This charming, popular shojo manga (Japanese girls` comic), known as FURUBA in Japan, inspired the anime of the same name. Tohru Honda, a homeless orphan, finds shelter and welcome at the home of the Sohmas, a family who suffers from an unusual curse: they change into animals associated with the Chinese Zodiac whenever anyone of the opposite gender hugs them. The black-and-white art has some unusual and appealing textures and shading, particularly in the clothing and backgrounds, but is basically typical shojo in its character depictions: big eyes; small, sharp noses; and androgynously pretty boys. The book is typeset in its original Japanese right-to-left format, and also features sidebars of informal comments from the author/illustrator about the series and her personal life. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.