Spirited Away Shares Live-Action Character Posters

Spirited Away remains one of the biggest animated films released to date by the legendary animation house, Studio Ghibli, becoming the only movie from the studio that has won “Best Animated Picture,” at the Academy Awards. Now, one of the most popular anime films ever released is getting a live-action stage play and has released two new character posters that show actresses Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi as the main protagonist Chihiro, who will be sharing the role in the upcoming performance which is set to arrive in February of next year.

Stage Plays adapting popular anime are nothing new in Japan, with the likes of Naruto, Beastars, Yu Yu Hakusho, My Hero Academia, and countless others getting the opportunity to give fans brand new takes on some of their favorite anime worlds. In fact, Spirited Away is far from the first adaptation that we’ll see be made into a stage play from the beloved studio, with Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind also receiving its own stage play that took place in Japan. With Spirited Away arguably the most successful entry in the library of Ghibli, there will surely be plenty of anime fans following this play with a close eye.

The Official Website for the upcoming stage play for Spirited Away shared the two new character posters that show off the two new actresses that will be bringing Chihiro to life in the classic story created by Studio Ghibli and once holding the title as the most popular anime film in the world:

The director of the upcoming play, John Caird, had these comments with regards to the production which is set to run in the Toho Imperial Theatre from February 2022 to March 2022:

“I am very excited and honored to be involved in the first stage play of Spirited Away. For a long time, Hayao Miyazaki has been considered an outstanding genius in the film world and the greatest advocate in the field of animation. I am in tune with all the main themes of Miyazaki’s work. I’ve already spent thousands of hours on Spirited Away and I can’t wait to spend thousands of hours in the future.” 

What do you think of this upcoming Stage Play? Would you love to see these plays make their way to the West? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Ghibli. 

Via Official Spirited Away Site