Rock Musical Bleach

Rock Musical BLEACH is a rock musical jointly produced by Studio Pierrot and Nelke Planning, based on the manga Bleach by Tite Kubo. The musical is directed by Takuya Hiramitsu, with a script adaptation by Naoshi Okumura, a veteran of the Japanese theater scene. The music is written by playwright Shoichi Tama; the music in the show is completely original and not taken from the anime soundtrack. The initial performance run of the Bleach musical was from August 17 to 28, 2005 at the Space Zero Tokyo center in Shinjuku. To date, there have been four musicals and a "Live" Bankai Show.

The musical is a condensed version of the Soul Society story arc, in which Ichigo Kurosaki and a group of friends head off to the otherworld to rescue their friend Rukia Kuchiki, a shinigami who is about to be executed by Soul Society authorities. During the course of their assault on the Seireitei, they become embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens to destroy both Rukia and the spirit world itself.

It is not to be confused with Bleach Soul Sonic 2005, the seiyū event that featured a small preview of it.

Cast list

This is a partial listing of the cast by each musical. Cast names (in this section) are listed surname first as done traditionally in Japan.

Character name	Actor/Actress: Rock Musical BLEACH	Saien	The Dark of The Bleeding Moon	Live Bankai Show Code 001	No Clouds in the Blue Heavens	The All	Live Bankai Show Code 002
Ichigo Kurosaki	Tatsuya Isaka	Tatsuya Isaka	Tatsuya Isaka	Tatsuya Isaka	Tatsuya Isaka	Tatsuya Isaka	Tatsuya Isaka
Rukia Kuchiki	Miki Satō	Miki Satō	Miki Satō	Miki Satō	Miki Satō	Miki Satō	Miki Satō
Kisuke Urahara	Yousuke Ito	Yousuke Ito	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Yoruichi Shihouin	N/A	N/A	Kumiko Saitō	Kumiko Saitō	Kumiko Saitō	Kumiko Saitō	Kumiko Saitō
Soifon	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Asuka Sekine	Asuka Sekine	Asuka Sekine
Gin Ichimaru	Yuichi Tsuchiya	Yuichi Tsuchiya	Yuichi Tsuchiya	Yuichi Tsuchiya	Yuichi Tsuchiya	Yuichi Tsuchiya	Yuichi Tsuchiya
Izuru Kira	N/A	Eiki Kitamura	Eiki Kitamura	Eiki Kitamura	Eiki Kitamura	Eiki Kitamura	Eiki Kitamura
Retsu Unohana	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Hiroko Kasahara	Hiroko Kasahara	Hiroko Kasahara
Hanatarō Yamada	N/A	N/A	Kōhei Murakami	Kōhei Murakami	N/A	Kōhei Murakami	Kōhei Murakami
Sōsuke Aizen	Kengo Ohkuchi	Kengo Ohkuchi	Kengo Ohkuchi	Kengo Ohkuchi	Kengo Ohkuchi	Kengo Ohkuchi	Kengo Ohkuchi
Momo Hinamori	Kumiko Saitō	Kumiko Saitō	Kumiko Saitō	Kumiko Saitō	Kumiko Saitō	Kumiko Saitō	Kumiko Saitō
Byakuya Kuchiki	Shūji Hayashi	Shūji Hayashi	Shūji Hayashi	Shūji Hayashi	Shūji Hayashi	Shūji Hayashi	Shūji Hayashi
Renji Abarai	Eiji Moriyama	Eiji Moriyama	Eiji Moriyama	Eiji Moriyama	Eiji Moriyama	Eiji Moriyama	Eiji Moriyama
Kaname Tōsen	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Masahiro Kuranuki	Masahiro Kuranuki	Masahiro Kuranuki
Shūhei Hisagi	N/A	N/A	N/A	Naoya Gomoto	Naoya Gomoto	Naoya Gomoto	Naoya Gomoto
Tōshirō Hitsugaya	Takashi Nagayama	Takashi Nagayama	Takashi Nagayama	Takashi Nagayama	Takashi Nagayama	Takashi Nagayama	Takashi Nagayama
Rangiku Matsumoto	N/A	N/A	Harumi Inoue	N/A	N/A	Harumi Inoue	Harumi Inoue
Kenpachi Zaraki	N/A	N/A	Shōgo Suzuki	Shōgo Suzuki	Shōgo Suzuki	Shōgo Suzuki	Shōgo Suzuki
Ikkaku Madarame	N/A	N/A	Takuya Usui	Takuya Usui	Takuya Usui	Takuya Usui	Takuya Usui
Orihime Inoue	Rei Yoshii	Rei Yoshii	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Yasutora Sado	Naofumi Yoshida	Naofumi Yoshida	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Trivia

Much of the cast are former and current tokusatsu performers.
Although Ichigo makes reference to him at least once during the performance, Uryū Ishida is the only member of Ichigo's group that does not appear in the show.
The first two musicals are extremely similar, with the most noticeable change being the addition of Eiki Kitamura to the cast, who plays Izuru Kira. They also perform on a larger stage, and added a few more songs.
The actors playing Momo Hinamori and Yoruichi Shihouin share the same given name and family name, Kumiko Saitō, but with different kanji.

References