'Fruits Basket' Reboot Adds New Cast Members

Natsuki Takaya's Fruits Basket will soon be getting a fresh anime overhaul with a brand new reboot series coming next year, and Funimation has been prepping fans for its big premiere with new announcements for the series.

The latest announcement confirms two more additions to the brand new cast of the reboot series, which Funimation released on Twitter.

✨More about the BRAND NEW #FruitsBasket anime! ✨

The Japanese voice cast for Tohru's best friends: Arisa Uotani (Uo-chan!) played by Atsumi Tanezaki, and Saki Hanajima (Saki-chan!) played by Satomi Sato!

Look out for them in the new series, coming to FunimationNow in 2019. pic.twitter.com/bI1wt2Quc6

— Funimation (@FUNimation) December 21, 2018

Joining the already confirmed cast of Manaka Iwami as Tohru Honda, Nobunaga Shimazaki as Yuki Sohma, Yuma Uchida as Kyo Sohma, and Yuichi Nakamura as Shigure Sohma, are Atsumi Tanezaki as Arisa Uotani and Satomi Sato as Saki Hanajima (Hana-chan to her friends). The two new additions come from a pretty strong voice over background, so fans should get even more excited than before.

Scheduled for a release in 2019, the series will feature an all-new staff and cast. With executive supervision from series creator Natsuki Takaya (who has given her approval for the new series), the new series will adapt the original manga more closely unlike the first anime adaptation produced a while back. Directed by Yoshihide Ibata for TMS Entertainment, the series will feature Taku Kishimoto as series writer, and Masaru Shindo as character designer as well.

Funimation has licensed the series for a release outside of Japan, so keep an eye on FunimationNow when the series fully debuts next year. Fruits Basket was originally created by Natsuki Takaya for Hakusensha's Han to Yume magazine in 1998. The series follows a sweet, young, orphaned girl named Tohru Honda who ends up living with a few members of the mysterious Sohma clan when shenanigans ensue. Things get out of control when Tohru learns the family has been cursed to transform into zodiac animals whenever they are hugged by someone of the opposite sex. Sworn to secrecy, Tohru decides to help break the cyclical curse, and the girl falls in love with a special someone along the way.

The series has previously been adapted into an anime series by Studio Deen, and ran for 26 episodes. Though the anime series is known to have made many changes from Natsuki Takaya's original manga. Fans will get a much more faithful anime adaptation with the rebooted series, however.