Chiikawa stays No. 1 as Crayon Shin-chan rises in Japan’s box office

Cute characters, enormous numbers: Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of Mermaid Island has held on to the top spot at Japan’s box office for a fifth consecutive weekend.

The anime film led the 21–23 August weekend, while the latest Crayon Shin-chan movie climbed to No. 5. The weekend also saw the fifth live-action Kingdom film fall to No. 7 and the live-action BLUE LOCK movie rise to No. 9.

Chiikawa refuses to move

Eiga Chiikawa: Ningyo no Shima no Himitsu sold 825,800 tickets and earned ¥1,241,646,800 — roughly US$7.80 million — between Friday and Sunday.

The film has now sold 7.66 million tickets and earned ¥11,052,978,700, or approximately US$69.51 million. It opened in Japan on 24 July and has led the box office every weekend since launch.

The story adapts the manga’s popular Siren or Island Arc, in which Chiikawa, Hachiware and Usagi are lured to a mysterious island by promises of easy rewards and delicious food. The suspicious Rakko joins them, because even a flyer with a rabbit stuck to its face apparently is not enough to stop an island holiday.

The film will add 4DX screenings from 5 September, followed by one-day cheering screenings on 11 September and penlight screenings on 23 September.

Crayon Shin-chan climbs to No. 5

Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Kikikaikai! Ora no Yōkai Bake-shon rose from No. 6 to No. 5 in its fourth weekend. The 33rd 2D anime film earned ¥169,928,400 over the weekend and has reached ¥2,263,676,650 overall.

The film opened on 31 July and follows the Nohara family as a summer trip to Hiroshi’s hometown of Akita leads them into the land of yōkai. When supernatural creatures escape, the family becomes caught in a strange and nostalgic adventure.

Kingdom falls as BLUE LOCK rises

Kingdom: Tamashii no Kessen dropped from No. 5 to No. 7 in its sixth weekend. The fifth live-action film based on Yasuhisa Hara’s manga has sold 4 million tickets and earned ¥6,124,974,600 in total.

The live-action BLUE LOCK film climbed from No. 10 to No. 9 in its third weekend, earning ¥110,380,800 for the frame and ¥968,091,900 overall. The film opened on 7 August and added MX4D, 4DX and Dolby Cinema screenings on 21 August.

Shiranui opens at No. 2 in mini-theatres

CoMix Wave Films’ new anime short Shiranui ranked No. 2 in the mini-theatre rankings during its opening weekend. The film opened in Japan on 21 August, although the available report does not provide its weekend revenue.

The result adds another anime title to an unusually busy Japanese cinema chart, where franchise films, original animation and live-action manga adaptations are all competing for attention.

Our opinion

Chiikawa’s box-office run is the funniest kind of surprise: the characters look like they should be selling stationery, yet the film is collecting blockbuster money with the grim determination of a veteran action franchise.

Holding No. 1 for five weekends is not a novelty anymore. With more than ¥11 billion earned and special-format screenings still ahead, The Secret of Mermaid Island has moved beyond “cute character movie” territory and into genuine theatrical phenomenon.

Crayon Shin-chan’s climb is less spectacular but equally impressive. Both films understand that family anime does not need to be disposable; a good adventure can be silly, warm and commercially formidable at the same time.

The live-action results are a useful reminder that Japanese audiences are still turning out for manga adaptations when the films give them a reason to leave the sofa. Chiikawa may be the headline act this week, but the wider chart is doing a convincing job of showing how broad the country’s anime and manga cinema audience has become.