Chiikawa Holds Japan’s Box Office Lead as Fifth Kingdom Film Climbs to No. 5

Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of Mermaid Island (Eiga Chiikawa: Ningyo no Shima no Himitsu) held Japan’s No. 1 spot in its fourth weekend. The first anime film based on Nagano’s Chiikawa manga sold 602,000 tickets from Friday through Sunday, earning 895,266,300 yen (about US$5.62 million).

Its cumulative sales reached 6.45 million tickets, with revenue totaling 9,283,642,700 yen (about US$58.31 million).

The film opened on July 24 and topped its debut weekend. Opening-day earnings reached 990 million yen (about US$6.05 million). Across its first three days, it sold 1,508,500 tickets and earned 2,240,333,500 yen (about US$13.70 million).

The story adapts a manga arc published on X, formerly Twitter, from March through November 2023. Readers nicknamed it the “Siren Arc” or “Island Arc.”

Chiikawa and Hachiware are relaxing when a rabbit appears with a flyer covering its face. Hachiware reads an invitation to a special island.

The flyer promises generous rewards for easy hunts and essentially free sweet and spicy food, including limited-edition island ramen and sweets. Chiikawa and friends decide to visit. Rakko, suspicious of the flyer, accompanies them, leaving the question of what awaits on arrival.

Momoka Terasawa voices Hitoha, and Sayumi Suzushiro voices Futaba, two islanders the group meets. Hachiware voice actor Makoto Tanaka sings the opening theme, “Kutsuzure” (Shoe Sore), with lyrics by series creator Nagano.

The production credits include:

• Nagano, credited with the original story, wrote the screenplay and supervised the film.
• Kei Oikawa directed at Cygames Pictures. Oikawa’s credits include three Uma Musume Pretty Derby seasons, Hinamatsuri, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU TOO!, and My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Climax.
• QTORY inc. managed production.
• TOHO handles distribution.

Decisive Battle of the Soul (Kingdom: Tamashii no Kessen), the fifth live-action adaptation of Yasuhisa Hara’s Kingdom manga, climbed from seventh to fifth in its fifth weekend. It earned 353,920,200 yen (about US$2.22 million) over the weekend.

The film’s totals now stand at 3.75 million tickets and 5,755,263,000 yen (about US$36.15 million).

It opened in Japan on July 17. Its first three days brought 993,000 ticket sales and 1,584,148,300 yen (about US$9.67 million).

Including the July 20 Marine Day holiday, its four-day opening reached 1,315,000 tickets and 2.064 billion yen (about US$12.59 million).

Hara’s historical manga follows Xin, an enslaved boy determined to become a great general for Qin. He helps young Qin king Ying Zheng gain power within the state. Both want to unite China.

Xin strives to become a commander capable of leading an army to defeat the Seven Warring States.

The returning and other principal staff include:

• Director Shinsuke Satō, whose live-action credits include Gantz, Death Note Light up the NEW world, and Bleach, returned to direct.
• Tsutomu Kuroiwa, credited on Black Butler and Golden Kamuy, co-wrote the screenplay with Hara.
• Yutaka Yamada, whose credits include Bleach and Golden Kamuy -The Hunt of Prisoners in Hokkaido-, composed the score.

Crayon Shin-chan The Movie Super Strange! My Yōkai Monster Vacation (Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Kikikaikai! Ora no Yōkai Bake-shon) remained sixth in its third weekend. The franchise’s 33rd 2D anime film earned 288,012,200 yen (about US$1.80 million) from Friday through Sunday.

Its cumulative revenue reached 1,906,706,150 yen (about US$11.97 million).

The film opened in Japan on July 31 and debuted in third place. It sold 441,000 tickets and earned 539,371,500 yen (about US$3.41 million) during its first three days.

The story takes the Nohara family to Hiroshi’s hometown of Akita for a famous summer fireworks festival. An incident releases yōkai from their land, setting them loose to cause havoc in Akita and elsewhere across Japan.

The family then enters the land of yōkai. There, a world that feels both mysterious and nostalgic draws them into an unpredictable adventure.

The cast includes:

• Sairi Itō as Yako, a nine-tailed fox yōkai.
• Sakamoto of comedy duo Mayurika as the Squid Yōkai, the Edomae Sushies baseball team’s first baseman. The team challenges Shin-chan and his friends to a game.
• Yumiko Kobayashi.
• Miki Narahashi.
• Toshiyuki Morikawa.
• Satomi Koorogi.

The film’s staff, production companies, distributor, and theme-song performer are:

• Masaki Watanabe, whose credits include Battle Spirits: Heroes and Sakamoto Days, directed.
• Yoshiko Nakamura, credited on the Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- franchise and PriPara, wrote the screenplay.
• Shinei Animation, TV Asahi, ADK Emotions, and Futabasha produced the film.
• TOHO handles distribution.
• TOMOO performs the theme song, “Otona ni Nattara” (When I Become an Adult).

The live-action adaptation of Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yūsuke Nomura’s soccer manga BLUE LOCK slipped from eighth to tenth in its second weekend. Friday-through-Sunday earnings totaled 165,842,700 yen (about US$1.04 million), bringing its cumulative revenue to 734,516,500 yen (about US$4.61 million).

The film opened in Japan on August 7, placing eighth in its debut weekend. Its first three days generated 277,648,800 yen (about US$1.74 million).

Screenings in MX4D, 4DX, and Dolby Cinema begin on August 21.

The film’s production credits include:

• Yūsuke Taki directed.
• Tetsuo Kamata wrote the screenplay.
• Shinzō Matsuhashi served as a producer.
• CREDEUS, which produced the live-action Golden Kamuy film, produced this adaptation.
• TOHO handles distribution.

Kaneshiro and Nomura began the manga in Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine in August 2018. Kodansha released its 40th compiled volume on August 17.

The series received the Best Shōnen Manga award at Kodansha’s 45th annual Manga Awards in 2021. Kodansha USA Publishing releases the manga in English both digitally and in print.