Series Title: Fruits Basket Another
Author: Natsuki Takaya
Volumes Reviewed: 3 (complete)
Publisher: Yen Press
Release Date: July 2018 - November 2019
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Content Rating: Older Teen (toxic verbal child abuse)
Format Read: Paperback
Find On: Goodreads
Purchase: Azon | B&N | BookDepo | Indiebound | RightStuf
Summary (from Volume 1):
Sawa Mitoma, a shy and unconfident girl, has just started high school, and it's already not going well...until she makes friends meets the President and Vice-President of the student council. But little does she know, they're Sohmas!? It's Fruits Basket...again!
* * *
Series Note: This is a 3-volume sequel series to the 23-volume original series, Fruits Basket. You can check out my review of the original FB series here.
Known for writing stories about teens in emotionally and familially suffocating situations, mangaka Natsuki Takaya offers yet another such story in Fruits Basket Another, the sequel to her award-winning series, Fruits Basket. Saddled with a toxic and verbally abusive single mother, Sawa Mitoma moves through life with her head down and tries not to be a bother to anyone. But when she is noticed and befriended in high school by the infamous Sohmas, she opens up and begins to want to do more with her life than just exist. At only 3 volumes her heavy story doesn't have enough time for a "happily ever after" end - Takaya isn't known for them either - but it does have a hopeful one as she finds the strength to start making a better life for herself with good friends and a possible love interest.
Originally created to commemorate the sale of the original Fruits Basket collector's edition in Japan, this story features the children of the original FB cast and to completely understand the many references to it in this sequel trilogy I highly recommend you read the original series first. Like FB though, it focuses primarily on a Sohma outsider, Sawa, and how she is changed by befriending the Sohmas. Exactly who Sawa is began a mystery as the Sohmas seem to know her even though they've never met. The mystery was intriguing, and the revelation emotional, but at only 3 volumes it wasn't long enough to do something with proper depth, and the rather unguessable answer was somewhat disappointing.
But despite the short length and heavy content, I quite enjoyed FBA. The delightful and genetically eccentric Sohma offspring acted a lot like their parents and mentioned them often, visiting familiar FB places and alluding to FB inside jokes with ease and amusement. Sawa was a sweet girl with a good heart, just the kind of heroine you can appreciate from author Takaya, and her start down the path to empowerment was a beautiful thing to behold and root for. Takaya's artwork has become somewhat simple but her eyes are very expressive, and you can still count on her for loud bursts of overly emotional flailing. Overall I can easily recommend Fruits Basket Another for contemporary manga readers, although you really must read the original Fruits Basket first to fully appreciate it. Takaya expressed in her note at the end of the last volume that she would like to draw more of the series if possible, and I would definitely be interested in continuing the lives and stories of these characters as well. Fingers crossed for someday.
For Fans Of: Fruits Basket
Scribble Rating:
Known for writing stories about teens in emotionally and familially suffocating situations, mangaka Natsuki Takaya offers yet another such story in Fruits Basket Another, the sequel to her award-winning series, Fruits Basket. Saddled with a toxic and verbally abusive single mother, Sawa Mitoma moves through life with her head down and tries not to be a bother to anyone. But when she is noticed and befriended in high school by the infamous Sohmas, she opens up and begins to want to do more with her life than just exist. At only 3 volumes her heavy story doesn't have enough time for a "happily ever after" end - Takaya isn't known for them either - but it does have a hopeful one as she finds the strength to start making a better life for herself with good friends and a possible love interest.
Originally created to commemorate the sale of the original Fruits Basket collector's edition in Japan, this story features the children of the original FB cast and to completely understand the many references to it in this sequel trilogy I highly recommend you read the original series first. Like FB though, it focuses primarily on a Sohma outsider, Sawa, and how she is changed by befriending the Sohmas. Exactly who Sawa is began a mystery as the Sohmas seem to know her even though they've never met. The mystery was intriguing, and the revelation emotional, but at only 3 volumes it wasn't long enough to do something with proper depth, and the rather unguessable answer was somewhat disappointing.
But despite the short length and heavy content, I quite enjoyed FBA. The delightful and genetically eccentric Sohma offspring acted a lot like their parents and mentioned them often, visiting familiar FB places and alluding to FB inside jokes with ease and amusement. Sawa was a sweet girl with a good heart, just the kind of heroine you can appreciate from author Takaya, and her start down the path to empowerment was a beautiful thing to behold and root for. Takaya's artwork has become somewhat simple but her eyes are very expressive, and you can still count on her for loud bursts of overly emotional flailing. Overall I can easily recommend Fruits Basket Another for contemporary manga readers, although you really must read the original Fruits Basket first to fully appreciate it. Takaya expressed in her note at the end of the last volume that she would like to draw more of the series if possible, and I would definitely be interested in continuing the lives and stories of these characters as well. Fingers crossed for someday.
For Fans Of: Fruits Basket
Scribble Rating:
4 of 5 Scribbles
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