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Black Jack Manga Gets New Stage Musical
posted on by Anita Tai
The official X (formerly Twitter) account for merchandise from Osamu Tezuka's works announced on Thursday that Tezuka's Black Jack manga will receive a new stage musical in Japan beginning on June 28.
The cast includes:
- Masayuki Sakamoto as Black Jack
- Nako Yabuki as Pinoko
- Ryosuke Mikata as Doctor Kiriko
- Yuhi Ozora as Mariko
- Kiyotaka Imai as Shirakawa
The story will feature an up-and-coming actress Mariko, who comes down with a mysterious illness that makes her unable to eat.
Tamiya Kuriyama is directing the show, Satoshi Suzuki wrote the script, and Yasuhiro Kasamatsu is composing the music.
The musical will tour across Japan from June 28 to July 13, including stops at Tokyo, Niigata, Nagoya, Hamamatsu, Sapporo and Hyogo.
Tezuka's original Black Jack manga centers on a brilliant maverick doctor who practices without a license. Tezuka published the manga in Akita Shoten's Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine from 1973 to 1984. The official Osamu Tezuka website describes the manga:
This is a medical drama in which an unlicensed but gifted surgeon, Black Jack, is the main character. Endowed with excellent surgical technique, Black Jack always miraculously saves seriously ill patients and those on the verge of death. But he always claims an outrageous price for his surgery, which is why his presence is rejected in medical circles.Black Jack lives quietly in a clinic out in the deserted wilderness with his assistant, Pinoko, whose life he had saved. Patients whom other doctors have given up on come to see him every today; he represents their very last hope.
The manga has inspired multiple anime adaptations, as well as spinoffs from other creators. The manga has inspired several Japanese live-action adaptations, including a film in 1977, a series in 1981, a video in 1996, a special in 2000, and another special in 2011. A new live-action series debuted in June 2024.
The manga already inspired two musical productions by the all-female Takarazuka Revue troupe, an opera, and several non-musical stage productions. The "Black Jack" Mangeki!! Tezuka Osamu Dai-5-Kan The Fusion of Comics & Theater stage play ran in Tokyo in March 2024.
The manga is also inspiring a Chinese live-action adaptation. Beijing Enlight Pictures announced the adaptation in 2020 at a press conference promoting new works in production. Beijing Enight Pictures' subsidiary Coloroom Pictures is producing the work.
Sources: Osamu Tezuka's X/Twitter account, Comic Natalie
