The Mixed nuts and fruits of Fruits Basket

dried nuts and fruits Fruits Basket is a pretty good case study of what happens when you take a clever idea and push it around in a small circle for twenty-plus episodes. A series that is nearly magical in small doses becomes merely charming in larger ones, and slightly tedious before it ends.The series centers on Tohru Honda, a high school girl with an absurdly hard-luck life. Recently orphaned and not exactly welcomed into the lives of her nearest relatives, she supports herself with menial after-school jobs and lives in a tent in the woods. Nonetheless, even in the worst adversity she remains almost psychotically cheerful¡ªI would carefully emphasize the word "psychotic" in those scenes where she talks to the photo of her late mother¡ªbut happily finds her circumstances improved when she falls into the company of the Sohmas.These are a wealthy clan of shapechangers, themselves living somewhat apart from the rest of the world. That's because they suffer under a "zodiac" curse: Certain members of the family will, when embraced by a member of the opposite sex, temporarily change into one of the animal members of the zodiac. Tohru is taken in by Shigure Sohma, a bachelor novelist who shares his house with one of Tohru's schoolmates, the immensely popular "Prince" Yuki. Shigure and Yuki are touched by Tohru's story and her spirit, and agree to let her stay with them in return for doing cooking and cleaning duties. They are eventually joined by Kyo, who is on bad terms with most of the other members of the Sohma clan. And as the series progresses, Tohru meets more and more members of the family.There's no point in summarizing the series' plot: though it occasionally hints at a larger arc, mostly it's a loose, contiguous set of independent, self-contained stories. This isn't really a weakness, though, because it's the characters that make the series work. Tohru's corkscrew dementia is ultimately winning, even if you can never quite shake the suspicion that one bright morning will find her flashing a glassy, lopsided grin as she stirs a canister of rat poison into the communal coffee pot. But she is also sensitive, generous, and endearingly klutzy. The latter quality, mercifully, does not become the comic crutch it could have been, though more than one mildly farcical episode turns on her accidentally throwing her arms around a Sohma and turning him into an animal.Tohru isn't the only eccentric in the cast. Shigure is a kind-hearted but merciless tease; Yuki is equally kind-hearted, but coolly aloof; Kyo (the sufferer of a special aspect of the curse), is decent but has a hair-trigger temper. They and the other Sohmas never really evolve, but they are always colliding in interesting ways. And that, basically, is what the series offers: not a plot, per se, just the stuff that happens when a half-dozen sharp-elbowed characters knock repeatedly against each other.This is higher praise than it probably sounds. Most comedy movies and TV shows scrape by with a small cast of characters, and generate scenes by putting only two or three of their characters together at a time. However economical this is for a shooting schedule, it generally means they will play out the same few conflicts and character dynamics endlessly. Fruits Basket, though, delights in shoving large numbers of characters into a single setting and letting the dynamics shift kaleidoscopically as people enter and exit. Instead of the two-character rat-a-tat back-and-forth featured in most sitcoms, Fruits Basket will set up four- or five- or even six-cornered scenes, with each talker putting his or her own spin on the conversational ball. Rarely are the results merely zany; they are usually unpredictable, though, and often delivered with tremendous energy. Moreover, there are so many characters from so many backgrounds¡ªincluding not only the numerous Sohmas but various friends and rivals from Tohru's school¡ªthat no two such scenes ever play out exactly the same way.This is good, because though there isn't a single dull or mediocre episode in the series, after awhile they do begin to blend into one indistinct mass. The Sohmas are a varied clan, despite their common curse, and they each carry a different burden or tragic history. But they all tend to unclench in the same way after meeting Tohru: she doesn't meddle in their affairs, exactly, but she has a way of inspiring in each person she meets an epiphany or moment of insight that helps them better bear up under their circumstances. This is touching¡ªeven moving¡ªthe first few times it happens; but it just keeps happening; and by the time the series ends Tohru may begin to remind you of some ghastly, Nipponese-manufactured cross between Pollyana and the Terminator: an implacable Little Miss Fixit who might leave even Shirley Temple crying for mercy.Still, this is just a backhanded way of conceding how much good stuff there is in Fruits Basket, since it was the relentless repetition of the good stuff that wound up setting my teeth on edge. In controlled doses, you're not as likely to notice how formulaic its stories get toward the end.In North America, Fruits Basket also benefits from the work FUNimation has put into its English-language release. The cast, especially Laura Bailey as Tohru, John Burgmeier as Shigure, and Jerry Jewell as Kyo, lend their characters extra energy and quirkiness while also investing them with subtle characterization. Eric Vale as Yuki may have the hardest role, as he must walk a delicate line between being cool and being cold; and if his Yuki sometimes burns to the touch, like dry ice, well, even then it adds to the show's chemistry. I can't really speak to the faithfulness of FUNi's adaptation, but their script sparkles with wit.Fruits Basket, despite its title, is actually closer in feel to cotton candy: light, sweet, and having an almost magical sense of unreality. So delectable are the first dozen episodes that the viewer might be tempted to snorf down the whole series in a few sittings. That would be a mistake. After getting over the initial sugar rush, it would be better to take it in small bites. That way you can avoid a tummy ache while stretching out your experience of what actually is a very special show.