Live-Action Natsume Arata no Kekkon Film Debuts at #4, Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Anime at #8 – News

The live-action film of Tarō Nogizaka‘s Natsume Arata no Kekkon (Arata Natsume’s Marriage) manga debuted at #4. The film sold 87,000 tickets and earned 125,503,140 yen (about US$889,000) in its first three days.

The film opened in Japan on September 6.

Yukihiko Tsutsumi (director of live-action 20th Century Boys, Beck, Ikebukuro West Gate Park) directed the film. Olivia Rodrigo’s song “Vampire” serves as the theme song for the film.

The film stars Yuuya Yagira (live-action Gintama‘s Tōshirō Hijikata) as the titular Arata, and Yuina Kuroshima (live-action Fullmetal Alchemist‘s Lan Fan) co-stars as Shinju Shinagawa.

In the manga’s story, Arata is a former delinquent who works at a children’s welfare center. After consulting with the bereaved family members of one of the victims of the serial killer Shinju Shinagawa, Arata visits Shinju in prison. In order to try to get to the truth of the incident, he proposes marriage to her. Shinju, who is on death row, then starts to toy with Arata.

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, dropped from #3 to #5 in its fifth weekend. The film earned 96,165,100 yen (about US$675,600) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 2,268,869,000 yen (about US$15.94 million).

The 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 12 was the Mountain Day holiday in Japan).

The film opened 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).

Kingdom: Taishogun no Kikan (Return of the General), the fourth live-action Kingdom film, stayed at #6 in its ninth weekend. The film earned 82,998,600 yen (about US$583,500) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 5.13 million tickets, and earned a cumulative total of 7,558,229,900 yen (about US$53.20 million).

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 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.

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 #4 to #7 in its sixth weekend. The film earned 76,443,400 yen (about US$538,000) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 2.18 million tickets, and has earned a cumulative total of 3,145,874,500 yen (about US$22.15 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.

The first film of Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Dōkōkai Kanketsu-hen, the Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club (Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Dōkōkai) franchise‘s new anime film trilogy opened at #8. The film earned 98,052,020 yen (about US$695,000) in its first three days.

The first film in the trilogy opened on September 6. The trilogy will serve as the finale for the anime’s story.

The film trilogy is set after the two previous television seasons and the Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Next Sky original video anime project. The main cast and main staff are returning for the trilogy.

The anime takes place after Isla returns to her home country. The club receives an invitation to the “School Idol GPX” contest. Contestants compete individually instead of by school, and compete through performances distributed via app. Six members from the club — Ayumu, Kasumi, Shizuku, Kanata, Emma, and Lanzhu — go to Okinawa to compete. While many of them experience new encounters, Ayumu, however, has complex feelings about competing against her fellow club members.

The Colors Within (Kimi no Iro), the new anime feature film by Science SARU and director Naoko Yamada (K-ON!, The Heike Story, A Silent Voice), dropped from #7 to #10 in its second weekend. The film earned 55,898,700 yen (about US$394,000) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 206,737,500 yen (about US$1.45 million).

The anime opened in Japan on August 30. It earned 97,739,500 yen (about US$680,200) in its first three days. The film was originally slated to open in fall 2023, but it was then slated to open in 2024. The film has IMAX screenings in 51 theaters in Japan. GKIDS has acquired the film for North America, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand, and it will screen the film in winter 2024. Anime Ltd. has acquired the film for Europe. PLAION PICTURES will handle Italian- and German-speaking territories, and CHARADES will manage sales for the rest of Europe, Latin America, Australia, and New Zealand.

The story centers on Totsuko, a high school girl who can see the “colors” of the emotions in people’s hearts. She attends a mission school in Nagasaki. In order to keep her friends and family from feeling dark feelings, she worries, reads situations, and even lies to smooth things over. At an antique bookshop in the corner of town, she meets a beautiful woman with an incredibly beautiful color and a music-loving boy trying to put together a band. The story follows these three sensitive people who gather together to play in a band.

Yamada directed the film at Science SARU. Story Inc. is credited as planner and producer. Reiko Yoshida (K-ON!, Girls und Panzer, Ride Your Wave, Violet Evergarden) penned the script, and kensuke ushio (Space Dandy, A Silent Voice, Liz and the Blue Bird, Chainsaw Man) composed the music. DaisukeRichard drafted the original characters, and Takashi Kojima designed the characters and also directed the animation. Mr. Children performs the theme song “in the pocket.”

King of Prism: Dramatic Prism.1, the new theatrical anime in the King of Prism franchise, earned 37,001,750 yen (about US$261,000) from Friday to Sunday in its fourth weekend, ranking outside of the top 10. The film has earned a cumulative total of 207,420,600 yen (about US$1.46 million).

The live-action film of Rensuke Oshikiri‘s horror manga Sayuri dropped off the top 10 in its third weekend.

The First Slam Dunk, the anime film of Takehiko Inoue‘s Slam Dunk basketball manga, dropped off the top 10 in the fourth week of its revival screenings that began on August 13.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2), comScore via KOFIC