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This paper analyzes casting philosophies in Japanese 2.5D theater, comparing star-centered, character-faithful, and multi-cast systems. It demonstrates how each model balances fidelity, artistry, and industry demands, revealing casting as a key site of adaptation and cultural negotiation.

Paper long abstract

This paper examines the evolution of casting philosophies in the broadly defined Japanese 2.5-dimensional (2.5D) theater, focusing on how different performance traditions negotiate the tension between character fidelity and performer interpretation when adapting two-dimensional source material. The term “2.5D” describes cultural practices that bridge the fictional worlds of manga, anime, and video games with live performance, creating hybrid spaces where casting choices highlight fundamental strategies of embodiment, authenticity, and audience engagement.

The analysis identifies three major casting philosophies that have shaped the development of 2.5D theater. Takarazuka Revue’s 1974 adaptation of The Roses of Versailles established a star-system model in which the stage personas of established performers take precedence over strict character replication. The otokoyaku (female performers of male roles) tradition further enables fluid gender performativity, privileging interpretive authority and cultivated presence over visual accuracy.

In contrast, the 2003 Prince of Tennis Musical (Tenimyu) codified the character-driven casting system that now dominates mainstream 2.5D theater. Productions recruit relatively unknown actors who physically resemble their manga or anime counterparts, with performers expected to reproduce signature gestures, vocal qualities, and visual aesthetics. This model reflects both commercial pressures and fan demands for faithful character embodiment.

Between these two poles, companies such as Studio Life developed rotational casting practices in which multiple actors portray the same role across successive runs or even within the same production cycle. By foregrounding multiplicity over strict fidelity, multi-cast systems challenge the assumption that authenticity lies in visual or behavioral sameness, instead emphasizing the creative potential of performative diversity within 2.5D theater.

These competing philosophies reveal that casting in 2.5D theater is a strategic site where cultural values and industrial imperatives intersect. Whether privileging performer charisma, character accuracy, or theatrical experimentation, each model articulates a different vision of how popular media can be translated into live performance. The paper argues that these visions collectively shape the aesthetic, economic, and affective foundations of 2.5D performance today.

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Paper short abstract

This paper, drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and media and performance analysis, examines the relationship between the wagei (storytelling arts) of rakugo and kōdan, and manga/anime. The paper focuses on wagei-themed manga and anime, and, in turn, wagei stage adaptations of manga and anime.

Paper long abstract

What happens when so-called traditional forms of popular entertainment intertwine with contemporary pop culture? This paper examines the relationship between the wagei (storytelling arts) rakugo and kōdan, and manga/anime works. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Tokyo and media analysis of manga, anime, and wagei performances, the paper explores three levels of analysis. First, it contextualises the interactions between the media, looking especially at how rakugo represented a source of inspiration for several manga, and in turn benefitted from the publicity offered by rakugo-themed pop cultural works, which contributed to a significant revival of the art since the beginning of the 21st century. Second, it analyses the emerging corpus of rakugo- and kōdan-themed manga and anime, observing how authors and animators, often with the help of professional performers, have managed to portray these oral, rather minimal arts into their respective media. Works analysed include the manga and anime Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū, created by Kumota Haruko (previously known for producing Boys Love, or BL, manga), depicting the lives of rakugoka in the 20th century; the kōdan-themed manga Hiraba no Hito, published, not by chance, by Kōdansha, and written with the supervision of kōdan’s rising star Kanda Hakuzan VI, who also acted as the inspiration for the protagonist; and the manga (and soon-to-be anime) Akane Banashi, currently serialised on the magazine Shōnen Jump, which attracted attention for its unusual theme and protagonist (a young girl dreaming to become a successful rakugoka). Finally, and most importantly for the aims of this panel, it explores the opposite phenomenon – the adaptation into oral storytelling performances of manga and anime. I focus on the work of two artists: Kōdan performer Kanda Hakuzan VI, who adapted volume 92 of the manga One Piece (the first of the series set in the Japan-inspired island of Wano) into a kōdan performance uploaded on the official One Piece YouTube channel; and rakugoka Shōfukutei Ukō, who became a professional storyteller after a career as mangaka, and who has adapted several pop cultural products into rakugo pieces.

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Paper short abstract

This paper examines, through adaptation theory and character analysis, how the shinsaku nō “VR Nō Kōkaku Kidōtai”, based on the manga series Ghost in the Shell by Shirō Masamune, reshapes the concepts of “ghost” and the digital world into spiritual themes through the mugen nō narrative structure.

Paper long abstract

Over the past two decades, the staging of famous manga series into nō theatre has become, although still at an early stage, an interesting outcome of the relationship between pop culture and traditional Japanese performing arts. Among the few shinsaku nō (newly written nō) written within this phenomenon, “VR Nō Kōkaku Kidōtai”, based on Shirō Masamune’s manga series Ghost in the Shell, represents one of the most compelling examples of the new directions that nō theatre has taken in recent years.

Written by Oku Shūtarō and staged for the first time in 2020, this play reconfigures the manga’s visual panel-driven narration into the performative and literary stylistic norms of nō, also implementing the use of light effects and holograms. The narrative structure follows the conventions of mugen nō style and portrays the final events of the first volume of the original work. The plot focuses on Batō’s search for his former captain and friend Kusanagi Motoko, recalling her merger with The Puppeteer, and later on her encounter with one of her isotopes (digital clones) in the digital world.

The mugen nō narrative pattern, which intersects reality and a dreamlike or illusory state in which a spirit or ghost appears, in VR Nō Kōkaku Kidōtai functions not only as a strategic choice to adapt Ghost in the Shell’s story, but also as a way to culturally reinterpret the original cyberpunk themes for a general nō audience. Indeed, the philosophical questions about the relationship between humans and robots, and the dichotomy between physical and digital worlds, are progressively reshaped into religious and spiritual themes, such as overcoming the boundary between this world and the afterlife.

This paper aims to explore how VR Nō Kōkaku Kidōtai reinterprets the cyberpunk aesthetics and philosophy of Shirō Masamune’s Ghost in the Shell through the lens of nō theatre. Drawing on adaptation theory and character analysis, the paper examines how gradually the meanings and concepts of “ghost” and the digital world shift to a spiritual framework throughout the play, with a particular focus on the characters of Kusanagi Motoko and The Puppeteer.