The cat-themed Bananya franchise is marking its 10th anniversary with the upcoming release of a new mobile game, Bananya Buddies, and a special anime episode. Bananya Buddies is set to launch this summer exclusively on Crunchyroll Game Vault, serving as the platform's first original title. The game is developed by independent studio The MIX and published by Crunchyroll and TMS. It aims to translate the series' charm into a cozy cat-collecting experience, featuring mini-games, rewards, and customization options for a Bananya hangout space. The gameplay on Bananya Planet involves shopping, increasing "Buddy Points" to earn rewards, achieving "Best Buddies" status for sleepovers, and unlocking special surprises for "Best Buddies Forever" status.
Bananya Buddies will be added to the Crunchyroll Game Vault, which already hosts nearly 100 titles. Access to these games is included for Crunchyroll members with Mega and Ultimate Fan tiers, who also gain streaming access to the Bananya series, including Bananya and the Curious Bunch and Bananya Around the World. Pre-registration for Bananya Buddies is currently available on Google Play, with iOS pre-registration planned for the near future.
The 10th Anniversary Anime Special is scheduled to debut at Anime Expo on July 4, exactly a decade after the first episode aired on July 4, 2016. Following its convention premiere, the special will be available for streaming on Crunchyroll starting July 9.
The anime special's synopsis describes a journey where the viewer awakens in a bizarre world filled with kitties inside bananas, questioning if they have transformed into a Bananya themselves. The adventure follows a quest with the Bananyas to find missing treasures, traversing forests and mountains.
This anniversary installment features a new theme song, 'Nyanderful nyanderland,' performed by TAMAchan. The voice cast includes Atsumi Tanezaki as Stray Banana, Yuina Ito as Little Bananya, and Toshiyuki Morikawa as Tall Bananya. Further announcements regarding merchandise, celebratory projects, and release schedules are expected to be shared at a later date.