Unfortunately it's only to help promote the launch of the collectors edition of Fruits Basket and therefore Tohru, Kyo and Yuki will not be featured in the series.
Still it got me really excited and I immediately started re-watching the anime and then read the manga. I'd forgotten how absolutely beautiful it is! Tohru, you angel!
But once i'd finished reading the manga I thought i'd cry, I was so excited about it and here i'd just read and watched everything in less than two days....yikes.
So I began reading another of her works;
Hoshi Wa Utau
Another beautiful manga, though i'd say even darker than Fruits Basket.
Everyone has such a tragic backstory.
It begins with a young, small girl in her first year of High School, Sakuya Shiina. She is smiling now but for a long time she never did, abandoned by her mother, neglected by her father and abused by her step mother she was sent to live with her cousin when her father grew tired of keeping her around. She would look to the stars for help and comfort, watching them twinkle and listening to the songs they sing.
Her cousin, Kanade Murakami, worked hard to try and live up to his parents standards but the stress overwhelmed him and could never preform to their standards. He was cast aside by his parents and lived a solitary life indoors. After they began to live together he still locked himself away, changing his schedules in order to avoid meeting Saku, he lived for nothing. Until Saku-can came and showed him her light, she made friends and began to smile, it became clear to him that she just wanted someone to care for her and she'd care for them. They grew closer and Kanade-san began to mature and look for a job both helping eachother stay stable.
Saku-can's best friend is a strange, rich and beautiful girl who is loved by her parents and who wants nothing more than to protect Saku from crying. She uses people to get what she wants and has no regrets over her actions, she ruthless and cunning.
Yuri Murakami is another of her friends, he's energetic and popular. He lost both of his parents in an accident and lives with his brother and grandmother. He's never let himself feel down, he worked hard and made sure he was happy, but when he first saw Saku she was an empty shell. Never smiling, it was like she was drifting in the wind. He called out to her, made fun of her, but soon he realised the pain he caused and apologised. This was a changing point for both of them, Saku opened up to another person and Yuuri began to realise others pain.
The story really begin on Saku's birthday when a young man, Saku's age, arrived at her house on her birthday. He carried a box with a sakura coloured dress.
His name was Chihiro Aoi.
He complimented Saku on her character, and her strength to keep on smiling. From that moment Saku was captivated by Chihiro, she loved him.
After the party he left and then Saku and Kanade realised neither of them knew who he was but each thought the other did. He was a stranger and both were confused, Kanade more angry though.
Chihiro Aoi, it turns out is the new transfer student. Saku is overjoyed to see him again but he's different from before. Angry. He doesn't like Saku for a long time, always complaining about her and telling her to stay away. Neither the reader or Saku can understand this strange transition.
She however doesn't give up, she keeps coming back to him, hoping that they can become friends.
He gets roped into joining their 'Star viewing appreciation' club by Hijiri Honjo who everyone is too scared to say no too.
Chihiro lets go of whatever grudge he's holding and begins to let Saku in. They become close and Saku falls deeper in love.
Chihiro has a dark past too.
He ran away from Tokyo. His mother only ever loved him when she didn't have a man, as soon as she had one she'd send him out and tell him not to return. He was lonely. After he joined middle school he met a girl named Sakura. She was bullied by her classmates and he saw in her the same emptiness and hate he felt. They grew close, relying on each other to make it though the hard times, they were 'in love', until they went to separate high schools. Chihiro thought everything was okay because she never said anything to the contrary. Then Sakura was discovered hanging from a Sakura tree in her old middle school. Her life was saved but she lived in a coma. Chihiro wallowed in self pity, grief and hatred for a long time before his uncle came and brought him to live with him, away from Tokyo. Which is how he came to meet Saku and the other.
This manga is heart- wrenching and painful. I cried at the end and had a lump in my throat for most of it. It was beautiful but horribly sad, what I think made it so sad is how real it was. Life can be cruel, this manga really tried to highlight that, but you can make it through the pain with the right help and guidance.
I felt hopeful after finishing this manga.
Her stories are amazing, they show the good and bad in the world in such a direct way that you can't ignore the pain or love. It's confusing sometimes to read and see how someone who's been treated so badly can somehow manage to open up, this counts for real life too.
It's amazing how much I feel I've learned from reading a manga.
Author/ Artist: Takaya Natsuki
Released: 2008
Status: Completed
Genre: Comedy, Drama, School Life, Romance, Tragedy, Shoujo
MANGAFOX RANK; 3328TH
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