Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning

The Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- anime film debuted at #1 in the Japanese box office in its opening weekend. It sold 352,500 tickets and earned 598,832,300 yen (about US$3.83 million) in its first three days.

The story of Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning-, a re-edited version of the first four episodes of the upcoming Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX (pronounced as “g-kwux”) television anime, centers on Amate Yuzuriha, a high-school student living peacefully in a space colony floating in outer space. When she meets a war refugee named Nyaan, Amate is drawn into the illegal mobile suit dueling sport known as Clan Battle.

Under the entry name “Machu,” she throws herself into fierce battle day after day, piloting the GQuuuuuuX. Then an unidentified Gundam mobile suit pursued by both the space force and the police appears before her, along with its pilot, a boy named Shūji.

Kazuya Tsurumaki (FLCL, Gunbuster 2: Diebuster) is directing the anime, and Yōji Enokido (Bungo Stray Dogs, Sailor Moon Super S, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Ouran High School Host Club) is supervising the series scripts and writing the scripts with Hideaki Anno (Evangelion, Shin Godzilla). Illustrator Take (Katanagatari, Zaregoto, Pokémon Sun & Moon) is designing the characters, and Ikuto Yamashita (Evangelion, Shin Kamen Rider, Yukikaze) is the mechanical designer.

COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing (Gekijо̄ban Project Sekai: Kowareta Sekai to Utaenai Miku, or The Broken World and a Miku Who Can’t Sing), an anime film based on the Project Sekai: Colorful Stage feat. Hatsune Miku smartphone game, debuted at #2 and sold 232,500 tickets and earned 306,817,000 yen (about US$1.96 million) in its first three days.

Colorful Palette, a subsidiary of Craft Egg, and Sega collaborated on the film, which is getting a global release.

The original story follows Ichika Hoshino, who hears a Miku song that she has never heard before at a CD shop and sees a Hatsune Miku whom she had never seen before. Ichika calls out to Miku, who surprised by the voice, disappears shortly after making eye contact. Miku later appears on Ichika’s smartphone to tell her that she would like to reach others with her songs, but no matter how much she sings, her songs cannot reach them. After seeing Ichika reach others’ hearts with her live street performance, Miku asks for her help.

Saki Fujita reprises her role as Hatsune Miku from other works in the franchise. Ruriko Noguchi stars as Ichika Hoshino. The cast also includes returning members from the franchise.

Hiroyuki Hata (Lapis Re:LiGHTs) directed the anime at P.A. Works. Yoko Yonaiyama (Ya Boy Kongming!) wrote the screenplay. Yuki Akiyama (IRODUKU: The World in Colors) designed the characters and was a chief animation director, along with Masatoshi Tsuji (chief animation director for Summer Time Rendering), who was also a sub-character designer. Satoshi Hōno (Aggretsuko) composed the music.

The live-action film of Akane Shimizu‘s Cells at Work! (Hataraku Saibō) manga dropped from #2 to #4 in its sixth weekend. The film earned 237,368,080 yen (about US$1.52 million). It has sold a total of 3.9 million tickets, and earned a cumulative total of 5,240,061,690 yen (about US$33.59 million).

The film opened in Japan on December 13 and ranked at #1. The film sold a total of 612,000 tickets and earned a total of 844,768,310 yen (about US$5.49 million) in its first three days.

The film has 4D (4DX and MX4D) and IMAX screenings in Japan.

Hideki Takeuchi (live-action Nodame Cantabile, Thermae Romae, Fly Me to Saitama) directed the film, with a script by Yūichi Tokunaga (live-action Kaguya-sama: Love is War, Liar x Liar, Princess Jellyfish). Warner Bros. Japan distributed the film. Official HiGE DANdism performed the theme song “50%.”

Gekijо̄-ban Nintama Rantaro Dokutake Ninja-tai Saikyо̄ no Gunshi (Nintama Rantaro the Movie: The Dokutake Ninja Team’s Strongest Strategist), the first anime film in the Nintama Rantaro anime franchise in 13 years, dropped from #5 to #6 in its fifth weekend. The film earned 169,443,770 yen (about US$1.08 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 1,535,406,280 yen (about US$9.83 million).

The film opened in Japan on December 20. It sold 198,000 tickets in its first weekend, including advanced screenings, earning 295 million yen (about US$1.87 million) from Thursday through Sunday.

The movie is based on Kazuhisa Sakaguchi‘s 2013 novel of the same name, which centers on Rantaro’s teacher Hansuke Doi losing a battle against Sonnamon and Zatto Konnamon becoming a teacher at Ninjutsu Academy.

Yasuhiro Mamiya voices Happōsai Hieta, replacing the late Shōzō Iizuka, who voiced the character in the anime series. In addition, Naniwa Danshi members Ryūsei Ōnishi and Jōichirō Fujiwara appear in the film as guest voice actors.

Masaya Fujimori (Doraemon movies) returned from the previous film to direct the new one at Ajia-do, the same animation studio for the television series. Original novel writer Sakaguchi wrote the screenplay.

The live-action film of Masayuki Kusumi and Jiro Taniguchi‘s Kodoku no Gourmet (Solitary Gourmet) manga dropped from #3 to #9 in its second weekend. The film earned 127,987,100 yen (about US$820,100) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 551,676,100 yen (about US$3.53 million).

The film sold 167,000 tickets and earned 242 million yen (about US$1.53 million) in its first three days.

The film is based on the manga’s live-action series. The series’ lead actor Yutaka Matsushige again stars in the film, and also directed the film. He also co-wrote alongside Yoshihiro Taguchi. The film opened on January 10. The film also screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival, which ran from October 28 to November 6 last year.

The film is part of the Kodoku no Gourmet Project, which celebrates the series’ 12 years of broadcast and TV Tokyo‘s 60th anniversary. The staff also announced Sorezore no Kodoku no Gourmet (To Each Their Own Solitary Gourmet), a program that debuted on October 4 last year. The omnibus series follows various main characters (besides Yutaka Matsushige‘s Gorō, who was the main character in all the previous projects) on their own culinary journeys.

Both the Kodoku no Gourmet live-action series and original manga follow a solitary salesman named Gorō Inagashira as he travels all over Japan and samples the local cuisine found on street corners. The live-action show’s 10th season premiered in October 2022.

Saint Oniisan The Movie ~Holy Men vs Akuma Gundan~ (Holy Men vs Demon Army), the first live-action film of Hikaru Nakamura‘s Saint Young Men (Saint Oniisan) manga, dropped off the top 10 in its fifth weekend.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin, comScore via KOFIC