Japanese manga to be adapted to Kabuki theatre

Tokyo, Dec 22 (IANS/EFE) The successful manga "One Piece" will be adapted to the traditional Japanese theatre form of Kabuki and will mark one of the first collaborations between these genres in the country, Japanese media reported Monday.

Veteran producer of cinema and Kabuki, Shochiku, along with Shueisha publishers -- who have been publishing manga since 1997 in the magazine Shukan Shonen Jump -- are preparing the new adaptation of the work which has already inspired a television series and several films and video games, the Japanese daily Yomiuri reported.

Manga are comics created in Japan, or by Japanese creators in the Japanese language, conforming to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century. They have a long and complex pre-history in earlier Japanese art.

"It will be a challenge," Ennosuke Ichikawa, Kabuki actor, producer and responsible for the theatrical version, told the newspaper, while a Shochiku spokesperson stressed that it was unusual to make manga adaptations to Japanese traditional theatre.

"I want to make a piece that people from all generations can enjoy," added Ichikawa who is considered a major Kabuki talent.

The creator of "One Piece", Eichiro Oda, welcomed the adaptation to Kabuki, defining it as a demonstration of Japanese beauty and expressed his confidence that Ichikawa would do a good job.

"One Piece" is one of the most successful mangas in Japanese history, with 320 million printed copies sold, and both the comic and the television version have been translated into several languages.

The manga tells the story of a young man known as Monkey D. Luffy, who explores the seas in search of a legendary treasure called "One Piece" and who becomes King of the Pirates.

The popular comic has spawned all kinds of products and accessories for its numerous followers in Japan.

The Kabuki version may be ready between October and November 2015 and will be presented in the Shimbashi Embujo theatre in Tokyo.

--IANS/EFE

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