Summary
Warning: The following article contains mention of suicide. If you or someone you know are thinking about suicide, help is out there. Please check the suicide crisis hotline available for your countryhere.
Thekabuki adaptation of the smash-hit animeseriesDemon Slayerhas been canceled. The show was slated to run in Tokyo in February and March 2024 in Shinbashi Enbujo. However, the production company Shochiku announced that due to “various circumstances,” the show would be indefinitely delayed - and possibly canceled permanently, as there has been no mention of a replacement date at this time.
Kabuki is a style of traditional Japanese stage theater that is used to tell both traditional stories, and retellings of modern ones. TheDemon Slayerkabuki show was meant to be a part of the Super Kabuki II (Second) series, which combines the traditional art of kabuki theater with modern technology on the stage. Kabuki is an art beloved by many people in Japan, and is widely attended by people from many walks of life.
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Demon Slayeris an extremely popular anime and manga series that has gained traction around the world in the past several years. It has hadthree anime seriesso far, along with a record-breaking movie that was released internationally. Its manga series is also popular, and it is a popular subject for collaborations and events just like this stage play.
The news about theDemon Slayershow came after a report that the director of the show, Ichikawa Ennosuke IV was officially indicted on July 28th, 2023. He was also set to appear in the play, though the character was unannounced. Ennosuke’s parents were part of a double suicide that occurred on May 17th and 18th, 2023, and prosecutors have said that Ennosuke assisted. There were accusations that it was a family suicide pact.
On May 17th, Ennosuke gave his parents excessive sleeping pills which led to their death. He also collapsed, but survived the ordeal. On June 27th, he was arrested on suspicion of aiding in his mother’s death, and then on July 18th, he was accused of aiding in his father’s death as well. Both were initiallyarrestsof suspicion, but he has now been officially indicted for the crimes.
TheDemon SlayerSuper Kabuki II stage show would have likely been extremely popular, bringing together both traditional kabuki fans andmega-fans of the animeinterested in seeing the story told in a new way. While it is a shame that the stage show has had to be indefinitely postponed, it will understandably need a new director before it can come back - if it can. And it will have to face having such a dark shadow cast over it due to Ennosuke’s former involvement.
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