Live-action Castlevania all-female stage adaptation reveals first photo of Alucard and Maria

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Ticket on-sale dates also announced for Takarazuka Revue production inspired by Symphony of the Night.

Japan’s Takarazuka Revue makes no bones about its love for big, bombastic drama. The all-female stage troupe regularly puts on lavish musical shows in which the characters are thrust into tumultuous, even dangerous circumstances, where the only thing they know is true is their feelings, and the only way they know how to express those feelings is through song.

Rather than building its plots from the ground up, though, the Takarazuka Revue often adapts existing works, and this summer they’ll be putting on their very first adaptation of none other than landmark video game franchise Castlevania, and the first teaser visual has just been released.

Appropriately first announced right around Halloween, Castlevania: Awakening in the Moonlight draws its inspiration from what many gamers consider to be the absolute highwater mark of the Castlevania series, 1997’s Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (the stage play’s in-Japanese title, Gekka no Kakusei, is intentionally similar to Symphony of the Night’s Japanese title, Gekka no Yasokyoku/“Nocturne in the Moonlight”). As with Symphony of the Night, Awakening in the Moonlight’s main character is Alucard, the estranged son of Dracula who teams up with a group of vampire hunters to put a stop to his father’s dark ambitions.

Portraying Alucard will be Sea Towaki, top actress of Takarazuka’s Flower Troupe subdivision. Playing opposite Towaki as Maria will be Misaki Hoshizora, who can be seen in the poster with a bird perching on her hand, bringing to mind the character’s unique avian attacks from Symphony of the Night and her debut in the previous Rondo of Blood game.

Though the play won’t be opening until June, the first look at its stars in costume already has Takarazuka and Castlevania fans buzzing, with Japanese Twitter reactions including:

“This looks incredible.”
“Now that is COOL.”
“They both look so lovely.”
“Looks exactly like I’d hoped it would.”
“It’s like the game’s cover came to life.”
“If it’s based on Symphony of the Night, who’s going to play Death?”
“I wonder if Richter will show up.”
“My husband and I have been Castlevania fans since the early games in the series. So excited to see Castlevania and Takarazuka, two things I love so much, come together!”

While Awakening in the Moonlight is obviously meant to connect to Symphony of the Night, it’s not a rote reenactment of the game’s events, and instead will feature an “original story” penned by Kei Suzuki, who’s also directing the production. Suzuki has been a member of the Takarazuka production staff since 1999 and has experience with both fantasy adventure tales and video game adaptations, having directed the troupe’s musical adaptations of Hakkenden, Sengoku Basara, and Ace Attorney.

Castlevania: Moonlight Awakening will be performed first in Takarazuka City, Hyogo Prefecture at the Takarazuka Grand Theater from June 7 to July 20. It then heads to Tokyo for its run at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater in the capital’s Yurakucho district from August 16 to September 28. Tickets start at 3,500 yen (US$24) and top out at 12,500 yen, depending on seating section.

Konami, publisher of the Castlevania games, also tweeted about the play’s poster in English through the company’s official account, so someone is aware that there could be overseas interest in it as well, and Takarazuka has performed in the U.S. before. For now, though, Castlevania: Moonlight Awakening is limited to its two venues in Japan. General ticket sales (i.e. for non-fan club members) start May 17 for the Hyogo shows and July 13 for the Tokyo dates, at which times purchases can be made through the Takarazuka Revue website here.

Source, top image: Takarazuka Revue
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