Comparison Of Fruits Basket And Howl's Moving Castle

Howl’s Moving Castle is Totally Natsuki.
You can’t keep a good woman down, but you can put her in her place. This is the, most likely unintentional, subtext of two quintessential triumphs in Japanese storytelling. Fruits Basket, written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya, is a harem manga that follows the awkward misadventures of Tohru Honda as she, after the loss of her mother, finds a new home with the zodiac-cursed Sohma family. Howl’s Moving Castle’s main character’s trials are not so different. Sofi, cursed with an unspeakable hex, leaves home behind and takes refuge with a shape shifting narcissist, not entirely unlike Fruits Basket’s Kyou Sohma. Interestingly, Tohru is a very reserved and traditional girl in a very modern suburban setting,
While life passes many people by, the heroines of these works are forced to outpace their crazy realities or be swallowed up by them. While Sofi is literally made to be old before her time, the narrative of growing up is slightly more subtle with Tohru. Representative of such is the illustration of Tohru at work. She is shown looking skyward with a celestial light above her indicating that she is still looking to her late mother for strength. She wears work gloves that appear too big to be appropriate for her hands, much like her responsibilities. A single tear hangs from her wide open chibi eyes reminding the reader even further of the youthful innocence of the girl as she takes up the mantle of maturity (Takaya 23). Running headfirst into a premature adulthood, each one quickly accepts her reality and makes the immediate decision that she is going to aggressively strive to better it. Fruits Basket’s Honda is depicted as being very reserved and cautious about seeking help, maybe even embarrassed. This was depicted when she exhibits the “fig leaf”
Each girl stumbles upon a messy male-dominated home of a half beast man of great arrogance. These women show their male counterparts ways to better themselves and better accept themselves. Tohru shows Kyou that he can accept himself because she can accept him for who he is, curse and all. Sofi finds howl after his valiant defense of the home. While she finds him as a beast, she takes him to Calcifer and literally gives him his heart back. Sofi and Tohru bring their men back from the brink of being consumed by the darkest parts of their soul. However, despite being able to impart the invaluable gift of humanity to their counterparts, they are still required to fill a subservient role to their male costars. Both of these young ladies had the independence and strength to venture out on their own into the unknown leaving home behind, only to engage in servitude stereotypical to their gender. Yuki, a prominent member of the Sohma family, tells Tohru that her belongings are being put upstairs. After Tohru gasps in surprise, Yuki explains “This house is pretty dirty and there is only guys living here. But there’s an empty room on the 2nd floor. Until the renovation finishes, you can live here” (Takaya 43). While the statement is an extension of hospitality, its declarative sentencing is an expression of power, as he is directing where she lives. Further, she is instructed to her task,