Phoenix: Future Arc Manga by Osamu Tezuka Receives Immersive Stage Adaptation

Next month, MoN Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives will open in Tokyo's Takanawa Gateway City development. The museum aims to unite the past and future of Japan through exhibitions and performances. Among the first of these will be an adaptation of Phoenix: Future Arc , the second arc of manga master Osamu Tezuka's 12-part unfinished series. Titled MANGALOGUE: Phoenix ( MANGALOGUE: Hinotori in Japanese), the performance will be held in MoN Takanawa's Box1000: a 1,000 square meter theater equipped with giant LEDs. Through projections and narration, audiences will experience Tezuka's original story. A robotic arm equipped with a camera will serve as the "stage navigator," guiding viewers through frames of the original manga. A visual for the performances showcases the venue, the robotic arm and some of Tezuka's original artwork from the series: MANGALOGUE: Phoenix Key Visual Phoenix: Future Arc takes place in the year 3404, making it the final arc of the manga chronologically despite being the second published. The story takes place during an era in which humanity has reached its peak and begun to decline, with electronic brains ruling over the world. The protagonist and the immortal Phoenix will lead audiences through this view of human culture and civilization, accompanied by more than 100 original pages from the manga. Each page has been carefully colored by a former assistant of Tezuka's with respect for the line work and composition. MANGALOGUE: Phoenix onstage Colored pages from Phoenix: Future Arc MANGALOGUE: Phoenix is scheduled to run from April 22 to May 16 at MoN Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives. After two early versions published in 1954 and 1956, Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix manga ran from 1967-1988 and comprised 12 volumes. The series was cut short by Tezuka's passing in 1989. Each arc is a self-contained story set in a different era of humanity, ranging from the dawn of time to the far-flung future. While each story can be read individually, they contain recurring elements — including humanity's search for immortality (usually related to the legendary phoenix) and characters from Tezuka's "star system." Source: Comic Natalie