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The Spirited Away stage play, based on the 2001 fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli, is heading to Shanghai, China for the summer season of 2025. The production will run from July 7 to August 3, 2025 at the Shanghai Culture Square venue. The main cast for the Shanghai production has not yet been revealed. Related: Spirited Away Stage Play Shows Off New Stars in Beautiful Posters Spirited Away began production as a stage play in March 2022 at the Imperial Theater venue in Tokyo, Japan with Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi double-cast as Chihiro, the protagonist. Actors Rina Kawaei and Momoko Fukuchi joined the cast of the play as Chihiro in 2024. The play has also been staged at the London Colosseum venue in London, England, where it ran from April – August, 2024. Gkids releases a filmed version of the stage play under the title Spirited Away: Live On...

Hiroyuki Nishiyama offers his second narrative short film, “Blue and White,” capturing themes close to the concerns of his first film “20 db” (2021) but focusing on the effects of loss and what comes after it. Its brief runtime is a delight to see, from the intimacy of its design to the intricacy of the performances.

Blue and White is screening at Short Shorts Film Festival and Asia

The film opens with Ryusuke (Jun Kunimura) starting his day gathering firewood, then cuts to his workshop where he steams seawater to harvest salt. His granddaughter, Midori (Momoko Fukuchi) eventually enters the frame, mumbling to herself why her grandfather is working that morning of her grandmother's funeral. An attendee of the funeral (Toshio Kakei) asks Midori the same question she was mumbling earlier, hinting that it is disrespectful to the dead for her grandfather to not show his face in the funeral.

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Since its debut, the Spirited Away stage play has been enchanting theatergoers in Japan and abroad. For 2024, two new actors will be stepping into the role of Chihiro/Sen, as seen in a pair of beautiful new posters. Actress and AKB48 graduate Rina Kawaei features in a bright, lantern-filled poster: Related: Ya Boy Kongming! Manga Goes Live with Stage Play Adaptation And Wasteful Days of High School Girls TV actor Momoko Fukuchi appears against a brightly moonlit night: Related: Howl’s Moving Castle-Inspired Ghibli Park 15-Second Promo Released Both actors will trade out the lead role with current stars Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi. Gkids has licensed the filmed performance of Spirited Away: Live on Stage , described thus: Chihiro’s family is moving to a new house, but when they stop on the way to explore an abandoned village, her parents undergo a mysterious transformation and Chihiro is whisked into...

A drama depicting the interaction between a woman who lost her family and quietly runs an inn in a seaside town, and a young man who follows in the footsteps of her late lover and ends up at the inn. Produced as part of the movie production project “Kando Cinema Award” sponsored by entertainment office Repro Entertainment, Aya Igashi, who worked on “Red Star” etc., directs the film. Momoko Fukuchi (“Amanogawa”) and Amane Okayama (“Villevant” series) will play the two who lost loved ones to each other.