New Fruits Basket Anime to Air from April 5

After a very long wait, we finally have a premiere date for the new Fruits Basket anime!

In the seventh issue of Hana To Yume magazine which was released in Japan on Tuesday, it was revealed that the anime’s premiere will be on April 5. Aside from this, it was also announced that popular Japanese voice actress Miyuki Sawashiro will be joining the anime’s voice cast as Kyoko Honda!

In the Fruits Basket manga, Kyoko Honda (also named as Katsunuma) is the mother of the series’ protagonist Tohru Honda and the wife of Katsuya Honda. She used to be a leader of a gang and known for her nickname “Red Butterfly” because whenever she rides her bike, you would only see the red tail lights as she passes by like a red butterfly in the night.

Aside from Sawashiro, other confirmed cast members include: Manaka Iwami as Tohru Honda, Nobunaga Shimazaki as Yuki Sohma, Yūma Uchida as Kyo Sohma, Atsumi Tanezaki as Arisa Uotani, Megumi Han as Momiji Sohma, Takahiro Sakurai as Ayame Sohma, Kazuyuki Okitsu as Hatori Sohma, Makoto Furukawa as Hatsuharu Sohma, Rie Kugimiya as Kagura Sohma, Satomi Satou as Saki Hanajima, Yūichi Nakamura as Shigure Sohma, and Maaya Sakamoto as Akito Sohma.

Fruits Basket (also known as Furuba) is a popular fantasy and romance manga series created by Natsuki Takaya. The series was serialized in Hana to Yume magazine from 1998 until 2006 and was then compiled into 23 volumes. Its massive popularity expanded into a 26-episode anime adaptation that originally aired from July to December 2001.

The new anime adaptation will cover the full story of the entire manga series. TMS Entertainment (who are known for Haikyu!!, Silver Spoon, and Hanebad!) will be doing the animation and directed by Yoshihide Ibata (FLCL Progressive).

The series centres on Tohru Honda who forced to move out after her mother died in a car crash and her other family members were completely unsupportive. Nowhere to go, she decided to live independently and live in a tent. She then ends up living in the Sohma residence. This is where she finds out that her popular classmate Yuki, his cousin Shigure, and the Sohmas living in the household a secret that they turn into animals (based on their Chinese zodiac) when they are touched by the opposite sex.

Source: Comic Natalie, ANN