Cheap Fruits Basket, Vol. 2 - What Becomes of Snow (DVD) (Akitarô Daichi, Nagisa Miyazaki) Price

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Curses... Part 2.
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>Disc 2 of season one of Fruits Basket begins with an episode about teamwork. The students in Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo's class must make a rice ball stand, and they all have different ideas of how to run it. Ultimately they end up going with an idea of Yuki's, much to Kyo's annoyance. He also reveals to Tohru that he is envious of some of Yuki's personality traits, as Yuki revealed in the previous disc that he sometimes wishes he was like Kyo. This causes Tohru much contemplation, as she wishes that they could each openly admit their admiration for each other. On the day of the sale more Sohma's enter the picture. Momitchi (or Momiji) Sohma, the young boisterous lad who is possessed by the rabbit and Hatari (Ha'ri) Sohma who's animal manifests itself to appear as a seahorse, but in actuality is a dragon. They were both born in 1987 and 1976 respectively, as close as I can figure it. <
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>Hatari becomes an important plot element as some of his past is quickly revealed. He was, in fact, engaged to a woman, a member of the Sohma clan who is not a zodiac member (not all Sohma's are). He encounters difficulty when he tells Akito, the head of the Sohma house hold, that he and Kana are to be wed, and Akito acts out against this by harming Hatari permanently. This scene was actually one of the first in the series that made me cry...one of the first, which implies that there are more tear-jerker moments, and trust me there are many heart sickening moments that these unfortunate cursed people end up having to endure. <
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>Another character is also introduced, in fact it's my favorite character, Hatsuharu Sohma, Haru to the family. This young man is possessed by the spirit of the ox and is born in the year 1985. He physically resembles his animal counterpart, what with his white tipped hair and black roots... his hair is so white that Tohru mistakenly thinks he is an older man passed out on the ground when she first meets him. The thing that draws me to Haru is his "white/black" sides. See, when he is "white" Haru he is docile and pleasant, like a cow, but when he is "black" Haru he becomes enraged like the bull, and it's hard to keep him from harming people. He also seems to suffer Tourette's syndrome when he is black Haru, which I find hysterical. I guess I have always been inclined to split personality characters, I can blame this on the fact that I am a Gemini, I suppose. <
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>Again, the series is wonderful. I can't say enough good things about it. I love the animation, the soundtrack is wonderful, most of the scores are very well done. I have been watching it in the dubbed version (eek, I know, I'm so unfaithful) and I find all of the voice actors to be very good. One thing I have noticed in my years of watching anime is that the dubbed voice acting has improved ten thousand fold. This is good for me, as I can never sit down and just watch anything, so I must have the dubbed on in order to be able to hear it with whatever else I am doing. I guess my only complaint is that there are not enough girls in it, but there are enough beautiful boys in it that I am not unhappy. It is Shojo after all, and what would Shojo anime be without bizarre circumstances, beautiful boys, and gut wrenching scenarios... oh, and there is, indeed, the delicious love story/triangle in place, which I imagine will only become juicier as the series progresses. What's not to love about this series?

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Meet the Cousins
In this volume, Tohru meets three more Zodiac members as word of her starts to spread through the Sohma family. <
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>First there's Momiji the Rabbit, a hyper, friendly boy who's both more childish and wiser than his years. He hits it off with Tohru immediately and in most ways it's perhaps her easiest introduction. She'll need it, because soon after she's unnerved by a meeting with Hatori the Dragon. Although decent in and of himself, it's Hatori who will have to erase Tohru's memories if that's what word eventually comes down from Akito, so Yuki warns her never to let him see her alone. Finally there's Hatsuharu the Ox, who's pretty tight with Yuki (and not so much with Kyo) as the Zodiac legend told earlier implied. Haru's just about the nicest guy you could meet, his street tough appearance contrasting a sweet personality. Unfortunately he suffers a split personality that makes Kagura's seem tame by comparison, which makes his first meeting with Tohru a bit of an experience. <
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>After the meetings, we get one of the funniest episodes so far. Let's just say it involves Kyo, Kagura and Valentine's day. Be afraid. Be very afraid. <
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>As usual, mixed in with comedy is more than a little drama. Tohru sees Hatori in a different light when Momiji tells her his story; and she learns a little more about Yuki from Haru, who tells her how he developed a crush on him when Yuki helped him overcome his humiliation at being the family joke because the Ox blindly gave the Rat a free ride to the banquet. <
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>A wonderful continuation.

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Forever Furuba
'Furuba' is how many fans of the anime refer to this series. I became interested in it before I knew they had translated it to English and bought my subtitled DVDs from Hong Kong courtesy of EBay. ;-) <
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>Tohru is an ordinary high school girl with a good heart who tends to see the good in people. This has a tendency to bring out the good in the people she befriends, such as Uo, a former Yankee (gang member) and Hana (troublemaker from another school with the ability to sense things psychically). <
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>Before the beginning of the story, Tohru's mother dies when she's hit by a truck so Tohru goes to live with her paternal grandfather. When her grandfather's house is being remodeled to accommodate still more family, Tohru tells her grandfather that she will be all right and stay with her friends. Still, she knows that Hana has a large family and has no room and Uo has only one small room that she rents and that they really have no room; so she decides on her own to go and live in the woods while the renovations are underway. <
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>After all this is when this charming and engaging story begins. Through a series of misadventures and an accidental discovery, Tohru finds herself earning her keep as a housekeeper for Sohma Shigure rather than sleeping in the forest. Her housemates are Sohma Yuki and Sohma Kyo. <
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>It's not what you're thinking. She discovers a dark family secret of theirs (no, she's not blackmailing them) which enables her to become good friends as well as staying with them until the renovations are complete. You see, when they are hugged by a member of the opposite sex, they turn into animals representing characters from the legend behind the Chinese zodiac. Yuki becomes the rat, Shigure the dog -- and Kyo's the cat who was tricked and then left behind. <
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>The story continues from there as we meet the rest of the members of the Sohma clan, at least the ones most important to the story. <
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>My daughter's disgusted with me but I'm rather fond of the series. At least, she claims to be; but she's looking up newer issues of the manga online. ;-)