Fruits Basket Season 3 is one of the most highly anticipated anime shows of the Spring 2021 season. While Season 1 started relatively light-hearted, Season 2 was much darker and ended with shocking revelations, meaning that the final season can't come soon enough! We have gathered all the information you need before the release of the third and final season of Fruits Basket.
But first, a little overview. For the uninitiated, Fruits Basket is based on Takaya Natsuki's manga of the same name and it's arguably one of the most popular shōjo works out there. The anime and manga follow Tohru Honda who moves in with her classmates Yuki and Kyo Sohma following the death of her beloved mother.
But the Sohmas hide a secret: members of the family are cursed by the spirits of the Chinese zodiac circle and they temporarily transform into one of the zodiac animals when they're unwell or hugged by a member of a different gender. Due to this, the 12 cursed family members and Kyo, a thirteenth family member possessed by the spirit of the cat, have grown up isolated, feared even by their own relatives.
But this is not all. Those who are cursed must answer to Akito, the abusive head of the family who has almost godlike powers over them and doesn't like seeing them prosper away from home. Living with the Sohmas, Tohru learns a lot about life, friendship, and love and eventually takes it upon herself to free them from their curse inviting the wrath of Akito.
Season 2 revealed that Kureno, once possessed by the spirit of the rooster, has been freed already, meaning there's hope for the rest of the Sohmas. More shockingly, we find out that Akito is a woman in a sexual relationship with Shigure. Some of Shigure's machinations finally make more sense, but we still have a long way to go in terms of revelations.
Fruits Basket first got adapted back in 2001 but that production never gave a satisfying conclusion, meaning that the newest Fruits Basket series is an equivalent to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. The new series adapts the manga in its entirety, and the third season will be the finale.
Fruit Basket Season 3 Release Date
Fruits Basket Season 3 will start airing in the 5th of April 2021 according to Funimation. During a time that sees many anime releases (and not only) delayed by many months due to the ongoing pandemic, Fruits Basket Season 3 still has a confirmed April 2021 release, meaning its timeline will likely be similar to the two previous seasons'.
The first Season of Fruits Basket ran from 6 April 2019 to 21 September 2019 while Season 2 aired from 7 April 2020 to 22 September 2020, suggestinga similar time-frame for Season 3.
Fruit Basket Season 3 Release Time
We can mostly speculate now, but the pattern of the previous Fruits Basket Seasons allows for an educated guess. The episodes of Seasons 1 and 2 were released at around 1.25 AM JST. This translates to around 11:25 AM for the US/Canada and 5.25 PM for Central Europe. A similar pattern for Season 3 is very likely.
Fruit Basket Season 3 Trailer
Funimation, which will be home to Fruits Basket Season 3, recently released a combined Season 2 Recap and Season 3 Sneak Peek. The 7-minute video is very emotional and reminds us of key moments of character growth for Yuki, Kyo, Kagura, Momiji, and other characters.
The glimpses we get from the new season seem equally intense: it appears that Akito's relationship with Rin will be strained further, with dangerous implications. We find out that another woman forced Akito to be raised as a boy, likely her mother. While a character like Akito can never be fully redeemed, it will be interesting to see her own side of the story and how she ended up being a tyrant for the other Sohmas.
Fruit Basket Anime Season 3 Where to Watch
Fruits Basket Seasons 1 and 2 are currently available on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Funimation in Japanese with English subtitles and in other languages. In the former, it will be Simulcast with episodes releasing at the same time as in Japan.
In Funimation, Season 1 features in several languages while Season 2 only appears dubbed – by the same voice cast as the first Fruits Basket.
The release of the dub was delayed last year due to covid, and the same could have been the case for Season 3, but Funimation confirmed the show will start airing on their platform in English.
This is all we know about Fruits Basket: Final Season so far, but we expect more updates as we move into the Spring 2021 anime season. Stay tuned for more updates soon!
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