Salaryman Kintaro Manga Gets Stage Opera
Hiroshi Motomiya's manga classic Salaryman Kintaro is getting a stage opera titled Salaryman Kintaro: Money Wars-hen that will open at Tiara Koto Hall in Tokyo on September 5. Takaki Kurihara stars as Kintaro Yajima. The opera also features storytellers Yasuharu Nakajima and Naomi Yanaga, as well as a special appearance by Chō Shunshō.Midori Sumidagawa is writing the screenplay. The anime adaptation composer's Kenichi Kamio is directing the opera, composing the music, and playing the piano. He is also producing the opera at Light Link Music. Yūki Sakamoto is handling the timpani.The opera commemorates the 30th anniversary of the original manga. The opera adapts the Money Wars arc from the original series.The manga has been running on and off in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine since 1994. Motomiya restarted the series as a web manga in April of 2005, and has launched several spinoff series in Weekly Young Jump since 2009. Motomiya's latest work on the manga is titled Salaryman Kintaro Gojūsai (Salaryman Kintaro 50 Years Old), which ran in Weekly Young Jump from 2015 to 2016.NTT Solmare's ComicFriends Facebook-based service briefly offered the manga in English, but the service closed in 2012. Manga Planet is releasing the original manga in English.The Manga Planet service describes the manga's story: The manga inspired two new live-action films. The first film, titled Salaryman Kintaro Akatsuki-hen (Salaryman Kintaro Dawn), opened in Japan on January 10, while the second film, titled Salaryman Kintaro Sakigake-hen (Salaryman Kintaro Vanguard), opened on February 7. Nobuyuki Suzuki (Wolf Girl and Black Prince, Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Revengers) plays the titular Kintarō Yajima in the films.Veteran actor Katsunori Takahashi played the role in a popular 1999 film directed by Takashi Miike, as well as in a four-season 1999-2004 television drama series. Masaru Nagai played the role in a live-action series that ran from 2008 to 2010. The manga also inspired a 2001 anime series that Arts Magic released in North America.Sources: Salaryman Kintaro opera's website, Stage Natalie
