This article about the Rurouni Kenshin press conference was originally published by Daily Sports Online on October 20, 2015.

Takarazuka to produce musical adaptaton of ‘Rurouni Kenshin’

On October 20th, Sagiri Seina, Top Star of the Takarazuka Revue’s Snow Troupe, appeared with Top Musumeyaku Sakihi Miyu at a press conference for the musical “Rurouni Kenshin” (playing Feb 5-March 14 2016 at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre, and April 1-May 8 2016 at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre).

The famous and popular manga has been adapted into an anime and into films, but this will be the first time it has been adapted into a musical. While she enthusiastically displayed her costume for the first time, Sagiri Seina, who plays the protagonist Himura Kenshin, said “[Kenshin] lives with the goal of making many people smile. That’s a bit similar to me and my career in Takarazuka. While I’m projecting Kenshin’s character on myself during the performance, I’d like to be loved for myself as well.”

Today, the Takarazuka OG, Suzukaze Mayo (age 55) who performed the voice of Kenshin for the anime, and the creator of the manga, Watsuki Nobuhiro, were also in attendance. They wanted to see Ms. Sagiri and her colleagues’ performance for themselves. Ms. Suzukaze gave it her seal of approval, saying “it’s so exact that it’s almost as if ‘Rurouni Kenshin’ had been created just for Takarazuka,” and Mr. Watsuki said his hope was that “Takarazuka fans who don’t know Kenshin would enjoy Kenshin, and fans of Kenshin who don’t know Takarazuka would enjoy Takarazuka.”