JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure musical’s abrupt cancellation angers fans
Fans of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure have been angrily taking to social media after the first four shows of the musical JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure- Phantom Blood were cancelled two days prior to the show’s opening. Chief complaints have included the short notice, unclear reason for the cancellation, and the financial costs for fans.
The musical JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure- Phantom Blood is based on the manga and anime of the same name by Hirohiko Araki. The show was slated to be performed at the Imperial Theater in Tokyo from February 6th to 28th. However, at 4pm on February 4th, the theatre company suddenly announced the cancellation of all shows from February 6 through to 8th .
Many people who had been looking forward to the musical took to X to complain about the reason given for the last-minute cancellation. The official account for the musical explained that preparations had not been completed on time. This reason was seen as vague and weak by many commenters- with one poster going so far as to suggest that those affected should file a lawsuit against the theater company.
It can be difficult to get a good ticket for popular shows in Japan, with tickets to short runs sometimes selling out during presale ticket lotteries. Some fans lamented the hours they spent trying to get a ticket with many also complaining about the financial costs for the consumer when a show is suddenly cancelled.
Tickets for the first and last show of a musical’s run are often particularly sort after. One fan below had gone the extra mile and got elaborate nail art done for the occasion.
Even two days after the announcement, the JoJo musical is continuing to trend under “show cancelled” (公演中止) on the Japanese language side of X, with many livid commenters criticizing Toho’s announcement. It remains to be seen if this will damage the reputation of future musicals staged by Toho.