An unusual blend of manga, theatre, and technology is arriving in Tokyo this spring! It’s MANGALOGUE: Phoenix, a stage adaptation of Phoenix: Future Arc from Osamu Tezuka’s unfinished manga series Phoenix.
The performance will run from April 22nd, 2026, to May 16th, 2026, at MoN Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives. It’s actually a new cultural venue opening on March 28th, 2026, inside the Takanawa Gateway City development in Tokyo.
MoN Takanawa is a space where Japan’s past and future intersect through exhibitions and live performances, and MANGALOGUE: Phoenix has been chosen as one of its opening highlights. The performance will take place inside Box1000, a 1,000 m2 theatre space equipped with giant LED screens.
The project adapts Phoenix: Future Arc
It’s the second arc released in Tezuka’s 12-part series, but the final chapter in the story’s internal timeline. The arc is set furthest in the future, taking place in the year 3404. It’s a time when humanity has reached its height and begun to decline under the control of electronic brains.
The production projects Tezuka’s original manga pages at a large scale, combining images, text, sound, lighting, technological effects, and live narration. The manga’s panels and frame arrangements are presented in chronological order, but in a new format.
More than 100 pages from Phoenix: Future Arc will be used during the performance. These pages come from manuscripts originally drawn in black and white roughly 60 years ago. They’ve been newly coloured specifically for projection in an LED theatre.
The production also incorporates live elements through voice actors who perform the roles within the story. There will also be a MANGALOGUER who reads the manga in coordination with the robotic arm’s movement.
The MANGALOGUE: Phoenix announcement was made on February 9th, which coincides with both the anniversary of Osamu Tezuka’s death and Manga Day. You can learn more about it from this source.
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