News

Japanese Box Office, November 30-December 1

Kaguya-hime no Monogatari (The Tale of Princess Kaguya), the latest film from Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, fell from #1 to #2 during its second weekend. The film is based on the famous Japanese folktale Taketori Monogatari (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter), which centers on a princess named Kaguya who was discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant. The film ranked at #1 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned 267,052,406 yen (US$2,595,009) on 456 screens for a new total of 801,712,179 yen (US$7,790,421).

Gekijō-ban Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magica [Shinpen]: Hangyaku no Monogatari (Madoka Magica The Movie -Rebellion-), the third film in the Puella Magi Madoka Magica franchise, fell from #4 to #7 in its sixth weekend. Akiyuki Shinbo and Yukihiro Miyamoto directed the film at SHAFT with original character designs from manga creator Ume Aoki (Hidamari Sketch). Yuki Kajiura provided the music. The main cast returned from the television series and previous two films, and Kana Asumi joined the cast as the new magical girl Nagisa Momoe. The film ranked at #6 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned 44,835,815 yen (US$435,679) on 129 screens for a new total of 1,839,529,998 yen (US$17,875,136).

Toei's Eiga Dokidoki! Precure Mana Kekkon!!? Mirai ni Tsunagu Kibō no Dress (Dokidoki! Precure the Movie: Mana's Getting Married!!? The Dress of Hope Linked to the Future) film fell from #6 to #9 in its sixth weekend. The story begins when the main lead, Mana Aida, inherits the same wedding dress that her mother and her grandmother wore. However, a mysterious cloaked figure named Mashū appears aboard an airship while playing a clarinet, and people start losing their memories or worse. Mana is transported to the past, and while she gets to see her beloved grandmother and dog Maro, the future is in jeopardy. The film ranked at #8 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned 35,058,835 yen (US$340,674) on 197 screens for a new total of 922,210,345 yen (US$8,961,330).

The first Persona 3 film, Persona 3 the Movie #1 Spring of Birth, ranked at #10 on Box Office Mojo's chart in its second weekend. The cast from Atlus's original PlayStation 2 game returned for the film. In the game's story, there is a hidden time known as the "Dark Hour" that exists between one day and the next when all movement in the town stops. During this time, terrible creatures called Shadows roam, and a group of high school students in the city of Iwatodai are drawn into the Dark Hour to fight these creatures and explore the mysterious tower of Tartarus. This group uses weapons called Evokers that are used to summon Personas. The film earned 30,569,795 yen (US$297,053) on 26 screens for a new total of 129,761,868 yen (US$1,260,925).

The Bad Boys J live-action film based on Hiroshi Tanaka's Bad Boys manga fell from #9 to #13 on Box Office Mojo's chart in its fourth weekend. The film is a followup of the 2012 Bad Boys J television drama starring Sexy Zone idol group signer Kento Nakajima as Tsukasa Kiriki, a young man who has a strong sense of justice, but rebels against his rich parents and joins a motorcycle gang called the Paradise Butterflies. The film earned 17,545,905 yen (US$170,497) on 90 screens for a new total of 214,604,559 yen (US$2,085,361).

Sources: Kogyo Tsushinsha, Box Office Mojo