The Spy × Family live-action musical was first announced in early May 2022, not long after the anime had just premiered. It is being made by Toho Stage, one of the biggest producers of anime musicals in Japan. Not many other details were revealed for some months, until September 30, when these first costumes were dropped on Toho Stage’s official website.
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Spy × Family is the story of a spy named Loid Forger, who has to pretend to be a normal guy in a normal marriage to complete his current mission. His wife, Yor Briar, his actually an assassin, and their adopted daughter, Anya, is a telepath. But Loid and Yor do not know about one another’s actual professions, nor do they know that Anya knows about them both! Basically, shenanigans and chaos ensue in this funny, action-packed shounen anime.
Spy × Family has really taken the anime world by storm in the past year, surpassing other big names like Demon Slayer, Haikyuu!, and Jujutsu Kaisen to become the most talked about anime both in Japan and abroad. The anime first premiered only in April 2022 and has already skyrocketed to one of the most famous. Spy × Family is still ongoing, with the latest season premiering on October 1st and currently airing each week.
The lead characters Loid Forger and Yor Briar have already been cast, and it was these two that were revealed just last week. Loid will be played by Hiroki Suzuki (stage adaptations of Saiyuki and Touken Ranbu) and Win Morisaki (Ready Player One), and Yor by Fuuka Yuzuki and Mirei Sasaki (of the idol group Hinatazaka46). Anya has not yet been cast, but many other side characters have already been announced (though we have not seen any images of them yet in costume yet).
Stage adaptations of anime can go in two different ways when it comes to costuming and presentation. Some shows choose to be true to the source material, keeping the characters’ looks as close to the way they appear in the anime as possible. Others choose to give the anime characters a more realistic look, using normal hairstyles and toned down costumes. It seems that Spy × Family will be the former, because the costumes for Loid and Yor are just like they are in the anime series, which likely makes a lot of fans very happy!
While many popular anime these days become stage shows and musicals, it is still always an honor when an anime is chosen for such an adaptation. Stage shows are very popular in Japan, and especially for an anime that is less than a year old and still ongoing, it’s a big deal for it to already have a stage show in production. We will be really interested to see how the show will handle Anya, and how they can keep her distinctly cute and tiny image accurate when it comes to a live adaptation!
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The Spy × Family musical will premiere in Tokyo on March 8, 2023.
Source: Toho Stage
