The Press Release:
ATTACK on TITAN: The Musical is a new live 2.5D Musical entertainment based on the wildly popular manga (comic book) by Hajime Isayama and published by Kodansha. Directed by breakdance world champion Go Ueki (HYPNOSISMIC -Division Rap Battle- Rule the Stage), ATTACK on TITAN: The Musical had its world premiere in Osaka and Tokyo in January, 2023 to great success. The New York City Center engagement marks the musical’s first international performance.

ATTACK on TITAN: The Musical has book by Masafumi Hata, music supervision by KEN THE 390, and lyrics by Kaori Miura, and combines conventional musical theatre techniques with state-of-the-art technology, performed by a cast of 35.

A century ago, the grotesque giants known as Titans appeared and consumed all but the last remnants of humanity. The survivors took refuge behind giant walls. Today, the threat of the Titans is a distant memory, and a boy named Eren Yeager yearns to explore the world beyond his current circumstances. What began as a childish dream, though, will become an all-too-real nightmare when the Titans return and humanity is once again on the brink of extinction.

The ATTACK on TITAN manga was serialized in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine by Kodansha from 2009-2021, winning numerous awards across Japan and the US including the Kodansha Manga Award and Harvey Award. The manga is comprised of 34 volumes, and there have been many adaptations including anime television series, video games, novels & more. ATTACK on TITAN has sold 140 million copies and has been translated into 18 languages and published in over 180 countries. Over the last three years, ATTACK on TITAN has won more than 10 awards from the Crunchyroll Anime Awards for the anime version, which celebrates the creators, performers, and musicians powering the global love of anime with more than 34 million votes cast by fans this past year.

Another 2.5 the musical made its US premiere in 2019, when “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon” The Super Live played Washington DC at Warner Theatre and New York City at PlayStation Theater.

In Japan, there are stage productions based on manga, anime, and video games, which started to be called 2.5 dimensional musicals by fans around 2000. Manga and animation are in 2D, and live theatre is in 3D. Therefore, they call performances based on manga and animations 2.5D.

Comment by Hajime Isayama, Original Author
“When I saw the production in Tokyo, I was floored by how powerful it was. I felt that a musical was the perfect medium to express the story of ATTACK on TITAN. The action and the songs by the performers have created a new ATTACK on TITAN that is different from the manga or the anime series. They have created such an amazing show, and I cannot wait for everyone to see it in New York. Please look forward to the opening.”

ATTACK on TITAN: The Musical will be performed in Japanese with English supertitles.

The cast of ATTACK on TITAN: The Musical includes: Kurumu Okamiya as Eren Yeager, Sara Takatsuki as Mikasa Ackerman, Eito Konishi as Armin Arlert, Ryo Matsuda as Levi, and Takuro Ohno as Erwin Smith. Also featured are: Shota Matsuda, Kazuaki Yasue, Yuuri Takahashi, Sena, Mitsu Murata, Takeshi Hayashino, Masanori Tomita, Mimi Maihane, Mitsuru Karahashi, Riona Tatemichi and more.

ATTACK on TITAN: The Musical is produced by Michiho Matsumoto (Nelke Planning), Rie Yoneda (S-SIZE) and New York Producer Kumiko Yoshii (Gorgeous Entertainment).

KODANSHA: KODANSHA Ltd. is Japan’s leading publishing house based in Tokyo, having delivered stories into ready hands across the globe with a wide variety of content from manga to novels, fashion magazines, news journals, and picture books for children, as well as TV anime, movies, series, and video games since 1909 in the spirit of “Inspire Impossible Stories.” KODANSHA is globally recognized as the licensor of some of the world’s most loved manga IPs, such as AKIRA, Attack on Titan, and Ghost in the Shell. For more information, visit: www.kodansha.com/

NELKE PLANNING: Established in 1994. Nelke Planning creates various theatrical productions, including 2.5-Dimensional Musicals, which are 3D theatrical presentations of 2D contents, such as Japanese manga, anime, and video games. Among Nelke Planning’s well-known 2.5-Dimensional Musial works are Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: The Musical, Live Spectacle NARUTO, and KIMETSU NO YAIBA the stage.

S-SIZE: Established in 2014, S-SIZE’s core activities involve the planning and production theater, film, and drama projects in Japan. S-SIZE is also engaged in investment overseas, including to Broadway productions, and continues to expand the scope of its operations worldwide. S-SIZE’s Broadway investments include Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, and Stereophonic. S-SIZE’s most well-known productions in Japan include TOUKEN RANBU THE STAGE and HYPNOSISMIC -Division Rap Battle- Rule the Stage.

GORGEOUS ENTERTAINMENT: Founded in 1997, Gorgeous Entertainment is a New York-based theater and special event production company. Its President Kumiko Yoshii’s credits include MJ, Be More Chill, Prince of Broadway and Pacific Overtures on Broadway, the Museum of Broadway, and numerous other productions (BAM, Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the United Nations, West End and Japan) including “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon” The Super Live in NYC. Kumiko is the Executive Producer of the annual event Japan Parade. Upcoming: The Karate Kid – the Musical, Working Girl, and Pilot and The Little Prince – Cyber Musical in Katowice, Poland, premiering this fall.

NEW YORK CITY CENTER (Michael S. Rosenberg, President & CEO) has played a defining role in the cultural life of the city since 1943. The distinctive Neo-Moorish building was founded by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia as Manhattan’s first performing arts center with the mission of making the best in theater, dance, and music accessible to all audiences. This commitment continues today through celebrated dance and musical theater series like the Fall for Dance Festival and the Tony-honored Encores! series; the annual season by Principal Dance Company Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; and new dance series Artists at the Center. City Center welcomes audiences to experience internationally acclaimed artists including Kyle Abraham, Matthew Bourne, Ayodele Casel, Manhattan Theatre Club, Nederlands Dans Theater, and Twyla Tharp, on the same stage where legends made their mark. Dedicated to a culture built on the values of curiosity, collaboration, accessibility, and inclusivity, City Center’s dynamic programming, art exhibitions, and studio events are complemented by education and community engagement programs that bring the performing arts to thousands of New York City students, teachers, and families every year. NYCityCenter.org

LISTINGS INFORMATION:
ATTACK on TITAN: The Musical plays at New York City Center (131 W. 55th Street) on October 11 through 13. Performances are Friday, October 11 at 7:30PM, Saturday, October 12 at 2PM and 7:30PM, and October 13 at 2PM. Tickets are $55.00 – $185.00 and partial view tickets are $35.00 – $75.00. For tickets, please visit www.nycitycenter.org or call 212-581-1212.

For more information, please visit: www.attackontitan-themusical.com (linked below)

*** end of transmission ***

PiercingMetal Thoughts: This sounds really cool and interesting to me. Now I think that most of the readers of this website know about our interest and attendance at events like the New York Comic Con and Anime NYC and if you don’t just click those labels to launch new tabs that feature coverage from over the past years. I should add that in addition to this I also have a strong appreciation for the theatre, but I can’t always get to the shows since its a pricy bit of entertainment. I’d like to do more things about them so perhaps for the Piercing Ken side of the fence but that’s a topic for another time. My overall background on “Attack On Titan” as an anime is not that strong but I’d gladly rally behind it and will be listing the performance dates on our calendar right after I press “publish” on this post. With a bit of lead time between now and these performances, maybe I can update myself on Netflix. It’s too early to assume that they will be doling out tickets to interested press but perhaps we shall be able to participate in some kind of press preview. I chuckled at the mention of the 2.5 “Sailor Moon” performances since we did see that preview and posted the press event as permitted and the interested can check that video out on our YouTube by clicking HERE. Like that “Sailor Moon” event, this one will be in Japanese and I only know a handful of words from playing with the lessons on Duolingo. Wrapping up I wonder what you out there in the readership think about it. Chime in down below in the comments and I will see you next time.

Topical Links:
Official: https://www.attackontitan-themusical.com/
Official: https://www.nycitycenter.org/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/shingekimusical
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/attackontitan_themusical
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@shingekimusical
Twitter: http://twitter.com/anime_shingeki
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anime_shingeki_official/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shingeki_anime_official