Rurouni Kenshin Gets New Stage Play in October

Rurouni Kenshin is one of the most popular anime/manga. The manga will soon be resuming the Hokkaido arc. In addition to the continuation of the manga, a new stage play adaption of Rurouni Kenshin manga is going to come out. The play is going to make the first run at the Shinbashi Enbujō theater in Tokyo. It is going to run from October 11 to November 7. After this, it is going to move to Osaka. It will run at the Shōchikuza theater in Osaka from November 15 to 24.

Rurouni Kenshin Stage Play Staff

Shūichirō Koike will be directing and scripting the play. Takeshi Ōta is in charge of the music.

Rurouni Kenshin Stage Play Cast

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

If you have read the manga, then you’d be surprised to see Kanō Sōzaburō. It is because Kanō was not present in the original manga. Kanō’s first appearance was in the 2016 stage musical by the famous all-female musical theater troupe Takarazuka Revue. The character was introduced as a romantic rival to Kenshin. The character is based on the historical Shinsengumi character of the same name.

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

Here’s the synopsis of the series if you’re interested:

The manga has more than 60 million copies in print. It is without a doubt one of the most popular manga out there. The manga follows the story of a man named Kenshin Himura,. Kenshin was once a deadly assassin during the Meiji Restoration. Kenshin has given up his life of violence as his past is too bloody.

The manga has also been turned into a TV anime series. The anime also has a film, three original video anime projects, and also three live-action films.

The manga had gone on hiatus last December. The mangaka Watsuki was charged with possession of child pornography. Watsuki was later fined. He had to pay 200,000 yen (about US$1,900) in February.

People had predicted that Watsuki won’t be making a return but it looks like that Watsuki has realized his folly.

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. However, ever since the mangaka Watsuki was charged with the possession of child pornography, the fanbase has been massively dropped.