Episode 27: Harem May part 1
Disclaimer: The following consists of material owned by Studio DEEN, Funimation, and Natsuki Takaya not me.
"Hello I'm the Classic critic; I remember it so you're not required to and welcome to Harem May!" Airnaruto said as a title screen of Airnaruto getting smothered and then later beaten to a pulp by a slew of female characters, before he held up a sign that said Harem May on it.
"This is my tribute to the Harem genre of Anime whether it be forward or reverse but only in the traditional sense I'm not a yaoi or yuri lover." Airnaruto said to clarify.
"So to kick it off I'm going to be looking at a series that really hit at home for me in terms of it's plot, character interaction and development and darker undertones; Fruits Basket." Airnaruto said.
Plot:
"The plot revolves around a young high school girl named Tohru Honda who had lost her mother in a car accident several months before the start of the series. Now she's decided to live on her own in a tent in the woods so she won't be a burden to her distant relations, but she soon finds a house belonging to three members of the Sohma family occupied by her classmate Yuki and two of his cousins; Shigure and Kyo. However for these three and ten other members of the family there is a dark side." Airnaruto said before he showed a scene of Tohru slipping on a piece of debris from Kyo crashing through the roof, falling forward and inadvertently hugging Kyo from behind.
Tohru to Kyo: I'm so sorry, are you alright? (Notices that he's a cat) AAH! I turned him into a cat!
"Yeah apparently 13 members of the Sohma family are cursed to be possessed by the spirits of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac plus the cat who according to the old fable got cheated out of his spot by the rat which occurs whenever; one of them is weak, gets sick, or is hugged by a member of the opposite gender." Airnaruto said before laughing a little bit. "When Tohru discovers the Sohmas' secret, she promises not to tell and is allowed to keep living with them as a housekeeper after her tent gets destroyed in a rock slide. The Sohma's curse, however, is deeper and darker than Tohru realizes, but 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" Airnaruto said after regaining his composure. "However in my opinion, that doesn't change the fact that the plot as a whole can be taken as heads and tails." Airnaruto said before explaining. "On one hand the curse does provide for some nice slapstick moments with the occasional man-service." Airnaruto said as the scene changed to the first time Tohru sees Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo change back.
Shigure (as a dog): We change back after a while but…
(Poof)
(Kyo, Yuki, and Shigure return to human form but they're naked)
Tohru: Screams!
"While on the other hand it leads to massive psychological scarring on some the family which I'm not going to spoil you're going to have to find out on your own." Airnaruto said before moving on to the shows design and art.
Design and Animation:
"The animation for this show is decent, but compared to some of today's anime it looks slightly dated but only slightly. Then again this was released by Studio DEEN back in 2001, so it's forgivable. The character models are a little over simplified with one of the calling cards of Shojo anime, the big bug-eyed look, and the backgrounds are equally simple even if some of things that are animated defy the laws of physics." Airnaruto said before showing a clip of Shigure pulling on a blanket that has Tohru on the other end.
Shigure (Thinking): Why does this feel so heavy? (looks up and sees Tohru) Uh-oh!
CRASH! POOF!
(Shigure turns into a dog)
"See what I mean?" Airnaruto asked.
Music and voice acting:
"Now the music for the show, well I won't lie here it's simple and while sometimes tear jerking, or even gut busting it's also boring as shit." Airnaruto said as he played the non-vocalized version of the Fruits opening and closing themes.
(Opening theme plays first, followed by the closing)
"I can say that the voice acting was superb in both languages but I would say check out the English dub. I mean Laura Bailey pulls off Tohru very well and makes her almost as much of a saint in her words as in her actions throughout the show, Eric Vale plays Yuki with a very subtle tone but it's pretty good, Jerry Jewell makes Kyo come off like a loose cannon but then again he's supposed to be a loose cannon cat, Chad Kline will send shivers up and down your spine as Akito and trust me Akito's a load of bitch." Airnaruto said without really spoiling anything, finally the funniest role in this show goes to Ayame played by Christopher R. Sabat." Airnaruto said showing a scene of Kyo and Ayame sitting at the table for breakfast with Kyo obviously pissed at Ayame.
Kyo: WHY DIDN'T YOU GO SLEEP IN SHIGURE'S ROOM LIKE YESTERDAY?
Ayame: Because Shigure would have kept me up all night.
The camera cut back to Airnaruto who had a somewhat disgusted look on his face. "I don't know if I should laugh or throw up at that comment." Airnaruto said.
"The only flaws I can find with the show is, that the darker themes are toned down a little too much when you compare it to its source material, the music as I mentioned before is boring as shit, and Tohru doesn't meet all of the cursed family members in the anime out of all those cursed by the zodiac she meets; the dog, the snake, the ox, the monkey, the rabbit, the rat, the cat, the dragon, the tiger, the sheep, and the pig. We never see or meet the horse or the rooster in the anime. My final complaint with the show is the incest romances in the Sohma family. Granted that this is common in Japanese culture but still, when are people inJapangoing to learn that incest leads to sterility further down the line. I mean as far as I know, out of all the characters in this series that even get that are Kyo and Yuki but you'll have to read the manga to figure out what I mean by that." Airnaruto said before giving his final thoughts.
Final thoughts
"Over all Fruits Basket, has all those moments that will make you bust a gut, shed a tear, or in some cases want to throw up. The characters are remembable, and while the story is a little more sugarcoated than the source material it's still a decent watch for both genders. I give Fruits Basket a rating of 3 ½ stars out of 5." Airnaruto said.
"Well folks that's it for now. Be sure to tune in next week when we really go old school with part 2 of Harem May…" Airnaruto said before he got hit with a bucket of cold water and got turned into a panda. Sighing Airnaruto pulled out a sign from out of nowhere that read: "Next week's review: Ranma ½, I'm the Classic Critic; I remember it so you're not required to." Then Airnaruto turned the sign around and this time it read: "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a nice long hot shower."
Fruits Basket Recap
Pros: some moments will tug at your heart strings
The characters are pretty likable,
The comedy is timed properly,
Pretty good for an early 2000s English Dub.
Chris R. Sabat is hilarious as Ayame,
The gags have a bit of subtle maturity
Cons: Opening and ending themes even the music on the whole sounds boring as shit
The build for the main antagonist falls flat
Not all the cursed members of the Sohma family appear.
Overblown with incest and homosexual innuendos
Final Rating: ***1/2 out 5
Well gang there you have it part 1 of Harem May is complete until next time read and review folks.