Musical: Touken Ranbu

Musical: Touken Ranbu (ミュージカル『刀剣乱舞』) is a series of 2.5D stage musicals co-produced by Nelke Planning, DMM.com, and Euclid Agency based on the online browser game Touken Ranbu. The musicals were directed by Isamu Kayano, with screenplay by Chūji Mikasano and choreography by Tetsuhara. The musicals were first announced in 2015 at the same time Stage: Touken Ranbu, a "straight play" adaptation, was announced.

Along with the musical, music from the cast members was released under the name Touken Danshi (刀剣男士) and consecutively topped music charts. Furthermore, Touken Danshi has made several television appearances performing as their respective characters.

Production history
The musical had a trial run from October 30, 2015, to November 8, 2015. The success of the trial run led to the musical's first official show, Atsukashiyama Ibun (阿津賀志山異聞), which ran from May to June 2016. To promote the show, Musical: Touken Ranbu began releasing music performed by the cast members under the collective name Touken Danshi (刀剣男士). The opening number for the play, "Touken Ranbu" (刀剣乱舞), was released as a single on January 1, 2016, performed by the cast members under the name Touken Danshi Team Sanjo with Kashuu Kiyomitsu (刀剣男士 team三条 with加州清光). The ending theme, "Kimi no Uta", was released as a single on July 6, 2016. The cast also performed the songs live on the television show Music Japan.

The second musical, Bakumatsu Tenrōden (幕末天狼傳), ran from September 24, 2016, to November 27, 2016. The musical's ending theme, "Yume Hitotsu", was released as a single on March 29, 2017, and was performed by the cast under the name Touken Danshi Team Shinsengumi with Hachisuka Kotetsu (刀剣男士 team新撰組 with蜂須賀虎徹). Songs from the single took the top 8 on Dwango's Weekly Charts upon release. While on a slight break in between the production of Bakumatsu Tenroden, the cast was invited to perform a one-night only showing commemorating the 20th anniversary of Itsukushima Shrine's UNESCO World Heritage Site Registration called Musical Touken Ranbu in Itsukushima Jinja.

The third musical, Mihotose no Komoriuta (三百年の子守唄), ran from March 4, 2017, to April 23, 2017, and it was also live-streamed in theaters across Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia. The musical also ran in Zhuhai, China, from May 19, 2017, to May 21, 2017. The musical's theme song, "Shōri no Gaika", was released as a single on September 27, 2017, under the name Touken Danshi Formation of Mihotose (刀剣男士 formation of 三百年). The single sold more than 90,000 copies and debuted at #1 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart.

The fourth musical, Tsuwamono Domo ga Yume no Ato (つはものどもがゆめのあと), was announced at the final show of Mihotose no Komoriuta. The shows ran from November 4, 2017, to January 30, 2018. The musical's theme song, "Be in Sight", was released as a single on March 16, 2017, and was performed by the cast under the name Touken Danshi Formation of Tsuwamono (刀剣男士 formation of つはもの). The single was bundled with a music video and was released six different versions for both preorder and press editions, one for each of the six featured characters, along with a solo song from either of the six characters depending on the version.

Ryuji Sato, who played Kashuu Kiyomitsu, released his first solo single as the character on December 25, 2017, and held a series of concerts from September 12, 2018, to October 13, 2018. Starting from April 8, 2018, the cast of the musicals had their own radio show, Musical: Touken Ranbu Radio (ミュージカル刀剣乱舞ラジオ), with Hisanori Yoshida as the MC. The radio show was broadcast on Monday evenings on Nippon Broadcasting System.

The fifth musical, Musubi no Hibiki, Hajimari no Ne (結びの響、始まりの音), ran from March 2018 to May 2018.

A re-run of Atsukashiyama Ibun took place at Japonisme 2018 in Paris, France, before returning to Tokyo in August 2018. Ryo Kitazono, who played Kogitsunemaru, was unable to perform on stage in Paris due to surgery for a retinal detachment and played the character in voice only. The stage part of the performance was played by Daisuke Iwasaki, an ensemble member, for their performances upon returning to Japan. During the live concert part of the Japan performances, the spot for Kogitsunemaru was left empty.

In October 2018, the cast of Musical: Touken Ranbu were invited to perform on NHK's Songs of Tokyo, where they performed under the name Touken Danshi Formation of Tokyo. The cast was also invited to perform at the 69th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen.

On January 20, 2019, through March 24, 2019, a re-run of the 3rd musical, Mihotose no Komoriuta, occurred, visiting 3 cities for a total of 73 performances. Kashuu Kiyomitsu's solo Tanki Shitsujin which is on its third year will be having its first Asia Tour will start in April 2019 to May 7, 2019, and will visit Shanghai, Bangkok, Macau, and Japan.

From July 4 through 14th, 2019, Higekiri Hizamaru Sōki Shutsujin 2019: Soga (髭切膝丸 双騎出陣 2019~SOGA~) ran for 17 performances at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel Stellar Ball in Tokyo. The musical featured the characters of Higekiri (Hiroki Miura) and Hizamaru (Akira Takano) interpreting the story of Soga in a kabuki-style manner. A re-run of the same play is scheduled to run through from August to October in 2020.

The franchise released its sixth full-scale musical, Kishou Hongi (葵咲本紀), which ran from August 3 through October 27, 2019, touring in 4 cities across Japan for a total of 74 performances.

The franchise released its seventh full-scale musical, Shizuka no Umi no Paraiso (〜静かの海のパライソ〜), which ran from March 21 through May 31, 2020, touring in 4 cities across Japan for a total of 64 performances.

The franchise released its eighth full-scale musical, Tokyo Kokoro Oboe, which ran from through March 7 through May 23, 2021, touring four cities. It was initially intended to tour through Osaka, but all performances were called due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The franchise released its ninth full-scale musical, Kousui Sanka no Yuki in 2022.

The franchise released its tenth full-scale musical, Hana Kage Yureru Tomizu in 2023.

The franchise released its eleventh full-scale musical, ~Michi no Oku Hitotsu wa Chisu~ in 2024. These performances notably saw the return of Kuroba Mario as Mikazuki Munechika and Sato Ryuji as Kashuu Kiyomitsu to the main stage after a six and four year absence, respectively.

In addition, the franchise has regularly run a year-end series of live performances since 2016, entitled Shinken Ranbu Sai. While less narratively focused than the main installments, these performances function as cast round-ups and feature short stories that set the scene for the event.

The Shinken Ranbusai series was put on hiatus from 2019 to 2021 to make way for performances with similar formats, including Uta Awase Ranbu Kyouran and Kotobuki Ranbu Ongyousai. In the middle of 2022, it would make a brief reappearance that saw it ditch the short story format of previous performances in favor of being a concert all the way through.

In 2019, The franchise changed the name and format of its year-end live performance to Uta Awase Ranbu Kyouran (歌合 乱舞狂乱) which ran through nine cities in Japan between 2019 and 2020.

In 2021, the franchise held a New Years performance titled Kotobuki Ranbu Ongyousai, which commemorated the fifth anniversary of Musical Touken Ranbu and looked back on all of the previous installments in the series. Due to scheduling constraints and the prominence of COVID-19, the event was smaller scale, and was only performed in the Tokyo Garden Theatre from January 9 to January 23, 2021.

In 2023, the franchise held a live titled Suehirogari Ranbu Yagaimatsuri, which commemorated the eighth anniversary of Musical Touken Ranbu. Similar to Kotobuki Ranbu Ongyousai, it is a smaller scale event, with performances held in Yamanashi, Fuji-Q Highland Conifer Forest from September 17 to September 24, 2023.

The franchise announced on January 16, 2020, that it has accumulated a total of 1 million audience members after $4 1/2$ years from the start of the production

Critical reception
Justine Mouron from Journal du Japon described the stage design as limited, yet immersive, with praise towards the costume design and energy of the actors. However, due to the lack of change in choreography to make up for Ryo Kitazono's physical absence (who was unable to appear on stage due to a retinal detachment), she pointed out there was a "vacuum" at times.