News
Japanese Box Office, October 27-28
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Eiga Smile Precure: Ehon no Naka wa Minna Chiguhagu!, the newest movie in the Precure magical girl anime franchise, debuted at No. 1. Along with the Smile Precure! television anime's cast, Megumi Hayashibara (Evangelion, Ranma ½, Cowboy Bebop, Slayers, Mardock Scramble) voiced a guest role in the newest film. The story has the Cure magical girls journeying through a storybook world. The film earned $2,472,021 on 172 screens.
Kenji Kamiyama and Production I.G's 009 Re:Cyborg film debuted at No. 8. The film, which is Kamiyama's first in full-3D animation, is based on Shōtarō Ishinomori's classic science-fiction manga Cyborg 009 that was famously left uncompleted by the creator's passing. The film ranked at No. 5 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned US$895,183 on 125 screens.
The religious anime film The Mystical Laws fell from No. 7 to No. 9 during its fourth weekend. The story takes place in the near future, when the newly-formed "Godom Empire" is threatening to take over the world by using advanced technology offered to them by Leika Chan, the mysterious female president of a trading company. The protagonist of the film, Sho Shishimaru, is the one man who has the "mystical technology" that can stop the Godom Empire. After being hunted down by the Empire, Sho is saved by mysterious Indian monks, who tell him about a prophecy about The Rebirth of Buddha. The film earned US$682,997 on 201 screens for a new total of US$7,408,190.
Toei's Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie tokusatsu (special-effects) film fell from No. 5 to No. 13 during its second weekend. The film marks the 30th anniversary of Toei's original Space Sheriff Gavan television series, which followed a combat-suited hero defending Earth against extraterrestrial threats. Kenji Ohba, who played the hero Retsu Ichijōji in the original series, returns to pass the baton to actor Yuma Ishigaki as the next-generation Gavan hero. In addition, two more Space Sheriffs, Sharivan and Shaider, also appear in updated incarnations. The film earned US$526,075 on 172 screens for a new total of US$1,810,856.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part 1: Beginnings fell from No. 11 to No. 15 during its fourth weekend. The film is the first in the two-part compilation of the original Puella Magi Madoka Magica television anime series. The film earned US$492,563 on 43 screens for a gross-to-date of US$5,055,879. Box Office Mojo has not been listing the Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part 2: Eternal film on its chart, and the film fell from Kogyo Tsushinsha's chart in its third weekend.
Box Office Mojo listed Shinji Aramaki's Starship Troopers: Invasion CG film as earning US$82 on one screen during its 15th weekend for a new total of US$193,425.
Gekijō-ban Tiger & Bunny -The Beginning-, the first of two anime films based on Sunrise's Tiger & Bunny television anime series, fell from Box Office Mojo's chart during its sixth weekend.
Sources: Kogyo Tsushinsha, Box Office Mojo
follow-up of Japanese Box Office, October 20-21
