Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Manga That Must Be Made Into Musicals!
Inspired by the awesomeness that is the Bleach rock musical, David Welsh compiles a list of manga he'd like to see undergo musical makeovers. And since, like him, I'm powerless to resist the allure of manga-related lists, here are my own suggestions for Manga that Must be Made into Musicals!!
Death Note - If only to see how much of the internal strategizing they could successfully stage as musical solos.
Sgt. Frog - C'mon, tell me this wouldn't be a natural! Sgt. Frog has already poked fun at the clichés and conventions of other media, so I'm sure a Keroro Gunso musical would have a field day making fun of the many formulaic aspects found in musicals. It could be for Japanese theater traditions what Spamalot is for Western musical theatre!
Club 9 - The story of a country girl making it on her own in The Big City seems like it was made to be told in musical form.
Slam Dunk - A romantic comedy musical with plenty of basketball games that could be done as elaborate ballets.
Yotsuba&! - A musical for kids, this production would consist of several shorter acts each focused on a different central topic, just like the manga!
Vagabond - With a quirky cast of eccentric characters, a torturous love triangle, plenty of dramatic period settings and costumes, and the potential to stage elaborately choreographed fight scenes, Vagabond could be a huge crossover crowd-pleaser of a production.
Emma - David already mentioned this one, but I just want to agree enthusiastically. Besides, my wife would love it for the Victorian setting alone, so it's a manga musical we could both enjoy!
Kekkaishi - Hey, if Bleach can work as a musical, Kekkaishi should get a shot too. Plus, a Kekkaishi musical would feature something Bleach didn't: singing demon dogs!
Short Cuts - With creator Usamaru Furuya's background in varied fields of art (including dance), he'd probably welcome the challenge of adapting his ode to the ko-gal into some experimental, avant-garde form of musical theatre.
Akira - For two reasons: (1) Because, if it were done right, it would be the most expensive production ever. (2) I want to hear the musical version of Tetsuoooooooooo!!!!!!
Inspired by the awesomeness that is the Bleach rock musical, David Welsh compiles a list of manga he'd like to see undergo musical makeovers. And since, like him, I'm powerless to resist the allure of manga-related lists, here are my own suggestions for Manga that Must be Made into Musicals!!Death Note - If only to see how much of the internal strategizing they could successfully stage as musical solos.
Sgt. Frog - C'mon, tell me this wouldn't be a natural! Sgt. Frog has already poked fun at the clichés and conventions of other media, so I'm sure a Keroro Gunso musical would have a field day making fun of the many formulaic aspects found in musicals. It could be for Japanese theater traditions what Spamalot is for Western musical theatre!
Club 9 - The story of a country girl making it on her own in The Big City seems like it was made to be told in musical form.
Slam Dunk - A romantic comedy musical with plenty of basketball games that could be done as elaborate ballets.
Yotsuba&! - A musical for kids, this production would consist of several shorter acts each focused on a different central topic, just like the manga!
Vagabond - With a quirky cast of eccentric characters, a torturous love triangle, plenty of dramatic period settings and costumes, and the potential to stage elaborately choreographed fight scenes, Vagabond could be a huge crossover crowd-pleaser of a production.
Emma - David already mentioned this one, but I just want to agree enthusiastically. Besides, my wife would love it for the Victorian setting alone, so it's a manga musical we could both enjoy!
Kekkaishi - Hey, if Bleach can work as a musical, Kekkaishi should get a shot too. Plus, a Kekkaishi musical would feature something Bleach didn't: singing demon dogs!
Short Cuts - With creator Usamaru Furuya's background in varied fields of art (including dance), he'd probably welcome the challenge of adapting his ode to the ko-gal into some experimental, avant-garde form of musical theatre.
Akira - For two reasons: (1) Because, if it were done right, it would be the most expensive production ever. (2) I want to hear the musical version of Tetsuoooooooooo!!!!!!
Labels: Manga, Musicals, Wish Lists
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