News Reporting

2019 Fruits Basket Anime Casts Kent Williams As Hatori Soma


Earlier today, the official Twitter account for the 2019 Fruits Basket anime announced the eighth member of the Fruits Basket English dub cast. The series will add the following:

  • Hatori Soma: Kent Williams

Williams is reprising his role from the 2001 TV series.

Fruits Basket Character Visual - Hatori Soma - English

In addition, the account confirmed the dates for the show’s theatrical preview. The series will be shown on March 26 (Dubbed) and 27 (Subtitled).

Fruits Basket will hit Japanese TV in April. The title will air on Tokyo MX and other networks in Japan, while 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.

Fruits Basket 2019 Visual
©NATSUKI TAKAYA. HAKUSENSHA/FRUITS BASKET PROJECT

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 Japanese voice cast includes:

  • Tohru Honda: Manaka Iwami
  • Yuki Soma: Nobunaga Shimazaki
  • Kyo Soma: Yuma Uchida
  • Shigure Soma: Yuichi Nakamura
  • Arisa Uotani: Atsumi Tanezaki
  • Saki Hanajima: Satomi Satō
  • Momiji: Megumi Han
  • Hatsuharu: Makoto Furukawa
  • Kagura: Rie Kugimiya
  • Hatori Soma: Kazuyuki Okitsu
  • Ayame Soma: Takahiro Sakurai
  • Akito Soma: Maaya Sakamoto

The confirmed English voice cast includes:

  • Tohru Honda: Laura Bailey
  • Yuki Soma: Eric Vale
  • Kyo Sohma: Jerry Jewell
  • Shigure Soma: John Burgmeier
  • Momiji Soma: Mikaela Krantz
  • Kagura Soma: Tia Ballard
  • Hatsuharu Soma: Justin Cook

Caitlin Glass will direct the adaptation. Bailey, Vale, Jewell, Burgmeier, and Cook are reprising their roles from the 2001 TV series.

Fruits Basket 2019 VisualFunimation 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 (FruitsBasket_en) [1] [2]

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.

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