The World is Dancing Anime Reveals Authentic Noh Choreography, Teaser PV Unveiled with Kaiji Moriyama and Reijiro Tsumura Involved

The teaser PV and additional cast and staff details for the TV anime The World is Dancing, set to air in July, have been released.

The newly announced cast includes Niha Tsuchiya, Maaya Uchida, Romi Park, Katsuyuki Konishi, and Haruki Ishiya. As supervisors for Sarugaku, Dengaku, and Noh performance forms, Noh actor Reijiro Tsumura is involved, while choreography is handled by Kaiji Moriyama, known for his work on the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics opening ceremony and his role as No Face in the stage production of Spirited Away.

The story is set in a turbulent era of constant conflict, following a curious and beautiful boy named Oniyasha who encounters others and grows. It depicts a dancing story that may have existed when Zeami, who would later create Noh, was once known as Oniyasha. The narrative continues across 600 years.

Animation is produced by CygamesPictures, known for Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray and The Summer Hikaru Died, with Toshimasa Kuroyanagi directing, whose past works include The Great Passage, Backflip!!, and Love Me, Love Me Not.

The teaser PV opens with the striking line delivered by Yumiri Hanamori as Oniyasha, who would later become Zeami: “Whether you dance or not, people die.” New characters and cast members are also revealed one after another.

Katsuyuki Konishi plays Kanami, Zeami’s father and a key figure who, like his son, is known for establishing Noh. The PV portrays the relationship between Oniyasha and his father Kanami, along with the thoughts of those around him toward dance, depicting Oniyasha’s growth and raising anticipation for the broadcast.

Teaser PV

Staff Comments

■ Original Creator: Kazuto Mihara
I feel both surprise and joy that the original work is being brought to life in the form of an anime.

A story that has once been told is told again in a different form. In that flow, I felt a mysterious connection that somehow resembles the structure of Noh itself.

Since the time of serialization, I have been aware that this story is not a single fixed answer, but one form among many possibilities.

I am merely depicting a certain moment of a certain person, and there are certainly other characters and different choices that were not depicted.

In the anime, characters and scenes that did not appear in the original will be portrayed.

Whether you have read the original or are encountering it for the first time, it will be a work that can be enjoyed from different entry points.

I hope this story will expand further as a new expression through the unique sense of space and time that only animation can provide.

■ Form Supervision: Reijiro Tsumura
The fact that Sarugaku evolved into Noh and has been passed down to the present day would not have been possible without the efforts of Kanami and Zeami, who led their troupe in that era.

For a Noh performer, being involved in bringing that drama to life as an animation is also a new page in the tradition.

I hope that classical works will not remain only as classics, but will continue to be widely appreciated.

Source : ORICON NEWS