5 Reasons Why Fruits Basket is (Still) Amazing

Natsuki Takaya's Fruits Basket, published as a series of mangas from 1998-2006 and turned into a one-season anime in 2001, was one of the first anime series that I really fell in love with.  A friend lent it to me my senior year of high school and, though it took me a few episodes to get into it, I quickly went from entertained to hooked.  I watched it every year all through college, sharing it with different friends.  Recently, after a long hiatus, I decided to watch it again and see if the magic is still there.  It is.  

In my upper twenties now, I'm looking at it a little differently and more critically than I did before.  The dialog isn't always super well-written (especially the translation for the English subtitles--read my note at the bottom of the post!), and, yes, it tends to lean towards the melodramatic, but there are still so many things that the show gets right.  

Here are five major things that make Fruits Basket really remarkable. (*There are some vague spoilers, but I don't give away any significant plot points.)

Japan's War Legacy

I present to you my second paper on Japanese history.

70 Years Later: Trying to Write the Last Chapter on Reconciliation

In the 1980s, Japan was at the height of its “economic miracle.”  Countries around the world looked with (sometimes hostile) envy at Japan’s seemingly endless growth and prosperity.[1]  Perhaps in response to these factors, Japanese nationalism and ultra-nationalism grew; books on Nihonjinron proliferated as beliefs in Japanese exceptionalism saw a great resurgence in popularity.[2]  At the same time, emboldened politicians began to openly defend Japan’s war legacy in ways that deeply offended their neighbors.  A series of “textbook crises erupted” starting in 1982 as the Ministry of Education sought to tone down descriptions of Japanese aggression during WWII.[3]  Public figures began to make overt comments that denied or diminished wartime atrocities;[4] although these men often lost their jobs as a result, the increased tension in international relations was evident.  This decade also saw “comfort women” come forward in large numbers for the first time to testify about their sufferings during the war.[5]  This painful and volatile issue brought new shame and anger to the surface on both sides. 

Thus, the 1980s was a period that both revived and reframed the debate on Japan’s war legacy.  It was a war of words between newly resurgent and vociferous Japanese nationalists, foreign peoples who still felt that Japan had been insincere in its apologies and had not done enough to make amends, and certain individuals in Japan who wished to delve deeper into the past in order to atone for the wrongs of their nation and—as in the case of Kurahashi Ayako[6]—the wrongs of their own family members.  This inflamed atmosphere, which persisted through the 90s and into the new millennium, led to some very conciliatory WWII anniversary statements from Prime Ministers Murayama (in 1995)[7] and Koizumi (in 2005).[8]  These statements were brief, humble, reassuring, and to the point. 

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s statement in 2015, on the other hand, was clearly intended to shift the arc of the debate.  Although he repeated much of what was said in the previous two statements, he also went considerably further—notably by addressing the events that led up to WWII.  Murayama and Koizumi had focused on expressing their regret and emphasizing all the good that Japan had done since 1945, but Abe dared to openly “reflect upon the road to war.”[9]  By taking a more comprehensive, long-term view of the “lessons of history,”[10] Abe carefully set the stage for making an important break from his predecessors: his desire to write the final, conclusive chapter of this 70-year narrative by bringing an end to Japanese apologies for WWII.  

The Rise and Fall of Japan's Reigning Empresses

Female Tennō

*Note: Before you begin reading this, I must explain one term: tennō.  This is the Japanese title for the reigning monarch.  It's particularly significant when talking about Japanese empresses, since there have been many empresses (wives of the emperor) throughout Japanese history, but only six female tennō.  Strikingly, all six of them ruled during the Asuka-Nara period between 592 and 770.  Why did women rule so frequently during such a short time, and never again afterwards?  None of the articles or books that we read in my history class ever explained this phenomenon, so for my first paper topic I researched female tennō.  I learned a lot of fascinating things about them, and I think I even found a real answer to my question.  Here are the results!

Miyazaki's "The Wind Rises" - a story of genius fulfilled

SPOILER ALERT: In this post, I talk in great detail about The Wind Rises.  If you haven't seen it yet, you might want to skip this post and come back later.  :-)

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Miyazaki's latest and (allegedly) final movie doesn't have much of a plot.  There is no grand climax, and not even much character development.  It's just the story of a boy's life, as he follows his life's ambition to be an aeronautical engineer.  It takes place in Japan, from just a few years before the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, through Japan's ensuing economic collapse, and into World War II.  Although you witness all these disasters in the film, the main character, Jiro, seems oddly detached from them emotionally.  And though the moral question of how the planes that he's creating are being used does come up repeatedly, he never really grapples with the issue in any noticeable way.  Even surrounded by the wreckage of a war that he, in a material way, helped to create, he remains aloof, untouched--forever in his own little world.  

It is easy to describe The Wind Rises in this way, and if you do, it sounds terrible.  But with all this being said, I found this movie to be beautiful, touching, full of life, inspiration, and experiences both sensual and surreal.  I loved it.

Travelogue: Japan (part 3) - Osaka

Next we headed off to Osaka!  More modern that Kyoto, Osaka is still full of plenty of interesting things to see.  We started with a visit to Osaka Castle.

Travelogue: Japan (part 2) - Kyoto & Nara

To start with, here are some more pics I got from Paul of our time in Kyoto.  These are from the performance we saw in the Geisha district of Gion.

Travelogue: Japan (part 1) - Tokyo & Kyoto

I've decided to post a series of my old travelogues from the various countries I've been to.  Here is the first one!  My 11-day trip to Japan in the summer of 2013 with Paul and Elise.  Enjoy!

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Japan was amazing, mysterious, cheesy, kinky, magical, weird, and wonderful.  Pretty much what I would've hoped it to be.  Though I did not see anyone walking around in full otaku costume.  :-P  But there was plenty of other weird clothing to make up for that.  Japan is definitely a land of unique and bizarre fashions.


Also, hilarious signs, logos, and brand names.  Some of my favorites include: