Fruit Baskets

Plot

When high school student Tohru Honda's mother dies when she is hit by a car on her way to work, and, after moving out of her grandfather's house temporarily, Tohru begins living in a tent and supporting herself. That is, until she finds a home in the least likely of places, inhabited by her classmate Yuki Sohma and his cousins Shigure and Kyo. The Sohmas however, live with a curse. Twelve (not including Kyo, who is the cat) members of the family are possessed by spirits of the Chinese zodiac and turn into their zodiac animal when hugged by the opposite gender, are weak, or when under stress. When Tohru discovers the Sohmas' secret, she promises not to tell and is allowed to keep living with them. Although the Sohmas' curse is deeper and darker than Tohru realized, her presence soon becomes a large, positive influence on those possessed by the zodiac. She sets out to break the curse, and on the way, meets and discovers each of the Sohma's vengeful zodiac spirits. Each has a different personality, just like the animals in the Chinese zodiac. Tohru's existence changes the Sohma clan's lives forever...

Differences between manga and anime

The anime itself is based, very faithfully, on the original manga by Natsuki Takaya. As the manga was still ongoing during the anime's production, the animated series makes some changes to the story. Several events are combined, and some events, such as Tohru's first meeting with Momiji and all references to Tohru's baseball hat, never happen. The anime makes no mention of the fact that Yuki and Kyo have met Tohru's mother, or that Kyo blames himself for her death. Many of the events surrounding the revealing of Kyo's true form are greatly changed in the anime, including adding an extended chase sequence, Tohru meeting Akito in the woods none of which happen in the manga.

While the anime faithfully adapts most of the characters from the manga series, it does make some changes. In the manga, Momiji is half-German and half-Japanese and regularly speaks German, particularly when he first meets Tohru, while in the anime no German is spoken.Shigure's darker side is toned down in the anime, with many remarks he makes in the manga that hint at a hidden agenda are left out, along with most of his early scenes with Akito.In the anime, Akito is biologically male and will die at a young age because of the curse,while in the manga, Akito is biologically female but brought up as male and is not dying. Additionally, Isuzu "Rin" Sohma, the Horse, and Kureno Sohma, the Rooster, are never mentioned or shown in the anime and are only in the manga. Finally, the curse is not lifted in the anime.