I’d been aware of Fruits Basket for some time, and I’d been meaning to check it out. At the same time I had a feeling that I’d really like it, and I was hesitant about becoming addicted to yet another series. My fear was justified, because Fruits Basket is the most adorable manga I’ve read in a long time.

Tohru’s mother died, and through a chain of events she finds herself camping out in a tent while going to high school and working to support herself. She’s an optimistic person who tries to honor the memory of her mother by working hard in school. As she’s walking to school one day, she discovers a house, and sees a set of Chinese astrology ornaments inside. She meets a man who lives there and they discuss the story of the Cat who was left out of the Zodiac. Tohru reveals that although she was born in the year of the dog, when she first heard the story of the cat, she felt so bad for it that she wished she’d been born in the nonexistent year of the cat. The man (Shigure Sonma) wonders what the cat would think if he heard her say that, but thinks that it is only natural for him to feel connected to her since she was born in the year of the dog.

Tohru and Shigure are interrupted by Yuki Sonma, who is the handsomest boy in Tohru’s class although he is strangely aloof. Yuki and Shigure are cousins. Yuki and Tohru walk to school together. When Yuki and Tohru continue to discuss the Chinese Zodiac, he vehemently proclaims that The Cat is an idiot.

Later, Yuki and Shigure wonder where Tohru is living, she’s been looking exhausted and they are concerned for her. They go out walking and discover her tent, and after Shigure dissolves in laughter to see where she’s living, they invite her back to their home. Tohru comments that their house is “like a garbage jungle”and Shigure is impressed with her poetic turn of phrase. There’s a horrible landslide and Tohru’s tent is buried, so they invite her to their house. Yuki spends the evening rescuing Tohru’s belongings from the landslide, aided by a horde of rodents.

The next morning, Shigure and Yuki invite Tohru to live with them if she doesn’t mind doing the housework. Fortunately for everyone, Tohru loves doing housework. As she’s getting settled in her new room, a boy crashes through the ceiling and proclaims that “Rat Boy” is going to get beaten. Tohru holds the new boy from behind to prevent a fight from happening, and he turns into a cat!

The Sonma family has a horrible curse. Whenever they are hugged by someone of the opposite sex, they turn into an animal from the Chinese Zodiac. Shigure is the dog, Yuki is the Rat, and Kyo is the Cat (the eternal outcast). Fruits Basket has a lot of heart, and it is nice to see the relationships develop with the new family Tohru has found for herself. She’s eager to learn more about her new friends, and the interactions between the characters are very funny. I’m not sure why I wasn’t reading Fruits Basket a long time ago, I must have been deranged. The animal transformation thing might remind you of Ranma 1/2, but it seems to me that Fruits Basket focuses more on the relationships between people and the growth of the characters as they work towards becoming more confident in their own skin despite being possessed with the vengeful spirit of the Chinese Zodiac. Anyway, if you’re not already reading it, give it a try! (amazon) Fruits Basket at Amazon, Fruits Basket Anime

I bought The Swan at the Strand for 1.50! So I’m not sure how DCs CMX line is doing. I do like that they are translating some older series — The Swan was published in the mid seventies. One thing I like about the “Work hard and do your best to become #1” theme found in manga all the time is the varied settings — you can read about someone becoming the #1 Chinese Chef, Bread Baker, Soccer Player, Tennis Player, Noodle Maker, Sushi Maker, Driver, Teacher, or Ballet Dancer. The Swan follows the story of Masumi, who dreams of becoming a ballerina despite her indifferent training at an obscure ballet school in Hokkaido. She bursts in backstage at a performance of Swan Lake to meet the Russian dancers, but when they speak to her, she is so overwhelmed that she can’t speak, and dances to express her emotion instead. She falls, and feels totally humiliated, but someone sees a spark of greatness in her impromptu performance, and she soon finds heself invited to take part in a national competition. Matsumi meets some of her idols and finds herself dancing with them. The Swan has many little footnotes explaining the history of the ballets mentioned and defining dance techniques. It is the type of manga I’d give to a kid who liked reading Noel Streatfeild’s Ballet Shoes book. Do people still read Streatfeild? I loved reading the “shoes” books when I was young. The Swan was cute, and I was happy to pick it up at bargain prices. I’m not super crazy about ballet so I probably won’t read the later volumes.

Threads of Time, as the title suggests, deals with time travel. Moon Bin Kim is haunted by the past, in his dreams and waking life. One day he find himself waking up in the 13th century, and his only link to the present is a pack of cigarettes. He sees 13th century versions of his friends and parents, and everyone is expecting him to act like the proper son of a noble family. What the heck is going on? Will he be able to go back to the present, or does he have to stay and deal with invading Mongols? I found myself intrigued by the time travel and the setting in historic Korea, I might try to check the later volumes of this series out from the library.