Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya
June has been an eternity. While I have been mostly relaxing on my summer break, it has been a bit difficult to enjoy it, what with the casual crumbling of democracy every other week in the old U.S.A. What I have indulged in this month was some much-needed escapism. I have read and watched the whole spectrum of subpar nonsense to diamonds in the rough this past June, but one particular series stood tall above the rest for me: Fruits Basket Another by Natsuki Takaya. Fruits Basket Another is a sequel to the popular manga series Fruits Basket. Because I can’t necessarily recommend a sequel that is entirely dependent on its predecessor, my June recommendation is Fruits Basket!
To this day, Fruits Basket holds up as a really sweet and emotional journey. The story follows a teenage girl, Tohru Honda, as she meets 13 special members of the Sohma family. These particular Sohmas are cursed, turning into animals from the Chinese Zodiac when embraced by someone of the opposite sex, or when under a lot of stress. While the premise is a bit silly and fantastical, the narrative is ultimately about healing from generational trauma and lifelong abuse. Each of the 13 Sohma’s is broken in some way. Their curse has caused heartbreak, isolation, and rejection with parents, friends, and extended family. Tohru’s positive presence in their lives becomes a source of healing, as she listens to their stories and accepts them for who they are. Over the series you watch Tohru and the others grow and realize that their lives do not have to be what was dictated to them.
I loved Fruits Basket Another for its fulfillment of the hopes and promises that the original series leaves the reader with. Definitely check out Fruits Basket if you want a very sweet, emotional journey and my personal favorite romance in a manga series ever!
—Elise
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
In June I finally finished Dickens’s wonderful and insanely long Bleak House, as recommended to me by fellow writer Elise. In spite of how much I loved the book, I firmly believe you cannot recommend Bleak House to someone unless they are already a Dickens fan, as much of my enjoyment of Bleak House was the Dickensisms that permeate his writing.
All that being said, for June I recommend his other classic novel, Great Expectations, so that you may become a Dickens fan. I don’t care if you read it previously for school; read it again. Dickens is a master of character, and by that I mean a compliment to his development and contrast of characters and equally by his ability to make a character so unique, funny, or tragic (or all in one). Dickens uses his main character Pip to create a reflective coming-of-age story that is dramatic, poignant, and humorous. In fact, Dickens delights in humor and horror alike: Great Expectations is sprinkled with satirical comedy and images that have haunted the literary scene to this day. The combination of Pip’s youthful mistakes and older, past-tense point-of-view work together to create a bittersweet tone throughout the novel that leads to an ending that is mature and emotional. And despite Pip’s focus, the novel contains some truly iconic female characters, with a romantic subplot that still reads as subversive today. Most of all, Dickens is so much fun–in character, prose, and humor–that no matter what you read, it is delightfully written. (And then you can read Bleak House.)
—Peyton
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
In April, having just returned to sunny Los Angeles, I fully spiraled into depression, opening the gates of darkness and giving me the determination to watch an anime to completion. The anime in question was Log Horizon, an isekai anime involving characters being stuck in the world of a MMORPG. Watching these nerds make friends and master their characters’ abilities made me want to jump into the world of gaming, and of course having heard of the critically acclaimed mmorpg, Final Fantasy XIV—with an expanded free trial which includes the award-winning expansion Heavensward—I knew this game would serve as my first steps into the world massively multiplayer online games.
It is now June, and I am still playing this game regularly. FFXIV has an expansive world, filled to the brim with lore, politics, and an enthralling main story that features a dynamic cast of characters. Final Fantasy places such a high emphasis on story-telling, it might be more apt to call this game a RPGMMO. Through this game, I’ve met so many people and even made new friends, and the game’s use of narrative allows for a shared experience unmatched by any other game, serving as a vehicle for discussion and an outpouring of love. Talk to one fan about Final Fantasy XIV and they’ll wax poetic about the game and its characters for hours on end without stop. If you want to play an online game that has a community that won’t flame you for being bad at it, FFXIV may be a perfect fit. And if you’re unsure, you can always try it out for free for a good portion of the game.
If you can make it through A Realm Reborn and Heavensward, I’m sure you’ll become a walking advertisement for this game as well.
—Eugene
