Intro: A shoujo anime based off of a legend about the Chinese Zodiac.
Background: Began as a manga, Fruits Basket was well recieved and a 26 episode series was created to adapt the story. Though the anime doesn't continue as long as the manga, so the end is rushed.
Brief Story Description: High school student Tohru Honda has found herself alone in the world. Yet she finds herself befriending a rather odd family with a dark secret; a curse that turns them into animals of the Chinese Zodiac.
Story: 8/10 It's like a sitcom based on the idea of Tohru trying to befriend the members of this cursed family. It doesn't go quite into the depth that the manga does though.
Characters: 9/10 Wonderful characters, so many different ones that allow for some interesting interactions and clashes between personalities. Friends, Family, Rivals, Stalkers, Gangs, Perverts, etc, etc. Tohru herself is the kind of girl who always thinks of others before herself, she also a bit of an outcast at school. Yuki is the "prince" who all the girls love, but can't quite find it in himself to be himself. Kyou's the angsty youth who is determined to beat his cousin Yuki to earn his place. And there's so many more.
Quality: 9/10 Nice quality! Done digitally, so there's lots of fun special effects, especially with flashbacks and little things like that. Also is probably one of the best dubs put out by FUNimation.
Music: 6/10 Didn't care much for the music except for the ending theme and maybe a couple of the background tracks. Aya's theme is too loud, it's hard to hear what he says sometimes.
Little Kid Factor: I'd set it at maybe PG-13, but just because there's language and violence. It's not that bad.
Bottom line: A really sweet anime worth watching at least for all the different characters. Not a lot of action though, so if you don't like slow moving anime, you might not enjoy it. If you like the idea of people turning into animals, go for it!