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Eiichiro Oda Responds to One Piece Kabuki Actor's Injury
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The official website for The One Piece kabuki play posted a message from manga creator Eiichiro Oda about the play's star Ichikawa Ennosuke IV's broken arm on Tuesday. Oda began the message by remarking how Ichikawa had said he thought the play could be a success no matter who played the lead role. Ichikawa had also said he wanted the play to become a classic.
In a probable reference to Luffy's quest to become King of the Pirates, Oda said, "Ennosuke is the man who will be the king of the kabuki world!" He also said, "I want you to fully heal your arm now so that it doesn't affect your kabuki life after this." Oda added that he is waiting for Ichikawa's return as Luffy.
Oda praised the production and included illustrations of Usopp and Chopper. In the message, Usopp says, "Hey, Luffy!! Are you okay!?" and Chopper says, "Leave it to us!!"
Ichikawa stepped down from his roles of Luffy and Hancock after breaking his arm on stage on Monday. During the curtain call of the midday performance on Monday, Ichikawa fell onto a stage mechanism and, when part of his costume got stuck in the machinery, he broke his arm. He was transferred to a hospital where the injury was diagnosed.
A timeframe for Ichikawa's return has not been set. Onoe Ukon took over Ichikawa's roles beginning on Tuesday. Onoe previously played Sadi-chan and Marco; Bandō Shingo took his place as Sadi-chan, and Nakamura Hayato replaced him as Marco.
The play first ran from October-November 2015 at the Shinbashi Enbujō theater. 100,000 tickets for the Tokyo run all sold out. The play then ran in Osaka in March 2016, and then in Fukuoka in April 2016. Theatrical screenings of the play across Japan premiered last October. The current play, Super Kabuki II One Piece, is running from October 6-November 25.
Source: Comic Natalie
