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Kemono Friends Gets New Stage Play Starring Nogizaka46 Idols
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Nelke Planning revealed the cast and November run for a new stage play adaptation of Nexon and Mine Yoshizaki's Kemono Friends franchise on Monday. The play, titled "Kemono Friends 2 ~Yuki Furu Yoru no Kemono-tachi~" (Kemono Friends 2: Beasts on the Night When Snow Falls), will run at Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX in Tokyo from November 8-18.
The play's cast will include Nogizaka46 idol group members Ayane Suzuki and Kotoko Sasaki, who previously appeared in the "Kemono Friends 12.42-wa" radio drama. The full cast includes:
Ayane Suzuki as Silver Fox
Kotoko Sasaki as Ezo Red Fox
- Hotaru Nomoto as Okapi
- Moeno Nitō as Mammoth
- Rihona Katō as Raccoon Dog
- Azusa Inamura as Black Panther
- Mao Noguchi as White Tiger
- Haruka Satō as Oinari-sama
- Kate Mori as Bald Eagle
- Mika Taguchi as Polar Bear
- Hazuki Nonaka as Reindeer
- Yuka Ozaki as Serval
- Kana Motomiya as Fennec
- Saki Ono as Common Raccoon
- Mikoi Sasaki as Royal Penguin
- Ruka Nemoto as Emperor Penguin
- Kyōka Tamura as Gentoo Penguin
- Ikuko Chikuta as Humboldt Penguin
- Mami Yamashita as Margay
The play will have three versions that include appearances by Serval, Common Raccoon and Fennec, or Penguins Performance Project and Margay. Ozaki, Monomiya, Ono, Mikoi Sasaki, Nemoto, Tamura, Chikuta, and Yamashita will only appear in the version of the performance featuring their characters.
The play's story is set in Japari Park's Snowy Mountains Area, which is home to Silver Fox and Ezo Red Fox. "Snowy Mountains Area" is also the title of the anime's ninth episode. Hiroki Murakami is returning to direct the play and write the script.
The franchise's first stage play adaptation starred the anime's cast in June 2017, and it received a second run in January. A different adaptation starring the =LOVE idol group members ran in February.
Nexon's original Kemono Friends app game launched in early 2016 and ended service in December that year — before the Kemono Friends anime even aired. The 12-episode television anime then premiered on TV Tokyo and TV Osaka in January 2017 and ended last March. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired.
A second anime season is planned. However, the first season's director TATSUKI and anime studio Yaoyorozu will not be involved in the project.
The franchise has also inspired smartphone apps.
Source: Nelke Planning's website, Stage Natalie
