a few qualms in the beginning about self-sacrifice, mainly because Tohru is so self-sacrificing and the message almost seemed to be that if you are that self-sacrificing, other people will step in and look out for you and make sure you're ok, which I don't think is the case in real life (sadly). But later on, even Tohru's self-sacrifice is too much, as is other people's. Characters have to learn selfishness as well as kindness, and I like that they have to remember to be kind to themselves as well.

Takaya's really good at veeerrry slooooowly drawing you in and making you believe that it's a fluffy shoujo piece, and then blindsiding you with PAIN AND ANGST OMG! And I like that more and more characters are explored later on, and the interactions get more complex and detailed, and I started caring about characters who I thought I could never, ever care about.

Also, I am still totally taken in by the cute animals, though I think my rats are cuter than Yuki.

Links:
- rilina's tags and memories