So for those that aren't aware, Persona 4 has been adapted into a stage play. It's currently running in a limited engagement that began on March 15th and is scheduled to go through the 20th. I can't comment on the quality of the play itself; I haven't seen any reviews of it in English, but Siliconera did post some images from the debut performance. If nothing else, the production team really nailed the costume design. Some extra bits of knowledge are that Teddie is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi, his actor from the original game and the anime, and the protagonist's name apparently changes from performance to performance.

Here are some of the images Siliconera posted. The rest can be seen in their article here:

I generally don't like JRPG's, and I've known for a while that even among some people that don't like JRPG's that this is something special, but I didn't know it was special enough to make a play out of.

Guess I should, at some point, play this.

This seems a little silly. I love Persona 4 a lot but why make a play of it? Who idea was it to turn Persona 4 into a multimedia thing? The anime, Play, Magazine.

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

This seems a little silly. I love Persona 4 a lot but why make a play of it? Who idea was it to turn Persona 4 into a multimedia thing? The anime, Play, Magazine.

It's not uncommon for such media to be turned into stage productions in Japan. A number of anime and manga in the past have received similar adaptations. The lead in the Persona 4 play previously played a role in a play based on Prince of Tennis, for example.

That is crazy and awesome and weird.

I would have found this weird and crazy, but they already did a Phoenix Wright play... after that anything is possible.

Damn it, I'm already having enough trouble adjusting to this (I wanted to say something about her voice, but I'm adjusting to that fairly well); I don't want to make more adjustments! Also, plays don't have subs, right?

@Video_Game_King said:

Damn it, I'm already having enough trouble adjusting to this (I wanted to say something about her voice, but I'm adjusting to that fairly well); I don't want to make more adjustments! Also, plays don't have subs, right?

Not unless they're recorded on video and subtitled afterward.

@Hailinel: I had no idea it was a common thing. Does the actor get any lines? How does that Work?

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@Hailinel: I had no idea it was a common thing. Does the actor get any lines? How does that Work?

I'm not sure on the specifics of the story or script. I imagine that he does have some dialogue, but I don't know if it's limited, like early in the Persona 4 anime, or extensive, like later in the series. Another thing to note is that the play does not include Rise or Naoto as cast members, nor does it appear to feature the human form of Teddie.

@Hailinel: How can it be a Persona 4 play without human Teddie? That is just not right.

@ImmortalSaiyan said:

@Hailinel: How can it be a Persona 4 play without human Teddie? That is just not right.

It probably doesn't cover the entire narrative. If it doesn't somehow end on a cliffhanger or leave room for a sequel, I'd expect it to be a heavily changed adaptation that tells the story differently.

@believer258: You could always just watch the Endurance Run instead.

But yeah a play of a video game is pretty crazy to my eyes. But I can see Persona 4 working in that context.

I must totally see this! Please, let there be recordings of this play! No matter the quality, I'll buy a DVD/Blu-Ray of this production.

Looks cool and crazy but haven't been to a play since 2006 so maybe I look it up in the future.

I like Persona 4, but I don't know if I would like a play form of it. Sidenote: if they haven't made a ridiculous Phoenix Wright play I would be disappointed. I feel like that would be amazing.

@NegativeCero: I have a really strong feeling that there was at one point a Phoenix Wright play. They're also working on a live-action film adaptation.

Edit - A quick google search tells me that the Phoenix Wright play was an all female(crossdressing) musical.

Someone record this.

@YI_Orange: Of course it was. As long as they had a lady with spiky hair yelling "Objection!" in Japanese, I would be satisfied.

I would really like to see how they do the fighting shadow stuff, because the hanging out going in school, scooby-investigation stuff are common themes in anime , do they just pose and the battle music starts to play? ... I must see it! the idea is dumb.

I've seen the Bleach stage productions...I think there were over three. Many characters weren't there, since Bleach has too damn many, but if those are any indication of what Persona's fight scenes will be...

Let's just say there isn't much anyone could've done.

This is all so weird, a stage show is just a little too much.

@Vexxan said:

This is all so weird, a stage show is just a little too much.

Like I said before, in context, it's not that weird. It's pretty cool that they put this together, though I hope the end result is a good one.

And I just noticed that I have over 500 posts in the Persona 4 forum alone. Whoa.

so no plans on vinny and jeff doing voiceover for it?

Dude, Persona 4 is all over the place! That game came out in '08! I can't remember any game that got an anime, a spin-off, an extended version and a play(?) after more than 3 years of its release. This is madness!

@BulletproofMonk said:

That is crazy and awesome and weird.

Yep, If it was in New York I'd go see it. I'd expect it to be terrible, but I'd love it for it.

NECROBUMP.

Wow that is all sorts of strange, somehow Kanji running around with a folding chair is the least weird thing on stage.

And Japanese Dr. Drew is Yuu Narukami.

It's so weird that this exists. What's happening on stage looks a lot like what went down in my back yard when I was 7, swinging fake swords at imaginary enemies. Their budget is slightly higher, it seems.

Can you imagine watching that, never having heard of Persona 4 and speaking no Japanese? It would look like a transmission from a different fucking PLANET.

WHAT IS THIS AND WHY DO I WANT MORE OF IT!?

Like Tennessee Williams, this speaks true to the voice of a generation and will reverberate across not only the theater but all art forms, for hundreds of years to come.

now the persona 3 stage play.

Oh man, it's too early to think about this.