Fullmetal Alchemist announces first stage play adaptation, core castings, and more

Square Enix and Marvelous announced on Monday, October 24, 2022, that the first-ever stage play adaptation of Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist manga series is on the way. Produced by the two companies together, the play is set to run throughout March 2023, with two showing date ranges in two different Japanese locations.

The highly-celebrated manga series was adapted into the critically acclaimed Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood series, which served as a canan adaptation of the manga. It’s since become one of the most celebrated series in the anime and manga industries, being regarded as one of the best in either medium.

Osaka and Tokyo residents will see Fullmetal Alchemist’s first stage-play adaptation come to town in March 2023

Alongside the initial announcement of a stage-play adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist, Square Enix also released some casting, staffing, and other information for the project. The play will run at the Shin Kabuki-za in Osaka from March 8 to March 12, 2023, as well as the Nippon Seinen-kan Hall in Tokyo from March 17 to March 26, 2023.

Sachiko Ishimaru was announced as directing the play as well as penning the script. However, no other staffing information was announced as part of this initial news release for the project. What was plentifully announced was the production’s cast members, starting with Yohei Isshiki and Ryota Hirono both playing protagonist Edward Elric.

Shuto Mashima is set to play Alphonse Elric, while Kosei Sakurada is the suit actor for Alphonse while he’s still in his suit of armor body. AKB48’s Rin Okabe will play Winry Rockbell, with Jin Aoki and Takuma Wada also double cast as Roy Mustang. It’s currently unknown why Elric and Mustang are both being double cast for the production.

Other cast members include:

Minami Tsukui
Metal Yoshida
Yuki Okamoto
Yuki Kimisawa
Motohisa Harashima
Sakurako Mizuki
Yutaka Abe
Keita Oishi
Hikari Ono
Kurama Sao
Raima Hiramatsu
Taisei Kusano
Tomoya Hoshi
Shogo Suzuki
Megumi Kuge
Mizuki Saito
Himari Ogawa
Shiribiki Yuika
Takuro Tatsumi

Hiromu Arakawa’s original series ran in Square Enix’s Monthly Shonen Gangan magazine from 2001 to 2010, with Viz Media handling North American distribution for the franchise. The manga has inspired two different television anime adaptations, two OVAs, two anime films, and one live-action film franchise. The 20th anniversary of the series was, in fact, commemorated with the release of the latest two live-action sequel films.

Follow along for more anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2022 progresses.

About the author

Joseph has been working as an anime content specialist for Sportskeeda since the past 2.5 years. Primarily covering his core genre, he also contributes to popular culture writing news stories and cult classic features on older series.

Joseph holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Delaware, United States. His love of anime, combined with his background in literature, influenced his interest in engaging readers through the written word. He maintains complete accuracy in his content by verifying each and every piece of information regardless of how long it takes, and ensure that the output is impartial and free of bias.

Chainsaw Man, One Piece, Berserk, Undead Unluck, Re:ZERO, Tower of God, Jujutsu Kaisen, Inuyasha, and Fire Punch are some of Joseph’s favorite animanga. His exposure to 4kids' Sonic X series, One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Dragon Ball Z on Toonami fueled his enthusiasm for the medium.

When not dissecting anime plots, Joseph likes to cook, play games, work on cars, browse new music, and watch pro wrestling, especially AEW. He also enjoys ocean-based activities - beach trips, fishing, swimming and watersports.

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Edited by Madhur Dave