Book Cover
Title Volume 1
Author Natsuki Takaya
Publisher Yen Press - 2015
First Printing Hakusensha, Inc - 2015
Book Cover
Title Volume 2
Author Natsuki Takaya
Publisher Yen Press - 2015
First Printing Hakusensha, Inc - 2015
Book Cover
Title Volume 3
Author Natsuki Takaya
Publisher Yen Press - 2015
First Printing Hakusensha, Inc - 2015
Book Cover
Title Volume 4
Author Natsuki Takaya
Publisher Yen Press - 2015
First Printing Hakusensha, Inc - 2015
Book Cover
Title Volume 5
Author Natsuki Takaya
Publisher Yen Press - 2016
First Printing Hakusensha, Inc - 2015
Book Cover
Title Volume 6
Author Natsuki Takaya
Publisher Yen Press - 2016
First Printing Hakusensha, Inc - 2016
Book Cover
Title Volume 7
Author Natsuki Takaya
Publisher Yen Press - 2016
First Printing Hakusensha, Inc - 2016
Book Cover
Title Volume 8
Author Natsuki Takaya
Publisher Yen Press - 2016
First Printing Hakusensha, Inc - 2016
Book Cover
Title Volume 9
Author Natsuki Takaya
Publisher Yen Press - 2017
First Printing Hakusensha, Inc - 2016
Book Cover
Title Volume 10
Author Natsuki Takaya
Publisher Yen Press - 2017
First Printing Hakusensha, Inc - 2016
Book Cover
Title Volume 11
Author Natsuki Takaya
Publisher Yen Press - 2017
First Printing Hakusensha, Inc - 2016
Book Cover
Title Volume 12
Author Natsuki Takaya
Publisher Yen Press - 2017
First Printing Hakusensha, Inc - 2016
Category Manga
Warnings None
Main Characters Tohru Honda, and the Sohma clan
Main Elements Shapeshifters, gods




Click to read the summaryVolume 1

Click to read the summaryVolume 2

Click to read the summaryVolume 3

Click to read the summaryVolume 4

Click to read the summaryVolume 5

Click to read the summaryVolume 6

Click to read the summaryVolume 7

Click to read the summaryVolume 8

Click to read the summaryVolume 9

Click to read the summaryVolume 10

Click to read the summaryVolume 11

Click to read the summaryVolume 12




Tohru's mother passes away suddenly, and Tohru finds herself homeless. Undaunted she decided to live in a tent only to find out the land on which she was camping out belongs to the Sohma family. While deciding what to do with her, she accidentally hugs one of them, and he turns into a cat! Turns out that the Sohma clan is cursed, 13 members of which take the form of an animal of the zodiac (including the cat that missed becoming one due to the trickery of the rat, something the cat has never forgiven) when hugged by a member of the opposite sex.

These books are a lot of fun, with Tohru being the anchor that helps the cursed family members to deal with their nature and the abuses of their pasts. No matter what goes wrong Tohru keeps a smile on her face, no matter how small the gift, Tohru is grateful. She is merely happy to get up in the morning and enjoy a beautiful day. We could all strive to be more like her. And of course it helps to have good friends, they may be the strangest pair of friends one can imagine, but never any so loyal and supportive. How could they not, they owe Tohru for changing their lives for the better, simply by being Tohru.

And of course the Sohma clan. They are either constantly fighting each other. Or they are confused as to their gender (feels like half the males make better females than females do). Most, if not all, suffered some kind of abuse in their childhoods. Each one is different and yet because each one is exotic they start to look the same (only so many femmy-guys can one keep straight in a black & white manga, at least Shigure stands out with him being one of two adults!) and I struggled with their nicknames, after everyone got three or four different names (and we have 13 Sohmas, Tohru, her two friends, her classmates, and some other random characters) I was thinking I was going to have to create an index of characters!

The manga swings from being funny and lighthearted, to being seriously dark, with moments of physical child abuse. There are moments when the scenes get so frantic I find it hard to understand what's going on, and of course there are some references I don't get (a much appreciated appendix at the back for us Westerners!). I can see why a lot of people love this manga, there are certainly a lot of mysterious pretty boys to drool over! But I must admit its not my favorite (I tend towards more dark and serious like Hellsing, Death Note or The Girl from the Other Side). I think it's that frantic-ness, perhaps too teenager-y for me. If I were watching the anime version of it, it would be one of those where my parents would walk in wondering what all the girly screaming was about! But I keep reading it, because I want to meet all of the animals of the zodiac, learn all their stories, and figure out what's up with Akita and Shigure and what plans they have for Tohru. There's much more to the story than just the trials and tribulations of high school students.

And I can't end a review without commenting on the art, which is excellent. Though I may have trouble telling those beautiful boys apart, it doesn't mean I don't enjoy looking at them. But in the end, it's really about Tohru, she's such a wonderful person you can't help wanting to find out what will happen to her. Will she fix the Sohma family and bring about peace between the members, simply by being who she is, offering a shoulder to cry on, and a smile when you're feeling bad. She reminds us that it's the people around us, and the small pleasures of life that really matter in the end.


Posted: April 2019

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