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Japanese Box Office, August 4-5

posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Umizaru, Wolf Children, Pokémon films stay in top 5; Another, Code Geass: Akito the Exiled debut in top 12

The Kamen Rider Fourze the Movie: Minna de Uchū Kitā! (Kamen Rider Fourze the Movie: Everyone, Space Is Here!) and Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters the Movie: Tokyo Enetower o Mamore! (Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters the Movie: Protect the Tokyo Enetower!) films debuted at No. 1 on Kogyo Tsushinsha's chart. The live-action special-effects films are not listed on Box Office Mojo's chart, however.

The fourth live-action film based on Shuho Sato's (Say Hello to Black Jack, The Isle of TOKKOU) Umizaru coast guard manga, Brave Hearts Umizaru, fell from No. 1 to No. 2 during its fourth weekend. The film adapts the "largest sea disaster" from the original manga: the water landing of a jumbo jet. The film ranked at No. 1 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned US$3,748,421 on 450 screens for a gross-to-date of US$58,922,039.

Mamoru Hosoda's Ōkami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki (Wolf Children) film rose from No. 4 to No. 3 during its third weekend. This is the latest film by the director of Summer Wars and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. The film's story covers 13 years and begins with a 19-year-old college student named Hana who encounters and falls in "fairy tale-like" love with a "wolf man." After marrying the wolf man, Hana gives birth and raises two wolf children — an older sister named Yuki ("snow") who was born on a snowy day, and a younger brother named Ame ("rain") who was born on a rainy day. When the wolf man suddenly dies, Hana decides to move to a rural town far removed from the city. The film ranked at No. 2 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned US$2,719,932 on 381 screens for a new total of $20,619,983.

Gekijōban Pocket Monster Best Wishes! Kyurem Vs Seikenshi Keldeo rose from No. 5 to No. 4 in its fourth weekend. The film features the new legendary Pokémon, Keldeo. Kunihiko Yuyama returned to direct the film after directing most of the previous films and the Slayers films. The film ranked at No. 5 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned US$2,002,420 on 357 screens for a new total of US$27,088,271.

The Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie film fell from No. 3 to No. 7 in its second weekend. The sixth Naruto Shippūden film and ninth Naruto film overall features a story and character designs personally created by manga creator Masashi Kishimoto. The film ranked at No. 6 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned US$1,606,788 on 262 screens for a new total of US$8,744,209.

The live-action adaptation of Yukito Ayatsuji's horror novel Another debuted at No. 9. Kento Yamazaki (Control Tower) plays lead protagonist Koichi Sakakibara alongside Ai Hashimoto (Confessions, Avatar) as Mei Misaki, the mysterious girl whose eye-patch hides a secret. Takeshi Furusawa (Avec Punch, Ghost Train) is directing the film The film earned US$1,026,403 on 230 screens.

Mika Ninagawa's Helter Skelter live-action film fell from No. 7 to No. 10 during its fourth weekend. Based on Kyoko Okazaki's award-winning Helter Skelter manga, the film stars Erika Sawajiri (SHINOBI - Heart Under Blade, 1 Liter of Tears drama series) as Ririko, a model who underwent extensive plastic surgery to attain her beauty. The clinic who performed Ririko's surgeries goes under investigation for questionable business practices, and Ririko's body starts to deteriorate. As the model's prominence in the entertainment industry begins to falter, so does her sanity. The film ranked at No. 7 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned US$1,047,892 on 206 screens for a new total of US$19,074,587.

The first installment in the Code Geass: Akito the Exiled OVA debuted at No. 12. Kazuki Akane (Escaflowne) is helming the latest Code Geass anime project at Sunrise. As in the previous two television series, Takahiro Kimura is adapting CLAMP's original character designs for animation. Akira Yasuda is also returning to design the mechanical Nightmare units. The anime studio Sunrise, the previous Code Geass director Goro Taniguchi, and the previous series script supervisor Ichiro Okouchi are credited with the original story. The film earned US$447,630 on 30 screens for a per-screen total of US$14,921.

The 24th Anpanman film, Soreike! Anpanman Yomigaere Bananajima, fell from No. 11 to No. 13 on Box Office Mojo's chart during its fifth weekend. In the film, the titular hero, who has a bean-paste pastry (anpan) for a head, must join his allies and stop the dastardly Baikinman from ruining Banana Island. The film earned US$251,581 on 134 screens for a total of US$4,604,003.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 2nd A's fell from No. 10 to No. 14 on Box Office Mojo's chart in its fourth weekend. The film is a sequel to Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 1st, which opened in 2010. That film was a retelling of the first series, and creator Masaki Tsuzuki emphasized that it was a "new parallel history." In the second film, the magical girl Nanoha (Yukari Tamura) has a long-awaited reunion, but soon after, she encounters a new peril. The film earned US$245,404 on 51 screens for a new gross-to-date total of US$4,950,633.

The Starship Troopers: Invasion CG film rose from No. 16 to No. 15 during its third weekend. The new film draws design cues from Paul Verhoeven's loose 1997 live-action film adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein's original novel and is directed by Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed). The film earned US$7,937 on 15 screens for a gross-to-date of US$171,677.

Hideki Takeuchi's live-action Thermae Romae film fell from Box Office Mojo's chart in its 15th weekend. Gisaburô Sugii's Guskō Budori no Denki (The Life of Guskou Budori) remake film also fell from Box Office Mojo's chart during its fifth weekend.

Sources: Kogyo Tsunshinsha, Box Office Mojo


This article has a follow-up: Japanese Box Office, August 11-12 (2012-08-20 11:15)
follow-up of Japanese Box Office, July 28-29
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