From the first few moments of Fruits Basket, the differences with the original 2001 anime are immediately obvious. TMS Entertainment, who can count the beautiful Orange among its exhaustive back catalogue, bring a similar aesthetic here with lush animation and even dust motes looking more like glitter. The character models have been cleaned up from the original series, but there’s no mistaking the boys of the Chinese zodiac, nor Tohru Honda who helps them work through their issues, pain and trauma whilst easing her own burden. For all the differences from the first go-round at adapting Natsuki Takaya’s seminal shojo manga – who serves as executive supervisor – there’s enough flourishes for fans of the Studio Deen series to feel nostalgic. More than a few times I noticed a flutter of familiar notes in the soundtrack, by turns jubilant and moody. Though the 2019 series sports a new voice cast and talent, the biggest change is that it faithfully – even stubbornly – follows the source material. When the story starts, Tohru is living in a tent and nursing her bereavement having only recently lost her mother. Fruits Basket is imbued with a real, almost tangible, sense of loss. Of [...]

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