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The title of "Fruits Basket" seems to imply that there is some basket with
fruits in it which is somehow relevant to the story. However, I imagine that a
story about a literal basket of fruits would not be very interesting.

What is the significance of the title? Is it referencing a literal basket of
fruits or is it symbolizing something else?


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2013-04-01T05:55:01.687
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fruits-basket
What is the meaning of the title of Fruits Basket?


The fruits basket is metaphorical, not literal. It represents how Tohru feels
like an outsider in her family, at school and with the Sohmas, in the same way
that an onigiri doesn't belong in a fruits basket. In the manga, she is often
represented as an onigiri.


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2013-04-01T23:13:21.993
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The Fruits Basket is a game where a player is assigned to one fruit (any fruit
as long as it is a fruit). Tohru was assigned by her friends to be the onigiri
(rice ball, which obviously isn't a fruit), so she was left sitting alone
because onigiri won't be called since onigiri isn't a fruit. It is also a
metaphor on how Tohru can't belong to the Souma family as an onigiri won't
belong to a Fruits Basket. [Reference
here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_Basket_Turnover#References_to_the_game).


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2013-04-01T23:45:51.643
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It is a reference to a Tohru played in her childhood where everyone is given a
name of a fruit. However, some of the kids, who were pretty mean to her,
labelled her as a rice ball (onigiri) so the name of her "fruit" was never
called out and she wasn't able to participate. This also symbolizes how
isolated she was as a child. Also, in the manga, sometimes when one of the 12
zodiac speak, you can see a small picture of their specific animal when their
face isn't in the panel. In Tohru's case, we see a small picture of a rice
ball instead.


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2020-05-12T16:37:01.200
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Some anime titles are literally meaningless, however fruits basket is not one
without meaning.

Tohru is like an outcast, fruits basket is like a musical chairs game, except
it uses fruit names and Japanese kids play it. In this anime, Tohru is like
outcast by the group and called onigiri (not a fruit), and thus she was left
out.

Thus the title would seem to be about how Tohru is different or outcast, and
maybe finds her happiness with different people.

[Fruits Basket game](https://genkienglish.net/fruitbasket.htm)


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