Fruits Basket, Tome 23 (2024)

This was a really good ending for a beautiful series! <3 I loved Fruits Basket and I’m so, so, so, so sad that this was already the last volume. T_T After reading this series for an entire year it feels like a dear family member moved away into a foreign country. I’m sad the series is over, but I’m also glad my precious characters finally found some closure and eventually got their HEA! >_< Thoughts to the highlights of this volume:

- Haru telling Yuki that he’ll always love him and Rin hearing it! *LOL* Seriously, how can you not love all those awesome characters? I always adored them for being so different and lively! They are all unique in their own way and they are a crazy lovely bunch… Oh gods… I’ll miss them so badly!!! *sobs*

- Akito and Shigure!! F.I.N.A.L.L.Y!!! I love how Shigure’s facial expression gets all soft when he is around Akito! <3 He was such a surprise! Behind all the playboy attitude he had a heart of gold and damn did he hide it well! XD

- Kyo slowly realizing that he’s free to do whatever he wants to do and that he can do it with Tohru by his side. <333 My heart is so full! Those two deserve this so much!!!! AGADKASKDLASDJAS!

- Woah Hiro and Kisa getting all intense!!! O_o I never thought I’d say this but damn Hiro turned out to be so cute!! *lol* Little Kisa is in good hands. =)))

- Momiji!!! I’m melting here… legit melting! This boy is so precious I can’t even! <333 I really hope he’ll find the love of his life and will be happy forever!

- Yuki telling Tohru that she’s loved by all of the eto! That she’s in their hearts and that they are happy they got to know her! <333 *sobs once more*

- Okay, and that final scene! With Kyo and Tohru in the future… I swear Natsuki Takaya wanted to kill me with this! *cries an ocean* <333 So beautiful and wholesome… the best HEA ever! T_T

what do i do now…

5 Fruba stars ☆

i was never really into mangas but, towards the end of Apr this year (2021), i picked up A Sign of Affection and fell in love with the story and characters! a few days later, i decided why not try Fruits Basket (because the anime is one of my all time faves and i've been keeping up with it since s2) and, lemme just say, i binged all 137 chapters in one day. 😭

there's honestly so much i could gush about FB, but i'll just keep this short. story-wise, it was so beautiful. i loved how each character had their own story (their struggles, ups and downs, tragic backstories) to tell. the romances, character developments, found family, bonds, friendships - everything about it was amazing. imo, if you're new to mangas, FB is the perfect one to start with! not only does it have an interesting plot (it's literally about this girl named Tohru, an orphan, who meets three members of the Soma family and learns that all 12 members of that family are possessed by the animals of the Chinese Zodiac and transforms into that animal whenever they feel weak, stressed or is hugged by the opposite sex. if that's not interesting, idk what is), but you go through a rollercoaster ride of feels with each character and their journey. unfortunately, with a large cast, there will be some characters who have less screen time than others but i personally feel like most characters had a good enough spotlight. 🥰

➳ my favorites:
characters - Haru, Kyo, Momiji, Kakeru, Yuki, Rin and Tohru (but i loved most of the characters)
pairing - HaruRin <3
character i liked because of their complexity - Shigure

➳ the big question:
was Akito redeemable?
even as i finished the last page of the series, my feelings towards Akito are still mixed. i don't hate her, but her redemption arc didn't make me suddenly love her either. i think i'm just indifferent towards Akito at this point. i'm proud of her for finally realizing her mistakes and trying to change for the better but, as a character overall, i feel nothing towards her. it's honestly up to you to decide but, personally, i would have maybe said yes if her development happened sooner rather than later. :/

**NOTE**: i've read all 23 volumes, but i'm currently too lazy to add/rate all volumes so i'm just rating the final volume lmao. overall, this series is 5 stars for me! :)

P.S. pls watch the 2019 adaptation of Fruba because it's the best thing to ever exist. 🤪 i swear, it's worth the watch!!

The end!!!!!!!!!!!! *sob*

I really love how the series ended. Everyone was happy and starting to move onto their new lives. I am going to miss these characters so much. I cried at the end, simply because it was the end.

I wish I could somehow thank Natsuki Takaya for her wonderful series. It was hilarious, heart breaking, heart warming, and one of the most touching stories I have ever read. Some of her characters really give you hope that change is possible and things can get better. I hope one day I can become someone like Tohru, who is so kind and giving and puts everyone before herself.

Thank you Takaya-sensei, I will be re-reading this series until the day I die.

This was just such a good ending to the series. Lots and lots of plot threads, all tied up nicely. And a joke about Machi and Kakeru's meat-loving girlfriend was worked in... that sounds dirty, but it's not... "The meat!" Okay, that's totally beside the point that this was a wonderful finish, picking up the pieces and presenting a large cast of characters, all with a variety of ways of dealing with the resolution of the Sohma curse and moving on... or in some cases, not being able to move forward. I found the part dealing with Kyo's beads to be especially touching. I'm going to miss this series, but I'm looking forward to rereading it!

I began this series on a whim because I really want to make a habit of reading manga. I love manga and I draw it, so by golly god I must read it too, just like with YA. But since it's much easier to read it online then locate all the volumes in various libraries, I find I always lack the time to read them. Which is seriously a pain in the ass. Last year I began my manga reading craze (after going keeping up with Naruto, beginning Bleach and Negima), which began with Ouran High School Host Club (Which is wicked awesome, hilariously funny and just sweet) and Death Note (still have to finish that), I had to stop for just a few months. But lately I got back into the craze again with Avatar the Legend of Korra (which technically isn't a manga because it's not of asian origin) and then I decided to pick up Fruits Basket. I began it out of curiosity; it was an interesting concept, the zodiacs.

I liked how it began too, especially the last few pages where Tohru accidentally turns Shigure, Yuki and Kyo into their respective zodiac animals by accident. That was funny. But I guess I didn't really get interested until I began to understand Kyo's character, and through his, I began to understand Tohru's. After that I had to finish the 136 chapters. I had to know what happened to these cursed zodiacs.

In the end, I could not peel my eyes away. The plot was planned so well, the characters developed and intertwined beautifully, but best of all, I think my favourite story of all was the story about the hat Tohru treasured. I think that was the sweetest of them all.

For anyone getting into manga (this genre is Shojo though), this is a good one to begin with. Really sweet, really heart-wrenching, and lovely overall.

What a great way to end the series! This volume had everything you would want to see when finishing up a series. I am in awe! I was so glad seeing how everything turned out. All those questions you had before were answered and you got to see everyone's lives wrap up beautifully. The emotions, the plot, the characters, the artwork, and outcome was formed in such a way that you are cheering throughout the entire volume. Oh, and the romance! Do not forget about the romance! That is the key for this series! Totally had everything to do with how I feel towards this series. Man, I love it! I truly do! It's what makes me a very happy donut eater! X3

It's official. I am in love with Takaya-sensei. IN LOVE!!! Seeing how she brought us from volume one all the way to the last volume in such a fluid, smoothe, true to what she wanted out of this series way without destroying any of her characters, I'm impressed. Her art style is very beautiful because of her simplicity and her story is very much true-to-life, even if it does have some fantasy elements to it. One thing that I love about her is she's not afraid to show herself through her work. I feel as if I got to meet her because of her interactions with the reader through her side panels and even through the characters themselves. She's such a sincere person and funny as hell! I would love to get together with her and have a video game night party! She seems as if she would be a lot of fun to hang out with. The whole concept of this series came out of her head and she did wonderfully with it. I'm very glad that I was able to read this series. It is absolutely amazing. I give my thanks to Takaya-sensei for giving us such a beautifully created story for us readers. You could learn a lot from just reading Fruits Basket. It really helps you grow as a person... I know... I did. *Smiles*

I'm happy with how the characters lives turned out to be. Everyone had their fair share in the light and everyone literally got their happy ending. So don't fret, my friends! Do not fret at all! This entire manga is a huge spoiler! Big spoiler! I can't talk about anything in great detail or it'll all be over and done with. XP Instead, I'm going to do something a little different for this review. I will mention a character, say a word or two, and then move on to the next. That way, you'll know what to expect (more or less...) without me giving too much away. Besides, everything that happens in this volume is epic anyway. I'm only doing this as a way to get you motivated to read it! So! Let us begin this... uh... game? (Dude, you get more bizarre as time passes by.) Oh, shut your textual mouth! This is going to be fun! (Doubt it.) Don't knock it till you've tried it! (Whatever... just get on with it.) Right. Here goes!

Kureno: He's so sweet! Go home to love~ Uotani: Kickass! And making dinner~ Hee! Shishou: Wants grandkids... and possibly a relationship? He seems too out of it, though... Hanajima: Loves giving Kyo hell... has some goals up her own sleeve. *Smirks* Kisa: Getting along well with Hiro. <3 Hiro: I smell he's making progress! Ayame: He and Mine will be just fine. Kagura: Annoys the f*ck out of me. -_-" I might actually dislike her more than... NOPE! I won't say it! >_< Rin: I know how she feels... it's hard to forgive. Haru: Still very much a silly boy who loves his girl~ Ritsu: Holy crap! He's a man! Manabe: Very much his mendoukusai self with his girl, Komaki. Hatori: Can finally smile happily... thanks to Mayu. *Smirks* Shigure: I'm glad he's found his happiness again. He's still a jerk but that's why we like him... or at least, I do! X3 Akito: ...very hard for me to describe. Don't like him... can't forgive him... but can understand him a bit more now. *Shrugs* Machi: Will always chase after her "Prince." Katsuya: Still gorgeous even after everything. Kyoko: I knew she wouldn't say something so horrible. At least now she's happy with him. Yuki: Taking a stand and being a man. He's grown so much. Kyo: The definition of a true man. Take her with you! Tohru: ...the best female lead in any shoujo manga. *Smiles*

There you go. I hope you can all get a better idea of what will come with this volume! (If anything, you just confused them more.) ...I really don't like you. (*Chuckles*) *Head/desk* ANYWAY!!! This is one of my favorite manga so I highly recommend the entire series. You will have plenty of laughs, cry many tears, and see yourself grow into a better person. It's one of those works of art that you must have always and forever because it is just THAT amazing. I'm... a bit sad to see it end... (For once, I agree with you.) ...but it's like Takaya-sensei said. It's not really ending. As long as we treasure and remember it always, it'll never truly be over! There are endless possiblities for these characters! We can still be a part of it! Thinking that way... I think it helps us part ways a bit easier, don't you think? (Sentimental much?) You know you're going to miss it, too. (...) *Smirks* I knew it. (Shut up.) *Giggles* Anyway, read this series, guys. This is just too good for you not to read it. Even the cranky guy behind the parenthesis says so! (Leave me alone.) Well, that's all for this review and series. It's been an epic journey we went on but it's time to say so long for now! (See you in the next review.) Wha-what!? You're going to stick around? (It's fun torturing you.) ... *Stares at reader* ...I'm so screwed... (*Smirks* Not yet, you're not.) *Falls over*

IT'S BEEN A PLEASURE! THANK YOU, TAKAYA-SENSEI, FOR THE AMAZING RIDE! JA MATA NE!!!

I love the ending... and it's actually better than I remembered it being!

This will be a series overview. Overall, I give this series a solid 4 stars. It was one of the better mangas out there but still couldn't hold a candle to Ouran High School Host Club or Death Note.

There were a lot of issues with this manga too (and that's pretty much what I want to talk about), mainly with the characters, which I will outline as follows:

1) Tohru: For the love of God, has there ever been a more insufferable heroine? JESUS. She was such a Mary Sue that I just wanted to bitch slap her over and over again. She was so selfless but always saw herself as selfish and would be apologising every god damn chapter for something. GAH. WHY TO AUTHORS CREATE SUCH ALTRUISTIC CHARACTERS?!. This feels like my rant of Jem from Clockwork Princess. *sigh* Her character's personality in general really took the series down a peg for me.

2) Yuki: Again, another altruistic character. He was so sweet most of the time that I wanted to punch him too.

3) Kyo: Probably the least annoying of all the main characters. I really didn't have much love for him at the beginning of the Series for the way he spoke to Tohru, always calling her stupid and such. (Which she was, but that's beside the point I guess). IMO he by far the most tragic character. His back story was unbelievably sad. He somehow morphed into my favourite character before I even knew it. The one "issue" I had with his story arc was his backstory with Tohru's mom. I found that unnecessary and kind of just filler. His story was tragic enough, that really didn't need to be added.

4) Akito: What can I say about her? It was the biggest shock to find out "he" was actually a "she". Didn't see that one coming. I almost felt sorry for her when I read her backstory, but she was to much of a psychopath to warrant any redemption in my mind, let's recount her actions
1. Beating the sh*t out of every Zodiac member
2. Emotionally scarring every Zodiac member
3. Pretty much blinding Hatori
4. Pushing Rin out of a second story window
5. FREAKING STABBING Kureno in the back and then...
6. Going after Tohru with the same intentions

After all this, somehow Shigure still loves her and wants to be with her? AND TOHRU WANTS TO BE HER FRIEND?!.

Hold the f-ing phone! WHA???

*massaging temples* Rin seemed to have the only logical emotional response to Akito's big revelation/turn around: TOO FREAKING LATE, BITCH. Damage is done!

And the one thing the still confuses me is how the Curse actually ended! This quote: When one who was never loved is loved, that ancient promise nears the end" seems to imply that Tohru's love for Kyo breaks Kyo's curse and causes a domino effect and breaks the curses of all the other Zodiac.

However, this doesn't really fully explain how Kureno's, Hiro's, and Momiji's curse were broken before Kyo's. Maybe Tohru's early love for Kyo (before she even realized it) was enough to start "freeing" Hiro and Momiji? And it seems to me (if I remember correctly) that Kureno was freed around the same time Kyo met Kyoko? (Correct me if I'm wrong anyone!). The fact that Kyoto was the first person to ever show Kyo a little bit of love ended up being the chink in the armor of the curse?

I remember earlier in the series that Shigure said something about the course already starting to break and that this was the first time ever that all the members of the Zodiac were alive at the same time, the "Last Banquet" so to speak, and that the curse would eventually break over time (This was a stupid thing to add in my mind, very anticlimactic). So in my mind, the Zodiac members finding a different purpose in life other than the "bond", aka: Truly loving someone else, were catalysts in breaking the already deteriorating bond. Around the time Kyo's course is broken, Akito had also come to terms that she needs to "let go", that she no longer needs or wants to be "God". Maybe another reason for the bond breaking? All the story line concerning the "breaking" of the bond was handled poorly in my mind.

There wasn't enough solid answers! I hate when plot lines aren't wrapped up in a cohesive manner.

Ok, and ONE more little tiff I have. This concerns the manner in which the manga was actually story-boarded. I was so damn confused a lot of the time about who was actually speaking! The author had a bad habit of two characters talking to each other (let's say, Kyo and Tohru), then completing changing the setting with different characters (like Akito), but still have the dialogue of the original characters talking! There are still several parts of the manger where I have NO IDEA who is suppose to be talking or whose "internal dialogue" is "speaking".

Ok, I lied, another thing that irked me. This is more of a general manga question, WHAT IS WITH ALL THE COUSIN LOVING!?

Is this a "normal" thing in Japan? Not considered a taboo like in Western Culture? It seems like the entire Sohma family is built upon incest. All the characters would be horrible inbreed! For example, Hatsu & Rin, Hiro and Kisa, Kugura and Kyo (though that never worked out, obviously), Hatori and Kana (again, didn't work out), Shigure and Akito... the list goes on and on!

OKAY. Wow, this was a lot of ranting! Probably the longest review I've ever written and no one will probably read it! haha, but that's ok, I just felt like I needed to type out my emotions to get some closure, which I feel I kind of achieved.

This is a review for the entire manga.

Finally, FINALLY, I finished this beautiful classic of a manga. I dropped it several years ago when it wasn't even finished, and then didn't have the time nor patience to continue reading it from where I left off. So in December 2016 I sat my ass down and decided to just get it over with. And oh, if it wasn't even lovelier than I remembered.

There's just so much to like about Fruits Basket - the amazing and big cast of characters with their deeply moving backstories, the asian mythology, the humour and fun that actually worked well with the grim sadness that runs through every page. I have been reading manga for over fifteen years, but I can count on one hand how many have made me cry, but Fruits Basket totally made me tear up multiple times. It is just so powerful and moving. As I said, it's both grim and sad, but Natsuki Takaya still manages to incorporate a very positive message.

And once again, the characters. I don't even know which ones I would call my favorites - as my friend said, the main character Tohru is one of the sweetest, most caring and at the same time, real manga characters that I've encountered. Even though her mother very recently passed away, she continues on being her kind self, something I found quite annoying in the beginning - I mean, how?

As the story progresses though, we learn about Tohru's own struggles with wanting to surpress all the hurt from missing her mother, while still not wanting to forget her. And it's almost healing seeing Tohru together with the other characters - how she heals them just accepting and being there for them. It warmed my heart.

As I mentioned, the cast is big, and therefor I won't go into each and everyone of them. But let me just say this - even though we miss diversity in sexuality, gender and race, we get diversity in personality. Every single one of these characters was different from the other, had their own struggles and insecurities, strenghts and weaknesses. I adored Kyo, Momiji, Rin, Kisa, Tohru's mother and just - everyone. You could even sympathise with the villain, and maybe even the "heroes" sometimes had darkness in them as well.

The story flowed beautifully, with some innocent banter to lighten up the atmosphere after a long arc about family and suffering, and cute romantic bits at time, althought the romance part truly is just a small bit of this manga. It's a lot about love, but more about loving yourself, your friends and maybe your family than a potential partner.

My only complaint has to be that I surprisingly felt that the art was way better in the beginning - it got more generic and simple as we neared the end, and I wish the mangaka had kept her cute style.

All in all, a manga I would recommend to most and hold very dear myself. It's truly a classic for a reason, and I am now considering rewatching the anime - though I want to make this year the year of finishing mangas.

I have all the feelings.

Volume 23 is an epilogue, so really 22 is where it ends. However we are left with 23 showing us the new beginnings. Finally each of them are looking forward and grasping at the new opportunities ahead of them. Some people will find this book unnecessary, but I loved seeing how everything truly comes together. The entire journey of this manga was to get to a point where new beginnings exist for everyone.

I'm so happy right now but with how incredibly attached I am to this series I'll probably feel a little sad that's it's over later. I pulled an all nighter of nothing but Fruits Basket and I am so incredibly glad that I did. With all the ups and downs and way-way downs that transpired, this story had me on an emotional roller-coaster of epic proportions. It's more then just wanting to pair characters up and watch love blossom, it's about wanting to see each and everyone of these sad, hurt people become whole again. Fruits Basket is about watching as each event takes place bringing them closer to their eventual happiness.

All the while this series still made me laugh and awwww with girlish delight while setting me up for the next punch to the face. The writing and art have been perfectly paired giving me dialogue that knocked me down, while the art showed the gradual growth in the characters.

I have so much to say that I'm planning on writing a full review of the entire series at some later date. That's why I've been annoying you all with the constant updates with each volume. I like to say my thoughts as soon as I've finished because I know I'll be able to come back and remember my feelings with the full power of when I first had them and not as some distant after thought. But that's for more then just a review, I like remembering things that I love and look forward to comparing my first experiences with my next and my next and so forth. I think this is something I'll return to without fail.

FINALLY!
so... overall the series was just ok.. i think if this was a 6 to 10 book series it would have been much better.. too dragged out for sure

Oh Fruits Basket....

Que gran viaje!
Conocer a Tohru y a la familia Sohma fue maravilloso, yo verdaderamente fui feliz con ellos, me divertí y también sentí tristeza por ellos.
Es un sentimiento agridulce.
Y si mis dos ships favoritos triunfaron yay.

First series of the year done! After watching the anime, I really wanted to read the manga. I really enjoyed reading and honestly felt emotional all over. It was definitely a journey reading and something I will defiantly remember!

Here we are! The final volume. I wonder how many manga make it to 23 volumes. I'm assuming not that many have a story complex enough to last that long unless they're the functional equivalent of sitcoms, with each volume being a stand-alone story.

The curse is broken. Kyo and Tohru are officially together. Yuki and Machi are officially together.

All of the former Zodiac members gather for a banquet with Akito. There Akito reveals that she is in fact a woman! Shigure, Hatori, Ayame, Kureno, and Tohru were the only ones who knew this. Now that Akito is no longer god, she is going to begin living as a woman and trying to create a life for herself.

But Akito won't be alone. She and Shigure are happily in love (although with Akito's temper, I bet it will still be rocky). Shigure is happy to be with Akito and is no longer writing cheesy romance novels and making off-color jokes.

Yuki, Tohru, and Kyo are all graduating high school. Yuki will be going to college with Machi nearby. Tohru and Kyo will be leaving to live and work in a dojo far away. Kyo wants to live - to see things. He feels terrible for taking away Tohru from the Sohmas. We see just how much every member of the family loves Tohru and what a stalwart she is for all of them. More of a god-figure than Akito, in many ways. Tohru loves the Sohmas as well, but is happy to do whatever makes Kyo happy.

The volume ends with a cute little happily ever after scene.

A good end to a fabulous series. I definitely understand why this is the most popular shojo manga.

What a fantastic ending to an incredible manga series. The characters are some of my favorites of all time and the lessons our favorites learn along the way I think can easily be brought into real life (at least in my circ*mstances) I think it wrapped up nicely and ended exactly how it should have, other than the one relationship I did not see coming at all. Looking forward to reading the "another" series and finding about more about the future!

At long last I am finally finished with this beautiful series. One of the best shojo manga and for very good reason. From beginning to end this story was top notch for me. This final volume concluded the series very well. There is not much more I can say other than you must give this series a read at least one in your manga reading lifetime!

5/5 stars!!!!
I'm so sad that this series is over, but I'm also so so happy with how everything turned out.

This manga series is so important to me and it owns my heart. I love all the characters and I'm currently in tears because I can't believe it's over.

IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL.
IT ENDED SO PERFECTLY.
I LOVE ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS WHOLE MANGA SERIES.

Lo más lindo que he leído hasta ahora y sin duda no puedo esperar para mirar la última temporada del anime.

This journey is over, and what a wild ride it has been! I read the first 17 volumes back when I was a teenager, and I endeavoured to read them all again this year in order to finally finish it, and now it's done, and what am I gonna do with my life? T_T

This was even better than what I remembered from when I first read them, and the last two volumes are just a FEELS overload. The ending almost felt like a movie, that's how immersive this experience was.

My heart is happy.

Just let me scrape myself off the ground over here. Yup.

The end, ugh. I remembered so little about the end. The date, the goodbyes. Soft Akito. I cannot right now. I love this series so much, I don't know what to do.

And the not quite epilogue. Ugh. My HEART.

TW: emotional and physical abuse

Baja un poco el impacto a comparación del tomo anterior, pero qué bonito es ver a los personajes tomar control de su vida.

Puddle of feels. Such a deep shoujo with great messages and a beautiful tale full of heartbreaking characters who all deserve happiness. I'm going to mark the first manga as favorite but know that I'm favoriting this entire series.❤️❤️❤️

P.S. I love me the progression in art styles and feeling like I grew up with these characters--which I kind of did, this manga is my childhood and now my adulthood and always.❤️❤️❤️

*en larmes* Bon ben c'était trop bien. Encore.

I loved this story from start to finish. It was a pleasure meeting the Sohma family and my girl Tohru.

W H O L E S O M E!!
It was a beautiful journey and now I don’t know how to move on from this Fruits Basket hangover.

Con una sola e insignificante parola... si può ferire... o essere salvati.

Difficile recensire un'opera del genere. Ma ci provo, pur sapendo che non basterebbero mille parole per descriverla.
Sono ancora più o meno una novellina nel mondo dei manga e questo è il mio primo vero manga lunghetto che ho provato a leggere. Mi attendeva da un pò di tempo ma sono sempre stata titubante ad iniziarlo proprio perchè sono allergica alle serie lunghe.
Ebbene, la lunghezza non mi ha pesato affatto! Il brodo non si allunga inutilmente, anzi tutto è incastonato alla perfezione: gli eventi, i personaggi. Non c'è niente e nessuno che sia veramente inutile alla storia. Una storia diversa dal solito, intensa e significativa. Infatti già dalla trama sembrava fare al caso mio, avevo quella sensazione che mi sarebbe piaciuta e così è stato. Non sono rimasta delusa e il finale mi ha soddisfatto appieno come non capita spesso.
All'inizio ammetto che non ero molto coinvolta emotivamente: i primi volumi sono introduttivi, per cui leggevo con piacere e curiosità ma non riuscivo ad entrare nella storia. Da un certo punto in poi invece mi ha preso, tanto che Furuba è diventato quasi parte di me ♥
E' un manga che parla al cuore, all'anima. Ti scava dentro, fin dove fa più male e non puoi fare a meno di piangere... ma quando capisci che questo dolore serve per cambiare, comprendere te stesso... allora ti senti più leggero e soprattutto libero. E' ciò che praticamente succede alle miriadi di personaggi che ci vengono presentati: hanno tutti qualcosa da raccontare, un passato drammatico alle spalle, colpe, paure, lutti, difetti, segreti inconfessabili e fanno sbagli su sbagli. E io era come se fossi lì in mezzo a soffrire insieme a loro perchè in molti di quei pensieri purtroppo mi ci sono rivista: sentirsi disprezzati, non accettati, diversi, esclusi, inutili, incompresi, smarriti, soli tra la folla. E chi almeno una volta nella vita non si è sentito così? Davvero, a livello di tematiche affrontate, questo manga mi ha toccato profondamente. Ho provato emozioni negative quando, leggendo, mi si sbatteva in faccia la verità, la realtà che mi circonda... ma anche positive perchè dimostra come, nonostante tutto, il lieto fine se lo meritano tutti; dimostra come ognuno di noi sia unico e che basterebbe una parola gentile, di comprensione, senza GIUDICARE sempre, per aiutare l'altro a spalancare quella porta che si chiude sempre di più al mondo! Proprio come fa Toru con i 12 animali dello Zodiaco cinese. Fortunato chi ha accanto qualcuno come lei! Fortunato chi sa già qual'è il suo posto nel mondo! Fortunato chi non si sente oppresso da una famiglia, da una società che vuole omologarti alla massa! Io non sono tra questi ma spero sempre per il meglio o perlomeno voglio crederci! Quindi leggere tale manga, per quanto male faccia, dà speranza e consolazione... forza e voglia di vivere e andare avanti. Quello che vivono i personaggi (ben caratterizzati perchè crescono, imparano dalla sofferenza e dagli errori, maturano e cambiano) è un percorso difficile e tortuoso come può esserlo quello di qualsiasi persona. Un percorso di morte e rinascita. Un cambiamento... basterebbe partire da piccoli cambiamenti per arrivare ad una trasformazione e sentirsi FINALMENTE bene con se stessi e di conseguenza con gli altri. Basterebbe fregarsene e sorridere e anche se non è facile bisogna provarci.
Comunque ci sarebbero tante altre cose da dire su Furuba: di come l'amore (in tutte le sue forme) sia alla base di tutto, del dolore della separazione, di come la vita debba fare il suo corso... ma mi fermo qui, altrimenti non la smetto più!
Faccio solo un ultimo accenno dal punto di vista grafico: disegni molto belli ed evocativi, seppur i visi non siano super differenziati... però boh forse è perchè semplicemente ci sono tanti personaggi da seguire e finiva che mi confondevo XD
In conclusione non mi resta che consigliarlo assolutamente, se non l'avete ancora letto. E' particolare, ricco di colpi di scena, drammatico e divertente, tenero e toccante... insomma un must!

I'm so sad to be reading the last volume of this beloved series! I have enjoyed it so much! I will carry them all for the rest of my life like the mangaka. The breath of characters, their similarities and differences, their relationships and growth...wow!

I was terribly shocked at how satisfying this volume was. I thought the best was had in vol.22 with the curse breaking. Akito and Shigure though finally shed the past. I've thought Shigure was the most complex of the characters and the least understood and we finally get satisfaction for all the thoughts we had about him and his actions over the series. I loved how the mangaka cut back and force with flashbacks from previous interactions and the current scen so you understand their motivations. For all intents and purposes we are "shown" them!

We get all the blow back from the previous volume. I love the conclusions with Tohru's mother. "You did good." So heartbreaking and kind and good. I love how we feel the future from these chapters...how they will surely turn out if they stay on this path of love and acceptance. I loved how this volume allowed us to reflect and re-experience Tohru's effect on all of the zodiac.

BOTTOM LINE: Such a perfect ending! *Sigh* I'll miss you all!