* Take the Manga Mavericks 5-Year Anniversary Survey and Enter to Win a Free manga! More Details Below!: https://s.surveyplanet.com/uwgeMjcMq *

They’re all animals!… as well as tragic victims of familial abuse. That’s right, we’re starting off the year by taking a look back at Natsuki Takaya’s generation-defining shojo classic, Fruits Basket, a manga exploring a family curse that’s both literal and metaphorical. The original Fruits Basket anime was a childhood fave for LumRanmaYasha, but this was their first experience reading the manga all the way through!

Joining Lum to celebrate the series are none other than the hosts of the Fruits Basket podcast Let’s Stay Together, Ellen and Kayla! Together they discuss the various characters and how they overcome their individual and collective traumas and fears, the series’ messages about necessity of change and growth, and the series’ thesis about the transformative power of kindness. Plus we chat up our favorite characters and relationships, thoughts on the anime adaptations, our favorite fruit to put in a basket and so much more! Everything changes and everybody changes, but what hasn’t changed is our love for this series!

Thanks again to Ellen and Kayla for joining me to discuss FuruBa! Please make sure to listen to Let’s Stay Together for even more comprehensive coverage of the series, and their new Fullmetal Alchemist podcast Equivalent Exchange going through the series in the same format!

Also, as a reminder - we’re approaching both the 150th episode of this podcast, and even more significantly - our 5th year anniversary! What will we do to commemorate our 150th episode? Why, our annual Manga Mavericks survey of course! But this won’t be a normal yearly survey, no, this one will encompass the entirety of the podcast’s history from our very first episode in 2016 to the present! You can vote for your favorite episodes, guests, moments, and so much more from the past five years of the show as well as your favorite manga and news stories!

The survey is open until Sunday morning, January 24th, so you have just a bit over three weeks to submit your entries! We look forward to seeing your guys’ feedback and discussing the results of the survey on our upcoming 150th episode spectacular - celebrating the 5th anniversary of this podcast is gonna be a magical moment!

For a complete list of Links and Community Shout-Outs included with this episode, visit this podcast's webpage at: http://all-comic.com/2021/manga-mavericks-ep-146-fruits-basket/

PODCAST BREAKDOWN:

00:15 - Intro & Survey Reminder

03:53 - Introducing Ellen & Kayla of Let’s Stay Together
06:13 - The Premise of Fruits Basket
09:49 - How Did We Get Into Fruits Basket?
10:00 - Kayla
10:53 - Ellen
13:02 - LumRanmaYasha
16:53 - Maturing with the Series
19:15 - Central Theme: “Everything Changes, Everybody Changes”
23:00 - Akito
29:20 - Yuki
31:45 - The Old Sohma Family Maid
34:33 - Yuki’s Character Arc
41:48 - The Supposed Family Curse
43:57 - The True Family Curse
47:45 - Forgiveness & Healing in Abusive Relationships
49:41 - The Transformative Power of Kindness
53:28 - Yuki & Kyo’s Rivalry
55:31 - Tohru’s Growth
59:58 - Ritsu’s.... Lack of Anything
1:01:04 - Why Kindness Can Be Life-Changing
1:05:35 - Doing What You Can For Someone
1:08:23 - Hiro’s Jealousy
1:11:16 - You Can’t Go Through Life Without Being Hurt
1:14:43 - Forgiving Yourself & Others
1:19:43 - Shigure
1:21:43 - Kyo
1:24:18 - Realizing Authority Figures Don’t Control You
1:25:41 - Machi
1:29:46 - Scapegoating vs. Trying to Understand People For Who They Are
1:34:25 - Momiji
1:37:23 - Haru
1:40:29 - The Student Council

Q&A’s:

1:44:08 - Is There a Character You Liked Before and Now Dislike, and Vice-Versa?
1:55:33 - Particular Relationships We Like the Most?
2:15:03 - Is Akito Redeemable?
2:18:12 - Message That Most Resonated with Us?
2:22:38 - Favorite Character, and Characters Our Opinions Have Changed on the Most?
2:28:53 - Do We Hate Shigure?
2:34:48 - Be