Manga Diaries – Fruits Basket Volume 2

Fruits Basket Volume 2
If you don’t know what my diaries are, please go here. Spoilers ahoy!

Otherwise, let’s go!


Well, let’s see if I’ll like volume two better.

  • Page 15: Snacks are serious business.
  • 16-17: Hana-chan is cool, Tohru is an idiot.
  • 25-30: The setup is cliche, but I remember what Takaya does with it. Makes it better than usual.
  • 34: All’s fair in love and war.
  • 36: I do like the font for Hana-chan’s speech styles.
  • 44: I wouldn’t be surprised to find a manga like this somewhere…
  • 45: Takaya really loves her video games. I’m surprised her manga aren’t more JRPG-like.
  • 46: This chapter in one word: onigiri.
  • 68: Rule #2 of Shoujo: If you look androgynous or just plain look like a member of the opposite gender, you will cross-dress.
  • 74: Lol, Kyo.
  • 76: That’s right, Tohru. Thinking Yuki looks cute makes you a bad person. Sigh… This is exactly what I mean when I say Tohru is basically dumb in a moe way.
  • 80: Yes, Tohru. It’s a complete coincidence that you would meet members of Yuki and Kyo’s family at a public event run by the school. Who would have thunk?
  • 88: Nice save, Yuki.
  • 89: Nice throw, Yuki.
  • 91: Hatori wins.
  • 102: Idiot.
  • 113: For those wondering, “End of Heart” is adapted as “Lion Heart” in the North American version of Final Fantasy VIII.
  • 126: One of the better, more central pieces for the series. Part mysterious, part creepy, part hidden agenda.
  • 172: It’s Kingdra! Oh, just a regular sea horse. I like Kingdra. Someone should name their Kingdra Hatori.
  • 174: Here’s the other snow-spring weirdo.
  • 196: Tokyopop really put in a lot of extras in this series.

Overall, it’s not as cringe-worthy as the previous volume, but the art has a lot to do with it. Characters have necks! Some look pretty! So sad there wasn’t as much Kyo-pounding though… (Showing off my S side.)

I never did care for Momiji’s entrance. It just feels kind of random. But we get the first sense of how central Akito is to everyone, for better or for worse. There’s more “Tohru-is-an-angel” scenes, and the author again shows us Tohru’s biggest flaw is that she isn’t selfish enough. I mean, Usagi in the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon manga is accused of being a Mary Sue by the end of the series, but she’s still childish enough to push Hotaru and Chibi-Usa out of the way. Even Tohru’s intelligence is done to show she’s still cute because she tries her best.

And Kana… I would have loved to know readers’ reactions after this chapter. I feel like I should play the song “Eternal Snow” during this chapter. It’s an excellent song by Changin’ My Life from Full Moon (w)o Sagashite, sung by the heroine. There’s a lot of different translations for the song (and I liked different parts from each one), but here’s an excerpt from AnimeLyrics:

Hold me tight  Konna omoi nara
Dareka wo suki ni naru kimochi
Shiritaku  Nakatta yo
I love you  Namida tomaranai
Konnan ja  Kimi no koto
Shirazuni ireba  Yokatta yo

Hold me tight- if this is how it feels
I didn’t want to know
What it was like to be in love with someone
I love you- my tears won’t stop
And so I wish
That I had never met you

There’s also a wonderful YouTube video of the song with clips from the anime, but it’s really spoilerrific. So sad the anime wasn’t released in its entirety in the U.S.

Getting off track here.

So we’ve met like half the Zodiac in two volumes. Twenty-one to go, eesh. Tohru’s already realized Yuki and Kyo don’t truly hate each other, there’s a big curse, and Shigure knows something. But the entire volume can be summed up in two words: onigiri and snow. Four if you add horse and bunny.

Momiji being half-German is a nice change from many half-Japanese being American. Not that Tohru would have understood English anyway…

I’m done. Not much else to say.

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3 Comments

  1. AAA Gal

    I haven’t looked into Fruits Basket as much…

    Anyway, I’ve been snooping throughout your blog, and I really like it 🙂 I followed you, and uh, hope you grow! I’m just getting into things with my own blog :P, it’s still being edited…

    That’s not the point. Errm, I’ll look more into your posts. Ciao!

    Reply
    1. krystallina

      Thank you for visiting, and welcome to the community! Good luck with your own blog!

      Reply
  2. The Otaku Judge

    Necks are a useful thing to have.

    Reply

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