Newtype’s Fruits Basket 2019 news (translation)
Scan of the magazine with a new official image
Conveying the intentions of the original manga
The original manga, which deeply moved its readers, was first serialized in Hana To Yume magazine (Hakusensha) from 1998, and then later, in 2001, received an anime adaptation. Now, after 18 years, the timeless masterpiece, “Fruits Basket”, will have a brand new anime. More than that, it has been announced the new anime will not continue the story where the 2001 series ended, but instead start at the beginning of the manga in a completely new production, retelling the story until the end. Of course, this is the first time to completely animate the story of “Fruits Basket”, so we spoke with producer Itou Motoki about what it’s like to work on the production.
“Although the original manga is 20 years old, the themes are universal and transcend time. We are striving for sophistication in all aspects of our visual effects, such as art, settings, and cinematography. We are also careful when we draw it to preserve the atmosphere and emotional weight of the original scenes. The series also has subtle and delicate psychological messages, so I talk with our director, Ibata Yoshihide, to make sure that mental imagery, the soundtrack, nuanced dialogue and so forth accurately convey those themes to audience members who are paying attention. Since the original manga is complete, we can give our production that special attention. We can work backwards and look at the story’s final outcome to make sure that the emotion of those episodes and scenes have the correctly nuanced facial expressions, poses, and scene compositions. Because we have the completed original work, we can consult it before and after we work on any given scenario, so we don’t have to fix or rearrange anything later. This way, there won’t be any inconsistency or discrepancy in the flow of the characters’ emotions. The dialogue and story won’t be presented only on the surface level, but the story’s deeper meanings and plot can be conveyed.”
It seems there was some trial and error in the creation of the character designs, in the effort to revive characters who have existed for 20 years. The original creator, Takaya Natsuki stated, “I wanted them to use new character designs because my own art changed so much during the time I was drawing ‘Fruits Basket’, and I didn’t think it would translate well in today’s animation styles.”
So we talked to the character designer for the anime, Shindo Masaru, who said it was “challenging, but very fun” to design the characters. “I tried my best to consciously make designs which accurately express their characters – Tohru, Yuki, Kyo, and everyone else. I felt a lot of pressure to get it right, and in the beginning, it really felt like I was struggling in the dark. I redesigned Tohru many, many times, each time subtly changing the balance, so she could be equally simple, pretty, and without any disagreeable features. Even so, I had so much fun working on her design!”
We were told that the house in which Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo live was drawn with unparalleled passion and commitment.
“In order to make the work persuasive visually, we didn’t quite use photographic realism, but instead arrived at a realty-like vision unique to animation. Schools, buildings, the surroundings of Shigure’s home, and others were designed and animated using real-life references. In order to increase the perfection of the work, I spent a lot of time taking pictures in many different locations for each scene and each cut. Director Ibata liked Kyoto locations in particular, and we took a 360° camera to shoot locations there. I hope that audiences will enjoy the work we’ve done for this new series.”
A world filled with attention to detail
Anime characters Mogeta and Ari (from the in-world anime) will, of course, also make appearances! They will have their own character designs, theme songs and casting, so please look forward to it!
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