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Odd Taxi Anime Film Debuts at #10, Live-Action Mr. Osomatsu Stays at #2

The live-action film of the Mr. Osomatsu (Osomatsu-san) franchise stayed at #2 in its second weekend. The film sold 144,000 tickets on Saturday and Sunday, earning 213 million yen (approximately US$1.73 million). The movie has sold a total of 750,000 tickets and earned a total of 1.0 billion yen (approximately US$8.14 million).

The film opened on March 25.

In the film's story, a rich man appears, proclaiming that he will adopt one of the sextuplets. Just as the six engage in a battle royale to be the rich man's heir, three mysterious "story-ending" figures take on the brothers in a battle to the finish.

Tsutomu Hanabusa (Kakegurui, Tokyo Revengers live-action films) directed the film. Ryōichi Tsuchiya wrote the screenplay, and Daiki Sugawara was a producer. Cinebazar and Hachinoji produced the film for Toho to distribute.

The Doraemon: Nobita's Little Star Wars 2021 anime film stayed at #3 in its fifth weekend. The film sold 120,000 tickets on Saturday and Sunday to earn 149 million yen (approximately US$1.21 million). The film has sold a total of 1.78 million tickets and has earned 2.1 billion yen (approximately US$17.1 million).

The film opened at #1, and sold 350,000 tickets for 440 million yen (about US$3.81 million) in its first three days. The film opened on March 4 after a yearlong delay due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Doraemon: Nobita's Little Star Wars 2021 is the 41st film in the Doraemon franchise. The film is a remake of the 1985 Doraemon film of the same title. Susumu Yamaguchi — a key animator on many previous Doraemon movies, unit director of Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Chronicle of the Moon Exploration, and the director of Mobile Suit Gundam AGE — directed the new film. Dai Sato (Eureka Seven, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Listeners) penned the script. Official HiGE DANdism created the theme song "Universe" specifically for the film. Sibling folk duo Billy BanBan performed the insert song "Kokoro Arigatō" (Thank You for the Heart). Shirogumi, the 3D CG studio behind the production of the Stand By Me Doraemon films, handled the CG for the spaceships in the film.

The Gekijō-ban Jujutsu Kaisen 0 anime film dropped from #6 to #7 in its 15th weekend. The film has sold a total of 9.5 million tickets and has earned a total of 13.32 billion yen (approximately US$108.54 million) since it opened in Japan on December 24. The film currently ranks as the 19th highest-earning film of all time in Japan, but is approaching Frozen 2 at #18, which earned a total of 13.37 billion yen.

The film is now the #1 highest-earning film at the Japanese box office from the 2021 calendar year, after surpassing Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time, according to the Mainichi Shimbun paper's Mantan Web.

The film earned 2,694,128,150 yen (about US$23.5 million) in its first three days, and topped the box office chart for its opening weekend. The film also has IMAX, 4D, and Dolby Cinema screenings.

The film is based on Gege Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Tokyo Toritsu Jujutsu Kōtō Senmon Gakkō (Jujutsu Kaisen 0: Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School) manga prequel story, with MAPPA animating again and Toho distributing. Megumi Ogata voiced the main character Yuta Okkotsu, and Kana Hanazawa voiced the character Rika Orimoto.

Eiga Odd Taxi: In the Woods, the film project of the original anime Odd Taxi, opened at #10 and earned 52 million yen (approximately US$4,23,685) from Friday to Sunday. The film opened on Friday in 34 theaters and had a per-theater average of about 1.13 million yen (approximately US$9,205).

The television anime's main cast and staff returned for the film.

The film is a "reconstruction" of the television anime episodes, but it also depicts what happens after the television anime's finale. The anime premiered in Japan in April 2021 and aired for 13 episodes.

The story follows Odokawa, an eccentric, reticent 41-year-old taxi driver who has no relatives and does not have much to do with others. He does have conversations with his customers, including a college student who wants to go viral, a nurse hiding a secret, an unsuccessful comedian, a street rough, and an up-and-coming idol. These conversations lead him to a girl who has disappeared.

Manga creator Kadzuya Konomoto (Seto Utsumi) wrote the anime. Baku Kinoshita directed the anime with Norio Nitta as the assistant director. Kinoshita and Hiromi Nakayama designed the characters. Kohei Yoshida was the recording director at Pony Canyon Enterprise. PUNPEE, VaVa, and OMSB were in charge of the music, and Pony Canyon was in charge of music production with collaboration by Summit, Inc. P.I.C.S. and OLM produced the anime. P.I.C.S. was also credited for the original work and planning.

The live-action film of Kiminori Wakasugi's Kappei comedy manga fell off the top 10 rankings in its third weekend. Additionally, Eiga Oshiri Tantei Shiriarty, the first feature-length film in the Butt Detective (Oshiri Tantei), franchise dropped off the top ten rankings in its third weekend.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2, link 3) Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web