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Feature Presentation:
I got this series because I heard that it's pretty funny & it's popular, so I decided to take a look. I was surprise, what I heard was all true. It's the best & I love it. I find it that it's really cool that this series used Chinese Zodiac as a central theme. We started off meeting a very sweet 16 year-old girl, Tohru Honda. Not only that, she is a cheerful with a good heart. Her mother was killed in a car accident & since then, she tries her best in school, working hard. Not wanting to burden anyone, she went to live in a tent & begins to live in a forest. She is determined to finish school in order to fulfill her mother's last wish. It turns out that the land Tohru is living on belongs to the Sohma family, where one of his classmate, Yuki, lives. The story beings there, where Tohru found out about the Sohma family' secrets & all of their lives will change forever. The story will touch your heart & bring a tear to your eyes in some moments. Not to worry, there will be hilarious moments, too. Just be yourself, you'll be fine.
Video:
FUNimation Productions did a great job bring it on DVD. It is clean, crisp, I found no problem. They even use the angle function of your DVD player. You can actually switch between the original Japanese version or the English version of the opening & ending. Since all the episodes are on one single track on the DVD, there is no loading time or changing tracks when you move on to the next episode. Each episode is split into 6 parts: introduction, part A, part B, part C, ending & the preview for the next episode! I do note that you can't skip the warnings & logos in the beginning using the "Menu" button on your remote, so you have to wait until the menu pops up to start to show.
Dubbing: English:
The English dubbing is well done. I even go as far that I like the English voices better then the Japanese. That's my opinion. FUNimation Productions have kept as close as the original Japanese dialogue. They even dubbed the opening & ending theme, keeping the original music. It's about 90% of the original Japanese.
Audio 01: English 2.0:
No problem found.
Audio 02: Japanese 2.0:
No problem found.
Subtitle:
The font they use is a little small, but bolded. However, the color dark yellow that FUNimation Productions have picked help to make it easier to read. There are 2 subtitling tracks. One of the subtitle tracks is for the original Japanese track, the other one is the actual dialogue for the English track for the hearing impaired, which is kinda unique. The only problem I see that it's lacking the Japanese signs or texts subtitling translation, except if you switch on the Japanese subtitling.
Menu Option:
The menu is pretty simple, it's very colorful. You get to see Tohru on the left, with the options on the right, which are "Play All", "Episodes", "Language" & Extras. Very simple & easy to use. I like the music playing in the backgound & each section have a different music.
DVD Extras:
There is alot to see in the extra. There is the profile of all the main characters you see during the first 6 episodes, as well, who did the English voices. There is also a non-credit opening, but the Japanese version. Though, you can switch the audio track between the English & Japanese.version theme. Finally, there is a behind the scene on the making of Fruits Basket from Japan.
Packaging:
The packaging is pretty simple & cute. On the cover, it's Torhu Honda, smiling, in a yellow background. In the back, there are some screenshots form the episodes in this volume, along with an image that is part of the Chinese Zodiac. The insert have the same picture of the cover. Inside the insert is a list of all the episodes, along with a small summary. On the DVD disc itself, it's Kagura Sohma with her cute bag.
PC Viewing:
Watching it on the PC is the same as watching it on the TV. Very clean, no problem at all, very little pixel (little squares popping in & out), both normal mode & full screen mode. The sound is just great. Since all the episodes are on one track, there isn't any loading time when you move episode to episode. However, there is one little problem, you can't forward using your mouse, except moving to the next chapter. Bascially, you can't just go any point throughout the series with a click of the mouse. Unlike on your regular DVD player, you can't skip the warnings & logos when you load the disc, you need to wait until the main menu appears.
Overall DVD Rating:
I love this series. It got everything, a cute story, lovable characters & you can really connect with them, too. There are moments that make you laugh, cry & really touch your heart.
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