Kageki Shojo!! (かげきしょうじょ!!, Kageki Shōjo!!) is a Japanese manga series by Kumiko Saiki. It was serialized as Kageki Shojo! (かげきしょうじょ!, Kageki Shōjo!) in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Jump X from 2012 to 2014 and was collected in two tankōbon volumes. It was later re-released as Kageki Shojo!! Season Zero (かげきしょうじょ!! シーズンゼロ, Kageki Shōjo!! Shīzun Zero) in a single tankōbon volume by Hakusensha in March 2019. A sequel manga by Saiki has been serialized in Hakusensha's shōjo manga magazine Melody since 2015. It has been collected in sixteen tankōbon volumes. The re-release and the sequel are licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. An anime television series adaptation produced by Pine Jam aired from July to September 2021.
Contents
Plot
Founded in the Taisho era, the Kouka Revue Company (Japanese: 紅華歌劇団, Hepburn: Kouka Kagekidan) attracts people's hearts across generations on a beautiful and gorgeous stage created only by unmarried women. The 100th generation students who have passed through a high magnification and entered the Kouka School of Musical and Theatrical Arts (Japanese: 紅華歌劇音楽学校, Hepburn: Kouka Ongaku Gakkō) to develop their music and dancing skills. Sarasa Watanabe (the main protagonist) is a 1.78m tall student who dreams of acting as a Otokoyaku (i.e. male protagonist) and someday playing the role of Oscar in the Kouka Revue's production of The Rose of Versailles. She forms an unlikely friendship with her new roommate, Ai Narata, who is a disgraced J-pop idol and former idol group member who hopes to join the Kouka Revue to escape from her troubled past.
Characters
Sarasa Watanabe (渡辺 さらさ, Watanabe Sarasa)
Voiced by: Sayaka Senbongi (Japanese); Siv Ryan (English)
She is a Kouka actress-aspirant at the Kouka School who stands out from the rest of the Centennial Class and the entire school, and not just because of her bubbly demeanor and being the tallest student in the school.
Ai Narata (奈良田 愛, Narata Ai)
Voiced by: Yumiri Hanamori (Japanese); Xanthe Huynh (English)
A former idol expelled from her group because of her trust issues with men, she applied at the Kouka School to escape her past and men in particular. She finds Sarasa, her classmate and dorm-mate, to be annoying at first.
Sawa Sugimoto (杉本紗和, Sugimoto Sawa)
Voiced by: Sumire Uesaka (Japanese); Corey Pettit (English)
Being a huge Kouka fan, she enrolls at the Kouka School, skipping her chance to become a prima ballerina. She is the class representative of the Centennial Class.
Kaoru Hoshino (星野 薫, Hoshino Kaoru)
Voiced by: Yō Taichi (Japanese); AmaLee (English)
She is the daughter of a second-generation Kouka actress and is in the same class as Sarasa and Ai.
Ayako Yamada (山田 彩子, Yamada Ayako)
Voiced by: Rico Sasaki (Japanese); Megan Shipman (English)
Timid, shy, and plagued with problems concerning her weight, she almost quit the school due to the pressure; but, despite being underrated, she is one of the most talented performers in the Centennial Class.
Media
Manga
Kageki Shojo! is written and illustrated by Kumiko Saiki. It was serialized in Shueisha's Jump X magazine from May 10, 2012, until the magazine ceased its publication on October 10, 2014. Shueisha collected its chapters in two tankōbon volumes, released on May 10, 2013, and October 17, 2014. Hakusensha later re-released the series as an omnibus volume, with the title Kageki Shojo!! Season Zero, on March 5, 2019. The re-release has been licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment, who released it under the title Kageki Shojo!! The Curtain Rises.
A sequel series, titled ''Kageki Shojo!!'', began serialization in Hakusensha's Melody magazine on February 28, 2015. The series has been collected in sixteen tankōbon volumes. In September 2025, Saiki announced, via Twitter, that the series had entered its final arc and would end with the seventeenth volume. The sequel series has also been licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment in North America.
Anime
An anime television series adaptation, also titled ''Kageki Shojo!!'', was announced in the December issue of Melody magazine on October 28, 2020. The series is animated by Pine Jam and directed by Kazuhiro Yoneda, with Tadashi Morishita handling the series' composition, Takahiro Kishida designing the characters, and Tsuneyoshi Saito composing the series' music. It aired from July 4 to September 26, 2021, on AT-X and other channels. The opening theme song "Hoshi no Orchestra" (Starry Orchestra) is performed by the three-member band saji, while the ending theme song "Hoshi no Tabibito" (Stellar Traveler) is performed by Sayaka Senbongi and Yumiri Hanamori. Funimation licensed the series.
Stage play
A stage play adaptation was announced on June 23, 2023. It ran in Tokyo from October 18–22, 2023.
Reception
The School Library Journal listed the first volume of ''Kageki Shojo!!'' as one of the top 10 manga of 2021.