More OOC Fruits Basket Info
Some spoilers.
The main part of being cursed by one of the Chinese Zodiac spirits is that people who are cursed occasionally turn into their corresponding Zodiac animal.
Two things trigger this:
1. Being hugged by a member of the opposite sex who is not also cursed by the Chinese Zodiac.
2. The cursed person's own constitution becomes weak enough for it to happen. (This varies, usually when they become sick.)
So besides that, and the effect on the cursed members own personalities, what does the curse do?
The curse doesn't really give any of them any special powers (it's a curse, afterall), but there is an exception. The cursed can communicate to some extent with their respective animals. (Kyou can talk to cats, Yuki with rats, etc.) It's not to the extent of, say, Aburame Shino from Naruto, who can control the insects living inside his body at will, but, to give some examples:
(Note: these are both from the first chapter, first episode of the manga/anime, so you're not being spoiled much.)
Shigure, who's the Dog, can hear a dog/wolf howling in the distance, and he knows immediately there was some sort of landslide in the area.
Later, Yuki goes out and searches through a mudslide with (it seems) a few dozen rats helping him.
Whether the cursed can convince their animals to attack their enemies or similarly die for them is unknown, but probably not. It is a curse, so it's probably impossible to take that much advantage over this small communication 'benefit'.
Also, sometimes the cursed animals will show up out of nowhere for no other reason than just to be around the cursed member. There doesn't appear to be any real trigger, though being sufficiently agitated might do it. For example: one moment Kyou is sitting in class at high school, being teased by his classmates. The next, he has about half a dozen cats crawling all over him. (Asking what's wrong, if he'd been in a fight, etc.)
So hopefully this explains a bit more to people unfamiliar with the series.
The main part of being cursed by one of the Chinese Zodiac spirits is that people who are cursed occasionally turn into their corresponding Zodiac animal.
Two things trigger this:
1. Being hugged by a member of the opposite sex who is not also cursed by the Chinese Zodiac.
2. The cursed person's own constitution becomes weak enough for it to happen. (This varies, usually when they become sick.)
So besides that, and the effect on the cursed members own personalities, what does the curse do?
The curse doesn't really give any of them any special powers (it's a curse, afterall), but there is an exception. The cursed can communicate to some extent with their respective animals. (Kyou can talk to cats, Yuki with rats, etc.) It's not to the extent of, say, Aburame Shino from Naruto, who can control the insects living inside his body at will, but, to give some examples:
(Note: these are both from the first chapter, first episode of the manga/anime, so you're not being spoiled much.)
Shigure, who's the Dog, can hear a dog/wolf howling in the distance, and he knows immediately there was some sort of landslide in the area.
Later, Yuki goes out and searches through a mudslide with (it seems) a few dozen rats helping him.
Whether the cursed can convince their animals to attack their enemies or similarly die for them is unknown, but probably not. It is a curse, so it's probably impossible to take that much advantage over this small communication 'benefit'.
Also, sometimes the cursed animals will show up out of nowhere for no other reason than just to be around the cursed member. There doesn't appear to be any real trigger, though being sufficiently agitated might do it. For example: one moment Kyou is sitting in class at high school, being teased by his classmates. The next, he has about half a dozen cats crawling all over him. (Asking what's wrong, if he'd been in a fight, etc.)
So hopefully this explains a bit more to people unfamiliar with the series.