Fruits Basket Collector's Edition, Vol. 1 (Volume 1) (Fruits Basket Collector's Edition, 1)

Amazon once again has pushed reviews over from a different version of this product. In this case, most of the 150+ reviews here are for the out of print Tokyo Pop version of this manga. I do not like Amazon's practice of doing this and I want you to know that THIS review is for the actual Yen Press Collectors Edition of Fruits Basket that came out in the U.S. in June of 2016. My "real" score for this version would be 4.5 stars if Amazon would let me dock a half star. This edition is not perfect but because Fruits Basket is such a strong manga, it makes up for the few shortcomings.The book itself is an over-sized manga, a bit bigger than most that are released today. If you get other manga from Seven Seas or Shonen Jump, you will see immediately that the size of this book is bigger by an inch on both sides. That's a good thing as there is more room for Takaya's art to spread out as intended. I always found Furuba a difficult manga to read as a fan-sub because of the odd panel shape that Takaya uses for much of her layout. It is wonderful to see in print and flows well in a two-page layout.The book is also not without a few shortcomings. The Tokyo Pop version released previously contained all the authors side notes that had been included in the Japanese versions. Those have been removed in the new Collector's Editions and Takaya explained that she did this because most were out of date and not relevant anymore. If you are familiar with these, you will know that many of the notes were about her gaming habits and eating habits - interesting tidbits but hardly worth saving for posterity. I, personally, do not miss them but some purists might balk that they have been removed. Another thing I do not like about the book is the cover. They used a flat, non-glossy cover on these editions. For a "Collector's Edition" I would have expected better. The flat cover feels a bit chalky in the hand and it certainly will not slide onto a shelf easily when you put your books away. I'd have rather seen a nice glossy cover on these editions. (Update - Yen Press seems to have changed the cover paper (from volume 3 on) to a semi-gloss that's a bit shinier and smoother than the paper they used for volumes 1 and 2. It's much nicer paper and feels better in-hand. It also can be wiped off and doesn't show fingerprints or dirt as badly as the first two volumes. It's a welcome change and improves an already outstanding manga.)These editions do contain full color pages at the beginning. I believe many of these were included with the Japanese versions as well and they have been collected from the original volumes and reprinted here. Yen Press DID use glossy paper for the color pages and they look wonderful. The black and white printed pages are also nice to look at. I compared this edition to some of my Shonen Jump manga and can say that the paper quality seems better on this Yen Press version than the Shonen Jump titles. It's a bit smoother and the artwork is nice and crisp.Finally, the story itself is truly a manga masterpiece. If you haven't read Furuba yet, you owe it to yourself to pick up this new version and start losing yourself in the world of Tohru Honda and the Sohmas. And if you've only seen the anime version of this story they I can't stress enough how much more you will enjoy the manga. There is so much more to this rich story. You will also not be disappointed with the translation offered here. Yen Press did a fine job translating this from the original Japanese and I have yet to find any problems as I read through the first volume. It's easy to follow and is a huge step up for those of you who might have only seen this as an "Engrish" fan-sub. Yen Press has also included translation notes at the end of the book that clarify cultural differences that might have been left in place during translation. These are very helpful and enhance the story.Overall, this version is well done and highly recommended for those of us who were not able to obtain copies of Fruits Basket because it had gone out of print. These new versions truly fill a void that had existed in the manga world during the time that Furuba wasn't available. And for those of you that might have only seen the anime, you owe it to yourself to read the manga. There is so much more to this story and you will not be disappointed with this true manga classic.

Tokyo Pop did the original translations for English back in the day. I can tell you now that Tokyo Pop watered down the series context and translations like you don't believe. It's basically the 4Kids version of manga localization.I love this version because the translation is direct and waters down nothing. It's nitty-gritty and direct like the japanese version, and I appreciate that. It really gives you a new look into these characters because they are saying things that are much different from TP's translation.I love the size of the book. The cover and spine have excellent designs that are very asceticly pleasing.I highly recommend people to buy these versions for the translation, and the fact it has several books worth of story in it. The original manga reached 24 books and there is 12 books in this collectors edition, so each of those 12 books have several of the 24 in each of them.

Fruits Basket was my first Manga I read and I decided to try it because of Hannah over at The Rainy Reader. The Fruits Basket story is super fun and cute. I read the first volume of the Collectors Edition and although it took me a bit to get used to the way you read a manga. Read right to left and you flip the pages from back to front.The story was what initially intrigued me to try reading it. The story is based around a young girl name Tohru Honda. Her mother has recently died and as a result she ends up living in a tent on the private land of the Sohma clan. The owners of the land discover her and Tohru quickly realizes the most popular guy in her school, Yuki Sohma, lives in a house on this land. The family decides to take Tohru in and she discovers their secret… Anytime a member of the Sohma clan is hugged by someone of the opposite gender they turn into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.I love all the characters Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo are my favorites so far. Toward the end of this volume you start to meet other members of the clan, and I’m super excited for that! The characters are easy to relate to and I find myself so engrossed in the story that I’m often turning pages without enjoying the art work so I often must go back and check it out. The art work in this story is stunning, the way the emotions jump off the page is brilliant.My goal this year was to start reading different types of books and break out of my comfort zone a bit. Fruits Basket allowed me to do that! I hope you’ll give it a try.

If you feel as if you're the awkward one, the one who is left behind; even if you try your hardest, then Tohru Honda is there to sympathize through her kindness and quirky/shy personality.Fruits Basket is my, and with many others, first anime they have ever watched. The series is covered in nostalgia and reminds me that there is always a good side in something so diverse and such a reputation as anime. The story starts with introducing our main character, Tohru Honda, a highschooler who had just recently lost her very loving mother, and because she has no money, lives in a tent. She ends up stumbling upon the Sohma household, who has a curse of the "zodiac". That's the beginning basis, and from there, the story is very heartwarming and also heartbreaking. Each and every one of the characters is full of life in their own way. Though I haven't really read too much of the manga yet, I do know that it goes a little bit further than the show. This edition is much bigger than the original tokyo pop version.This series as a whole is a classic, and would be classified under Slice of Life, Fantasy, and probably some Comedy/Romance.

This is my first time reading fruits basket compared to the anime. Can't wait to see what's different and more to what happens after toru sees kyos true form.

Fruits Basket has been my favourite series since I was about 13. On the surface, it seems like a silly tale full of fluff and slightly ridiculous plot points, but if you stick with it you start to see a truly beautiful story that would be as heartwarming even without the antics of a cursed family and a schoolgirl who lives in a tent. You'll see past the slightly-dodgy artwork of the early volumes (it gets better, trust me!)Stick with it, and you see a story of friendship, and all the redeeming qualities therein. You see these characters, all of whom are victims of circumstance and carry back-breaking emotional baggage, learn to like themselves and to forgive their pasts and each other. You see romances blossom, and friendships form in unlikely places.This story, fundamentally, is about healing. The characters' journeys towards self-acceptance is a beautiful thing, but the magic of Fruits Basket will, in some small way, probably heal you a little bit too.I have to admit, this manga has been a source of great personal comfort for me over the years, and after losing my original copies in a house move I honestly thought I'd never own it again, once it went out of print. And yet here it is, in all its glory (and more, the collector's edition is beautiful!)Give Furuba a shot. You won't regret it. I still cry at the final chapters, after all this time.

One of the first mangas I ever read and it's still a firm favourite! The story is nice and light, but intriguing too. Characters are all very likeable and I'd definitely recommend this to anyone starting out ready manga. (It's great that's there's a brilliant anime for it too!). The book itself is lovely quality, nice and big, with clear pictures and writing. Very happy with the purchase and would definitely recommend.

I've loved Fruits Basket for about 7 yrs now, it was the first manga I read and I have copies of the first and second Tokyopop manga, this book is both together, with the bonus of coloured illustration pages and translators notes. While this edition does not have the mangaka's original notes and commentaries, they are replaced with new, adorable, illustrations. The cover is beautiful with Tohru on the front and Kyoko on the back. Overall, an incredible book and would recommend to anyone, especially Fruba fans!

Very happy with volume 1. Cant wait to start reading it. Beautiful artwork. Book arrived in immaculate condition, no damage.Excited to receive volume 2 and 3 😁 Hopefully they will be in as good condition as Tohru and Kyoko was in 😁😁

good