However, Sachi won’t be taking on New York. She’ll be in Tokyo.
Tokai TV has announced that Hiroki Otsuka’s Backstage in New York manga is getting a live-action TV series adaptation. The series is slated to premiere on March 4, so this is one show that doesn’t allow for too much time between the announcement and the premiere.
Along with the adaptation announcement, some cast and staff members were also revealed. Hiroe Igeta will star in the series as Sachi, and Shinji Takeda will co-star as Cool Mint/Shū Narita. The director was announced to be Chihiro Ikeda, and Tomonari Sakuri and Yuko Shimoda are writing the scripts. Finally, Masahiro Hiramoto is composing the music.
The manga follows Sachi, an office worker who has had a difficult life. Sachi has a passion for fashion and moves to New York to follow her dreams. There, she meets a drag queen named Paul. Sachi begins to help out Paul at his gay bar, where she meets the mysterious Ken. The three characters from different backgrounds then begin their communal life in the Big Apple. However, it should be noted that the live-action adaptation will differ slightly from the manga.
The live-action series will take place in Tokyo, not New York. Additionally, in the series, Sachi’s mother passed away when she was young, so she lives with her father and is working at a construction company. Sachi’s heart still belongs to fashion, though, so her hobby is making Western-style clothes in her free time. Also, Paul won’t be making an appearance in the live-action; instead Sachi meets a drag queen named Cool Mint. At this point, it looks like the mysterious Ken also won’t be featured in the live-action adaptation either, which makes sense because Sachi won’t be working at the bar in New York where she first meets him.
The series will only have a total of four episodes. The original digital manga launched in 2020 and has a total of 14 chapters. That’s a decent amount to pack into four episodes, so it’s no wonder the series won’t follow the manga exactly.
