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A stage production to Mushishi, the second season of which has been broadcasting since April, has been confirmed. The production, titled “Stage Reading: Mushishi,” will be performed at the Spiral Hall in Aoyama beginning on Wednesday, March 18, 2015.
Hiroshi Nagahama, the director of the TV anime, is in charge of the original bill for the production, and Kazuaki Nakamura of Wamhouse is billed as executive producer, director, and writer.
Mushishi is a popular manga that was serialized in Monthly Afternoon from 1998-2008. The manga, authored by Yuki Urushibara, spans 11 publications total, 10 manga volumes and 1 special volume. A TV anime directed by Nagahama began in 2005 and had a broadcast that spanned 27 episodes including a special episode. Due to its popularity, it was adapted into a live-action film in 2007 directed by Katsuhiro Otomo and starring Joe Odagiri in the lead role. In 2008 a game adaptation was made, and in April 2014, nine years after the TV anime ended, the second season of the TV anime began. The series has made its presence known through manga and anime at Japan Media Arts Festival and other events, and it is a series that continues to be loved even after so long.
The goal of the stage reading is to recreate Mushishi live through lighting, visuals, and music. The production is entirely a cooperation between author Urushibara, the series’ original team at Kodansha, as well as Aniplex, Marvelous Entertainment, and others.
The cast from the TV anime are reprising their roles for the stage production, including Yuto Nakano as Ginko, Ai Kobayashi as Tanyu, and Mika Doi as the narrator. Video mapping that spans 270 degrees will be used for the production along with liberal use of augmented reality (AR) using the Internet. They aim to create a new kind of stage production.
Regarding director Nagahama’s viewpoint that, “Everything starts with the original work. The original work is interesting beyond belief, so that’s what we want,” Nakamura said, “Even on this stage production, our thoughts are totally in line.” He went on to comment, “We’ve taken up the baton of the “hopes” of those who worked on creating Mushishi, beginning with author Urushibara’s eight years of planning and director Nagahama, and we want to express it through the physical location that is the stage.”
Being that this “stage reading” is a new concept, fans will likely be wondering just what kind of production it will be. Seventeen performances are planned in total between March 18-29, 2015. Look forward to more information to come.
Production Name: Stage Reading: Mushishi
Author: Yuki Urushibara (published by Kodansha)
Original Production Planning: Hiroshi Nagahama
Executive Producer/Director/Writer: Kazuaki Nakamura (Wamhouse)
Performances: March 18-29, 2015 (17 performances total)
Location: Spiral Hall (Aoyama)
Sponsors/Planning/Production: Fields, Pia
Ticket Sale Start Date: Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. (JST)
© Yuki Urushibara, Kodansha Ltd. / Stage Reading: Mushishi
Source: animeanime
