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Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Manga Review: Fruits Basket Another, Volume 2, by Natsuki Takaya


Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5
Publisher: Yen Press
Release Date: November 2018
Volumes: 3+
Spoilers?: No.
Volume: 1.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Fan-favorite Fruits Basket is back with more Sohma-filled adventures! Except this time, it's set in the same world, years later. Find out more in this new volume!
School's no longer an endless pit of anxiety and solitary lunches for Sawa thanks to the Sohmas. She's joined the student council and made new friends who don't abandon her no matter how painfully awkward or useless she is-they don't even get angry when she screws up or starts blabbering gibberish! Though social interactions are still daunting, people don't seem to be as scary anymore-at least, until another Sohma appears?!

Review:

While I do like that Takaya has decided to visit this world again, I think this series is just not what people would like of a continuation. Because it's obvious that the characters are just a cheap imitation of the original cast. They're their kids, who all look very similar to their parents, and have the same kind of dynamic, and then we have an outside female protagonist with self-esteem issues. All of it is very familiar, and yet not as good.
We only get the ghost impressions of their parents, mentions and near-misses, but we never get to see them. And instead we're following their kids, and we get to see how the originals might have turned out, with a better upbringing. Which is the thing that makes these kids different—the original cast grew up and overcame things, and they learned how to be better people than their own parents. These kids have nice upbringings and an actually, healthily close family—for the most part, I believe.
We get to meet a few more characters in this volume—Ayame's kids, we get to see more of Momiji's kids and Hatori's, and then we meet Akira's son. There's an ominous shadow over everything, but I don't think it's leading to anything actually bad, this time.
This series is sweet, and I get it, but I honestly just want to see the original cast, all grown up and happy together. Thankfully this series is supposed to be short, at least.

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