Fruits Basket - Ultimate Edition Vol. 4by Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 8 I've always heard good things about this series and while not as exciting as I was hoping it certainly met my expectations. Tohru Honda is a young girl who keeps a terrible secret. After her mother died she came to live with the Sohma family. All members of that family are cursed by an animal from the Zodiac and will change into that animal when weak or hugged by a member of the opposite sex. Romance and calamity abound! Apparently not all members of the family get along, and a few even fight for Tohru's attention and affection — especially Kyo the Cat and Yuki the Rat.This "ultimate edition" as it's being called is a hardback containing volumes 7 and 8. At the end of both volumes there's a section with some fan art, and at the end of volume 8 there's a mini bio on the Dragon and Ox (mainly generalities of the Zodiac and not the characters specifically). It looks like those where originally published in the separate volumes and not added for this edition (though I haven't checked) so as far as I can tell there's nothing extra or special about buying this edition. The only advantage to buying it this way is the price! The individual issues would cost at least $9.99 each and this hardback costs $14.99 so it does save you money. I also really liked having a nice, big book so I could appreciate the art better and have more to read in one sitting — but others find hardback books harder to work with or carry around (and this would certainly be harder to carry somewhere). It also takes up more room on a bookshelf. In this case I'd say the hardback is a better buy and wonderful to read but has the drawback of taking up space. As far as the story it contains I really enjoyed it. The humor is fantastic and really plays to each of the characters individually as well as their interactions. We see the struggles they have due to the curse, and even though it's the type of story and situations that could easily turn angsty and dark or depressing, the whole story manages to stay light, interesting, and entertaining. That all comes down to Tohru. She's the perfect key ingredient. Without her there would be no story, but it also doesn't revolve around her. I absolutely love that even when they Sohma's turn into animals they turn into cute baby versions of those animals. It's adorable and only heightens the humor. The art is another strong point. It's well done and consistent. It has bigger eyes but they can be very expressive and don't just stick to one style no matter what's going on. The art is adaptive to play up the humor and make the scenes come alive. I was very much impressed by how the expressions where handled and the lack of chibification. So many series rely on chibi forms to make something funny or use weird faces, but this one shows them how it's really done without distorting the characters. Overall, a good buy and an excellent read! Written: February 15, 2010
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