Alternative title:
Furuba (Japanese)
フルーツバスケット (Japanese)
후르츠 바스켓
Genres: comedy, drama, romance, slice of life, supernatural
Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)

Tohru Honda is 16 year old orphaned girl who gets invited to live in the house of her classmate, the handsome boy Sohma Yuki, and his cousins, 16 year old Kyo and 27 year old Shigure. However, these young men and parts of the rest of their family (both close and distant) hold a curse; if they are hugged by the opposite gender, they transform into animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Everyday is an adventure for sweet Tohru, as she gets to know all of the very different members of the Sohma family better (especially Yuki and Kyo), in both common and bizarre situations. But, the Sohma family curse is certainly no laughing matter... it also holds horrible cruelity and heartbreak.
Tohru Honda's mom died from a car accident, so she moved in with her grandfather. But, her grandfather decides to remodel his house, and because she can't live with her friends while the remodeling is being done, she decides to live in a tent. One morning, while walking to school, she comes across this house where the most popular boy at her school lives, and soon finds out his family's secret. The whole Sohma family are zodiac animals, and when the get hugged by the oppisite sex, they turn into their zodiac form. Tohru must be careful and keep this secret, or her memory might be erased.

In many places, the anime episodes are very similar to the corresponding manga chapters.However, the anime does make some changes to the story. Several events are combined, and some events, such as Tohru's first meeting with Momiji and all references to Tohru's baseball hat, never happen in the anime at all. The anime series also added more instances of Sohma members being accidentally transformed by Tohru. For example, in episode six when Tohru's friends Hanajima and Uotani visit the Sohma house, the anime has a lengthy series of accidental transformations,while in the manga, no transformations occurred during their visit.Much of the events surrounding the revealing of Kyo's true form are greatly changed in the anime, including adding an extended chase sequence, Tohru meeting Akito in the woods, her meeting with Hanajima and Uotani at her mother's grave, and Yuki having also chased after Kyo,none of which happen in the manga.

While the anime keeps most of the characters exactly the same as in the manga series, it does make some changes. In the manga, Momiji is half-German and half-Japanese and regularly speaks German, particularly when he first meets Tohru, while in the anime his bi-racial status is never mentioned and no German is spoken. Shigure's darker tones are toned down in the anime, with many remarks he makes in the manga that hint at a hidden agenda are left out, along with most of his early scenes with Akito.[6] In the anime, Akito is biologically male and will die at a young age because of the curse,while in the manga, Akito is biologically female but brought up as male.

Tohru Honda
An orphaned high school student who, at the start of the story, begins living with Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo Sohma in exchange for housekeeping. She loves to cook, describes herself as an excellent housekeeper, and has an after-school job as a janitor to pay her tuition fees to avoid being a burden on her grandfather.

Yuki Sohma
Yuki is the rat of the Chinese zodiac. Yuki is depicted as an attractive, reserved, and accomplished young man with many admirers, but who finds being friendly difficult. When Yuki was young

Kyo Sohma
Kyo is cursed by the cat, an animal not in the Chinese zodiac but which legend says would have been if it had not been tricked by the rat into missing the induction feast

Tohru's family and friends

Tohru Honda
Kyoko Honda
Katsuya Honda
Arisa Uotani
Saki Hanajima

The Sohmas

Akito Sohma
Yuki Sohma
Kyo Sohma
Shigure Sohma
Kagura Sohma
Momiji Sohma
Hatori Sohma
Hatsuharu Sohma
Ayame Sohma
Kisa Sohma
Hiro Sohma
Ritsu Sohma
suzu "Rin" Sohma
Kureno Sohma
Kazuma Sohma
Ren Sohma
Akira Sohma

Others:
Mayuko Shiraki
Mine Kuramae
Mitsuru
Motoko Minagawa
Kakeru Manabe
Machi Kuragi
Kimi Toudou
Naohito Sakuragi