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Beloved by many in the United State, Furuba is the best selling shojo manga in North America. The popularity of such a manga can only be attributed to the wonderful writing of Natsuki Takaya, and her details to the characters and the loveliness of their flaws. The unabashed nature of Toru Honda, the shyness of Yuki, and the brass of Kyo combine to take the story places where it hadn't been before. Yet, with the release of the anime itself, I feel as though it fell short of where the manga set the standard.

The jest of the story is that Toru, the lovely heroin, starts out living on her own, because she doesn't want to bother anybody with her problems. One day, when she's on her way to school, she finds a small outpost house, that belongs to Shigure Sohoma and the Sohoma family. She soon comes to realize that this bachelor, along with his housemate, the popular Yuki from school, needs a maid to help them keep the house clean. Soon after that you meet the unabashed Kyo that comes crashing through the roof, and after touching her, turns into a cat. The other two try to cover what has just happened, and they also turn into animals, Shigure a dog and Yuki a rat. At that moment, she is a part of their family, and shares the knowledge of the family secret; some of them are cursed by the vengeful spirits of the Japanese zodiac.

Regrettably, this is perhaps one of the few anime's that I can't stand to watch subbed. The dubbed version is so much better, with the exceptional talent of Laura Bailey as Toru Honda, and the eerily accurate John Burgmeier as Shigure. Their voices seemed to be made for the characters, and the Japanese cast just didn't fit in as I would have liked. Also, the transition between the English and the Japanese is phenomenal it was the closest translation that I've ever come across.

The art in the anime, as in the manga, is light and crisp and the transition between the two was done seamlessly. The music, likewise, was amazing. I loved to watch the opening transition, with the late Ritsuko Okazaki's music, the music during the show, and the closing song added to the lightness of the anime.

The only issue that I personally had with the anime at all was the fact that it ended where it did. The anime ends at the end of the eighth manga, leaving all the strings loose, Toru wanting to break the family curse, and several key characters that come in after the fact were also let out. But, both the author of the manga and the director of the anime refuse to carry it forward. Maybe it's for pride, or maybe she doesn't want to give away the ending. Hopefully, there will be some Ova's, but I would not hold my breath for them.

Learn more about this author, Alice Montgomery.
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