Death Note Stage Musical Coming in 2015

A stage musical based on the popular Death Note anime/manga series is announced. This musical will run in Japan and South Korea in 2015.

American composer Frank Wildhorn (composer of Whitney Houston songs, The Count of Monte Cristo) and Natalie Cole is scoring the musical with Jack Murphy (The Civil War, The Count of Monte Cristo) writing the lyrics. Ivan Menchell (Bonnie and Clyde, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) writing the scripts.

Directed by Tamiya Kuriyama, a a recipient of the Japanese government's Medal with Purple Ribbon, this musical will play in Tokyo's Nissay Theatre in April 2015 and in Seoul's LG Arts Center in July and August 2015.

Lastly, the cast for this musical is not yet announced.

[Source: Anime News Network]

The Eccentric Family Stage Play Announced

A live-action theater play adaptation of The Eccentric Family is announced! Performing this is the theater group Atelier Duncan will open next year in Tokyo and Kyoto.

The play is subtitled as "7 Transformation Musical" and this will be the second time that Atelier Duncan works with the novel by Morimi Tomihiko. The cast of this play are:

• Kohei Takedaas Yasaburo Shimogamo
• Daisuke Watanabe as Yaichiro Shimogamo
• Risa Aragaki as Kaisei
• Miki Sato as Benten
• Sakihiko Juri as Mother
• Chukichi Kubo as Souichiro Shimogamo
• Tsutomu Okuda as Yajiro Shimogamo
• Kaoru Fujiwara as Yashiro Shimogamo

The Tokyo stage opens on January 16, 2013 for 10 days at Shimokutazawa, Japan while the Kyoto stage opens only on one day on February 8, 2013. The tickets costs 6,500 yen.

[Source: Crunchyroll News]

Living ADV Steins;Gate Stage Play Trailer

Here's the trailer of the upcoming Steins;Gate stage play called "Living ADV Steins;Gate". The upcoming stage production will be playing at Odaiba's Zepp Diver City from October 12 to 20 (a total of 13 shows).

Leading the cast is Prince of Tennis musical actor Daisuke Watanabe (Ultraman Mebius) as Rintaro Okabe, Idoling!!'s Erika Tonooka (Tetsudou Musume) as Kurisu Makise and Rina Koike (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon) as Mayuri Shiina. For more info about the cast, you can check this post.


The first six shows will each have a story that branches off into a different route, five of which are centered around one of the heroines. The following six shows will each cover a route voted on by subscribers of D-Mail, the production’s official e-mail newsletter.

The last show’s route will be voted during the actual show by audience members via cell phone. The evening show on October 12 and 16 will also feature a musical performance by Itou Kanako and Ayane, respectively.

Source: Siliconera

Living ADV Steins;Gate Stage Play Cast Members Revealed

The cast of the live-action stage production of Steins;Gate called "Living ADV Steins;Gate" is finally revealed. The upcoming stage production will be playing at Odaiba's Zepp Diver City from October 12 to 20 (a total of 13 shows).

Daisuke Watanabe (Prince of Tennis Musicals, Ultraman Mebius) as Rintaro Okabe

Idoling!!'s Erika Tonooka (Tetsudou Musume) as Kurisu Makise

Rina Koike (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Kamen Rider Kiva) as Mayuri Shiina

Rie Ueda as Ruka Urushibara

Mitsuhiro Nagatomo (My Boys - More Than Family But Less Than Lovers -) as Itaru Hashida

Minami Tsukui (Gothic & Lolita Psycho, Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger: Gaburincho of Music) as Suzuha Amane

Yumi Sugimoto (Engine Sentai Go-Onger, Mutant Girls Squad) as Moeka Kiryuu

Former Momoiro Clover member Manami Ikura (Joker Game) as Faris NyanNyan

Teruaki Ogawa (Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, Seijuu Sentai Gingaman) as Yuugo Tennouji

Living ADV Steins;Gate will be written and directed by Daisuke Nishida and will be based on the popular visual novel/anime of the same name. The original series is about a group of friends who have customized their microwave into a device that can send text messages to the past.

As they perform different experiments, an organization named SERN, who has been doing their own research on time travel, tracks them down and now the characters have to find a way to avoid being captured by them.

The play will feature six stories not told in the original work. Recipients of the production's official email newsletter will help choose the stories. The play will also encourage active participation by the audience during the performance.

Source: Crunchyroll News, SGCafe, Anime News Network, MyAnimeList (series synopsis)

Ryo Yoshizawa Stars in Bussen Drama & Stage Play Adaptations

Actor Ryo Yoshizawa (Kamen Rider Fourze, Daily Lives of High School Boys) will star in the drama and stage adaptation of Ranjō Miyake's Bussen manga as the monk-in-training Shōsuke Tamura.

The manga centers on a Buddhist temple that opens the "Bussen" Buddhist vocational school to try to escape its financial difficulties. The school recruits students from around Japan who were not able to pass any of their high school entrance examinations and have been left behind by other schools. A neighboring rich temple sends in the airheaded and clumsy monk-in-training Shōsuke Tamura as a spy at Bussen.

The drama will have 10 episodes and will air starting on July 16. The stage adaptation will play for 16 shows between November 6-17 at Tokyo's Akasaka ACT Theater.

Source: Anime News Network

New Sailor Moon Stage Musical Announced

Sailor Moon manga editor Fumio "Osabu" Osano revealed that the Sailor Moon stage musical will return in September. The upcoming stage musical will feature an all female cast.

The cast of the upcoming stage musical are:

Satomi Okubo (Age 17) as Sailor Moon

Miyabi Matsuura (Age 16) as Sailor Mercury

Kanon Nanaki (Age 16) as Sailor Mars

Yū Takahashi (Age 22) as Sailor Jupiter

Shiori Sakata (Age 21) as Sailor Venus

Yūga Yamato as Tuxedo Mask

The story of the stage musical is a recounting of the battles between the Sailor Scouts and the Dark Kingdom that seeks the Silver Crystal.

Producing, writing and directing the new musical is Takuya Hiramitsu with music composed by Toshihiko Sahashi. The musical will run from September 13 to 23 at Shibuya's AiiA Theater Tokyo and is co-produced by Dwango and Nelke Planning.

Ticket sales will begin in July for 6,800 yen (about US$67), but advance reservations began on Monday at noon via Nakayoshi.

Source: Anime News Network

New Ace Attorney Stage Play "Turnabout Spotlight" Revealed

A new stage play adaptation based on Capcom's Ace Attorney video game franchise called "Turnabout Spotlight" will run from July 31 to August 4 at the Rikkoukai Hall in Kitashinagawa, Tokyo.

The story of the play takes place at a theater where Steel Samurai is performing. Watching the performance are: passionate defense attorney Phoenix Wright (played by Kentaro Kanesaki) and his assistant Maya Fey (played by Karin Ogino); Larry Butz (played by Akihiro Hayashi), prosecutor Miles Edgeworth (played by Takuma Wada) and detective Dick Gumshoe (played by Ryuko Isogai).

During Steel Samurai's fight scene, a large lantern suddenly falls down, setting the stage on fire. Wil Powers (played by Isamu Sugihara) has been labeled a suspect, but for some reason, he refuses to hire a lawyer and does not speak. The eyewitnesses are all of the audience members.

Eisaku Saito will be writing the scripts for the play, while Makoto Ozeki handled casting. Tickets for the play will be available for purchase for the price of 5,800 yen (about US$57).

Source: Anime News Network

Robotics;Notes Stage Play Commercial

Here's the commercial of the Robotics;Notes stage-play that will run at the Space Zero Hall near Tokyo's Shibuya station during the Golden Week holidays (between May 3 and 12).


The stage play stars Ryota Ozawa (Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger), Arisa Komiya (Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters), Kimito Totani (Kamen Rider Decade) and many more. The stage play is based on the XBOX 360/PS3 game of the same name and is directed by Kotaro Yoshitani.

Special thanks to Jeffry Zin for the heads up!

Robotics;Notes Stage Play Cast Revealed

The official website of the Robotics;Notes stage play posted the photos of the cast members in costume. The play will run at the Space Zero Hall near Tokyo's Shibuya station during the Golden Week holidays (between May 3 and 12).

Ryota Ozawa (Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger) as Kaito Yashio

Arisa Komiya (Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters) as Akiho Senomiya

Kimito Totani (Kamen Rider Decade) as Subaru Hidaka

Miku Ōno as Frau Kōjiro

Ran Sakai as Junna Daitoku

Yū Aikawa as Airi

Ami Nishihara as Misaki Senomiya

Minori Sakurai as Mizuka Irei

Teppei Sakata as Mitsuhiko Nagafukada

Akihiro Oguni as Tetsuharu Fujita

Haneyuri as Nae Tennōji

Shūji Hayashi as Kō Kimijima

Tatsuya Isaka as Toshiyuki Sawada

The upcoming Robotics;Notes stage play is based on the XBOX 360/PS3 game of the same name. The original game is set in an alternate future world and in the year 2019, the world is immersed in realistic augmented reality technology. But the main focus of the game is about a high school robotics club that is in danger of being disbanded now that they are down with only two members.

The Robotics;Notes stage play is directed by Kotaro Yoshitani.

Source: Anime News Network

Slam Dunk Stage Play Adaptation Being Considered

According to stage play actor Osamu Kogure, a stage play of Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk manga is under consideration.

Accordingly, the said production would be in a gymnasium instead of a traditional theater. The project would cast actors as well as top basketball athletes through the Japan Basketball Association.

In addition, the project would install a screen in the gym to play pictures of Slam Dunk scenes with a soundtrack using voice actors. It would also feature a live band playing an entirely new score.

Source: Anime News Network