Fruits Basket

Fruits Basket is a rather different sort of audio drama (the website calls it “radio drama” even though you download it online).  I didn’t realize while listening to it on my MP3 player on a commute that it was a fan audio, but even though I realize it isn’t quite as massively innovative as I thought, it’s still a rather unusual and ambitious fan audio.  Why?  Because it’s an audio of a shojo manga; as far as I’m aware, you don’t get many of those.  The original story was by Natsuki Takaya and the whole project has been overseen by JesuOtaku, a passionate fan of manga and anime.  It is, quite frankly, in an audio universe flooded by stuff made in the tradition of either the BBC or US OTR, a breath of fresh air.  Its storyline, with catty high school girls drooling over handsome, Edward Cullen-like men, may not be to everyone’s taste, but its connection to traditional Japanese culture makes it all rather intriguing. 

 

JesuOtaku has taken it all quite seriously, and her professionalism is evident in the fact that the first episode I listened to, “Great Transformations,” is from 2011, and new episodes are still being uploaded—the most recent a few days ago.  JesuOtaku wants to introduce the manga to a wider audience, and for that reason, the actors seem to be drawn in for their skills in voice medium rather than their familiarity with the original Fruits Basket.  Needless to say, there are excellent actors in the main roles, and along with a Narrator (Omahdon), their easy assurance in the roles make this highly accessible, even if names like Tohru Honda seem like a mouthful (or an earful!) to a Western audience.

Tohru is a bit like Fanny Price:  almost too good to be true, almost so virtuous your teeth hurt.  Heather McDonald plays here with schoolgirlish optimism, while her mysterious interlocutors, Shigure (Jesse Frola) and Yuki Sohma (Evan Bremer) have vocal qualities that make them both amusingly guy-next-door and heroic enough to follow.  Also memorable in the first episode are Tohru’s best friends, Uo (Toria) and Hana (Melle Teich), whose distinctive voices meld seamlessly with their idiosyncratic characters.  And of course Tohru’s deceased mother, Kyoko (Kendra Lee), brings on the waterworks whenever she appears.

There’s a reason Fruits Basket works on audio:  it deals with some rather fantastic situations.  Your imagination allows you to picture what would look absurd in live action visual film.  The “foley artist,” Andrew Llanos, does a good job putting us in a Japan that is recognizable but ever-so-slightly foreign.  The music, by Ken Clayton, is also pretty effective. 

I will definitely try to catch up with this and listen to all four (and counting!) volumes.