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4th Live-Action Kingdom Film Opens at #1, Look Back Anime Film Drops to #2

Kingdom: Taishogun no Kikan (Return of the General), the fourth live-action Kingdom film, opened at #1 at the Japanese Box Office on Friday. The film sold 1,065,000 tickets and earned 1.629 billion yen (about US$10.28 million) in its first three days. The film sold 1.46 million tickets in its first four days, including Monday (which was the Marine Day holiday in Japan), and earned 2.2 billion yen (about US$13.89 million) in that time.

Shinsuke Satō is again directing the new film.

The film covers the manga's Shi Ka (Zi Xia) arc and the Battle of Bayou — the first time Shin (Xin) and Ō Ki (Wang Qi) stood on the battlefield together, to fend off the invasion by the mighty Chō (Zhao) from the north. Anne (Anne Watanabe) returns to the cast as the pivotal character Shi Ka (Zi Xia). Other cast members include Kataoka Ainosuke VI as Fuu Ki (Feng Ji), Kōji Yamamoto as Chō Sō (Zhao Zhuang), Yuki Yamada as Man Goku (Wan Ji), Eri Murakawa as You Li (Yū Ri), Hinako Sakurai as Dong Mei (Tō Bi), and Yuki Araki as Kyō.

Kento Yamazaki, Ryō Yoshizawa, Takao Osawa, and Kanna Hashimoto all reprised their respective characters Shin (Xin), Ei Sei (Yin Zheng), Ō Ki (Wang Qi), and Ka Ryō Ten (He Liao Diao), respectively, from the two previous films. Nana Seino, Hiroshi Tamaki, and Kōichi Satō from the second film also reprised their respective characters Kyо̄ Kai, Sho Hei Kun (Lord Changping), and Ryo Fui (Lu Buwei).

Shinsuke Satō (live-action Gantz, Death Note Light up the NEW world, Bleach) returned as director. Hara and Tsutomu Kuroiwa (One Piece Film Gold, live-action Black Butler, GANTZ:O) returned to write the script.

The anime film of Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto's "Look Back" one-shot manga dropped from #1 to #2 in its third week at the Japanese box office. The film sold 115,000 tickets from Friday to Sunday to earn 195,792,240 yen (about US$1.23 million). Including tickets and revenue from the Marine Day holiday, the film has sold a total of 590,000 tickets to earn a total of 1 billion yen (about US$6 million).

The film opened in theaters in Japan on June 28. It ranked at #2 in terms of ticket sales (but #1 in weekend earnings) in its opening weekend and sold 135,000 tickets earning 227 million (about US$1.40 million) in its first three days.

Yuumi Kawai and Mizuki Yoshida star in the film. Kawai plays Fujino, a fourth grader who draws four-panel comics in the school newspaper. Yoshida plays Kyomoto, Fujino's classmate who has been skipping school.

Kiyotaka Oshiyama (Flip Flappers) directed the anime, and was also in charge of the screenplay and character designs. Oshiyama's Studio Durian produced the film. Singer urara is performing the film's theme "Light song" by composer haruka nakamura.

Soreike! Anpanman: Baikinman to Ehon no Lulun (Baikinman and Lulun of the Picture Book), the 35th film in the Anpanman franchise, dropped from #2 to #3 in its third weekend. The film earned 80,684,680 yen (about US$509,400) from Friday to Sunday. The film sold 363,000 tickets from Friday until the Monday holiday, and has earned a total of 459 million yen (about US$2.89 million) as of Monday.

The film opened in Japan on June 28 and ranked #1 in terms of ticket sales (but #2 in weekend earnings). The film sold 137,000 tickets and earned 170 million yen (about US$1.05 million) in its first three days, the highest opening weekend for an Anpanman film in the franchise's history.

Actress Aya Ueto (live-action Azumi, Thermae Romae) voices the film's central character Lulun, while comedian Takashi Okamura voices a rampaging elephant.

The film's story centers on Anpanman's nemesis Baikinman, but this time, he attempts to become a warrior of love and courage when he is sucked into a picture book. Inside the book is a large forest where fairies live. Baikinman meets the fairy Lulun, who asks him to defeat an elephant that is rampaging in the forest. Although Baikinman is reluctant, he tries his best to defeat the elephant. However, it is too strong for Baikinman, so he tells Lulun to call Anpanman to help protect the picture book world.

The Detective Conan: Hyakuman Doru no Michishirube (Case Closed: The Million-dollar Pentagram) film rose from #6 to #5 in its 14th weekend at the Japanese box office. The film earned 65,434,050 yen (about US$413,100) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 10.80 million and earned a cumulative total of 15,396,271,290 yen (about US$97.22 million) as of the Monday holiday.

The film is now the highest-grossing film in the franchise, beating last year's Detective Conan: Kurogane no Submarine (Iron Submarine) film's 13.83 billion yen (about US$88.23 million) earnings.

The film ranked at #1 in its opening weekend, selling 2,274,333 tickets and earning 3,352,494,500 (about US$21.7 million) yen in its first three days.

The third part of the four-part Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture (originally titled Gode Geass: Z of the Recapture, or Dakkan no Zetto) anime project dropped from #7 to #9. The film earned 38,686,460 yen (about US$244,200) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 148,940,980 yen (about US$940,400) as of Sunday.

The anime's first part premiered in Japan on May 10, the second part premiered on June 7, and the third part on July 5. The anime's fourth part will premiere on August 2. The anime also began streaming exclusively worldwide on Disney+'s "Star" brand on June 21.

Yoshimitsu Ohashi (Amnesia, Galaxy Angel, Sacred Seven) is directing the new anime, and Noboru Kimura (Princess Principal: Crown Handler, Problem children are coming from another world, aren't they?) is writing the scripts. Takahiro Kimura is once again designing the characters along with Shuichi Shimamura based on the original character designs by CLAMP. Junichi Akutsu (Code Geass) is returning to design the Knightmare Frames. Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell) is composing the music. Sunrise, Ichiro Okouchi, and Goro Taniguchi are still credited with the original story.

MIYAVI performs the anime's opening theme song "Running In My Head." Hikari Mitsushima performs the ending theme song "Roze (Prod.TeddyLoid)."

Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Shinjidai no Tobira (Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Beginning of a New Era), a new anime film in the Uma Musume Pretty Derby franchise, dropped off the top 10 again in its eighth weekend.

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