Bananya and Crunchyroll are celebrating the franchise’s 10th anniversary by releasing a new mobile cat collecting game called Bananya Buddies this summer. And The anime special will premiere at Anime Expo on July 4th and then air on Crunchyroll on July 9th.
Bananya Buddies is published by Crunchyroll and TMS and will be available exclusively on the Crunchyroll Game Vault. In fact, this will be the first original game to appear on the Crunchyroll Game Vault, developed by independent studio The MIX.
The game is designed to “bring all the magic of the series into a cute and cozy package where fans can play mini-games, earn rewards, and decorate the ultimate Bananya hangout.” Set on Bananya Planet, the goal will be to go shopping, increase your Bananyas friends’ points to get more rewards, achieve Best Buddies status with kittens to earn an overnight stay, achieve Best Buddies Forever status for a special surprise, and more.
Bananya Buddies will join nearly 100 other games in the Crunchy Game Vault, and all games will be available to Crunchyroll members at the Mega and Ultimate Fan levels. By becoming a member, players will also be able to watch original series Bananya, Bananya and the Curious Bunch, Bananyaaround the World and more.
If you’re interested, you can pre-register on Google Play now and on iOS soon.
As for the Bananya 10th Anniversary anime special, it will debut at Anime Expo on July 4th, which is exactly 10 years since the first episode was released on July 4th, 2016. As we mentioned earlier, the special episode will hit Crunchyroll on July 9th.
“When I open my eyes, a bizarre world spreads out before me. I notice strange kittens inside bananas… Bananas, if you will,” the official description reads. “Wait a minute, what’s going on? Have I turned into Bananya myself?! Through the forest, through the mountains and across the earth, we set out on a journey with bananas in search of the lost treasure.”
Screenshots and illustrations of Bananya Buddies
Along with an all-new theme song (“Nyanderful nyanderland” (character voice: BANANYA / Yuki Kaji) by TAMAchan) to celebrate this big milestone, the special will also feature a star-studded cast that includes SPY x Family’s Atsumi Tanezaki as Stray Banana, Zundamon’s Yuina Ito as Little Bananya, and Naruto’s Toshiyuki Morikawa as Tall Bananyi.
There will be many more ways to celebrate Bananya as she turns 10, with more release schedules, event announcements, merchandise details, holiday projects, and more to be revealed in the future.
Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter. @AdamBankhurst, Instagram, And TikTok, and listen to his show, Talking about Disney magic.