Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- Film Drops to #2, New The Rose of Versailles Anime Film Opens at #9 – Actualités Find help us

The Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- anime film dropped from #1 to #2 in its third weekend in the Japanese box office. The film sold 180,000 tickets and earned 271,457,409 yen (about US$1.76 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 1.18 million tickets and earned a cumulative total of 1,935,716,409 yen (about US$12.55 million).

The film debuted at #1 in the Japanese box office in its opening weekend. It sold 352,500 tickets and earned 598,832,300 yen (about US$3.83 million) in its first three days. The film opened in Japan on January 17.

The story of Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning-, a re-edited version of the first four episodes of the upcoming Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX (pronounced as “g-kwux”) television anime, centers on Amate Yuzuriha, a high-school student living peacefully in a space colony floating in outer space. When she meets a war refugee named Nyaan, Amate is drawn into the illegal mobile suit dueling sport known as Clan Battle.

Under the entry name “Machu,” she throws herself into fierce battle day after day, piloting the GQuuuuuuX. Then an unidentified Gundam mobile suit pursued by both the space force and the police appears before her, along with its pilot, a boy named Shūji.

Kazuya Tsurumaki (FLCL, Gunbuster 2: Diebuster) is directing the anime, and Yōji Enokido (Bungo Stray Dogs, Sailor Moon Super S, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Ouran High School Host Club) is supervising the series scripts and writing the scripts with Hideaki Anno (Evangelion, Shin Godzilla). Illustrator Take (Katanagatari, Zaregoto, Pokémon Sun & Moon) is designing the characters, and Ikuto Yamashita (Evangelion, Shin Kamen Rider, Yukikaze) is the mechanical designer.

Gekijо̄-ban Nintama Rantaro Dokutake Ninja-tai Saikyо̄ no Gunshi (Nintama Rantaro the Movie: The Dokutake Ninja Team’s Strongest Strategist), the first anime film in the Nintama Rantaro anime franchise in 13 years, jumped from #7 to #3 in its seventh weekend. The film sold 141,000 tickets and earned 235,207,660 yen (about US$1.52 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 1.41 million tickets, and has earned a cumulative total of 2,057,200,820 yen (about US$13.35 million).

The film opened in Japan on December 20. It sold 198,000 tickets in its first weekend, including advanced screenings, earning 295 million yen (about US$1.87 million) from Thursday through Sunday.

The movie is based on Kazuhisa Sakaguchi‘s 2013 novel of the same name, which centers on Rantaro’s teacher Hansuke Doi losing a battle against Sonnamon and Zatto Konnamon becoming a teacher at Ninjutsu Academy.

Yasuhiro Mamiya voices Happōsai Hieta, replacing the late Shōzō Iizuka, who voiced the character in the anime series. In addition, Naniwa Danshi members Ryūsei Ōnishi and Jōichirō Fujiwara appear in the film as guest voice actors.

Masaya Fujimori (Doraemon movies) returned from the previous film to direct the new one at Ajia-do, the same animation studio for the television series. Original novel writer Sakaguchi wrote the screenplay.

The live-action film of Akane Shimizu‘s Cells at Work! (Hataraku Saibō) manga stayed at #4 in its eighth weekend. The film earned 152,739,270 yen (about US$992,100) from Friday to Sunday. It has sold a total of 4.31 million tickets, and earned a cumulative total of 5,781,335,170 yen (about US$37.55 million).

The film opened in Japan on December 13 and ranked at #1. The film sold a total of 612,000 tickets and earned a total of 844,768,310 yen (about US$5.49 million) in its first three days.

The film has 4D (4DX and MX4D) and IMAX screenings in Japan.

Hideki Takeuchi (live-action Nodame Cantabile, Thermae Romae, Fly Me to Saitama) directed the film, with a script by Yūichi Tokunaga (live-action Kaguya-sama: Love is War, Liar x Liar, Princess Jellyfish). Warner Bros. Japan distributed the film. Official HiGE DANdism performed the theme song “50%.”

COLORFUL STAGE! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing (Gekijо̄ban Project Sekai: Kowareta Sekai to Utaenai Miku, or The Broken World and a Miku Who Can’t Sing), an anime film based on the Project Sekai: Colorful Stage feat. Hatsune Miku smartphone game, stayed at #6 in its third weekend. The film earned 134,068,600 yen (about US$870,600) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 762,210,600 yen (about US$4.95 million).

The film debuted at #2 and sold 232,500 tickets and earned 306,817,000 yen (about US$1.96 million) in its first three days.

Colorful Palette, a subsidiary of Craft Egg, and Sega collaborated on the film, which is getting a global release.

The original story follows Ichika Hoshino, who hears a Miku song that she has never heard before at a CD shop and sees a Hatsune Miku whom she had never seen before. Ichika calls out to Miku, who surprised by the voice, disappears shortly after making eye contact. Miku later appears on Ichika’s smartphone to tell her that she would like to reach others with her songs, but no matter how much she sings, her songs cannot reach them. After seeing Ichika reach others’ hearts with her live street performance, Miku asks for her help.

Saki Fujita reprises her role as Hatsune Miku from other works in the franchise. Ruriko Noguchi stars as Ichika Hoshino. The cast also includes returning members from the franchise.

Hiroyuki Hata (Lapis Re:LiGHTs) directed the anime at P.A. Works. Yoko Yonaiyama (Ya Boy Kongming!) wrote the screenplay. Yuki Akiyama (IRODUKU: The World in Colors) designed the characters and was a chief animation director, along with Masatoshi Tsuji (chief animation director for Summer Time Rendering), who was also a sub-character designer. Satoshi Hōno (Aggretsuko) composed the music.

The staff of the live-action film of Kengo Hanazawa‘s Under Ninja manga dropped from #3 to #7 in its second weekend. The film earned 130,872,990 yen (about US$850,300) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 473,523,990 yen (about US$3.07 million).

The film ranked at #3 in its opening weekend. The film sold 160,000 tickets and earned 225,933,800 yen (about US$1.46 million) in its first three days.

The film opens in theaters in Japan on January 24. The film had its world premiere in Los Angeles on January 8.

Kento Yamazaki (live-action Alice in Borderland, Kingdom, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K., Orange, HYOUKA, Your Lie in April) plays the protagonist Kurō Kumogakure, and Minami Hamabe (Godzilla Minus One, Shin Kamen Rider, live-action Kakegurui, Saki, The Promised Neverland) plays the heroine Ayaka Noguchi. Yūichi Fukuda (live-action Gintama, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Saint Young Men, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. films) wrote and directed the film.

Creepy Nuts performs the theme song “doppelgänger.”

Manga publisher Denpa is releasing the manga in English, and it describes the series:

A high school loner is given the part-time job of a lifetime as a modern day ninja tasked to perform international assassinations.

After World War II, Allied Command in Japan developed a new agency to help manage terrorism and violence within the Pacific region. The agency was staffed with ninja and they were initially tasked to handle domestic affairs. Eventually that program grew to its current form, managing 20,000 ninja across a range of domestic and international affairs. One of those ninja happens to be Kurō. The seventeen-year-old high school loser is now poised to be the next line of defense against a potential surge in foreign assassins invading Tokyo.

The manga inspired a television anime, which premiered in October 2023. The anime starred Taito Ban as Kurō Kumogakure and Tarusuke Shingaki as Katō.

The live-action film of Toutarou Minami‘s Suicide Notes Laid on the Table (Isho, Kōkai.) manga ranked at #8 in its opening weekend. The film earned 119,785,460 yen (about US$778,800) in its first three days.

Comikey and Square Enix‘s Manga UP! are both releasing the manga in English. Manga UP! describes the manga:

Everyone in Class 2-D of Kairei Private Middle School receives an e-mail at the beginning of the school year detailing a “class hierarchy.” But the number one ranked Tsubaki Himeyama clears away the unrest this causes with her sunny disposition. Normalcy returns to the class… until Himeyama is found to have killed herself on campus. And once her classmates return from her funeral, they find suicide notes addressed to them on their desks! Will these notes expose the darkness class 2-D conceals?!

Minami launched the manga in Square Enix‘s Gangan Joker magazine in 2017. Square Enix published the manga’s ninth and final compiled book volume in February 2022.

Manga UP! is also releasing Minami’s Birdcage Castle (Torikago no Tsugai) manga in English.

The new anime film of Riyoko Ikeda‘s The Rose of Versailles manga ranked at #9 in its opening weekend. The film earned 108,158,300 yen (about US$704,200) in its first three days.

The mini-anime “Berubara Mini!” is debuting alongside the film with a different episode for every week of the film’s screening in Japan.

Ai Yoshimura (Daily Lives of High School Boys. My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU) directed the film at MAPPA. Tomoko Konparu (Ashita no Nadja, Uta no Prince-sama – Maji Love 1000%) penned the script, and Mariko Oka (First Love Monster, Hell Girl) was the character designer. Hiroyuki Sawano (Attack on Titan, Blue Exorcist) served as music producer, and was responsible for the music along with Kohta Yamamoto (Kaina of the Great Snow Sea, 86).

Ayaka performs the theme song “Versailles.”

The staff describes the story:

Oscar François de Jarjayes, raised as the “son” and heir of a general’s family, masquerades as a beautiful woman in men’s clothing. Marie Antoinette arriving from neighboring Austria as a bride to become a noble and graceful queen.. Oscar’s servant and childhood friend, the commoner André Grandier. Hans Axel von Fersen, a handsome and intelligent count from Sweden. They meet in Versailles, France in the prosperous late 18th Century and live their respective destinies beautifully while being tossed about by the tides of times.

The new original video anime (OVA) Sk8 the Infinity Extra Part dropped from #1 to #4 in the mini-theater rankings in its second weekend.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2, link 3), comScore via KOFIC