Rated T for Teen 13+
The Main Library has books volumes 2-11
The North Branch Library has books volumes 1-23.
Volume summaries:
Volume 5: Tohru, Yuki, Kyo and Shigure spend some time at one of the Sohma vacation homes by the lake. Tohru is disturbed by Yuki and Kyo's behavior, since they are working so hard at not fighting. The three take a walk, Kyo stumbles, Tohru tries to catch him, Yuki tries to catch her, and the three are caught in a mutual hug. Transformed into their rat and cat forms, Yuki and Kyo begin squabbling which Tohru finds strangely reassuring.
Hatsuhara shows up with a wet, bedraggled, and tiger-form Kisa. Kisa bites Tohru but Tohru forgives her, especially when she hears that Kisa has been badly teased at school and has not been able to tell anyone about it. Yuki, who went through a similar situation when he was younger, finds himself felling very protective of the little girl.
Volume 6: Kyo's mentor, Shishou, comes for a visit. As a test, he removes the protective bracelet that Kyo wears. This removes Kyo's control and he transforms into a hideous, mishapen beast. This is one of the aspects of being possessed by the cat spirit. Tohru sees him in this form, but she stays with him, trying to ease his pain. He lashes out at her, cutting her with his claw, but still she will not abandon him. Slowly, her presence calms him and he goes back to his human form. We also learn that Kyo has been told his mother killed herself because she could not bear his being a monster. Poor Kyo.
Tohru accompanies Yuki on a visit to Ayame's store and has fun dressing up in the costumes.
Volume 7: Hiro (the sheep) is jealous of the time that Kisa is spending with Tohru, but he has a hard time telling Kisa how much he cares for her.
While shopping for a new swimming suit for Tohru, Uotani tells the story of how she met Tohru and Tohru's mother. Tohru's mother had been a "Yankee girl" called the Red Butterfly and was a legend to Uotani. When Uotani finally met her, she was bitterly disappointed to learn that the Red Butterfly was now a ordinary housewife and mother.
Volume 8: Hatsuhara (the Ox) goes black and destroys a classroom. He's upset because his girlfriend, Rin, has broken their relationship.
Ritsu shows up at the house, and Tohru is delighted to meet such a beautiful woman. But Ritsu takes every little comment as a severe criticism and is constantly apologizing. When, inevitably, a mishap occurs and Tohru rushes to help and accidentally hugs Ritsu, Tohru is stunned that Ritsu has transformed into the monkey. Ritsu is actually a man who finds wearing kimonos calming. (And if this is how he behaves when he is calm, I don't want to see him when he is excited!)
Summer vacation begins and the gang visits an amusement park. While there, they go through the haunted house which frightens Tohru until Hatsuhara tries to tell her a reassuring story and winds up breaking one of the figures.
Volume 9: Uotani has a job as a clerk in a convenience store. She meets a young man there and wonders if she'll meet him again. While working her other job as a waitress, she spots him and runs after him. Their mutual attraction holds a promise of something more, but the young man has some connection with Akito. Is he another Sohma family member under the Zodiac curse?
Hana-chan reflects on her childhood, where she was supported by her family but ruthlessly teased by her classmates who called her a witch because she could hear their thoughts. Steeling herself against a life without friends, she is surprised when she changes schools and meets Tohru and Uotani who accept her unquestioningly.
Kyo takes Tohru to lunch at his teacher's dojo. Shishou has become a sort of surrogate father to Kyo and Kyo hopes to join him in running the dojo when he grows up. Before they can have lunch, though, Shishou is called away. Kyo's father is worried about the demon that inhabits Kyo--not the cute cat form, but the hideous monster that when saw him become when he beads were removed. Kyo's father wants Shishou's help in locking Kyo away forever, but Shishou refuses. (Go, Shishou!)
Volume 10: Fun times at the summer house. Kisa and Hiro join them.
A flashback reveals the relationship between Shigure and Mayu. She was best friends with Kana, who was dating Hatori. Mayu is also in love with Hatori, but keeps her feelings hidden to avoid hurting her friend. She starts dating Shigure and the four often go out together. Then Akito started meddling and broke Hatori and Kana apart.
Akito shows up and demands that everyone come to see him--all except Kyo because the cat is excluded from the Zodiac. Whenever Akito shows up, things get very ominous.
Oh, and Yuki tells Tohru that he loves her. And he kisses her. Sigh.
Volume 11: Akito is the walking definition of emotional abuse. We've had hints before, but now we see him in full force. He has a "talk" with Kyo, telling him again that it's his fault his mother killed herself, that no one will ever love him, that he will soon be locked up for the rest of his life because he is such a monster.
As if this wasn't bad enough, Akito then comes to visit Tohru and tells her that she is a meddler and is not welcome. He reveals that he is not a member of the Zodiac, but its god--the one who, according to the old stories, created the Zodiac and chose the animals. He wants to control all the Sohma family members and keep them close. Just by her very presence, Tohru is showing them that there could be another life, and so he needs to get rid of her in order to keep control.
Volume 13: Yuki's mother arrives for the parent-teacher conference and she wants to totally dictate Yuki's future, not even letting him express his opinion. This leads to a flash-back of Yuki's lonely and isolated childhood.
Tohru discovers that the name of the man that Uo-chan met and liked was Kureno, and wonders if it was Kureno Sohma. She tries to go to the Sohma estate, but chickens out on ringing the bell. She wanders around the wall surrounding the estate and meets Momo, Momiji's little sister. Momo does know about Momiji and shows Tohru a secret entrance into the back of the estate. Tohru finds Momiji who tells her how to find Kureno. He admits he is the man who met Uo-Chan, but that he must stay with Akito. Curse that Akito! He just won't let anyone be happy!
Volume 14: Rin has worried herself into an ulcer, but Tohru finds her and comforts her until help arrives and then visits her in the hospital. Rin flashes back to meeting Haru and how they fell in love, but also how Akito manipulated them into denying their love. She is determined to break the Zodiac curse and thus free them to be able to love again.
Yuki begins to get to know his fellow student government officers, especially Kakeru, the vice-president. Though Kakeru can be a little too out-going for Yuki's taste, he begins to (dare we say it?) make friends with him. He learns that Kakeru and Machi are brother and sister, and that Machi is depressed about something--I hope we learn more about the two of them before long.
The Cultural Festival is coming soon and they need to put on a play. They're going to do "Cinderella" with Hana-Chan as Cinderella, Uo-Chan as the stepmother, Yuki as the Fairy Godmother, Tohru as the wicked stepsister (!) and Kyo as Prince Charming (!!!) No type-casting here!
Volume 15: Yuki tells Kakeru a bit about his isolated and lonely childhood, and admits that though he loves Tohru it is because he has found in her the nurturing care that he yearned for from his mother.
Meanwhile, rehearsals for the play are not going well. Tohru just cannot be mean as the stepsister. Quickly the script is rewritten to accommodate the personalities of the cast. Cinderella (Hana-chan) dresses in black and would rather run a yakiniku shop, Prince Chaming (Kyo) would rather dance with the stepsister, Tohru, and Tohru breaks character long enough to *almost* declare her feelings for Kyo. Momoji brings his video camera and tapes the play. Tohru asks him to take a copy to Kureno so he can see Uo-Chan as the stepmother.
Volume 16: It turns out that Kyo once met Tohru's mother, Kyoko, and she told him all about how she met Katsuya Honda who was at the time a student teacher at her school. They fall in love but she is still a "yankee" girl who skips school and lashes out at everyone. After she receives an especially brutal beating, her parents disown her but Katsuya declares his intention to marry her. The only relative to totally accept them is his father. Baby Tohru is absoutely adorable! When Katsuya gets sick and dies, Kyoko falls into a deep depression until she remembers that Tohru needs her. It's all very sad and touching, and the memory leads Kyo into a nightmare where he fears that he could hurt Tohru just as he supposedly caused his mother's suicide.
Everyone welcomes in the New Year with various wishes for the future, and Momiji slips the DVD of the school play (with Uo-Chan in it) to Kureno.
Volume 17: We learn the deep dark secret about Akito! And I can't tell you because I don't want to ruin the surprise! Doesn't make me feel any sympathy for him, though--he's still a manipulative and abusive person.
The kids are making paper flowers for the graduation ceremony. Some girls steal Yuki's flowers and wacky hijinks occur. Yuki tries to understand Machi a little better.
Volume 18: Yuki hears a rumor that when Machi was younger she tried to kill her little brother. Her family rejected her and made her live on her own. Yuki and Kakeru go to visit her and she tells them that she was not trying to strangle her brother, she was putting another blanket on him because she thought he was cold. But her parents overreacted and since they prized her brother above all else and pretty much ignored her, they kicked her out. Machi had tried always to be perfect to gain her parents' love and now that they've rejected her, she is rejecting perfection. That is why her room is a mess and why periodically she has these outbursts where she messes up the student council room. Yuki feels sympathy for Machi, and maybe, just maybe, a little bit more.
Hiro's mom has her baby, a little girl named Hinata, and Hiro is absolutely smitten with her. He encounters Kisa and Hatsuharu. He tells them that he's been keeping a secret--Rin is trying to break the curse so Akito punished her by throwing her out of a second-floor window. Hiro witnessed it, but Akito told him not to tell anyone. Now that he's a big brother, Hiro realizes that it is wrong to keep the secret. Intercut in this scene (in a very effective and beautifully drawn way) Kureno defies Akito by breaking Rin out of the room where Akito has imprisoned her (the cat's isolated room) and taken her to a hospital.
Volume 19: The biggest surprise in this volume is how much some of the characters have grown! Momiji, who has been away for a while, comes back and gets a lot of the girls excited--he's so tall and good-looking. But he still has his rabbit back-pack! Kyo, Yuki, Risa and Hiro all have grown up, too. Only Tohru doesn't seem to age at all--still cute and innocent and optimistic. Things have been getting awkward between her and Kyo, espcially after Hatori tells her that secretly all the other Sohmas need Kyo, the cat; they need to know that his curse is worse than theirs, that he will soon need to be confined for the rest of his life.I swear, this series better end with Tohru breaking the curse for the whole family, Kyo included. I need my happy ending for everyone!
Yuki meets Kakeru's girlfriend, Komaki. Komaki's father was driving the car that hit Tohru's mother, and he was killed in the crash also. Komaki is another cute and innocent and optimistic girl with a wide smile, just like Tohru. Shortly after the accident, Kakeru resented Tohru, feeling that her grief and the attention people paid her somehow belittled Komaki's grief. He said some hurtful things to Tohru, but Komaki set him straight.
There are a lot of characters to follow in Fruits Basket, and at times I wish I had a full scorecard--more than just the main characters listed at the beginning of each volume. I've not been over fond of Kakeru up until now, but I did like the backstory of Komaki and their relationship.
Volume 20: We get some more of Akito's backstory in this book, and I am beginning to be swayed. Yes, Akito's jealous treatment of the Sohma family is causing all sorts of unhappiness, but the trail of unhappiness stretches back generations. After all, his mother was jealous of him and his relationship with his father; she never even acknowledged him. Even now, all she wants from him is his father's box, and she doesn't care who gets in her way. This inevitably leads to tragedy, and one of the saddest images I have seen in this series.
Kagura encounters Tohru and challenges her to declare her true feelings for Kyo--and to decide whether she truly loves him or just pities him. Tohru draws up her courage and tries to tell Kyo, but he won't listen. Instead he tells Tohru more about the day that her mother was killed, and he expects her to hate him when she learns the truth.
On one of the few happy notes, Momiji breaks his curse, and I think the circumstances give a clue as to how it can happen for the others as well.
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