A review by hoatzin
Fruits Basket Collector's Edition, Vol. 1 by Natsuki Takaya

Reread: BEGIN. This is my first time rereading Furuba since I read it in middle school so here we goooo. I originally read it in the single volumes series; my library has since replaced them with the omnibuses. The collector's edition have cropped the author's notes out (she didn't like them, says her note at the end) and I also noticed that they changed the translation a little. Kyo's hated greens are now chives instead of leeks, for some reason. Kyo also talks in a slangy lowbrow kind of way? Like he drops his 'g's at the end of words, and curses sometimes (gasp!). At one point he says "his ass would be grass" which is just. hm. I see. It does make him seem more dorky than brooding like the original. On the other hand it makes Yuki sound like much more of an asshole. I don't really know why they'd bother changing the translation but whatever. Maybe they wanted it to sound more american/casual and be more easily understood, but it's a collector's edition so the only ones reading it are people who are already fans? I didn't mind the formality and explanatory notes in the original so it's a little annoying.

As for the story! It gets deep a lot faster than I remember ajdkfak. All this stuff is only in the first two books??? I thought all these plotlines happened in like. the first 5 and THEN shit started going down, but nope. I think the anime (original not reboot) warped my brain to remember the first sections as more goofy and slice-of-life/high school shenanigans than there actually are. MANY iconic moments and panels in this book. The plum on your back! Yuki and Tohru saving the garden! Yuki and Kyo ditching the banquet! Tohru going to meet Hatori at the main house!
Kagura weirds me out even more now. Tohru's family pisses me off even more. Momiji is more serious than I remember.
Next time: Hatsuharu time!