Tama and Friends Forever

Tama and Friends Forever, known in Japan as 'Tama of Third Street: Do You Know My Tama? ～Friends Forever～' (3丁目のタマ うちのタマ知りませんか? ～永遠の友達～, San-Chōme no Tama: Uchi no Tama Shirimasen ka? ～ Eien no Tomodachi～) is a slice of life anime series produced by MAPPA and Lapin Track. It is part of the Tama and Friends franchise created by Sony Creative Products. The series was written by Gen Urobuchi in his first slice of life project, and serves as a continuation of the 1994 Tama of Third Street anime.

The concept for a continuation of the original 1994 series originated from MAPPA CEO Manabu Otsuka, who wanted more Tama and Friends content. Although initially many staff members at the studio and at Lupin Track were in disagreement over how to properly continue the franchise, it was eventually decided that the 1994 series would be revived with new stories. In creating the series, MAPPA wanted to further explore the protagonist's relationships with his best friend Pochi and love interest Momo, and also wanted to explore the relationship between Tama and Momo's respective owners Takashi and Emi. The music was composed by Hideyuki Fukasawa, Yuki Kajiura, and Tom-H@ck. The series was first announced in early 2024. Its 26 episodes were divided into two seasons that aired on Fuji TV from October 4 to December 27, 2024, and April 4 to June 27, 2025, respectively. The series was released on DVD and Blu-ray in both Japanese and English speaking territories in 2025.

Tama and Friends Forever was one of the most anticipated anime of the end of 2024, following from the general popularity of the Tama and Friends franchise in Japan and the success of MAPPA's previous adaptation of the ''Uchi Tama?! Have You Seen My Tama?'' spin-off product line, while the characters were designed by Mai Otsuka. Upon release, it received highly positive reviews from critics, who directed particular praise towards the writing of Tama and other characters as well as the visually striking animation. It was a major commercial success in Japan, having multiple top-selling home media releases and being the winner of multiple awards from the magazine Newtype.

Plot
The show continues where the 1994 series left off. Tama, an energetic cat who always wants to go on new adventures, continues to have a close relationship with his friends and confesses his crush on Momo. Meanwhile, his owner Takeshi Okamoto is now in middle school, and is now developing a romantic relationship with Emi Hanasaki - Momo's owner, who becomes his girlfriend. Stories told in the new series contain themes such as friendship, empathy, responding to disasters (the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and the COVID-19 pandemic), the loss of a loved one, revenge, bullying, peer pressure, teamwork, responsibility, and helping others.

Production
In 2020, Studio MAPPA produced a new series for Sony Creative Products' Tama and Friends franchise, ''Uchi Tama?! Have You Seen My Tama?''. During production, MAPPA CEO Manabu Otsuka had an idea about the possibility of creating a new anime that would serve as a continuation of the 1990s OVAs and TV series. At the time, Group TAC had already created those two works, as well as a 2006 spinoff titled ''Tama and Friends: Search For It! The Magic Puni-Puni Stone'' before filing for bankruptcy in 2010. Otsuka proposed the idea to Sony Creative Products president Ken Ohtake, and it was approved.

The MAPPA production committee had differing opinions regarding the development of the new anime series. Some favored the idea of following the source material down to the last detail, while others, such as Hikaru Kondo and Gen Urobuchi, wanted to re-adapt the OVAs to emphasize Tama's character traits that were displayed in Uchu Tama?!. However, this idea was not met with unanimous approval with the rest of the production committee. As a result, the idea was scrapped, with consensus that the OVAs already animated by Group TAC would serve as an introduction to the setting of the 'Tama' universe Producer Atsuhiro Iwakami proposed that a continuation of the 1994 TV series would be a logical successor to Uchi Tama?!, and writer Gen Urobuchi said that he wished to develop the series with some stories featuring a dark tone similar to 1994 series, with Tama's characterization also being altered. As a result, Ohtake pointed out that in future work he would prefer to focus more on revealing the character of Tama as a character through his personal traits, rather through his friends, in contrast to the 1994 series.

Aniplex believed that only Urobuchi himself was able to convey all the ideas he put into Tama, and help them reflect on the screen correctly and deepen public perception of the character. Other character that Urobuchi expanded were Momo, who received development in the second half of the series when she learns of her owner Emi's father's past, and Emi and Takeshi - whose middle school romance is focused more in-depth.

The characters were designed by Mai Otsuka. Having previously worked on Uchi Tama?!, she was conflicted on how best to depict each character's expression, but worked with the screen and animation directors in order to create the best possible product. Otsuka stated that she was satisfied with the animation and storylines throughout the television series.

Voice cast
All the Japanese voice actors from the 1994 Group TAC OVAs and anime series reprised their roles, with the exception of Masako Watanabe - whose role as Pochi from the 1994 series has been replaced by Ikue Otani. In contrast, the English dub has a brand new cast. For example, Tama, Pochi, and Momo are played by Alicyn Packard. Brian Beacock, and Christine Marie Cabanos, respectively. Other additions include Bryce Papenbrook as Kuro, Cristina Vee as Tora, Sarah Anne Williams as Koma, and Chris Sabat as Bull. Human character voices include Demon Slayer 's Zach Aguilar as Takeshi Okamoto and Cassandra Lee Morris as Emi Hanasaki. Morris felt that the story took a "darker path than even the 1994 series took" (with storylines in certain episodes centering on themes such as Yakuza crime syndicates. the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, and the COVID-19 pandemic) and that the creators "wanted a different take on Tama". Packard was told to play Tama in a "real" way. As a result, she stated that she had to get herself into a "deep mindset" in order to play the role best.

Hiroko Kasahara noted that she was tense before she started recording for ～Friends Forever～, since she had not been involved in the Tama and Friends franchise or played the titular protagonist since the 1994 series. Hekiru Shiina, Momo's seiyuu, noted that the characterization of her role differed in Tama and Friends Forever from the 1993 OVAs and 1994 TV series, due to her character's lack of romantic feelings for Tama in the route. Consequently, Momo was portrayed with a more stoic demeanor, seeing Tama as merely her best friend and not a romantic interest.

Music
''Tama of Third Street: Do You Know My Tama? ~Friends Forever~ Original Soundtrack I'' was composed, arranged and produced by Hideyuki Fukasawa, Yuki Kajiura, and Tom-H@ck. The first season opening theme was a re-recording of "Starry" called "Starry-2023-" by ClariS and the ending theme was "Zutto Tomodachi" by LiSA. Kana Asumi performed the opening theme of the second season, "Forever Love" while the ending theme, "My Very Best Friend" was performed by wacci. A remix of "My Very Best Friend", was used as the ending theme for episode 15. Soma Saito performed his own cover of Yumi Tanimura's "Genki Dashite yo", a returning theme from the 1994 TV anime which was used as an insert song for episode 20, and ClariS recorded a cover of Yumi Tanimura's "Aiwa Genki Desu" - a returning theme from the 1993 OVAs, which was used throughout the series. The album was first released in Japan on March 25, 2025, by Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan).

Originally, the series' second opening theme was intended to be a re-recorded version of Kataomoi, composed by Aimer. However, the staff did not find it fitting for the video's sequences and instead used Kana Asumi's "Forever Love".

There were more than 400 compositions created for the entire Tama and Friends Forever soundtrack. This significantly exceeded the average figure for a 24 episode anime series, which normally range around 40-50 tracks. As a retrospective scene accompaniment, two revised compositions by Tom-H@ck from the Uchi Tama?! series were used.





Release
The series was first announced in early 2024, and official announcements about its voice cast and storyline were made in July 2024. The anime was jointly produced by Aniplex, Lapin Track, and MAPPA, the same studios that co-produced the 2020 noitaminA series ''Uchi Tama?! Have You Seen My Tama?''. It was directed by Sunghoo Park (Jujutsu Kaisen), with music composed by Hideyuki Fukasawa; character designs by Mai Otsuka; and art, 3D, and photography directions by Koji Eto, Kōjirō Shishido, and Yuichi Terao, respectively. The first half of the series ran on Fuji TV from October 4 to December 27, 2024, and the second half ran from April 4 to June 27, 2025. An advanced screening online premiered on September 28, 2024, in several countries across the world, including Japan, the United States, France, Germany and South Korea. In Japan, the series was collected in a total of eleven DVD volumes, which were released from November 26, 2024, to September 30, 2025. Two compilation Blu-ray discs were also released. The first disc containing the first season was released on March 25, 2015. The second disc was released on October 7, 2015.

Aniplex of America acquired streaming and home video rights to the 2024 series for North America. They released an English dub for the first half of the series on DVD and limited Blu-ray Disc on August 25, 2025. A ten-minute original video animation episode, titled Tama and Pochi's Adventure, was included with the Blu-ray release for the second half of the series, which was released on October 7, 2025. The episode was a remake of an OVA episode of the same name.

To promote the anime, Tama, Pochi, Momo and Tora were added to the smartphone game Magia Record - based on the Puella Magi Madoka Magica franchise (which Gen Urobuchi co-created). Another smartphone game, Fate/Grand Order, was used to promote the anime as well.

Reception
In Japan alone, Tama and Friends Forever has become a popular series in the Tama and Friends franchise; and also the darkest due to Gen Urobuchi's involvement, with certain tones reflecting personal drama between each of the main human and animal characters. The series' success received a cult following by fans and praises of the series' overall presentation and story. The series' character designer, Mai Otsuka was also awarded as best Character Designer in the 2024 Tokyo Anime Awards and AnimeJapan 2025. Justin Sudeikis of Anime News Network praised the writing in the show, stating that despite this being Urobuchi's first pure slice of life series - a departure from his usual work, he doesn't let it stray from serious issues; and stated that Takeshi's fist fight with a Yakuza criminal in the thirteenth episode was "disheartening" due to it being an "all out brawl between a 14 year old and a ruthless member of an organized crime family." Sudeikis also claimed he cried during the 21st episode which has a storyline about regarding the 2011 tsunami disaster, as well as Tama's near-death experience from COVID-19 in the twenty-second episode, and cited the latter as an example of how "although COVID is rare in pets, it can still be deadly."

Trivia

 * As this anime is part of a franchise created by Sony Creative Products, Takeshi can be seen wearing Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones in the first part of the thirteenth episode while working on a book report.