 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | TOKYOPOP | | | ▪ | AUTHOR / ART: | | NATSUKI TAKAYA | | | ▪ | FORMAT: | | JAPANESE / B&W / COLOR | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 206 | | | ▪ | RATING: | | T | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 09/11/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 10/27/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
This is a tremendous collection of treasures for any fan of the amazing hit shoujo manga and anime series Fruits Basket. There is so much stuff crammed in here that’s so much fun that I’ll take you through it one section at a time.
The book holds material dealing with the first 17 volumes of the manga. It starts off with a full color section. This holds full color cover art, splash pages and ad art created for the series. Then there’s an informative “Making of Color Illustrations” where the artist takes you step by step through the process. This too is in full splendid color. The last of the color section shows the photos of actual Japanese licensed promotional and retail merchandise. But the really fun part of this section is the very first page of the book which is a full page, in color, of stickers of the zodiac characters. It has stickers of the entire Sohma zodiac animals in their animal form. They are just too, too sweet! The remainder of the book is in black and white and stuffed full of inside information, art work and goodies. It starts off with a relationship chart of the Sohma family. It then has a timeline of the events of the story so far up to and including volume seventeen. It goes into the mysteries and background information of the series and has and in depth interview with the creator, author and artist Natsuki Takaya on how the characters and story came to be. This interview is spread out in the book and offers a lot of insight into the origins of Fruits Basket. A large section is devoted to the unforgettable characters of the series so far. Each character section includes a profile of the character, an image of them, images taken also from the pages of the manga, and showcases a telling quote from that character. It includes the entire Sohma clan in regards to the zodiac. In chapter three, there are more character profiles, but this part deals with school life, covering the daily activities and story relevant school events as well as offering profiles of classmates, general school knowledge and trivia as it relates to Fruits Basket, and a gallery section. Section four is the fun and games segment that holds within it the results of the various reader polls throughout the first seventeen volumes, there’s a Furuba-themed personality test, Furuba-themed quizzes and puzzles (with the answers provided near the back of the book), even a Furuba-themed fortune telling and a Furuba-themed game of life! The final section has the continuation of the interview as well as a bonus comic section. This part holds bonus comic strips of Fruits Basket that are all new and exclusive to this collection! IN SUMMARY:
This book is an absolute must for every Fruits Basket fan! |
