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6th Yo-kai Watch Film Opens at #4, Lupin III CG Film at #5

Eiga Yōkai Watch Jam: Yo-kai Gakuen Y - Neko wa Hero ni Nareru ka (Yo-kai Watch Jam the Movie: Yo-Kai Academy Y - Can a Cat be a Hero?), the sixth film in the Yo-kai Watch franchise, ranked at #4 in its opening weekend. The film opened last Friday on 347 screens.

The new film's story is set in Y-Academy, an elite school that only allows students with top class abilities to enter. The protagonist, Jinpei Jiba, and his unique friends, take on the mysteries of the school as transforming heroes.

Yo-kai Gakuen Y ~N to no Sōgū~ (Yo-Kai Academy Y: An Encounter With N), the new Yo-kai Watch anime series, will continue the film's story in the same academy setting, and will premiere on December 27.

Lupin III THE FIRST, the new anime film in Monkey Punch's Lupin III franchise, dropped from #2 to #5 in its second weekend. The film earned 141,045,550 yen (about US$1.28 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 591,379,500 yen (about US$5.39 million).

The film sold 220,000 tickets and earned 307,395,900 yen (about US$2.82 million) on its first three days, and ranked #2 in its opening weekend. The film earned only 37.7% of the opening weekend gross of the 2013 crossover film Lupin III vs. Detective Conan The Movie, but the Eiga.com website projects that the film will eventually earn more than 1.5 billion yen (about US$13.8 million).

The film opened in Japan on December 6 on 389 screens.

The film is the franchise's first 3D CG feature-length film. Takashi Yamazaki (Stand By Me Doraemon, Dragon Quest: Your Story) directed and wrote the film. The film's story centers on Lupin teaming up with a woman named Leticia to steal the Bresson Diary, a treasure that even the first generation Arsène Lupin could not steal.

The live-action film of Rin Mikimoto's Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight (Gozen 0-ji, Kiss Shi ni Kite yo) manga dropped from #3 to #6 in its second weekend. It earned 115,982,200 yen (about US$1.05 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 431,994,800 yen (about US$3.94 million).

The film sold 159,000 tickets and earned 194,913,000 yen (about US$1.79 million) on its first three days, and ranked at #3 in its opening weekend. The film earned only 46% of the opening weekend gross of the live-action Kaguya-sama: Love is War film, with the film's core audience being female teenagers and women in their 20s. The Eiga.com website projects that the film will eventually earn over 1 billion yen (about US$9.2 million).

The film opened in Japan on December 6 on 255 screens. Takehiko Shinjō directed the film, with a script by Haruka Ōkita.

GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE's Ryota Katayose stars in the film as Kaede Ayasa, and Kanna Hashimoto stars as Hinana Hanazawa.

Kodansha Comics publishes the manga in English.

Eiga Sumikko Gurashi - Tobidasu Ehon to Himitsu no Ko (Sumikko Gurashi The Movie - The Unexpected Picture Book and the Secret Child), the anime film of San-X's "Sumikko Gurashi" (Living in the Corner) characters, dropped from #4 to #7 in its sixth weekend. The film earned 59,093,200 yen (about US$539,503) from Friday to Sunday. The film has earned a cumulative total of 1,071,269,100 yen (about US$9.78 million).

The film ranked #3 in its opening weekend. The film opened in Japan on November 8 in 114 theaters. The film sold 104,000 tickets and earned 121 million yen (about US$1.11 million) over the weekend, but sold 114,280 tickets and earned 132,873,500 yen (about US$1.22 million) from Friday to Sunday of that week. The Eiga.com website estimates that the film will eventually earn 1 billion yen (about US$9.18 million).

Mankyū (Idolm@ster Cinderella Girls Theater, Jaku-San-Sei Million Arthur) directed the film at Fanworks. Takashi Sumita (Europe Kikaku) penned the script. Kaori Hino (Napping Princess, In This Corner of the World) was the art director.

The film's story begins when the Sumikko Gurashi characters find a mysterious picture book in the basement of a cafe they always go to. The film features new locales, items, and characters.

The anime film of Osamu Sōda's Bokura no Nanokakan Sensō (Seven Days War or Our Seven-Day War) novel opened outside of the top 10 at #11 in its opening weekend. The film opened last Friday on 200 screens.

Saenai Heroine no Sodate-kata fine, the anime film based on Fumiaki Maruto's Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend light novel series, dropped out of the top 10 in its eighth weekend. The film still earned 18,698,860 yen (about US$170,700) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 708,279,040 yen (about US$6.46 million).

Nicky Larson et le Parfum de Cupidon (Nicky Larson and the Cupid's Purfume), the French live-action film of Tsukasa Hojo's City Hunter manga, also dropped out of the top 10 in its third weekend. The film still earned 13,929,300 yen (about US$127,100) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 144,586,600 yen (about US$1.32 million).

The anime adaptation of Sato's Fragtime manga dropped from #3 to #4 in the mini-theater ranking in its fourth weekend.

Sources: Eiga.com, Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2), comScore via KOFIC