Anime Best in Show

Review: Fruits Basket Episode 01 – Best in Show

Quick Summary

In Fruits Basket episode 1, “See you after school,” Tooru Honda does her best to be cheerful, helpful, and hard working. Given how she recently lost her mother, given how her family argued over who would take her in, and given how her grandfather just asked her to stay with friends, it’s a wonder she can smile at all! She stumbles upon the house where Yuki Souma lives with his cousin, and she’s conflicted: should she walk to school with him and risk not only the wrath of his fan club, but of him finding out her secret? And just why would Yuki, one of the most popular boys in school, want to walk to school with her, anyway?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious. 

Even as she wrapped Tooru in a sustaining hug, Arisa told Saki, “Hanajima, don’t actually do the wave thing.” Capture from the Crunchyroll stream

Best Moment in the Show

Given how much I loved the original series, and given how confidently beautiful the first episode looked, I suspected it would be hard to pick a single moment as my favorite. And I was right! But since I have to pick just one moment for the new “Best in Show” feature, I’m going to go with a moment that was early in the episode. Tooru had just walked to school with Yuki, so the girls in his fan club were furious with her. They tried to bully her into staying away from him, but Tooru’s two protectors, Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima, arrived. I don’t know what happened before, but I know this: Arisa alone terrified all four of the other girls! Almost as soon as she arrived, the fan club tried to take a stand to show they weren’t afraid. That’s when Saki said she’d use her “waves” to do something censored to them. They didn’t walk — they ran away (5:41). That was cool and all, but my favorite moment? When Arisa responded to Tooru’s gratitude by giving her a huge hug while Saki kept an eye out for danger. With everything Tooru’s had to go through, I actually felt relieved that she had two such loyal friends. Not only that, but the scene helped me remember just how much I liked Saki’s character! 

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4 thoughts on “Review: Fruits Basket Episode 01 – Best in Show

  1. That was a great moment. I have to admit, after the previews I was skeptical about the character designs. There was a comic punch in one of the previews and it felt those designs weren’t really compatible with that slapstick humour. Luckily, I was wrong. It works perfectly fine. I loved the first episode and it measures up well to the first series. I don’t think I could pick a favourite moment, mostly because the episode just flowed so well, that I can’t help seeing it as a unit.

    1. “I have to admit, after the previews I was skeptical about the character designs.”

      I was, too. The original is so impressed in my imagination that it was hard to see the characters as anything except their original.

      “Luckily, I was wrong. It works perfectly fine.”

      Wasn’t that a relief?

      “I don’t think I could pick a favourite moment, mostly because the episode just flowed so well, that I can’t help seeing it as a unit.”

      I joke about it sometimes — that it’s hard to pick 3 moments (in my full size reviews) and now 1 in the Best in Show review. But you’re absolutely right: this show made it really hard! I felt like apologizing to all the other moments for not picking them!

      I thought I’d outgrown anthropomorphizing…

  2. This will be a useless comment but tooru is too cute. Especially in the scenes from your thumbnail. I’m watching fruits basket 2019 without any prior knowledge of the series by the way.

    1. Your comment says that Tooru is too cute. That means it’s impossible to be useless!

      Truth is always useful!

      “I’m watching fruits basket 2019 without any prior knowledge of the series by the way.”

      If this version is anywhere near the original, and if you liked the first episode, I think you’re in for a treat!

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