News
Japanese Box Office, March 24-25
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Doraemon: Nobita to Kiseki no Shima ~Animal Adventure~, this year's Doraemon film, stayed at No. 1 during its fourth weekend. The story takes the robot cat Doraemon, his owner Nobita, and their friends to an island paradise full of animals that would have otherwise gone extinct. The film guest stars Nana Mizuki, Kouichi Yamadera, Masako Nozawa, and Atsuko Tanaka. The film earned US$3,027,582 on 359 screens for a gross-to-date of US$25,191,162.
The first film in Takahiro Miki's two-part live-action film adaptation of Yuuki Obata's We Were There (Bokura ga Ita) romance manga stayed at No. 2 during its second weekend. Toma Ikuta (Akihabara @ DEEP) and Yuriko Yoshitaka (Gantz) lead the films' cast. The story follows a girl named Nanami Takahashi (Yoshitaka) as she struggles with her decade-long relationship with Motoharu Yano (Ikuta), her high school's most popular boy who has his own issues from his past. The film earned US$2,654,780 on 295 screens for a gross-to-date total of US$12,045,021.
The live-action Ultraman Saga film debuted at No. 4. The film features the new character Ultraman Saga (voiced by Mamoru Miyano) and the returning heroes Ultraman Zero/Nozomu Taiga (BREAKERZ musician DAIGO), Ultraman Dyna/Shin Asuka (Takeshi Tsuruno), and Ultraman Cosmos/Musashi Haruno (Taiyō Sugiura). The film also stars seven members of the all-female idol group AKB48 as the Earth Defense Force's "Team U." The film earned US$1,772,033 on 369 screens.
The Precure All Stars New Stage: Mirai no Tomodachi film fell from No. 3 to No. 5 during its second weekend. The film is the fourth to unite all 28 main characters from the Precure magical girl franchise. The film earned US$1,556,270 on 172 screens for a new total of US$6,177,779.
The manga-based Liar Game: Reborn (Liar Game -Saisei-) live-action film fell from No. 5 to No. 6 during its fourth weekend. Shota Matsuda (Hana Yori Dango [2005]) reprises his lead role as the genius Akiyama from Shinobu Kaitani's Liar Game psychological thriller manga. Mikako Tabe (Kimi ni Todoke) plays the heroine Yū in a new game, while Mana Ashida (Usagi Drop/Bunny Drop) goes against typecasting as Alice, a member of the Liar Game organization. The film ranked at No. 7 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned US$1,434,777 on 318 screens for a new total of US$19,702,450.
The live-action film adaptation of Bisco Hatori's Ouran High School Host Club romantic comedy manga fell at No. 12 to No. 14 during its second weekend. 17-year-old actress Haruna Kawaguchi (Yankee-kun to Megane-chan, Moshidora) reprises her lead role as Haruhi in the film. The film depicts an aspect of the story not seen in the live-action television series, although Hatori herself is collaborating on the script. The film earned US$286,131 on 149 screens for a new total of US$1,438,606.
The Strike Witches anime film fell from No. 11 to No. 15 during its second weekend. Kazuhiro Takamura returned from the two previous Strike Witches television anime series to direct the film. The film earned US$264,655 on 18 screens for a gross-to-date total of US$1,180,055.
The live-action film adaptation of Hikaru Nakamura's Arakawa Under the Bridge manga and Always: Sunset on Third Street '64, the third live-action film based on Ryohei Saigan's nostalgic San-chōme no Yūhi - Yūyake no Uta manga, fell off of Box Office Mojo's chart during their eighth and tenth weekends, respectively.
Sources: Kogyo Tsushinsha, Box Office Mojo
follow-up of Japanese Box Office, March 17-18
