Stage play includes original character Kanō Sōzaburō from 2016 Takarazuka musical

A new stage play adaptation of Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin manga has been green-lit. The play will make its debut run at the Shinbashi Enbujō theater in Tokyo from October 11 to November 7, followed by a run at the Shōchikuza theater in Osaka from November 15 to 24. Shūichirō Koike is directing and scripting the play, and Takeshi Ōta is in charge of the music.

The cast includes (with historical names written with family names first):

Seina Sagiri as Himura Kenshin



Moka Kamishiraishi as Kamiya Kaoru



Mitsuru Matsuoka as Kanō Sōzaburō



Yūsuke Hirose as Saitō Hajime



Ryosuke Miura as Shinomori Aoshi



Ryuji Kamiyama as Takeda Kanryū





The character of Kanō Sōzaburō was not present in the original manga, but was introduced in the 2016 stage musical by the famous all-female musical theater troupe Takarazuka Revue as a romantic rival to Kenshin. The character is based on the historical Shinsengumi character of the same name, in the same way that Saitō Hajime is based on the historical Shinsengumi captain.

Miura previously played the character Sawagejō Chō in Rurouni Kenshin Part II: Kyoto Inferno , the second live-action film adaptation of the manga.

Watsuki was recently charged last November for possession of child pornography. Watsuki was later fined 200,000 yen (about US$1,900) in February. Watsuki and his novelist wife/story collaborator Kaoru Kurosaki launched the Rurouni Kenshin: Hokkaido Arc ( Rurouni Kenshin Meiji Kenkaku Romantan: Hokkaido-hen ) manga in Shueisha's Jump SQ. magazine last September. It went on hiatus last December following Watsuki being charged, but will resume on June 4. Viz Media was simultaneously publishing it in English before the manga went on hiatus.

Watsuki first launched his 28-volume Rurouni Kenshin manga in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1994. The manga has more than 60 million copies in print. The manga centers around Kenshin Himura, once a deadly assassin during the Meiji Restoration, who is trying to find a new life beyond violence. The manga has since been adapted into a 95-episode TV anime series, an anime film, three original video anime projects, three live-action films, and a stage musical by the all-female musical theater troupe Takarazuka Revue. The Daily Sports newspaper reported last year that a new live-action film in the works.

Source: Comic Natalie