On Thursday, September 26, 2024, it was announced that the original Wind Breaker manga by author and illustrator Satoru Nii is set to receive a stage play adaptation titled Butai Wind Breaker (translated as Stage: Wind Breaker). This highly anticipated play is scheduled to take place in January 2025 in Japan. Performances will kick off from Wednesday, January 1, through Friday, January 3, 2024, at the WW Hall of the Cool Japan Park Osaka, followed by a run at Theater H in Tokyo from Friday, January 10, to Sunday, January 19.
The announcement regarding the Wind Breaker manga’s stage play adaptation was made through the launch of an official website dedicated to the project. Alongside this announcement, a key visual was unveiled and the cast for the Bofurin group was also disclosed. Based on the key visual and the casting details, it appears that the stage play will adapt content from the Shishitoren Arc.
Focus on Bofurin vs Shishitoren in Wind Breaker Stage Play Adaptation
The currently announced cast for the Wind Breaker stage play includes Ryoga Ishikawa as Haruka Sakura, Hiroki Sana as Hajime Umemiya, Shunichi Takahashi as Toma Hiragi, Yuto Ando as Hayato Suo, Taiga Nakamoto as Kyotaru Sugishita, and Kazan Yokoyama as Akihiko Nirei. From the key visual, it seems additional cast members representing the Shishitoren group may still be announced.
The inclusion of Shishitoren members in the key visual suggests that the production will delve into the Shishitoren Arc, if not further. As of the time of this article, there is no additional official information available beyond the play’s schedule, the Bofurin cast, and the aforementioned key visual. However, fans can look forward to more updates as we advance further into the end of 2024.
This stage play adaptation comes shortly after the incredibly successful Spring 2024 anime adaptation of Nii’s original manga series. Despite initially being an underdog in a competitive season, the anime quickly became one of the standout offerings, gaining substantial popularity. Many fans who only followed the anime shared online that they transitioned to the manga immediately after the series concluded.
Nii’s original Wind Breaker manga began serialization in Kodansha’s Magazine Pocket app in January 2021 and continues to be serialized regularly today. A new compilation volume, the 19th, is set to release imminently in Japan on Tuesday, October 8, 2024. Out of the 188 currently released manga volumes, 16 have been translated into English. However, only the first 10 volumes are available in print; the remaining volumes are exclusively in digital format.
The series revolves around the delinquent protagonist Haruka Sakura, who attends Furin High School with the aspiration of becoming the strongest in an environment notorious for its brawling. Yet, he quickly discovers that the reality at Furin is not what he expected, leading to personal growth and newfound self-awareness.
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