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Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Film Opens at #1, Shin Ultraman Drops to #3

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, the second anime film in the Dragon Ball Super franchise, opened at #1 on Saturday .The film sold about 498,000 tickets for about 670 million yen (about US$4.99 million) in its first two days.

Comparatively, Dragon Ball Super: Broly sold more than 820,000 tickets for more than 1.05 billion yen (about US$9.26 million at the time) in its first three days. (The earlier film opened in Japan on a Friday whereas Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero opened on a Saturday.)

The film opened after a delay due to the Toei Animation hack in March. The film was originally slated to open in Japan on April 22. The film began screening in IMAX starting on June 11, and will screen 4DX and MX4D starting on June 25, and in Dolby Cinemas starting on July 1.

Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures will screen the film in theaters worldwide this summer starting in August. The summer screenings will include both the original Japanese audio with subtitles and with a dub. The companies will distribute the film in "all continents, including North America, Latin America, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia (excluding Japan)."

Tetsuro Kodama directed the film, and Naoki Satō composed the music. Nobuhito Sue was the art director, Chikashi Kubota was the animation director, and Jae Hoon Jung was the CG director. Dragon Ball original manga creator Akira Toriyama worked on the film's original story, screenplay, and character designs.

Studio Khara's new Shin Ultraman (New Ultraman) film dropped from #2 to #3 in its fifth weekend. The film sold 126,000 tickets over the weekend, and earned 202,877,850 yen (about US$1.50 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total 2.39 million tickets for 3,563,280,950 yen (about US$26.51 million).

The film debuted at #1 in its first weekend. The film sold 641,802 tickets to earn 993,410,050 yen (about US$7.68 million) in its first three days.

The film has the highest-earning debut weekend for a live-action Japanese film in 2022 so far.

Shin Ultraman earned 17% more in its first three days than Shin Godzilla did when it opened in August 2016. Shin Godzilla sold 564,332 tickets to earn 845,675,500 yen in its first three days.

Shin Ultraman was delayed from its previously planned early summer 2021 timeframe due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Takumi Saitou plays the film's main character, the man who can transform into Ultraman. Masami Nagasawa is the partner of the main character. Hidetoshi Nishijima also stars in the film.

Shin Godzilla director Shinji Higuchi and his Higuchi-Gumi team helmed the project, and Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno was in charge of planning and scripts. Kenshi Yonezu performs the film's theme song "M87."

The Eiga Gotōbun no Hanayome (The Quintessential Quintuplets the Movie) sequel anime film stayed at #4 in its fourth weekend. The film earned 132,490,060 yen (about US$985,900) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 1,399,386,140 yen (about US$10.41 million).

The Quintessential Quintuplets the Movie opened on May 20, and its runtime exceeds 130 minutes. The film serves as the finale for the story. The film sold approximately 290,000 tickets to earn 389,509,100 yen (about US$3.05 million) in its first three days.

Attendees of the film are receiving a special book volume 14.5 as a bonus, which features a new bonus chapter 122+1 that takes place after the original ending.

Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween (Meitantei Conan: Halloween no Hanayome), the 25th anime film in the Detective Conan franchise, stayed at #5 in its ninth weekend. The film earned 98,001,300 yen (about US$729,000) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 6.3 million tickets, and has earned a cumulative total of 8,794,664,000 yen (about US$65.43 million).

The film opened in Japan on April 15 and sold 1,321,944 tickets for 1,907,467,150 yen (about US$15.06 million) in its first three days. The film earned 1% more in its first three days than the previous record-holding film (for total earnings) in the franchise, Detective Conan: Fist of Blue Sapphire, in its first three days.

Susumu Mitsunaka (Haikyu!!) directed the film at TMS Entertainment. Takahiro Ōkura (Detective Conan: Fist of Blue Sapphire, Detective Conan: The Crimson Love Letter) wrote the screenplay. Gosho Aoyama was credited for the original work. Yūgo Kanno (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, Psycho-Pass) composed the music for the film. Bump of Chicken performed the film's theme song "Chronostasis."

Gekijōban Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san, the Teasing Master Takagi-san franchise's anime film, opened at #6 on Friday.

In the film's story, Takagi and Nishikata are in their final year of middle school, and have both anxiety and hope for the future. During the summer of their final year, on the day before summer vacation starts, the two find a kitten that they name Hana. They decide to take care of the kitten themselves until they can find its mother. Inori Minase plays Hana, and Haruka Tomatsu plays a pet shop employee named Ōta.

The main staff from the anime's third season returned for the film. Hiroaki Akagi directed the film at Shin-Ei Animation, while Hiroko Fukuda is credited for composition, as well as penning the script alongside fellow third season scriptwriters Aki Itami and Kanichi Katou. Aya Takano once again designed the characters. Hiroaki Tsutsumi returned from previous seasons to compose the music.

The film will have four different bonuses for moviegoers over its first four weeks. The first week's bonus is a 68-page booklet with exclusive manga content by original manga creator Sōichirō Yamamoto. The film will also have four different ending theme songs, changing for each of the film's four weeks of screening. Rie Takahashi, the voice of Takagi, performed the first week's ending theme song "Ashita e no Tobira" (The Door Into Tomorrow).

Yuiko Ōhara, who has performed a number of the opening and ending theme songs for the franchise's previous television anime, performed the film's insert song "Hamabō no Hana," in addition to performing the film's theme song "Hajimari no Natsu" (The Beginning of Summer).

The Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island (Kidō Senshi Gundam: Cucuruz Doan no Shima) anime film dropped from #3 to #7 in its second weekend. The film earned 126,323,720 yen (about US$939,800) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 695,892,260 yen (about US$5.17 million).

The film earned about 400 million yen (about US$3.02 million) and sold approximately 200,000 tickets in its first three days. The film opened in Japan on June 3 and played in 184 theaters nationwide.

The film's original announcement described the film as a retelling of the 15th episode of the original Mobile Suit Gundam television anime. The episode itself has been omitted from English releases of the series.

Manga creator and animator Yoshikazu Yasuhiko directed the film, and was also credited with the character designs alongside Atsushi Tamura (Weathering With You) and Tsukasa Kotobuki (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Saber Marionette J). Yasuhiko had revealed in June 2021 that he was working on an unannounced anime film. Ka Hee Im was credited as assistant director. Toshizo Nemoto (Macross Delta) penned the script. Longtime Gundam mechanical designers Kunio Okawara, Hajime Katoki, and Kimitoshi Yamane were credited for mechanical design in the film. Takayuki Hattori (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin) composed the music.

The live-action film of Kousuke Oono's The Way of the Househusband (Gokushufudō) manga dropped from #6 to #8 in its second weekend. The film earned 70,198,680 yen (about US$522,400) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 297,965,950 yen (about US$2.21 million).

The film opened on June 3.

The cast members from the manga's previous live-action series reprised their roles for the film, including Hiroshi Tamaki as Tatsu, Haruna Kawaguchi as Miku, and Jun Shison as Masa.

Tōichirō Rutō returned from the live-action series to direct of the film. The live-action series premiered in October 2020. The franchise also includes a six-part epilogue special that premiered on May 27.

Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Mononoke Ninja Chinpūden, the Crayon Shin-chan series' 30th film, dropped from #7 to #9 in its eighth weekend. The film earned 36,756,500 yen (about US$273,500) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 1.61 million tickets, and has earned a cumulative total of 1,937,601,300 yen (about US$14.42 million).

The film opened on April 22. It sees Shinnosuke as a ninja, and teases at the "mystery of Shinnosuke's birth."

Masakazu Hashimoto (Tari Tari, Haruchika – Haruta & Chika, Appare-Ranman!) directed the film, and also co-wrote the script with Crayon Shin-chan anime scriptwriter Kimiko Ueno. Ryoku Oushoku Shakai performs the film's theme song "Hi wa Mata Noboru Kara" (Because the Sun Will Rise Again).

Inu-Oh, Masaaki Yuasa's musical anime feature film of Hideo Furukawa's Heike Monogatari: Inu-Oh no Maki (Tales of the Heike: Inu-Oh) novel, is still out of the top 10 in its third weekend, but it still earned 28,673,720 yen (about US$213,400) from Friday to Sunday. The film has earned a cumulative total of 180,676,854 yen (about US$1.34 million). The film opened on May 28.

The Hideaki Anno Selection: Ultraman 4K Special Screening dropped from #1 to #4 in the mini-theater rankings for the weekend.

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