© 臼井儀人／双葉社・シンエイ・テレビ朝日・ADK 2024
Eiga Crayon Shin-chan: Ora-tachi no Kyōryū Nikki (Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Our Dinosaur Diary), the Crayon Shin-chan franchise‘s 31st 2D animated film, opened at #2 at the Japanese box office for the weekend of August 9-11. The film sold 365,000 tickets and earned 455,302,200 yen (about US$3.05 million) in its first three days, and sold 510,000 tickets and earned 636 million yen (about US$4.32 million) in its first four days including Monday (August 10 was the Mountain Day holiday in Japan).
The film premiered in Japan on August 9.
The film follows the friendship between the Nobara family’s pet dog Shiro and a “small dinosaur.” Their connection helps the growth of Shinnosuke and the Kasukabe Defense Squad.
Takumi Kitamura guest stars in the film as Billy, a biology researcher who loves dinosaurs and works with the Kasukabe Defense Squad. Ozwald comedian duo Yū Hatanaka and Shunsuke Itō also guest star in the film as Chū and Ammoner Itō, respectively.
Shinobu Sasaki (director of many Duel Masters anime including the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Duel Masters TV anime) directed the film. Moral, who writes scripts for the Crayon Shin-chan TV series, wrote the screenplay.
Rock band My Hair is Bad perform the film’s theme song “Omoide o Kakenukete” (Run Past Your Memories).
© 堀越耕平／集英社 僕のヒーローアカデミア 製作委員会
My Hero Academia THE MOVIE: You’re Next (My Hero Academia: You’re Next), the fourth anime film in the My Hero Academia franchise, dropped from #1 to #3 in its second weekend. The film sold 232,000 tickets and earned 346,080,600 yen (about US$2.32 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 1.22 million tickets and earned a cumulative total of 1.7 billion yen (about US$11.41 million).
The film opened in Japan on August 2. It sold 608,500 tickets, and earned approximately 895 million yen (about US$6.28 million) in its first three days. The film is simultaneously screening in IMAX, MX4D, 4DX, and Dolby Cinema. TOHO International will bring the film to U.S. theaters on October 11. The film will be available with English subtitles and dub releases.
The original villain characters for the film are members of a mysterious, big criminal organization called the “Gorrini Family.”
Tensai Okamura (Darker than Black) directed the film at BONES. Returning staff members from the television series and previous films include scriptwriter Yōsuke Kuroda, character designer Yoshihiko Umakoshi, and composer Yuki Hayashi. Vaundy performs the theme song “Homunculus” as well as the film’s ending theme song “Gift.”
Original manga creator Kōhei Horikoshi served as the general supervisor and original character designer. The film has an original story that takes place around the same time as where the TV anime is currently, with the collapse of safe society. In the film, a mysterious giant fortress and a man who resembles the former “Symbol of Peace” suddenly appear in a society that has collapsed due to war.
原泰久／集英社 © 2023映画「キングダム」製作委員会
Kingdom: Taishogun no Kikan (Return of the General), the fourth live-action Kingdom film, dropped from #4 to #5 in its fifth weekend. The film earned 326,262,100 yen (about US$2.19 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film has earned a cumulative total of 6.1 billion yen (about US$41.45 million), selling 4.16 million tickets in total.
The film opened on July 12. It sold 1,065,000 tickets and earned 1.629 billion yen (about US$10.28 million) in its first three days. The film sold 1.46 million tickets in its first four days, including Monday (which was the Marine Day holiday in Japan), and earned 2.2 billion yen (about US$13.89 million) in that time.
The film covers the manga’s Shi Ka (Zi Xia) arc and the Battle of Bayou — the first time Shin (Xin) and Ō Ki (Wang Qi) stood on the battlefield together, to fend off the invasion by the mighty Chō (Zhao) from the north. Anne (Anne Watanabe) returns to the cast as the pivotal character Shi Ka (Zi Xia). Other cast members include Kataoka Ainosuke VI as Fuu Ki (Feng Ji), Kōji Yamamoto as Chō Sō (Zhao Zhuang), Yuki Yamada as Man Goku (Wan Ji), Eri Murakawa as You Li (Yū Ri), Hinako Sakurai as Dong Mei (Tō Bi), and Yūki Araki as Kyō.
Kento Yamazaki, Ryō Yoshizawa, Takao Osawa, and Kanna Hashimoto all reprised their respective characters Shin (Xin), Ei Sei (Yin Zheng), Ō Ki (Wang Qi), and Ka Ryō Ten (He Liao Diao), respectively, from the two previous films. Nana Seino, Hiroshi Tamaki, and Kōichi Satō from the second film also reprised their respective characters Kyо̄ Kai, Sho Hei Kun (Lord Changping), and Ryo Fui (Lu Buwei).
Shinsuke Satō (live-action Gantz, Death Note Light up the NEW world, Bleach) returned as director. Manga creator Yasuhisa Hara and Tsutomu Kuroiwa (One Piece Film Gold, live-action Black Butler, GANTZ:O) returned to write the script.
© はまじあき／芳文社・アニプレックス
Bocchi the Rock! Re:Re:, the second film in the Bocchi the Rock! anime compilation films, opened at #6. The film earned 218,143,560 yen (about US$1.46 million) in its first three days.
The second film had a first come, first served special gift bonus manga for moviegoers, drawn by Aki Hamaji titled Bocchi the Rock! Epigraph 2, that was distributed on the film’s opening day.
Bocchi the Rock! Re:, the first of the two compilation films, opened in Japan on June 7. The film sold 140,000 tickets and earned 218,470,888 yen (about US$1.38 million) in its first three days.
The first film’s opening sequence features newly created animation set to Kessoku Band’s new song “Tsukinami ni Kagayaki” (Sparkle as Usual). Ai Higuchi wrote the lyrics, -otoha- composed the song, and Ritsuo Mitsui arranged the song.
The anime adapts Aki Hamaji‘s four-panel manga Bocchi the Rock!, which follows Hitori “Bocchi-chan” (“Loner”) Gotō, a lonely high school girl whose heart lies in her guitar. She does nothing every day except strum her guitar by herself at home. However, she happens one day to meet Nijika Ijichi, who is looking for a guitarist for her group named “Kessoku Band.”
Keiichirō Saitō (ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept. Regards) directed the television anime at CloverWorks. Erika Yoshida (Lupin III: Part IV) supervised and wrote the series scripts. Kerorira (animation director for Wonder Egg Priority) designed the characters.
山口つばさ／講談社 ©2024 映画「ブルーピリオド」製作委員会
The live-action film of Tsubasa Yamaguchi‘s Blue Period manga ranked at #8 in its opening weekend. The film earned 113,134,680 yen (about US$759,300) in its first three days.
The film opened in Japan on August 9. The film screened at the Japan Cuts film festival in New York on July 13.
Kentarō Hagiwara (live-action Tokyo Ghoul) directed the film, Reiko Yoshida (Blue Period anime) wrote the script, and Yūki “Yaffle” Kojima composed the music.
Yamaguchi launched the manga in Kodansha‘s Afternoon magazine in June 2017.
Kodansha USA Publishing is publishing the manga in English, and it describes the story:
Yatora is the perfect high school student, with good grades and lots of friends. It’s an effortless performance, and, ultimately … a dull one. But he wanders into the art room one day, and a lone painting captures his eye, awakening him to a kind of beauty he never knew. Compelled and consumed, he dives in headfirst—and he’s about to learn how savage and unforgiving art can be!
The series inspired a television anime adaptation in 2021. The anime debuted on Netflix in Japan in September of that year, and then later on Japanese television in October. Netflix began streaming the anime outside of Japan in October 2021, with weekly new episodes.
The 25th anniversary screening of the Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie anime film ranked at #1 in the mini-theater rankings.
The live-action film of Masamitsu Nigatsu‘s Honeko Akabane’s Bodyguards (Akabane Honeko no Bodyguard) manga dropped off the top 10 in its second weekend.
The fourth and final part of Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture (originally titled Gode Geass: Z of the Recapture, or Dakkan no Zetto) anime project also dropped off the list in its second weekend.
Source: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2, link 3), comScore via KOFIC
