The title of this side book to the Fruits Basket manga proper alludes to Kyo's place in the Zodiac. Just as Kyo is not technically a member of the Zodiac but still loved by fans, the premise goes, this entry is not technically...
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The title of this side book to the Fruits Basket manga proper alludes to Kyo's place in the Zodiac. Just as Kyo is not technically a member of the Zodiac but still loved by fans, the premise goes, this entry is not technically part of Fruits Basket proper but will hopefully be loved by fans as well. Unfortunately, the entry is no Kyo. The largest chunk of the book consists of character bios that act as a recap of the first 17 volumes of the series which the average fan won't find necessary - same for the games and quizzes. Talk of family trees will pique interest, but unfortunately they turn out to be mini immediate family trees for each subject of the character bios. Translation: we don't learn any more than what we already know, namely that Ayame and Yuki are brothers and the rest of the Zodiac members and Kyo are their cousins. Anyone hoping to find out exactly how closely related each of the cousins are via a master tree will be disappointed. The poll results range from interesting (Shigure and Momiji's positions in the two favorite character poll results - one presumably pre-summer house incident and the other presumably post-summer house incident - are telling) to who-did-they-ask head scratching (Yuki and Haru's friendship doesn't even make the top 20 on the favorite relationship poll??). The interview with creator Natsuki Takaya is interesting, but not worth the price of the volume alone. Which brings us to the real reason most of us would buy this book - the presumption from the description that it would include a "lost chapter" conclusion to the Ritsu/Mitsuru subplot - a reasonable assumption considering Natsuki Takaya's previous mention in a series proper sidebar that she'd like to do a little more with them but probably wouldn't be able to because the major storylines had gone too far. What we get is a set of one page shorts, involving several different characters, of varying quality - one of which follows the new couple on an amusing if slightly disturbing date. In fact, the best and funniest short actually involves Kyo's theoretical reaction were he to read the head trip that was volume 17. Ultimately, anyone who must have every single scrap of Fruits Basket material will pick this up no matter what anyone says. Everyone else might be better off saving their money - including Ritsu fans, who wouldn't really lose that much by leaving his relationship with Mitsuru where we last saw it - which in my opinion left us enough to work with to make a good assumption that things would go well for them once he actually worked up the nerve to ask her out. Comment | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)
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