Naruto : Live Action Musical & The Last Naruto Movie

One of the top 3 reigning  and recently concluded Shounen Jump Manga; NARUTO is going to have a live action play! The play; “ Live Spectacle Naruto” will open in Japan this 21st March and enjoy a Japan tour until 5th April 2015.
 

 
It is not known if it will be a musical or play but check out the trailer below!
 

 

Official site: http://naruto-stage.jp/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@naruto_stage 

Cast:
Kodai Matsuoka as Uzumaki Naruto
Ryuuji Satou as Sasuke Uchiha
Yui Itou as Sakura Haruno
Kenta Suga as Gaara
Yuuki Kimisawa as Kakashi Hatake
Kazuhiro Hirakawa as the Third Hokage
Hidekazu Ichinose as Iruka
Tatsunari Kimura as Kabuto
Asahi Uchida as Zabuza Momochi
Miho Imamura as Haku

 
 
I cannot imagine Naruto dancing around singing and to be honest, I love Takeuchi Junko’s Naruto voice so much I find it hard to imagine anyone else talking as Naruto!


 
However the promotional video and photos released of the characters by far have been very promising. I especially love the gritty post production effect on the photographs. Judging from the distressed and battle-torn treatment to the costumes and actors, the crew have indeed invested a lot of time and soul into the replication of our favourite Anime characters! This should be a sight to behold!

 

 

I’m not sure if it’s the gritty post process filter or is Naruto’s jacket really leather but the texture looks great and would work well in a live rendition! 

It’s not obvious but the costume design team did quite an overhaul for Sasuke’s costume here. As far as I can tell, it is no longer the simple shirt like in the manga but a 2 piece clothing consisting of a heavily textured shirt and a pleather vest. The costume designs stuck to Sasuke’s primarily colour of Blue and white but gave it a darker tone; awesome!

Other than the beyond lovely lace front wig, the costume design team also added some nice touches to Sakura’s costume. Other than the patchy cloud texture on her dress, the silver studs and zip around her collar and sleeves also added a touch of fashion and realism to the heroine.

One of my favourite rendition would have to be Gaara. I’ve never been a Gaara fangirl but if he came to life, this is what I envisioned him to be. I particularly liked the fact that he doesn’t look scrawny instead, looks stubby (sorry Kenta Suga!) and awkward.  

I can’t see a lot of details in this particular photo but from how the netted sleeves on his arms looked, I could once again see the effort of the Costume Design team. Why? Simply because it’s not normal netting fabric, it looked like it was specially laser cut out to have the best possible size ratio.  The grids had to look like netting but not be as small as most netting fabric are because those won’t work well on stage. They can’t be too big either otherwise they will just look like a joke .

I recently found myself liking Kakashi more and I’m delighted to see Yuuki Kimisawa makes such a bishie Kakashi. I have no other wish *LOL SUCH SHALLOW MUCH FANGIRL*

I love the texture and sheen of their emerald jacket and like how the Costume design team even bothered to make the red swirly thing on their left arm looks decent. Being a bishounen character, it was essential to get that handsome vibe across. And there’s no better way to do it than to ensure his silver hair is perfectly styled and his face mask is designed to visually enhance a sharp chin (not that Kimisawa’s isn’t already but you got to make everything bigger than life in musicals).

Another one of my favourite character; the relationship and impact he had on Naruto’s life is so heart warming. He is a reminder to all of us to always be cautious of what we say and do to other people; you never know if your acceptance of someone else might one day propel him into a village hero. 

I like the knee guard  and original details added onto their pants. It seemed to be some sort of semi-leg armour thing which gives the Jounins an added touch of embellishment. It worked well in these photographs to add a touch of interest.  Hidekazu Ichinose is a bishounen and he looked like Iruka, and I’m happy.

Oooh, I found a picture of the jacket without the heavy post processing!

 
From the inclusion of Zabuza and Haku, all fans would know exactly which arc they are playing. Being one of the earliest arc, it’s both surprisingly yet expected to see Zabuza and Haku’s story appear once more. I guess I was expecting them to jump to maybe the Chuunin exams or what not.
 
By far the casting seemed amazing  and I'm super pumped up! I can't wait to watch it! However as someone who cannot speak or understand Japanese, I'm concerned how the production team would alter the content to a foreign audience. After all, a major part of musical appreciation is understanding what they’re singing about.

 

The live action play will be coming to S.E.A countries such as Singapore,  Malaysia and Macau! The schedules as below.
 

Singapore: Resorts World Theatre on June 6, 2015
 
Malaysia: Malaysia International Exhibition & Convention Centre from May 30 – 31, 2015
 
Macau: The Venetian Macau Theatre from May 22 – 24, 2015

 
I found a photo collage of the characters with their Live Musical counterpart.
 

 
 
 
 
Another interesting piece of news for Singaporean fans that's coming earlier is the screening of the last Naruto Movie. Cathay Cineplex will be bringing THE LAST:  Naruto the Movie into Singapore this March 2015. Special previews with Movie premiums will happen in 5th , 6th and 7th February while Island wide release will come in March 2015.

 

Movie trailer with some bonus news clips

Interview with Masashi Kishimoto and some movie previews

I’ve already purchased my Movie premiere tickets and can’t wait to finish marathoning my Anime so I can watch the final Movie in peace that I’ve known everything about the series as a self respecting Otaku should. Maybe I would even finally cosplay Hinata!!!!!