Creators of beloved anime series Kindness reunite in a brand modern movie, the release date of which has just been announced.
Fureru is the latest project from the imaginative team of Super Peace Busters, made up of writer Mari Okada, director Tatsuyuki Nagai, and artist Masayoshi Tanaka. The trio first worked together on the anime Toradora! before moving on to what is arguably their most well-known work, Anohana, an anime series about a group of friends torn apart by childhood loss. It’s a true tearjerker that often lands on lists of the saddest anime you can watch.
They followed this up with another bittersweet anime, 2015’s The Anthem of the Heart, and then their latest film Her Blue Sky. First trailer for the movie Fureruwhich was unveiled slow last year, mainly used clips from the three previous projects to build hype for what would come next and potentially set the stage for the emotional rollercoaster that awaits us all.
While the film was originally scheduled to premiere in fall 2024, Fureru has now been confirmed to hit Japanese theaters on October 4, 2024. The release date was recently announced alongside the film’s first full trailer, which revealed a few more details about the plot. As Crunchyroll explainsFureru is a coming-of-age film set in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district. It follows three childhood friends who discover a hedgehog-like creature with magical powers, forcing them to explore their bonds together. The modern trailer also features a snippet of the anime’s theme song, Monotone by Yoasobi, the artist behind The hugely popular opening Idol Oshi No Ko.
Manage your cookie settings
While the details are still a bit on the ground, Fureru’s premise sounds like something perfect for Anohana fans. This cult classic also has a magical MacGuffin, which in Anohana’s case (spoiler alert) is the spirit of the main characters’ deceased friend, Menma, who did not leave for the other world.
When her group of ancient childhood friends falls apart and is divided by the trauma they experienced at a juvenile age, Menma reappears to ask them to reunite and fulfill her final wish, thereby healing their wounds and being together again.
If that brief description is enough to get you moving, then oh boy, you’re in for a really emotional ride. Anohana is a stunning, moving story about regret, love, loss, and finding the strength to keep going when something comes along that tears your life apart. It also has amazing openingwith a song that perfectly captures the melancholic, mournful, yet hopeful and uplifting atmosphere of the anime. It is full version of the opening song you can listen and also stunning ending song.
There are many reasons why Anohana will always burn brightly in my memory, but one thing I will always remember vividly is how – for some inexplicable reason known only to me – I decided to watch it back to back with another emotionally charged anime, Your Lie In April, and was left with a babbling mess at the end. If you haven’t seen either of these anime before, you should definitely watch them – but maybe don’t watch them back to back like I did, and instead break them up with something featherlight and fun in between, like Rest camp Or No Non Biyori.
If you want to watch Anohana: The flower we saw that dayyou can stream every episode with Crispy premium roll subscription. The leading anime streaming service also has an excellent Your lie in April in your library if you want to watch it.
For more anime content, check out how the brilliant action anime Lycoris Recoil is getting a spin-off series and how Crunchyroll is giving away a bunch of its shows for free during the Olympics. We also have a story on the classic anime Ranma 1/2 returning to Netflix later this year.
