Shonen Ninja boy band member Kōki Kawasaki stars in musical directed by Worry Kinoshita
Entertainment News website Oricon reported on Thursday that Yuki Andō’s The World of Machida-kun manga will be adapted into a stage musical, which will run from March 29 to May 14. 4 at Hibiya Theater Creation in Tokyo.
Image via Oricon News Twitter account
© 安藤ゆき/集英社・東宝
Kōki Kawasaki, a member of the boy band Shonen Ninja, will play Machida-kun, and Itsuki Nagasawa will play Nana Inohara. Additional cast includes Yūki Kamisato, Ruki Saito, Karin Isobe, Wataru Kozuki and Keigo Yoshino.
Worry Kinoshita (Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyu!!) is directing the musical, Pink Chiteijin 3-gō is writing the script, and Shunsuke Wada (Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyu!!) is composing the music.
© Yuki Andō, Shueisha
Andō launched the manga in Shueisha’s Bessatsu Margaret magazine in March 2015 and ended the series in April 2018. Shueisha published the seventh and final volume of the series in May 2018.
In the manga, Machida is a quiet, clumsy, bespectacled boy with slightly below average grades who believes in his looks. He thinks of himself as nothing special, but around him there are people appreciate him.
The manga ranked third on Takarajimasha’s Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of top manga for female readers in 2015. The manga earned Andō the New Face Award at the 19th Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in 2015 and the New Creator Award at the 2015 Japan Media Arts Festival Awards. 20th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Awards 2016. The series was nominated for Manga Taisho in 2016.
The series was also adapted into a live-action film, released in Japan in 2019.
Source: Oricon News Twitter account and website