Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo Shinsei-ban Opens at #3, Fureru. at #5 – News

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, 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.

Fureru., the new original anime film from the Super Peace Busters creative team, 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.”

The Quintessential Quintuplets Specials 2, the latest anime special of Negi Haruba‘s The Quintessential Quintuplets (Gotōbun no Hanayome) romantic comedy manga, rose from #9 to #7 in its third weekend. The film earned 59,248,190 yen (about US$399,900) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 349,044,760 yen (about US$2.35 million).

The film ranked at #5 in its opening weekend. The anime earned 154,182,270 yen (about US$1.06 million) in its first three days.

The anime debuted its three-week limited screening on September 20.

Masato Jinbo (The Quintessential Quintuplets the Movie) directed the anime at Bibury Animation Studio, and was in charge of series scripts. Haruba is credited for collaborating on the scripts, and Masato Katsumata (The Quintessential Quintuplets ∬, The Quintessential Quintuplets the Movie) designed the characters.

The Wonderful Precure! The Movie! Doki Doki Game no Sekai de Daiboken (Wonderful Precure! The Movie! Grand Adventure in a Thrilling Game World) film dropped from #3 to #8 in its fourth weekend. The has sold a total of 830,000 tickets and earned a cumulative total of 1 billion yen (about US$6.74 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 (Yōkai Watch) penned the script. Takayuki Murakami was the unit director. Erika Fukasawa composed the music.

Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom (Gekijō-ban Overlord Sei Ōkoku-hen), the new film project for the Overlord anime, dropped from #2 to #9 in its third weekend. The film earned 67,323,380 yen (about US$454,200) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 841,902,040 yen (about US$5.68 million).

The film ranked at #2 in its opening weekend. The film sold 198,000 tickets and earned 317,859,004 yen (about US$2.19 million). The film opened with regular screenings in Japan on September 20, but also had IMAX screenings beginning one week earlier on September 13. If the earlier IMAX screenings are included, the film had sold a total of 270,000 tickets and earned a cumulative total of 457 million yen (about US$3.15 million) in its September 20-22 opening.

Naoyuki Itou returned to direct the film at Madhouse, and is also credited as scriptwriter and for composition. Yukie Sugawara returned for the film and is credited for script collaboration. Satoshi Tasaki also returned as character designer and chief animation director. Fumiyuki Go returned as the sound director at Bit Grooove Promotion. Shūji Katayama of Team-MAX returned to compose the music at Kadokawa. Kadokawa Animation is distributing the film.

Crunchyroll will screen the film in North America on November 8, and will also screen the film in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

Mrs. Green Apple // The White Lounge in CINEMA, the screening of the Mrs. Green Apple band’s 2023-2024 concert tour, dropped off the top 10 in its fourth weekend, but still earned 95,473,200 yen (about US$644,100) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 1,529,176,600 yen (about US$10.31 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 third weekend. The film opened on September 20.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2, link 3), comScore via KOFIC

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.