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musicals

Takarazuka musical theater fans might be the nicest in the world, according to Japanese Twitter

They only want to share their love of Takarazuka with everyone else!

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Our cat-loving reporter decided that this year, for Japan’s Cat Day, she’d become a jellicle cat

A makeup studio augmented all her feline facial features until she could pass for Bombalurina!

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Sailor Moon on ice! Skater Evgenia Medvedeva appears in costume for first official ice show【Pics】

Adaptation of magical girl anime/manga has a VERY international cast.

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New 2.5-D Sailor Moon musical to be performed in New York, Washington【Video】

The glittery, galactic battles of Usagi and her friends will be performed live in the United States as a 2.5-D stage production!

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Preview video of Sailor Moon’s stage musical for Paris shows Sailor Senshi in costume【Video】

Anime magical girl stage show features choreography from famous idol singer collaborator.

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Sailor Moon musical to be released on DVD next month, footage available online【Video】

Weren’t able to make it to a performance of the anime stage show? Not to worry, you can now watch it anytime you want!

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Cast of new Bleach rock musical appear as their anime-inspired characters for the first time

All-new cast steps into the role of Ichigo and his fellow Soul Reapers.

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Classic anime Fushigi Yugi’s musical adaptation cast shown in costume for first time 【Photos】

If you’ve got a favorite series from the hit fantasy series, odds are he’s in the huge cast of this new stage version.

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Japan’s all-female Takarazuka Revue to perform in U.S.A. this summer

New York engagement marks rare North American visit by musical acting troupe.

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Takarazuka, Japan’s all-woman theater troupe, is producing a musical about Abe Lincoln

Responsible for the Rurouni Kenshin musical and a musical memorial for Shakespeare, Takarazuka will bring an American president to the stage.

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Nations-as-pretty-boys anime Hetalia’s live-action cast appears in costume 【Photos】

Next month, Hetalia, the anime and manga franchise featuring anthropomorphized nations and a hefty amount of homoerotic subtext, is getting its very own live-action musical adaptation, and the play’s producers have just released the first photos of the cast in costume as their respective nations.

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Rurouni Kenshin comes to picture-perfect life as photos of stage musical’s cast are released

Adapting anime to live-action is an extremely difficult venture. It’s not impossible, though, and one of the few icons of Japanese animation to make the transition smoothly is Himura Kenshin, hero of samurai saga Rurouni Kenshin.

The swordsman with the scarred face and soul has three successful live-action films under his belt, and this winter Japan’s all-female Takarazuka stage troupe will be raising the curtain on its own Rurouni Kenshin musical. Opening night is still a ways off, but the first photos of the cast in costume have been revealed, and gender-flipped or not, it’s hard to imagine a closer likeness for Kenshin himself than Takarazuka’s.

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Countries become anime characters, anime characters become real men in Hetalia musical

Anime featuring anthropomorphized battleships or samurai swords seem like no-brainers, given that they have a certain cool factor among young otaku and by their very nature make it easy to develop action scenes. Filling your cast with personifications of sovereign nations, though, sounds like a harder hill to climb.

Nevertheless, Hetalia, which started as a webcomic starring anthropomorphized versions of World War II’s Axis powers, succeeded, thanks to its non-stop winks to historical events, willingness to skewer every country on the planet (Japan included), and undercurrent of homoeroticism. The franchise has since spread to print manga and animated TV and movie forms, and now it’s invading new territory with the Hetalia stage musical.

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Hit anime Hana Yori Dango getting stage musical starring…maybe you?!?

You’d be hard-pressed to find a girls’ manga with a broader or more international fanbase than Hana Yori Dango. Also known as Boys Over Flowers, Hana Yori Dango ran as a serialized comic for more than a decade in addition to having a popular anime version that aired in the late 1990s. That was just the beginning of its multimedia franchise, though, as the series was later remade as a live-action TV and film series in Japan, with separate, locally produced versions for Taiwan and Korea as well.

One place Hana Yori Dango hasn’t gone yet, though, is the stage. That’s changing next year, though, with a Hana Yori Dango musical that’s holding open auditions to cast its female lead.

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Dattebayo! 12 awesome cast photos from the upcoming Naruto live spectacular

Fans of Naruto, the hit manga series that graced the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine every week, were dealt a heavy blow back in November 2014 when the epic series ended after 15 years.

While they may have closed the book on the manga series, thankfully it’s not the last chapter in the Naruto franchise, as all our favourite characters will be returning, this time on stage in a live action spectacular set to tour Japan from 21 March 2015.

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Gene Kelly inspires short anime from Japan, captures hearts around the world

If you’re feeling under the weather or just wanting to relax after a hard day, there are two things that can certainly pick you up and remind you of the bright side of life again: a Hollywood musical from the golden era, and a good animated cartoon from Japan. It’s amazing how warm, animated tones and catchy tunes can capture your senses and hug you like an old friend just when you need it the most.

Now, a Japanese animator has melded the two feel-good genres with a short, two and a half-minute animation that pays homage to a Gene Kelly tap dance routine from the 1952 american musical Singin’ in the Rain. It’s proving to be so cute that it’s attracting attention from around the world. We take a look at the video and see why this cute girl is gathering so many admirers.

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Hello Kitty takes to the stage for the Sanrio musical【Photos】

We recently paid a visit to Sanrio Puroland, the Tokyo amusement park dedicated to the characters created by the company that gave the world Hello Kitty. After arriving, our first order of business was grabbing an adorable Kitty-chan burger and My Melody stack of pancakes.

But cute character-based food is only half of the recipe for a successful theme park in Japan. The other is live shows, so we grabbed a seat for the park’s Hello Kitty musical, where we snapped pictures and even recorded a couple videos.

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Keep your skin purr-fect with a feline face pack featuring characters from Cats the musical

Once upon a time, face packs were plain. They were white, wet and definitely something you wouldn’t want to be seen wearing. Now, beauty masks are finally becoming beautiful, with newly released endangered animal designs and even prints featuring dramatic kabuki makeup.

From the end of this month, the cats will come out to play. And not just any cats. These are the famous felines from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats. With four cat face packs to choose from, now you can look after your skin and play out your feline fantasies at the same time!

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