Not every time animes get a stage musical adaptation, but when they do, they will surely be big, such as “Ouran High School Host Club,” which will have its equally funny finale stage musical opening in Japan this December.
The third, final musical
It has been officially announced that the stage musical adaptation of Bisco Hatori’s manga, “Ouran High School Host Club,” will have its third and final musical opening in Tokyo this December. It is titled “Kageki Ouran High School Host Club Fine.”
Cast members, the main production team
The cast from the second musical will reprise their roles. They include Junya Komatsu as Tamaki Suou, Masamichi Satonaka as Kyoya Ootori, Yū Futaba as Hikaru Hitachiin, Kaname Futaba as Kaoru Hitachiin, Ginga Shitara as Mitsukuni Haninozuka, Shogo Tazuru as Takashi Morinozuka, and Yuka Yamauchi as Haruhi Fujioka.
The main cast also includes Shoichiro Oomi as Umehito Nekozawa and Mizuki Saito as Renge Hо̄shakuji.
Returning to direct the musical is Kazuhito Yoneyama. Muck Akazawa is also returning as the musical’s scriptwriter.
Funny, entertaining
A popular manga series by Hatori, “Ouran High School Host Club,” has been adapted not just into a stage musical but also into a series of audio dramas, a TV anime series directed by Takuya Igarashi and produced by Bones, a Japanese TV drama series, a live-action movie adaptation, and a visual novel.
It was in August 2003 when the original manga launched in LaLa. VIZ Media took charge of publishing the manga, which inspired a television anime in 2006.
It is a comedy series that revolves around the adventures of Fujioka, a scholarship student at the prestigious Ouran Academy, an elite private school in Bunkyo City, Tokyo, for wealthy and affluent kids.
Looking for a quiet place to study, Fujioka stumbles upon the otherwise-abandoned Third Music Room, then a place where the Ouran High School Host Club, a group of six male students, gathers to entertain female “clients” or the girls of the school with food, themed parties, and flirtatious conversation and behavior.
Yes, aside from being funny, “Ouran High School Host Club” is unique because it is a series of stage musicals. The series’ second musical opened at the Tennozu Galaxy Theater in Tokyo from December 2nd to 11th and the Sankei Hall Breeze in Osaka from December 17th to 18th.
There, Ginga Shitara replaced Eito Konishi as Mitsukuni Haninozuka. Meanwhile, Shogo Tazuru replaced Shō Katō as Takashi Morinozuka from the first musical.
The first stage musical adaptation happened at Tokyo’s Tennozu Galaxy Theater and Osaka’s Mielparque Hall last January 2022. The director of the first musical was Chobi Natsuki.
