Book: Fruits Basket, Volume 2 by Natsuki Takaya

Pages/Format: 200/Paperback

My Thoughts: I loved it!  One really cool thing about this series is that starting with this volume, there’s a short description of each of the characters at the beginning of the book.  The character list gets longer as we get introduced to more characters, plus there’s a page devoted to the story so far.  Also cool is the fact that there’s instructions on how to Play Rich Man, Poor Man, which is mentioned a few times in volume 1, info about the year of the rat, fan art, and a sound effect index.

In Volume 2, we learn that Tohru’s 2 best friends (Hanajima and Arisa) sleep over at the Sohma house, and grudgingly approve of her new living arrangements.  We also get introduced to Momiji Sohma, who Tohru meets one day at work.  Momiji is the rabbit in the Zodiac. 

So, there’s a culture festival at school, and Tohru’s class has an onigiri booth.  Yuki wears the dress that the class convinces him he needs to wear, and distracts everyone when Momiji decides to hug Tohru.  We learn that Hatori had to suppress the memories of his former fiancee because Akito, the head of the family, disapproved.  Kyo and Yuki decide to miss the mandaory family dinner for New Years after running into Hanajima because they didn’t want to leave Tohru alone. 

So, I really liked the artwork, which is really detailed.  I love how even when the characters aren’t talking, I still know what’s going on and can tell what they’re thinking.  Scattered throught the book are notes from the author: some are “ultra special blah blah blahs” while others just random side notes where the author talks about video games she’s playing or writes about the characters. 

Rating: It gets a 5 out 5!  The storyline is cool, there’s really detailed illustrations and I love the random notes.  Plus, the character list becomes important later in the series because we get introduced to more and more characters.