News Reporting

2019 Fruits Basket Ad Appears on Times Square Billboards


So, to everyone saying anime will never be mainstream? I, ah, think you just got told.

Earlier today, the official Fruits Basket Twitter account updated with a photo from New York’s Times Square. The image shows one of the massive digital billboards, emblazoned with the trailer for the upcoming Fruits Basket reboot anime, along with the following text:

CISION

Masterpiece Fruits Basket Returns in 2019 with New Anime Based on Full Story

The photo can be seen below.

Fruits Basket Time Square Photo

Fruits Basket will air on Tokyo MX and other networks in 2019. Funimation holds the rights to the series in North America. The publisher will stream the title on FunimationNow in North America, which will be followed by an eventual home video release.

Yoshihide Ibata (FLCL Progressive, Attack on Titan: Junior High) will direct the project at TMS Entertainment, with Masaru Shindo providing character designs. Taku Kishimoto (Bunny Drop, Magi: Adventure of Sinbad) is in charge of series composition for the title.

Fruits Basket author Natsuki Takaya will serve as executive supervisor on the project.

The confirmed voice cast includes:

  • Tohru Honda: Manaka Iwami
  • Yuki Sohma: Nobunaga Shimazaki
  • Kyo Sohma: Yuma Uchida
  • Shigure Sohma: Yuichi Nakamura
Fruits Basket 2019 Visual
©NATSUKI TAKAYA. HAKUSENSHA/FRUITS BASKET PROJECT

Funimation describes Fruits Basket as:

High school student Tohru Honda begins living alone in a tent after she loses her mother, who was her only remaining family member.

However, it turns out that the land she pitches her tent on is part of the distinguished Sohma family estate!

When Shigure Sohma sees the value of her housekeeping skills, Tohru ends up living with Yuki Sohma, who is essentially the prince of her school, and Kyo Sohma, who regards Yuki as the enemy.

Still, there’s something Tohru doesn’t know yet: the Sohma family has been bound for centuries by a horrible curse…

It’s a new series with an all-new cast and staff!

Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Basket manga launched in Hana to Yume in July 1998. The series ran through November 2006, spanning 23 compiled volumes.

The title also spawned a 2001 anime adaptation. Akitaro Daichi (Jubei-chan, Now and Then, Here and There) directed the title at Studio DEEN, with Akemi Hayashi (Gunbuster 2: Diebuster, Peacemaker) providing character designs. The team of Aki Itami, Mamiko Ikeda, and Rika Nakase wrote the scripts.

Source: Twitter (fruba_PR) (Thanks to Ashley Hakker for the tip!)

About the author

Samantha Ferreira

Samantha Ferreira is Anime Herald’s founder and editor-in-chief. A Rhode Island native, Samantha has been an anime fan since 1992, and an active member of the anime press since 2002, when she began working as a reviewer for Anime Dream. She launched Anime Herald in 2010, and continues to oversee its operations to this day. Outside of journalism, Samantha actively studies the history of the North American anime fandom and industry, with a particular focus on the 2000s anime boom and bust. She’s a huge fan of all things Sakura Wars, and maintains series fansite Combat Revue Review when she has free time available. When not in the Anime Herald Discord, Samantha can typically be found on Bluesky.

Anime Herald

Support Anime Herald

Anime Herald is brought to you through our Patrons and Ko-fi supporters. Consider backing us for as little as $1 a month to help us keep the site ad-free and pay a fair rate to our writers.

Patrons and backers can access several benefits, including Early Article Access, our members-only Discord, and the ability to suggest articles for our team to write on your behalf.



Latest Posts

Columns

The Evolution of Abridged Anime Part 4 – No Screwing The Rules

Fears about legal ramifications were fairly common in the world of comedic anime fandubs, despite some arguing they might be protected under parody laws. Philip Sral of Sherbert Productions shared a story of how three fans caused a large amount of stress while trying to get a copy of one of their works by pretending […]

By Borealis Capps