Fruits Basket fans have eagerly awaited the return of the beloved shoujoto their screens since season 2 finished airing last September. Thankfully, Fruits Basket Season 3 was not one of the anime shows severely affected by the ongoing pandemic, and the new season's first episode will be released in April 2021! But is Fruits Basket Season 3 going to be dubbed and, if so, when?
Fruits Basket is a unique case in more than one way. The slice-of-life manga about a girl who finds her new friends and housemates are cursed – turning into animals of the Chinese Zodiac Cycle when hugged or sick – has kept fans company for more than two decades. The characters' determination to remove toxic influences from their life – particularly their own – and start living, has been cathartic for many of us.
It comes as no surprise, then, that this isn't the first adaptation of Fruits Basket. An anime show by Studio Deen aired back in 2001 but, while entertaining, it didn't do justice to the manga's emotional intensity and life-lessons. When TMS Entertainment began its bold journey to adapt the entire manga in 63-75 episodes, many things had to be done differently.
Not entirely different, though. The 2001 loose adaptation and the newer, currently ongoing Fruits Basket show have one thing in common: the English dub voice actors.
For the original Japanese, the studio employed new voice actors, many of whom had relatively few roles before Fruits Basket. This isn't the case with the English dub. Many cast members from the 2001 anime, including but not limited to main actors Laura Beiley (Tohru Honda), Eric Vale (Yuki Sohma) and Jerry Jewell (Kyo Sohma), returned to assume the same roles in the 2019 anime.
Already having a seasoned cast, experienced with the particular characters, must have helped ensure that everything ran smoothly. Add Funimation's reputation as a streaming service that releases dubs almost simultaneously with the original subtitled episodes for popular anime, and Fruits Basket was already in better luck than most anime where the dub was concerned.
Of course, Fruits Basket Season 2 was not totally unaffected by the pandemic and there were some delays. Still, the entire season is now dubbed on Funimation.
For Season 3, things look even better; on the 19th of February, it was confirmed in the official Twitter account of the show that Fruits Basket will be airing dubbed on Funimation. The previous 2 seasons are also dubbed on Funimation, so it's safe to assume that Fruits Basket Season 3 will be a true SimulDub with dubbed episodes being released at the same time as the original or very shortly after.
This arrangement shows just how much fans love the franchise – and it's good news for those who prefer the anime dub but would rather avoid the wait! At the same time, Fruits Basket will also air on Crunchyroll with English subtitles. Whether you're going to watch Fruits Basket Season 3 in English or Japanese, all fans agree that the final season can't come soon enough!
Other anime shows that are currently dubbed on Funimation include That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime and Mushoku Tensei.
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