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Live-Action Kids on the Slope Opens at #8, Doraemon Stays at #1

The live-action film of Yuki Kodama's Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope) manga opened on March 10 in 288 theaters and ranked #8 in the Japanese box office in its opening weekend. Takahiro Miki (live-action Solanin, Aozora Yell) directed the film, and Izumi Takahashi (live-action Solanin, Museum) wrote the script. Kazumasa Oda performed the film's theme song "Sakamichi o Nobotte" (Climb the Slope).

The film stars Hey! Say! JUMP's Yuri Chinen as protagonist Kaoru Nishimi. Taishi Nakagawa plays Sentarō Kawabuchi, and Nana Komatsu plays Ritsuko Mukae.

The manga follows a naive boy and a scruffy boy in a provincial town in Nagasaki Prefecture in the late 1960s. In the early summer of 1966, Kaoru transfers to the local high school from Yokosuka. Thanks to his family's nearly constant cycle of moving from town to town, Kaoru has only known school as a difficult place for readjusting. However, on his first day at this new school, he meets a boy and begins a new direction in life.

Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Takarajima (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Treasure Island), the Doraemon franchise's 38th film, earned 704,262,700 yen (about US$6.62 million) from Friday to Sunday and once again topped the Japnese box office in its second weekend. The film has now earned a cumulative total of 1,708,813,100 yen (about US$16 million). The film sold 717,000 tickets for 843,148,500 yen (about US$8 million) at #1 in its opening weekend. The film earned 22% more than the first weekend of Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Nankyoku Kachi Kochi Daibōken, the previous year's film, which is the highest-earning film in the franchise with around a US$42 million gross, and was the second highest-grossing domestic film in Japan last year.

The latest Doraemon film is inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island novel. In the film's story, Doraemon, Nobita, Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo set out on an adventure in the Caribbean Sea. Nobita is the captain of a ship and fights his enemies on board. Shizuka gets kidnapped, and a storm impedes their journey. Mini-Dora robots help Nobita and friends on their journey. When the adventurers finally find the mysterious Treasure Island, they discover it is more than just an ordinary island.

The Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple anime film earned 85,031,700 yen (about US$799,200) from Friday to Sunday and dropped from #7 to #9 in its second weekend. The film has now earned a cumulative total of 214,721,808 yen (about US$2.01 million). The film earned 78,002,000 yen (about US$740,000) to rank #7 in its first official weekend.

Kafka Asagiri and Sango Harukawa's original Bungo Stray Dogs manga centers around a league of literary figures with supernatural powers. For example, in real life, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa wrote acclaimed stories that inspired Akira Kurosawa's Rashōmon film and the Aoi Bungaku Series anime's Jigoku Hen (Hell Screen) arc. In Bungo Stray Dogs, he has the power to transform and manipulate his cloak into a monster-like entity. Together, some of these writers solve mysteries as part of the "Armed Detective Agency," while others appear as antagonists.

The film's story involves a mystery case of power users around the world suddenly committing suicide one after another, in all cases after a strange fog appears at the scene. At a request from Ango Sakaguchi, the Armed Detective Agency head out to investigate Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, a power user who calls himself "collector," and a man suspected of being tied to the incident.

Gekijōban Ultraman Geed - Tsunagu ze! Negai!! (Ultraman Geed the Movie - Connect the Wishes!!), the film of the Ultraman Geed (pronounced "Jeed") series, opened on March 10 in 102 theaters and ranked #10 in the box office in its opening weekend.

The film's setting is Okinawa, and Yuika Motokariya has a guest role in the film as the character Airu Higa, a tour guide who is knowledgeable about Okinawa customs and traditions. In truth, Airu is a Kushian who originates from the past, and fights alongside Ultraman Geed to defend Earth.

The series premiered on TV Tokyo and its affiliates last July, and it aired its 25th and final episodes in December. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it airs in Japan.

In the show, 16-year-old actor Tatsuomi Hamada is playing Riku Asakura, who can transform into the titular Ultraman Geed. The character is the son of Belial, the enemy of franchise character Ultraman Zero. Hamada also appeared in the 2010 film Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial. Hamada is the youngest lead actor in the franchise's history.

The live-action film adaptation of Ryo Ikuemi's Principal manga fell off the top 10 in its second weekend. The film had earned 73,661,280 yen (about US$697,500) to rank #8 in its first weekend.

P.A. Works, Showgate, and Mari Okada's Sayonara no Asa ni Yakusoku no Hana o Kazarō (Maquia - When the Promised Flower Blooms) anime film also dropped off the top 10 in its third weekend. The film earned 26,616,900 yen (about US$250,100) from Friday to Sunday. The film has earned a cumulative total of 190,102,600 yen (about US$1.78 million).

Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Trilogy: Another Ending Part III - Kamen Rider Genmu VS Laser, the third film in a trilogy that provides an epilogue to the Kamen Rider Ex-Aid series, topped the mini-theater ranking again in its second weekend.

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