Fruits Basket: Season Two, Part One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Fruits Basket: Season Two, Part One Blu-ray Movie Review

The deluxe set comes with an art box to house the entire Blu-ray collection of Fruits Basket.

Fruits Basket: Season 2, Part 1 is a must-see continuation of the fantasy anime that won over the hearts of audiences worldwide. The series airs on TV Tokyo in Japan. Released by Funimation Entertainment in North America, Fruits Basket is a delightful shojo anime that gives fans a mix of romance, comedy, and drama. From critically acclaimed studio TMS Entertainment (Dr. Stone, Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine), the second season of Fruits Basket delivers in spades.

After Tohru Honda (Manaka Iwami) finds herself struggling during the first season of Fruits Basket, Tohru meets a strange cast of characters after ending up on their property: Yuki Soma (Nobunaga Shimazaki), Shigure Soma (Yuichi Nakamura), and Kyo Soma (Yuma Uchida) comprise the Soma family household. Each member of the Soma family has the ability to transform in to animals after being hugged by a member of the opposite sex. The drama expands as Tohru continues living with the Soma's beyond the school year. As the summer arrives, new journeys and adventures await. Tohru soon finds herself enjoying some fun in the sun.

The animation is impeccable throughout. Featuring superb art direction by Yoko Kamiyama, Fruits Basket is an impressive achievement on a production scale. The background art work is nuanced and full of life. Character designs are unique and memorable. There is something beautiful in every animated frame. With a talented group of animators behind-the-scenes, Fruits Basket finds joy in simplicity. There is magic in that.

A must-own premium edition.

Fruits Basket features a strong music score music composed by Masaru Yokoyama (Freezing, Memoirs of a Murderer). The musical backdrop is one of the best components of the production. Each episode features lush music which is so easy to relax to. The score ebbs and flows. The drama and romance becomes dramatically enhanced through the intelligent use of music. There is something charming about the playful nature of the score and the way in highlights the characters. Yokoyama deserves accolades for a terrific effort.

Adapting the original manga by Natsuki Takaya, Fruits Basket will delight from beginning to end. Featuring well-written screenplays by Taku Kishimoto (Silver Spoon, Bunny Drop), Fruits Basket becomes even more complex and heartfelt during the second season. The storytelling expands and everything seems more ambitious. The characters face new situations and experiences that enhance the storytelling. Fans will be thrilled with the developments in the first-half of the season (as the set builds on the first season).

Fruits Basket is one of the best shojo anime series in years. Under the expert direction of Yoshihide Ibata (Attack on Titan), the series is a must-see gem that delivers on its promise in spades. Fans of charming slice-of-life series will enjoy in the serene storytelling and filmmaking style. There is certainly a lot to appreciate about the series. Don't miss it.

Fruits Basket: Season Two, Part One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation Entertainment, Fruits Basket is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. Featuring breathtaking animation, the second season of the series continues to impress with excellent color reproduction and striking detail. Though the series can sometimes appear a little soft, this seems to be a source-inherent limitation. Nonetheless, the clean animation style impresses. The art is beautiful and enchanting. The encoding is superb, too. Fans will be pleased.

Fruits Basket: Season Two, Part One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 stereo (with English Subtitles). Dialogue remains crisp, clear, and easy to understand. The music score sounds impressive and adds so much to the experience. Fans certainly can't go wrong with the release (in either the original language version or the charming English dub).

Fruits Basket: Season Two, Part One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release comes with a deluxe collectors box. The set features a gorgeous art box designed to house the entire Fruits Basket collection. This is one of the most stunning package designs yet from Funimation Entertainment. The outer-box looks and feel premium in-hand. Having owned an assortment of premium releases from Funimation over the years, I was impressed by how the packaging was designed and executed. The set feels special in hand and looks lovely on a shelf. Collectors looking for a nice box to house the entire collection will be overjoyed by how nice this release is – Kudos to Funimation for making such a nice package.

The limited edition also includes a selection of three art cards and two mini-figurines (as pictured). These are nice bonus pack-ins and add value to the release. The art cards are printed on quality card stock and each selection of art showcases the beauty of the animation. Anyone who enjoys art cards, trading cards, and similar collectibles will be enormously pleased with the quality of these pack-in items in the limited edition.

Fruits Basket: Season 2 FunimationCon 2020 Panel (HD, 35:00) is a virtual convention panel held over digital chat and featuring Caitlin Glass (ADR Director & Voice of Machi), Jerry Jewell (Voice of Kyo), Eric Vale (Voice of Yuki), Colleen Clinkenbeard (Voice of Akito), Mikaela Krantz (Voice of Momiji), and Aaron Dismuke (Voice of Kakeru).

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:32)

Fruits Basket: Season Two, Part One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The second season of Fruits Basket is off to a great start. The storytelling takes the series in some exciting new directions and the animation quality remains as consistently great as it was during season one. The production is immaculate. The Blu-ray release features a strong video- audio presentation and a selection of extras. The limited edition version contains a deluxe collectors art box which has been designed to house the entire collection of sets. The release also includes a set of three beautiful art cards and two mini-figurines. Die-hard fans won't be able to resist. Highly recommended.