Interest
Sailor Moon Musical Returns After 8 Years With New Cast
posted on by Egan Loo
Fumio Osano, the Sailor Moon manga's Kodansha editor who is known by his nickname "Osabu," reported on Sunday that the Sailor Moon stage musical will return in September. The July issue of Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine and the Sailor Moon Channel website are making the official announcement on Monday. The story will be a new recounting of the battles between the Sailor Senshi and the Dark Kingdom that seeks the Silver Crystal.
The original magical girl manga's creator Naoko Takeuchi personally auditioned actressses for the cast. 17-year-old Satomi Ōkubo (pictured right) will be the fifth actress to assume the role of the title magical girl. Yūga Yamato (pictured left), a former actress of male roles in the famed all-female Takarazuka troupe, will play the love interest Tuxedo Kamen (Tuxedo Mask). The full main cast includes:
16-year-old Miyabi Matsuura as Sailor Mercury
16-year-old Kanon Nanaki as Sailor Mars
22-year-old Yū Takhashi as Sailor Jupiter
21-year-old Shiori Sakata as Sailor Venus
Yūga Yamato as Tuxedo Mask
Takuya Hiramitsu is producing, writing, and directing the new musical with music by Toshihiko Sahashi. Dwango and Nelke Planning are co-producing the musical's run from September 13 to 23 at Shibuya's AiiA Theater Tokyo. Ticket sales will begin in July for 6,800 yen (about US$67), but advance reservations began on Monday at noon via Nakayoshi.
Takeuchi launched the original manga in Nakayoshi in 1992, and the hit anime premiered that same year. The manga inspired 27 earlier stage musical runs with over 800 performances between 1993 and 2005. The cast and staff of the new musical are largely different from the past versions.
Images © Naoko Takeuchi, PNP/Kodansha, Nelke Planning, Dwango
