Finished all 73 episodes of Fruits Basket remake + the movie. This was the kind of experience that makes me appreciate what anime has to offer when the effort and direction is there. It adapted the source material almost panel by panel, just as I remembered it, and delivered a sincere message about processing trauma that can be appreciated by anyone.
There were about 20 notable characters in this show. Every single one was given a backstory, development, and a chance to narrate the story from their perspective. All of them had in common struggles with past instances of abuse, neglect or grief that made it difficult for them to move forward in life, and a lot of the anime is spent working through those issues with the help of others. The emotional pay off once they do face their problems head on and break the (literal) curse hanging over their lives is cathartic to watch, as there's so much internal suffering happening to likable personalities throughout this show. and it gets....really ugly, before getting any better.
I thought the two predominant themes were - it's difficult, if not impossible, to sincerely love another if you loathe yourself. That forgiveness is necessary to move forward, as hard as that may be, but some things are so vile that not everyone is able to ever let go of how they were wronged. Both themes were developed well throughout.
Pretty easily a 10/10, top 5 anime kind of thing for me. Best of its genre.
best op/ed -
