Otaku USA Magazine
Yen Press Licenses a Pair of Fruits Basket Spinoff Manga

fruits basket spinoff

Fruits Basket, one of the most successful shojo franchises of all time, is having a comeback. Along with a new version of the anime, there are new Fruits Basket spinoff manga on the way from mangaka Natsuki Takaya—Fruits Basket: The Three Musketeers and Fruits Basket Another. Yen Press announced it will be releasing chapters almost simultaneously with their Japanese releases.

Yen Press has already picked up Fruits Basket after the initial demise of its previous English publisher, TOKYOPOP, releasing the original series in 12 volumes as the Fruits Basket Collector’s Edition. The company press release described the two new spinoffs.

“The Three Musketeers are back again to celebrate the second season of the Fruits Basket anime! Kill the time between new episodes with the ridiculous antics of Shigure, Ayame, and Hatori! Fruits Basket: The Three Musketeers Arc 2—Start!

Fruits Basket: The Three Musketeers Arc, a comedic Fruits Basket side story featuring fan-favorite characters from the original series, continues with Fruits Basket: The Three Musketeers Arc 2.”

The first chapter will become available digitally next Tuesday, April 28, at $0.99.

“Sawa Mitoma, a nervous, skittish girl who prefers minimal human contact, has just started high school, and it’s already not going well…until she meets the ‘it’ boys—the ‘prince-like’ Mutsuki and the sharp-tongued Hajime. But little does she know, they’re Sohmas!? It’s Fruits Basket…again!

“After the release of Fruits Basket: The Three Musketeers Arc 2, Chapter 1, fans won’t have to wait long for more Fruits Basket content. Fruits Basket Another, a Fruits Basket spin-off featuring new characters that include the children of the original cast, continues with Fruits Basket Another, Chapter 13, a satisfying read that combines three parts of Fruits Basket Another into a 64-page chapter.”

The new chapter comes out digitally on May 4, at the same time as the Japanese release, and costs $2.99.

“We are extremely excited about this rare opportunity to bring these chapters over!” JuYoun Lee,  Editor-in-Chief of Yen Press, told Otaku USA. “When we first released Fruits Basket: The Three Musketeers Arc digitally, we knew fans were eager to read them in English but were thrilled with the response. When special chapters like these show up in magazines, too often readers outside don’t get to engage with them in the same way as fans in the Japanese market, so we are really grateful to the author and the publisher for allowing us to publish them in English!”

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Danica Davidson, along with Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya, is the author of Manga Art for Intermediates. In addition to showing how to draw manga character types in detail, the book describes how professional Japanese manga creators work, including common techniques and what drawing utensils they use.

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