FLYING HEARTS: THE SOUMA MOMIJI FAN CLUB

FRUITS BASKET - WHERE IT ALL BEGAN...

INTRODUCTION

Even though Momiji didn't start off the manga/anime series (he comes into the story much later) but we still love the series overall. It began with the story of Honda Tohru, the naive but kind-hearted student of Kaibara High School who'd lost her mother in an accident & had to stay in a tent due to some problems with he grandpa's place. The story progresses when she'd been offered to stay at schoolmate (and not to mention the most desirable student at school) Souma Yuki's house, together with his 'relatives'; the short-tempered Souma Kyo and the eccentric novelist Souma Shigure. But the Soumas holds a very big secret; they'll changed into their cursed chinese-zodiac-animal-forms whenever they come into skin-to-skin contact with the opposite gender. Tohru learnt the secret early and even though it freaks her out at first, she'd come to terms with it and is actually the place for the other cursed Soumas (or Juunishi as they're called) to rely on emotionally speaking. But it's not all bliss and happiness for them as the Head of the Souma clan, a boy named Akito will stop at nothing to make sure that everyone especially Tohru will end up in misery.

THE MANGA

Here are some samples of the Fruits Basket manga covers (the design differs according to each countries) and contents.

THE ANIME

Unlike the manga, the anime series had only been made until Episode 26, which way before any interesting things started to happen at the Souma household. Most of the episode aims to introduce to the non-manga readers all about the characters especially glimpses of Tohru's relationships with the Soumas. Unfortunately, 2 more characters which was equally important (and far more interesting in terms of story) was not included in the anime series so fans who'd only watch the anime and not read the manga didn't even know the existence of Souma Kureno (a cursed Rooster) and Souma Isuzu (Horse). I think it really is a shame but hey, I'm still a big fan of the anime. Here's a list of crew who'd worked their butts off for the series. Give them a big hand of applause people!

Cast & Characters

¤ Honda Tohru (v/o Horie Yui)
¤ Souma Yuki (v/o Hisakawa Aya)
¤ Souma Kyo (v/o Seki Tomokazu)
¤ Souma Shigure (v/o Okiayu Ryoutarou)
¤ Souma Kagura (v/o Mitsuishi Kotono)
¤ Souma Momiji (v/o Saito Ayaka)
¤ Souma Hatori (v/o Inoue Kazuhiko)
¤ Souma Hatsuharu (v/o Suyama Akio)
¤ Souma Ayame (v/o Miyamoto Mitsuru)
¤ Souma Hiro (v/o Fuchizaki Yuriko)
¤ Souma Kisa (v/o Nazuka Kaori)
¤ Souma Akito (v/o Wakaba Murasaki)
¤ Souma Kazuma (v/o Inoue Norihiro)
¤ Souma Ritsu (v/o Tominaga Miina)
¤ Hanajima Megumi (v/o Minami Omi)
¤ Okami-san (v/o Yamamoto Junko)
¤ Kuramae Mine (v/o Takahashi Miki)
¤ Arisa Uotani (v/o Imai Yuka)
¤ Saki Hanajima (v/o Yasuhara Reiko)
¤ Honda Kyoko (v/o Yasuhara Reiko)

Crew

Original Manga - Natsuki Takaya
Series Director - Akitaro Daichi
Assistant Director - Nagisa Miyazaki
Series Story Editor - Rika Nakase
Character Design - Akemi Hayashi
Music - Seji Muto
Co-produced by - Studio Deen

THE MYSTERY OF SOUMA KURENO & SOUMA ISUZU 'RIN'

Just like other FB fans out there, I have to admit that I'm pretty fascinated by these two characters (even though I'm an avid fan of Momiji!). Here's some brief info on the 2 characters so you guys can get to know them better. Most of these facts were compiled from various fan sites so I don't really know if they're authentic facts or not.

SOUMA KURENO

¤ He's cursed by the Rooster (or Bird to some other version) zodiac
¤ Was forbade to go outside the Main House by you-know-who
¤ Met and was said to be very smitten with Uo-chan when he was finally allowed to go out (but just for that day of course)
¤ The other Juunishi was also forbade to have any direct contact with him except for New Years
¤ Was somehow not affected by the curse as he'd supposingly found the way to broke his own curse (he once hugged Tohru & nothing happen)
¤ He'll obey everything and do anything that Akito says without a second thought (a friend of mine jokingly called him Akito's personal butler)
¤ He may be obeying Akito like a precious puppy but apparently he didn't really agree with his orders personally. He once literary 'saved' Rin from being locked inside a room and continuously being tortured by Akito.
¤ Because of his 'loyalty' to Akito, Akito can sometimes looked the other way when Kureno did something that might angered him, like when he got Rin out of the room and took her to the hospital; and actually Akito about it afterwards (I don't really know what happen after that - maybe he was bullied for doing so but as far as I know he didn't though)

SOUMA ISUZU

¤ Was called by almost everyone as 'Rin'
¤ She's cursed by the Horse zodiac
¤ Has this liking for sexy and short clothes
¤ Was actually in a romantic relationship with Haru but had to end it like the other Juunishi had did in the past (similar situation as Kisa-Hiro and Hatori-Kana)
¤ But she's still very much in love with him (as he is with her) even though she had to hide it due to Akito's disagreement in their relationship
¤ Was hospitalized since childhood due to some really serious health problems, and continued to be in and out of hospital until now
¤ Her parents had also 'decided' to physically abuse her because they supposingly 'didn't know how to love her (as a Juunishi)' (what crappy parents!)
¤ Is currently living at Kagura's house (cause they go to the same school)
¤ Had a strong bond with Souma Kazuma since she'd often been to his place since childhood (even making Kyo kinda jealous because of the divided attention :-))
¤ Her first encounter with Tohru had been an aggressive one but like any other Juunishi, she eventually warmed up and sees her as her sign of hope

(NOTE: Pictures for Kureno & Rin were partly taken without permission from If I could - Shrine & Official Fanlisting to Souma Kureno and A Souma Rin's fan page)