Even more news for the highly-anticipated Fruits Basket remake: FUNimation has announced that US fans will be given the chance to watch the animé’s first two episodes before its actual airing date! Select US theaters will be screening Furuba’s first two episodes, and while there are no exact details yet, the company announced that it will happen sometime in March. How amazing is that?
According to FUNimation’s official announcement on Twitter, the special screenings will feature an exclusive gift pack for those who will buy the tickets, and a special voice commentary from both the English and Japanese cast. Tickets for the special screenings will go on sale starting February 22.
In addition, more of the original English voice actors have been announced to return to the series. Yuki Soma will be played once more by Eric Vale, and Shigure Soma will be voiced by his original English voice actor John Burgmeier. Other confirmed voice actors who will be returning to the show are Laura Bailey as Tohru, and Jerry Jewell as Kyo Soma.
While the English voice cast is on track to retain most of its original voice actors, it is the opposite for the Japanese voice cast. Series creator Natsuki Takaya has expressly requested for a brand-new staff and cast to work on the Furuba reboot, and TMS Entertainment has acceded to her request. Furuba will be voiced by an all-new Japanese cast, featuring well-known names in the seiyuu world. So far, these are the confirmed Japanese cast:
• Tohru Honda VA: Manaka Iwami (Teresa Wagner in Tada-Kun Never Falls in Love)
• Yuki Soma VA: Nobunaga Shimazaki (Haruka Nanase in Free!)
• Kyo Soma VA: Yuma Uchida (Ash Lynx in Banana Fish)
• Shigure Soma VA: Yuichi Nakamura (Tetsurou Kuroo from Haikyuu!!)
• Arisa Uotani VA: Atsumi Tanezaki (Chise Hatori in Ancient Magus Bride)
• Saki Hanajima VA: Satomi Sato (Tsumugi Takanashi in IDOLiSH7)
• Kagura Soma VA: Rie Kugimiya (Taiga Aisaka in Toradora!)
• Momiji Soma VA: Megumi Han (Atsuko “Akko” Kagari in Little Witch Academia)
• Hatsuharu Soma VA: Makoto Furukawa (Saitama in One Punch Man)
• Hatori Soma VA: Kazuyuki Okitsu (Banri Ogami in IDOLiSH7)
• Ayame Soma VA: Takahiro Sakurai (Suzaku Kururugi in Code Geass)
• Akito Soma VA: Maaya Sakamoto (Haruhi Fujioka in Ouran High School Host Club)
Source: Funimation official Twitter account, Fruits Basket official English Twitter account, Fruits Basket EN (Twitter)