A newly launched website confirmed a stage musical adaptation of Shungiku Uchida’s manga Minami’s Lover, running December 6-16 at Tokyo’s Nippon Seinenkan Hall, with the production notably recasting the manga’s central couple as two young men rather than the original’s boy-and-shrunken-girlfriend pairing.
The lead role of Sosuke Minami will be shared by idol-group members Shunsei Ota and Who-ya, while Sena Takeno and actor Ryo Sekoguchi will alternate as his love interest, reimagined as Chiyoko Horikiri. Yuka Arai is writing the script, with Tsuneyasu Motoyoshi directing and handling lyrics.
Originally serialized in the alternative manga magazine Garo from 1986 to 1987, Uchida’s story—released in English by Fantagraphics—follows two high schoolers navigating an unusual relationship after one of them mysteriously shrinks to six inches tall, and has previously inspired five separate live-action television adaptations dating back to 1990, most recently in 2024.