Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo Shinsei-ban Drops to #5, Wonderful Precure! Film Stays at #8

Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo Shinsei-ban (True Birth Version), the recut version of the Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo (The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe) anime film, dropped from #3 to #5 in its second weekend. The film earned 71,939,840 yen (about US$482,400) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 272,393,960 yen (about US$1.82 million). In addition, both versions of the film have collectively earned a cumulative total of more than 3 billion yen (about US$20.10 million).

The film ranked at #3 in its opening weekend. The film sold 97,700 tickets and earned 156,305,640 yen (about US$1.05 million) in its first three days.

The new edition of the film opened in theaters in Japan on October 4. The new version has about 327 retaken cuts, as well as some re-dubbed lines. The new version is rated R15+. The film’s original screening run had a PG12 rating.

The original version of the film opened in Japan in November 2023, and sold 111,500 tickets for 160,106,620 yen (about US$1.07 million) in its first three days. The film earned a cumulative total of 2,472,410,610 yen (about US$16.79 million) as of January 28.

Gō Koga (Gegege no Kitarō: Nippon Bakuretsu!!, One Piece Episode of Sabo) directed the film at Toei Animation, and Hiroyuki Yoshino (Macross Frontier, World Trigger, 13 episodes in 2018 GeGeGe no Kitarō) wrote the screenplay. Tōko Yatabe (2018 GeGeGe no Kitarō‘s third ending sequence unit director, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time assistant director) designed the characters.

The film is part of four “big projects” commemorating the 100-year anniversary of Shigeru Mizuki‘s birth. Mizuki died in 2015 at 93 years old. Another project is the Akuma Kun anime that premiered on Netflix in November 2023.

The Wonderful Precure! The Movie! Doki Doki Game no Sekai de Daiboken (Wonderful Precure! The Movie! Grand Adventure in a Thrilling Game World) film stayed at #8 in its fifth weekend. The film earned 42,029,650 yen (about US$281,500) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 1,095,162,740 yen (about US$7.33 million).

The film opened in Japan on September 13. The film ranked at #2 in its opening weekend. The film sold 295,000 tickets and earned 367 million yen (about US$2.59 million) in its first three days, marking the second-highest three-day opening weekend for the Precure franchise, just below last year’s Precure All Stars F movie. Wonderful Precure! The Movie! Doki Doki Game no Sekai de Daiboken sold 405,000 tickets and earned 497 million yen (about US$3.51 million) in its first four days, including September 16 (which was the Respect for the Aged Day holiday in Japan).

The film follows Komugi and Iroha on a new adventure, when they are sucked into the world of the video game Doki Doki Tanukingdom (Thrilling Raccoon-Dogkingdom). Characters from the Soaring Sky! Precure (Hirogaru Sky! Precure) and Maho Girls Precure! (Mahō Tsukai Precure!) anime also appear in the film.

Naoki Miyahara (The First Slam Dunk unit director) directed the film. Yoichi Kato (Yo-kai Watch) penned the script. Takayuki Murakami was the unit director. Erika Fukasawa composed the music.

Fureru., the new original anime film from the Super Peace Busters creative team, dropped from #5 to #10 in its second weekend. The film earned 35,004,900 yen (about US$234,500) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 173,915,700 yen (about US$1.16 million).

The film ranked at #5 in its opening weekend. The film sold 69,000 tickets and earned 102,554,300 yen (about US$692,200) in its first three days.

The film opened in Japan on October 4.

The story follows three childhood friends who are connected by a mysterious creature. The film shows the three as young adults in Tokyo. The movie is set in Takadanobaba, a different location from the Super Peace Busters trio’s previous three works (Chichibu is Mari Okada‘s hometown).

The film features nine cast members from the team’s previous three anime works including anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, The Anthem of the Heart, and Her Blue Sky.

The Super Peace Busters creative team consists of director Tatsuyuki Nagai, writer and director Mari Okada, and artist Masayoshi Tanaka. Nagai (anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, The Anthem of the Heart, and Her Blue Sky) directed the film at CloverWorks. Okada wrote the script, and Tanaka designed the characters.

YOASOBI performs the theme song “Monotone.”

Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom (Gekijō-ban Overlord Sei Ōkoku-hen), the new film project for the Overlord anime, dropped off the top 10 in its fourth weekend, but still earned 38,566,860 yen (about US$258,400) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 910,185,100 yen (about US$6.09 million).

Mrs. Green Apple // The White Lounge in CINEMA, the screening of the Mrs. Green Apple band’s 2023-2024 concert tour, is still off the top 10 in its fifth weekend, but it still earned 69,849,400 yen (about US$468,000) from Friday to Sunday. The film has earned a cumulative total of 1,653,737,000 yen (about US$11.08 million).

Eiga Given: Umi e (Given The Movie: To the Sea), the second film in the two-part sequel anime film project, stayed at #1 in the mini-theater rankings in its fourth weekend. The film opened on September 20.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2, link 3), comScore via KOFIC, Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo film’s X/Twitter account