Kyo has always been more well-liked than Yuki even before the anime explained his backstory, but the new adaption did wonders to reignite the orange-haired tsundere.
Tohru Honda
For a shojo, Tohru is exceptionally well-liked by fans of Fruits Basket when it's usually the men who have more favorites than the heroine. Not only did she beat out Yuki, but also by a considerable gap.
Yuki Sohma
As one of the main characters surrounding Tohru, Yuki was one of the first people to meet her along with Shigure and Kyo. Yuki's backstory remained the same between the two adoptions, but this time is was done slowly, as the manga intended to unravel his trauma to the readers and viewers in a deliberate way.
Shigure Sohma
Shigure was an odd toss-up. In the 2001 anime, he acted as a comedic relief character who was more or an aloof older brother figure towards Tohru. However, in the 2019 adaption, it is shown he isn't all goodーin fact, he has a lot more villainous intentions.
Hatsuharu Sohma
Hatsuharu is another character who was belovedーnot only for his comedic reliefーbut how he was an early anime character who was openly bisexual. In the original anime, fans only got to know Yuki was his first love, but not the reason behind this.
Saki Hanajima
Saki, otherwise called Hanajima or Hana-chan by either Arisa or Tohru in the Japanese version, didn't get much exposure in the original Fruits Basket anime adaption. She was used for comedic relief when talking about how she could feel other peoples' waves.