Anime Fruits Basket Episode 1 Opening For Fruits Basket Ending Chiisana Inori Version watched Fan Subtitled by ? Summary by Joan Lee (E-mail / Website) [OP]
A young girl dressed in a school uniform oohs as she looks up into the sky, marveling at the clear weather. Oddly enough, she's standing in front of a pitched tent. { Screen Shot }
She lifts the flap of the tent and speaks to a picture frame propped among the piles of things inside. She aks her mom, the woman in the picture, to please take care of the house, and then she's off. { Screen Shot }
The girl now narrates and introduces herself as Honda Tohru. Her mom died this year in a traffic accident. Since her mother had been the only one taking care of Tohru, Tohru is now secretly living by herself in a tent. She knows that it's hard but she optimistically says that it's okay, her good point is that she never gives in to anything.
Tohru has been making her way through the woods, but then she sees a large house (built in the traditional style), and says to her Mother that she's made a discovery. { Screen Shot }
She notices how calm it is here, and admires a batch of twelve figures laid out on the porch, each which bear the markings of an animal of the Chinese zodiac calendar (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, etc). { Screen Shot }
But then feet approach and someone makes a sound of surprise at seeing her. Tohru looks up to see a man holding a newspaper speaking to her. { Screen Shot }
Tohru flips out, and so does her hair. She apologizes for looking without permission, but he says it's fine, he laid the creatures out on the porch to dry. Although he doesn't think they're very interesting to young people.
She disagrees with a smile, saying that they're very cute. The man is pleased with her answer; he likes them too. They continue to look at the creatures, and Tohru notes that the cat isn't there, as expected. { Screen Shot } The man is a little surprised to hear her mention this. He asks her if she's referring to the cat that is part of the folk-tale behind the origin of the Chinese Zodiac?
She nods, saying that her mom told her the story often. Tohru shares her memory of when she was little and her mom shared this story { Screen Shot }:
God told all of the animals that they were invited to a party the next day, and said to be sure not to be late. When the rat heard about this, he told his neighbor the cat that the party was the day after tomorrow. { Screen Shot } The next day, the rat rode on the cow's back to the party and arrived first. After him, the cow, the tiger, and all the other animals arrived, and they all partied until morning. Except for the cat, who had been tricked.[Note: If this is the first time you've heard the story, then the consequences were that all of the animals who were at the party became part of the Zodiac in the order that they arrived. However, the cat was left out of the Zodiac completely because he had never gone.]
After her mom finished telling the story, little Tohru was crying. When asked why, Tohru sniffled and said she felt sorry for him, the poor cat. Then she stops crying and says that she's decided to quit being a Dog, and she'll be a Cat from now on. Her mom was somewhat at a loss.
The man muses, wondering how "he" would react if he heard that. Tohru repeats, "He?" But the man goes on and asks her if she's born in the Dog year (since little Tohru wanted to quit being a Dog). He says that he somehow feels close to her, because he's also a---
A backpack lands on top of his head and cuts him off. Tohru looks up and sees that the backpack is being held by a young man, now standing in front of her.
The newly arrived young man wonders what the other guy was drooling there for, and then asks if "Honda-san" is all right, and if his cousin did anything rude.
In shock, Tohru says, "Souma-kun!" Now you get a shot of Souma with the romantic background. { Screen Shot } Tohru thinks to herself (and her mom), that this can't be true - it's Souma-kun, the "prince" of her school, Souma Yuki-kun who is standing right before her!
The other man complains about the weight of the bag as he rubs his damaged head, saying there must be a dictionary in there, while Tohru realizes that this place must be Souma Yuki's house! Tohru's in shock while Yuki tells the other guy, yes, he had dictionaries in his bag - two of them.
[ Episode 1 ]
Upon learning that Tohru is Yuki's classmate, the guy re-introduces himself as Souma Shigure, Yuki's cousin. Honda re-introduces herself too, but is at a loss when Yuki asks her what she's doing here. She says that she's from nearby...which the other two are more than a little surprised at. She tries to excuse herself and run off now, but Yuki stops her with the suggestion that they go to school together. Tohru twitches.
Three girls dressed in the same uniform as Tohru do a very scary "L-O-V-E YUKI" cheer, but then stop in shock as they notice he's walked right past them, with an embarassed Tohru by his side. { Screen Shot }
At school, the freaky cheerleaders are infuriated and confront Tohru on why she was walking to school with Souma. More than a little taken aback, Tohru says that it was just a coincidence - but the others say that if saying that was enough of an excuse, then police wouldn't be needed. They all go on to marvel about Kaibara High School 10th grade D Class student Souma Yuki; they then rant that while they're members of his fanclub, they can't get too close to him.
Someone calls their attention, and they all yell "What?!" angrily. It turns out this someone is a very menacing young lady, who says with scary emphasis that Tohru said it was a coincidence. { Screen Shot } She essentially tells them to cut it out, and the girls cower while their leader points back and says that they think they can do everything through threats.
Another girl with glowing purple eyes arrives on the scene, and tells the girls that she'll *BEEP* [censored] them with poisonous electromagnetic waves. { Screen Shot } That gets the girls running for their lives, and Tohru thanks Uo-chan and Hana-chan for saving her.
The menacing girl, Uo, turns motherly and hugs Tohru in comfort, while flames flicker from the other's head as she looks in the direction where the girls fled. Uo tells Hanajima not to send waves for real.
In cooking class, Tohru says that Souma-kun is too pretty, as she gets nervous just being next to him; she couldn't even talk properly. Hanajima cooly says that she felt a 'strange' wave from him, as she expertly slices a fish. Uo sighs at Hanajima's wave obsession, while Tohru is puzzled by Hanajima saying the waves are 'strange.' Hanajima can't give any details, while Uo reflects that Souma Yuki really is mysterious. He doesn't talk about himself, and once when an 11th grade girl confessed her feelings and tried to hug him, he blocked her and she was thrown back onto her knees. { Screen Shot }
Hanajima says that's strange for a high school student, as she places some rice in a bowl for Tohru. Uo asks Tohru about her job, and also if she's still living with her grandfather. Tohru answers, a bit nervously, that she's still living with her grandfather. Uo thinks it's tough and comments on Tohru promising to pay for her own tuition. Hanajima notes that Tohru shouldn't need to work too much just to cover tuition, since it's a prefectural school. Tohru is besieged by more questions as Uo asks if they're feeding her all right and that they're not stealing the money from her job. Tohru answers yes, and Uo smiles and says she's satisfied. But then she gets a little scary and says that if they do, to tell her right away - she'll take care of them.
Tohru smiles and agrees, but at the same time she's thinking that she can't tell either of them that she's living in a tent. She has a flashback of when she was younger. While memories of her and her mother play in the background, she thinks about how after her dad died of an illness, her mom worked to suppport them both. She was always "powerful and bright"...and Tohru never thought that she would die in a car accident. After that, Tohru was surrounded by a lot of shadowy adult figures. She says there was a lot of disagreement on who would take her in, but finally it was decided that she would live with her paternal grandfather. The latter was living off his pension, so Tohru promised to pay for her own tuition so she wouldn't be a burden. That was in May, but four months later he had the chance to move into his daughter's house, which was being renovated. He asked Tohru if she could stay with a friend while it was under construction. Tohru thought of her friends. Uo-chan lives in a one-room apartment, and Hana-chan has five people in her family. She didn't want to be a burden for them either. Then, she was inspired to live alone. { Screen Shot } It was a good chance!
Back in the present, Souma Yuki closes his school locker, and turns to see Tohru, who blushes and thanks him for that morning. Yuki replies that he should apologize for Shigure. They walk outside together, and Tohru disagrees (politely, of course) - she thinks he's a great person. She says that he showed her the 12 Chinese Zodiac figures too. Yuki asks her, a bit slowly, about her wanting to be born in the cat year? Tohru says, a little self-consciously, that she was a naive kid...she's about to say something more, but Yuki says cooly that the cat is stupid. A nasty character. Yuki's walking slightly ahead as Tohru stops in shock, staring at him. { Screen Shot } Then Yuki asks her if she knew that the 12 Chinese Zodiac was actually originally 10 calendar signs and 12 zodiac? Tohru says no, and Yuki explains the origin and history of its uses (from counting and telling time to fortune telling). Tohru wonders about the animals not actually being related, and he says that it's not known when or on what basis the animals were included. Yuki continues by saying that there was never any room for the cat in the Zodiac from the beginning, but anyway he doesn't see what is the big deal in being part of it. He says again, that the cat is really stupid. Tohru, as if just coming to this realization, asks him if he doesn't like cats?
Yuki turns swiftly to face Tohru and the leaves fly around them. Yuki grabs a leaf as it flies through the air and looks at Tohru, and then says that he noticed this morning that Tohru didn't look too well, and that it's a good idea to take care of her health. He drops the leaf and walks away, saying that he'll see her tomorrow then. Tohru is flushed and is holding a hand to her forehead, saying that he really is mysterious. But then she loses that wilted look and thinks, "But Souma-kun, I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
At a building late at night, Tohru is decked out in cleaning gear and looks determined. Continuing her thoughts from before, she thinks that her mom had to go through a lot more than what she's going through. As she's contemplating this, a guy opens the door and bumps into the trash bags lying there. He tells the "obaa-chan" to hurry and take care of it. Tohru wakes up and swiftly takes care of the trash and continues cleaning the place energetically as the guy and two genuinely old cleaning ladies watch in surprise. { Screen Shot }
The moon is high in the sky as Shigure and Yuki walk home. Shigure complains that he's tired of eating out all the time. Yuki suggests that Shigure cook the meals then. Shigure says that Yuki would complain anyway. Yuki says matter-of-factly, "Anyone would complain if you put pickled radish inside curry." Shigure "hmms" at that, noting that Yuki is smart but is terrible at housework. He wonders if they should hire a maid? Yuki says that hiring a woman would be a problem, but their conversation stops when they walk by a clearing where a tent is pitched, and they see Honda Tohru staggering towards it. { Screen Shot }
Tohru is flushed as she lifts the tent flap and tells the picture of her mom that she's back. She says she's sleepy but she has to work on handouts, and decides to go to the stream to wash her face. Her eyes are fuzzing out as she lifts a sponge. As she tiredly crawls back out of the tent, she looks up to see the two extremely surprised faces of Yuki and Shigure staring back at her. { Screen Shot } They stare at each for several long, shocked moments, and then Shigure breaks out into hysterical laughter as he points at Tohru. Tohru is frazzled and embarassed, and her hair sticks out. Shigure can't stop laughing, and Yuki finally says that he's laughing too much. { Screen Shot }
[ Eyecatch ]
Now all three of them are at Shigure and Yuki's house, where Shigure is still snorting and laughing. Yuki is talking with a still embarassed Tohru, and has just found out why she's living in a tent for about a week now. Yuki says that he had thought it was strange (referring to her comment that morning about living nearby), because all the land in this area is owned by the Souma family, and is neither rented out nor sold. Tohru, flushed but still determined, asks to please let her stay there for a while. When the reconstruction (at her aunt's house) is complete, she'll leave immediately. She says that she doesn't have too much money but she'll pay. (Shigure is still laughing.) She says, please!
Shigure says, quite seriously, that it's dangerous there. The ground is unstable and there are perverts, and he thinks it's impossible for a girl to live out there in a tent. Yuki asks him if he's done laughing, and Shigure replies yes.
But Tohru is determined, and she stands up and says that's it's okay, she even became accostomed to the slugs. She has more than enough strength and energy to...
She wilts, and Yuki discovers that she has a fever. Shigure rushes to get ice, but opens a sliding door to discover that there are loads of garbage everywhere in that room, which effectively stops him.
Shigure hears a howl in the night (it's from a wild dog or wolf), and says out loud that there has been a landslide. Tohru asks how he knows that, and Shigure answers 'instinct.' Yuki watches from the doorway, and then wonders if it's nearby. Shigure says darkly that it's "near the tent..." but then looks goofy and says he's joking. { Screen Shot }
But after all, his prediction was true. The three find Tohru's tent buried in a landslide. She flips out and cries that her mom's picture is inside the tent, and starts digging. However, she soon collapses and Yuki tells her to calm down since she has a fever. She weakly keeps protesting about her mom, and Shigure suddenly places his hand over hers, saying that they'll come back when it's bright. If another disaster came, Tohru might get hurt, which would be more painful for her mom.
Back at the house, Tohru is in bed, while Shigure says that Yuki went to get some ice. Tohru apologizes, while Shigure says that Tohru is tired from pushing herself too much. { Screen Shot } Tohru says that she lost her home again...Shigure asks her if it hurts, and she says no...she knows what hurts more. He asks what...and she says that she couldn't say, "Have a nice day" (itte rashai), on the morning that her mom had the accident and died.
Tohru reflects that she had a test which she studied till morning for, and then she just couldn't wake up to say it. It was just that morning that she didn't say it. Tohru pauses, and says that she didn't want to go to high school - she thought she would work. But her mom said that she only graduated from junior high, but she did want to go to high school too. So she wanted Tohru to enjoy high school for her sake as well as her own. Tohru says she knew that her mom was working for her sake...but even so...she wasn't able to give her that farewell message. She only saw her back as she left for work.
So at least high school...at least in high school, the one that her mom wanted to enter, Tohru wants to graduate well. That's her goal...Tohru drifts off as she says that it's not the time to lose to a fever.
Yuki says softly that she's impressive, and Shigure looks up to see him holding a compress. Yuki describes how Tohru is in school, which is so different from how life really is for her. Yuki then says that he wanted to leave the Souma family, but after all he's still inside the same Souma family. If he really didn't want to be a part of it, he should be alone somewhere with a tent like Honda-san. He says that he's spoiled, and closes his eyes.
Shigure smiles a little and says that it's impolite to say that Tohru is impressive. Yuki opens his eyes, looks at Tohru, and agrees. Yuki asks Shigure to take care of the rest, as he's going to go out. Shigure realizes that he means to go dig Tohru's stuff out, and asks if he should go too, since it'd be a hard job alone.
"Alone?" Yuki repeats. He turns and creepy music begins to play. "Who are you talking to?" In the dark, his eyes begin to glow, and in the background rats with the same glowing eyes are swarming around. { Screen Shot } Shigure wishes him luck.
Tohru is having a flashback of when she was sick before, and her mom called her name, noticing that she had a fever. Her mom, who incidentally was smoking, told her she didn't have to push herself to help with the housework, and that she should by herself and relax...
Tohru pictures her mom, then opens her eyes and realizes her mom's picture is right before her. She only has a moment to wonder how it got there before she realizes that Yuki is standing outside the room, greeting her. He has several bags, and says that he thinks he got everything out. Tohru looks from the picture to the bags that Yuki brought, and is frazzled at the idea that he dug through the dirty himself. He laughs and says, no way, which puzzles her even more. He says it's a secret. They stand there looking at each other for a while, and then Yuki says that it's really dirty, the house, and there's only guys. There's an empty room on the second floor, and he says that until the reconstruction on her aunt's house is finished, she can stay in this place.
Tohru freaks out, saying that she couldn't, and Yuki points out that there's a lock on the door. Of course, Tohru didn't mean that, but...but...Shigure suddenly appears and interrupts, and asks her if she likes housework. He looks rather dark although he's saying it in his goofy voice. Tohru freaks out even more, while he expands on his question, suggesting cleaning and cooking. { Screen Shot } Tohru manages to answer, yes, she does like that...
Shigure bursts into song, singing "welcome to the Souma family!" He and Yuki pick up the bags of her stuff, saying he'll carry her luggage and that Yuki ought to lend her some clothes. Tohru interrupts, saying that she couldn't, after getting nursed..and a room, too?! She's imposing too much, but Yuki smoothly says that it's them who invited her, and that she shouldn't worry and just accept. Besides, she doesn't have anywhere else to go, right?
That leaves Tohru without any more excuses. However, she insists that as she troubles them, for them to teach her their customs and rules. Yuki repeats himself, saying for her not to worry, and for her to just be herself in this house. They have one of those romantic shoujo anime moments. { Screen Shot } Tohru remembers her mother's words telling her the same thing.
Outside, Shigure is talking to Yuki, wondering if it's really okay to be living in the same house with a girl. Yuki rightly questions his comments when he was the one who was happy with Tohru staying. Yuki says that it's okay. They just shouldn't get hugged.
Shigure and Yuki walk on, but they pass a tree where someone is watching them from the upper branches. { Screen Shot } Someone with orange hair, but you only get the briefest look at his face.
Tohru thinks about how everything's progressed, like a dream. She notes that she even borrowed Yuki's clothes (she looks cute :). In an empty room upstairs, Yuki tells her that since it wasn't being used, it smells moldy and she ought to let fresh air in through the window. { Screen Shot } Tohru hears creaking above, and suddenly the ceiling caves in!
A young man with orange hair drops through the hole in the ceiling. { Screen Shot } Downstairs, Shigure looks up at the noise. Tohru just watches in surprise as the young man says "Yo" to Yuki. The newcomer has his back to Tohru and is speaking only to Yuki. He asks him if he's been "waiting with his neck clean, Miss Mouse." { Screen Shot } Yuki casually turns from the window and says that he should give up, since he's so weak. The orange guy responds back angrily, and says that today he'll smash that nose in. As he goes after Yuki, Tohru tries to stop him, but slips on a piece of broken ceiling and she ends up hugging him from the back instead! { Screen Shot }
*POOF* (Gyaa! said the orange-haired guy)
Shigure pokes his head into the room, saying he heard the noise - did Kyou come by? Yuki is silent as Tohru has landed on the floor, upside-down...and suddenly rights herself and starts apologizing to the orange-haired guy.
Only she's not apologizing to the orange-haired guy, she's apologizing to an extremely orange and irritated cat that she is holding in her hands. { Screen Shot } She starts freaking out, saying that he turned into a cat because of her, and is shaking the cat, as Yuki and Shigure are sweatdropping in the background. She says that they need to hurry to a hospital, at which the cats' eyes bug out, but then another piece of the rotting ceiling falls down and bonks her on the head. { Screen Shot }
She falls over and accidentally bumps into...Shigure and Yuki. And Tohru suddenly sees a black dog where Shigure used to be and a gray rat where Yuki was. { Screen Shot } The dog, rat, Tohru, and the cat are all shown sweatdropping for several long moments, and then Tohru has a hand against her forehead as she thinks, "Mom, this is a disaster! Everyone turned into an animal!" { Screen Shot }