We are getting closer to the premiere of the much-awaited season two of the new iteration of beloved shoujo manga Fruits Basket, as Funimation has announced that season two will premiere on April 6! Yes folks, we finally get a release date!

Accompanying this happy announcement is the reveal of another key visual, this time featuring Tohru in the beach with all the Sohmas. Yes, we see that lady farthest in the picture and we believe it’s Isuzu (of the Horse zodiac), one of the new characters for this season.

In addition, series author Natsuki Takaya has also posted a message on the upcoming second season. Since she had written the series more than a decade ago, she admits that she herself has forgotten details to her story and that she “cried every time [I] confirmed the script”. She says further,

“The characters in the second season have lost their way, but it’s because they are lost that they can make the most out of it and struggle to search for the right path. I hope everyone will watch over them until they find their way. It would give me the utmost joy if everyone will love them as they search. I look forward to watching as a viewer myself.”

The second season will feature a returning cast. Two new characters have been previously announced: Takuya Eguchi (Takeo Gouda in My Love Story!) will be playing Kakeru Manabe, who will serve as the student council vice-president (minor spoilers ahead) during Yuki’s term as president. Ai Kakuma (Isuzu Sento from Amagi Brilliant Park) will be playing Machi Kuragi, Kakeru’s half-sibling and the student council treasurer. For the English dub, Aaron Dismuke will be voicing Kakeru while Caitlin Glass will be Machi.

The first season of Fruits Basket 2019 aired in Japan on April 5, 2019. Funimation has gained the exclusive rights to stream the series and release it on home video.

The Furuba reboot is produced by TMS Entertainment under the direction of Yoshihide Ibata. The script is penned by Taku Kishimoto, and character designs are done by Masaru Shindo.

The first anime adaptation of Furuba, which was released in 2001, was famously denounced by the series’ author Natsuki Takaya because she and Studio Deen ran into numerous creative disagreements. The end result was the series deviating from the original story in the manga, causing Takaya to reject offers for a remake or a second season—that is, until news came out last year that Takaya has finally agreed to a new adaptation. According to reports, she agreed on the condition of hiring an all-new cast and staff. TMS Entertainment, the studio handling the new adaptation, has also given Takaya lots of input in the process by naming her as the series’ Executive Supervisor.

Serialized from 1998 to 2006 in Hakusensha’s Hana to Yume magazine, Fruits Basket follows the story of sweet orphan girl Tohru Honda who ends up living with the members of the Soma clan. She is sworn to secrecy when she finds out that the Somas are cursed to turn into zodiac animals when they are hugged by someone of the opposite sex.

Source: Anime News Network