Studio Ghibli Forum

I thought I had seen the vast majority of most Studio Ghibli projects, but it seems I missed out on one: Omohide Poro Poro, or Only Yesterday as it is known in English. The film has been released in the UK and Australia, but still has not been picked up by Disney for a release in the US. It tells the story of a woman named Taeko as she makes a journey into the countryside and remembers her past. Sounds like perfect Ghibli material -- I can see myself tearing up already.
 
Anyway, the film has been adapted into a musical which will run at Tokyo's Ginga Gekijō theater from April 16 to 29, 2011. This marks the first Ghibli film to be adapted into any sort of stage production. After it finishes its run at this location, it will move to Semboku City in the northern prefecture of Akita from May 8, 2011 to January 3, 2012 and then it will go on a national tour. I wish I could go see it! I bet it's wonderful.
 
[Via ANN]

Interesting is this the first anime project to get a stage adaptation?  It is the first one I have known about.  Yes the details do make it sound like a perfect story for him to tell, the kind of bittersweet stuff he does best.  Ponyo needed more bitter sweentess (not that it wasn't good, it was the best thing disney put out that year and probably the last) to stand up to the level of princess monoke and his other greatest works.

@zaldar said:

"Interesting is this the first anime project to get a stage adaptation?"

I don't think it would be... There is a million of stories told in anime that could easly translate into an amazing Theater project...
 
Still I agree with Yui... I want to watch this!

@sora_thekey:   Heh...a stage project of eva...heh now that would be interesting.  It would definitly have to be a more human less sci-fi version show, but not sure if anyone ever has.  I haven't heard of it before that is for sure.

@zaldar: I would watch it! As long as they don't get people dressed up as Angel's and Eva's fighting X D That could be rather cringe inducing.... Maybe some kinda epic CGI projected onto a screen of some sort in way so it looks like your watching it from the inside of Nerv Headquarters? Then you could have the characters sitting in the cock pits on the stage. OR have characters at Nerv on stage and the actors appearing in lil boxes on the CGI screen like on the show = P  
But yeah, just no people dressed up as EVA 01 please.  

Only Yesterday is my favorite non-Miyazaki-directed Ghibili movie, and it has the most stunning artwork I have ever seen. The backgrounds look almost real. Do not miss it!