I own this series in Japanese, and it is a wonderful read! It has all the important elements of a good shoujo manga: it is romantic, twisted, with a shoujo (in the traditional meaning of the word) involved in finding a new family and love triangles galore. It is just a very fun read, no matter the language!

Other than a short portion at the beginning of the book where Tohru meets another Sohma, the bulk of this book is about Uo-chan and how she became friends with Tohru. For those of us interested in the romantic aspects of the Sohma story, this was a waste of money.

In fact, this book has probably put me off reading the rest of Fruits Basket. If I bought more and found them to be as dull as this one, then it would really start feeling like a rip-off.

Kisa Sohma is spending more and more time at Shigure's house to see Tohru, much to another's dismay. On a chance encounter Tohru meets Hiro Sohma, a conceited young boy who delights in ordering her about. His personality is well suited for his animal sign, the ram or sheep. Hiro Sohma begins to hang about the Sohma house as well and is constantly nagging Tohru about letting people walk all over her...by walking all over her. A bit of this young tyrant's past is revealed with a decisive moment between him and Akito that leaves Kisa hospitalized.

After a trip to the local pool Uo and Hana decide to buy Tohru a bathing suit to replace the middle school one she still wears. They recruit the Sohma boys to help them choose one. A bit of Uo's past is revealed surrounding Tohru's mother. Uo's past is gone into, her developing friendship with Tohru and her mother, Kiyoko, and her gang member days.

The Prince Yuki fan club rears it's ugly head again. This time President Motoko is concerned about Yuki's student council presidency...because she doesn't want any women serving on the council with him. The opportunity to speak to him presents itself a few times, and she exploits these chances to the utmost.

This is a down volume from the last amazing one, but it's still a great read. I'm beginning to appreciate Tohru's mother more and more as it goes on, and definitely began to see the glory that is Arisa in this one. I'll keep reading, they are all so good.

This is a lovely volume of Fruits Basket! And it contains one of my favorite stories- how Kyoko-san saved Arisa from becoming another drop-out girl gang member. Their relationship was so special- and in a way I think their characters are very parallel. This story brings me to tears and awe every time I read it...
Anyway... I'm not the biggest fan of Hiro...he reminds me of why I hated being in middle school- so many smart-aleck boys like him! (But it is cute how Kyo seems to have this need to defend Tohru from him...aww...)
Lots of stuff about the Prince Yuki fanclub- these girls seriously need to get a reality check! Lol...

Hi! Tohru is Kisa's best friend now, but what happens when Hiro comes along? Battle Royal! haha. Any ways Hiro-kun shows up and is totally rude to Tohru! I really want to smack him. Tohru's all mine! You fine out a mystery on Kisa and Hiro as well. Kyo is nicer to Tohru and more caring. Tohru uses a swimsuit from middle school!! Kyo and Yuki don't know that. So they buy her a 2- piece pink swimsuit. Uo-chan's friends show up to hurt her and end up getting hurt. Perverted jokes.. nothing bad