Prince Kaguya is a Japanese musical loosely based on The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. This version incorporates multiple aspects of modern culture as well as changes Kaguya's gender from female to male.
The story takes place in feudal Japan where Kaguya (Shouta Aoi) is found in a bamboo forest as a baby with a note from his mother asking for the child to be raised as a girl to ensure its safety. Kaguya grows up to be a beautiful "woman", the subject of much attention, and even becomes an idol under the stage name Luna. As Luna gains popularity, Kaguya is invited to sing for the Emperor, and on his way there he meets a man named San (Masato Saki), who was about to take his own life. Kaguya however convinces him not to and San finds himself attracted to Kaguya's desire to make people happy. Eventually, Kaguya and San travel together, with reciprocated feelings for one another but San is unaware that Kaguya is male. Throughout the play, Kaguya struggles with the thought that San may not love him after he tells him that he is not female. This, coupled with the fact that two of Kaguya's suitors end up chasing the pair down on their journey, make for a complex situation for Kaguya. Will he be able to somehow find his happily ever after with San?
Prince Kaguya provides examples of:
- Adaptation Name Change: In the source material, the bamboo cutter who finds Kaguya is called Sanuki no Miyatsuko. The musical renames him Maru.
- As Himself: Shouta Aoi plays himself in the epilogue.
- Bittersweet Ending: While Kaguya is able to go home to the Moon, he is forced to leave his beloved San's side, much to the latter's grief as he can only cry his Lunarian lover's name to the sky. Then years pass to the present day, where two men resembling the two find each other...
- Canon Foreigner: Sora, the Zashiki-warashi, doesn't have a counterpart in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.
- Foreign Language Title: The musical has an English title but is written in Japanese.
- Gender Flip: The musical changes Kaguya from a girl to a boy who is Raised as the Opposite Gender.
- If It's You, It's Okay: San tells Kaguya it "doesn't matter" to him if he is a man or a woman.
- Like a Son to Me: Akahoshi tells not only Kaguya that she thinks of him as her own child but also Sora before she dies.
- Mars and Venus Gender Contrast: It's said that the gods gift men with strength and women with kindness, which makes both happy, and that Kaguya is happier than anyone else because he's Raised as the Opposite Gender.
- Named by the Adaptation: The musical names the wife of the bamboo cutter Akahoshi.
- Raised as the Opposite Gender: Maru and Akahoshi raise Kaguya as a girl for his safety at his mother's request.
- Recursive Crossdressing: Kaguya, who was raised as a girl, has to disguise himself as a man at one point.
- Reincarnation Romance: In the epilogue, Kaguya and San are reborn and are able to be together as Shouta Aoi and his manager.
- Rightful King Returns: In the climax, a sect of Lunarians loyal to Kaguya and his mother arrive to stop the Emperor and his men, before offering their prince an opportunity to come home to the Moon and reclaim his throne.
