Fruit Basket Turnover - References To The Game

References To The Game

The most well-known reference in Western youth culture to Fruits Basket is the anime and manga series of the same name, where it is used as a metaphor for ability to integrate with a social group. In that series, the protagonist Tohru Honda describes that whenever she played the game in school, she was assigned the name "onigiri" (rice ball). Although she was fine with this, she later realized that the other children playing never called this name because an onigiri is not a fruit and didn't belong in a fruits basket, thus leaving her sitting as they continued to play. However, at the end of episode 5, when she is accepted into the Sohma family, we see one child call "onigiri!" and, smiling, Tohru joins in the game. The series title itself originates from the fact that Tohru previously thought that she could never actually fit in with the Sohma family, just as a rice ball could never belong in a fruits basket, but, being accepted into the family proves otherwise, and she learns that she has a home with them.

The anime Mitsudomoe makes reference to the game in episode 1 of season 1 but is portrayed in a violent yet humorous way.