00:00 [Music]
00:09 [Music]
00:14 It's a craze that just keeps on getting bigger among Japanese youth.
00:18 The 2.5D musical.
00:21 2D or two-dimensional refers to manga, anime, and video games.
00:28 Combining 2D themes and technology with live action stage performances
00:32 has brought us a new form of entertainment.
00:34 2.5D.
00:36 Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon is known and loved all over the world.
00:44 When the actors transform on stage into their guardian forms,
00:48 it's as if they've jumped straight from the pages of the original manga.
00:56 In The Prince of Tennis.
00:58 When the teen idols play the game on stage,
01:03 it's made super realistic by 2.5D effects.
01:07 Touken Ranbu Online is a very popular computer game.
01:22 The musical captivates audiences with its recreation of historical events,
01:27 using songs and dances as well as scenes of combat.
01:30 Of all 2.5D musicals,
01:39 none has been so popular as the series based on the manga Naruto.
01:43 With over 2.5 billion copies sold worldwide,
01:53 these stories of ninja warriors focus on the bonds of friendship
01:56 they develop during their adventures.
01:58 Special effects in live and action sequences featuring the fabled ninja arts.
02:09 This musical is directed by Kodama Akiko.
02:14 I think the big attraction of 2.5D musicals is their visual impact.
02:19 Even little children love the action.
02:22 And you don't have to understand Japanese to enjoy the fun.
02:26 Video effects bring the fantastical world of Naruto to life.
02:32 The hero casts a spell producing hundreds of clones behind him on stage.
02:48 As well as all the training and rehearsal required for these intense non-stop scenes,
02:53 the actors must learn to move exactly in sync with the projected video.
02:57 We use these video effects to support and complement
03:08 what the actors are doing on stage.
03:11 We're trying to make the audience's experience as close as possible
03:15 to what they imagined when reading the manga.
03:17 [Japanese]
03:20 These musicals bring all the excitement of the original works to the stage.
03:24 The director's creativity and the skill of the actors work together perfectly
03:33 to draw audiences deep into the world of Naruto.
03:36 [Japanese]
03:40 They brought the manga to life just as I imagined it.
03:46 With the addition of all the special effects and all the interaction with the other actors,
03:52 it was really great.
03:54 Overseas performances of 2.5D musicals are generating great enthusiasm.
04:00 A new form of entertainment from Japan,
04:06 the 2.5D musical looks set to follow manga, anime and video games
04:13 and win fans worldwide.
04:17 [Japanese]
04:20 [Music]
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