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Final Gundam the Origin Film Opens at #9, Detective Conan Stays at #1

"Tanjō Akai Suisei" (Rise of the Red Comet), the sixth and last episode of the Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin anime and the last in the anime's "Loum Arc," opened in Japan on Saturday in 35 theaters, earning 94,764,100 yen (about US$869,500) to rank #9 at the box office in Japan in its opening weekend.

The film focuses on the young Zeon ace Char Aznable earning his "Red Comet" nom de guerre. The episode also focuses on the beginnings of the Federation's "Project V" weapons project that will eventually give birth to the RX-78-2 Gundam.

The anime project adapts Yasuhiko's manga of the same name, which in turn is inspired by the first Mobile Suit Gundam anime's story. Yasuhiko designed the characters in the first Gundam anime, and he serves as the chief director and storyboarder for the Gundam: The Origin anime. Yasuhiko revealed last month that Gundam: The Origin is his last anime

Meitantei Conan: Zero no Shikkōnin (Detective Conan: Zero's Executioner), the 22nd film in the Detective Conan series, remained at #1 at the box office in Japan in its fourth weekend. The film sold 418,000 tickets on Saturday and Sunday to earn 552 million yen (about US$5.06 million). The film has sold a total of 4.79 million tickets and earned 6,222,515,600 yen (about US$56.9 million) as of May 6.

As with the previous week, it topped the Avengers: Infinity War film, which opened in Japan last week, and is now in its second week ranked #2 for Saturday and Sunday in both the number of tickets sold and earnings. Avengers: Infinity War sold 266,000 tickets, earning 408 million yen (about US$3.74 million).

Detective Conan: Zero's Executioner had sold 1,289,000 tickets in its first three days to earn 1.67 billion yen (about US$15.6 million). The film's opening Saturday and Sunday sales represented 100.7% of the total that last year's Meitantei Conan Kara Kurenai no Love Letter film earned in its first Saturday and Sunday. Last year's film became the highest-grossing domestic film in Japan in 2017, earning a total of 6.89 billion yen (about US$61.1 million), which is also a franchise record. The new film could possibly be the series' sixth consecutive film to break the franchise's previous box-office record.

Yuzuru Tachikawa (Mob Psycho 100, Death Parade) directed the film. The film is a sequel of the series' 20th film, Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare, and centers on Tōru "Zero" Amuro. Police chief Hyōe Kuroda, who is rumored to be Rum in the Black Organization, appears for the first time in a film for the franchise.

Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Bakumori! Kung-Fu Boys ~Ramen Tairan~ (Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Bakumori! Kung-Fu Boys Ramen Rebellion), the 26th Crayon Shin-chan film, stayed at #4 in its fourth weekend at the box office. The film earned 183,495,300 yen (about US$1.58 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has now cumulatively earned a total of 1,468,904,700 yen (about US$13.48 million).

The film had sold 315,000 tickets to earn 367 million yen (about US$3.42 million) in its opening weekend. The film is expected to earn more than 1.6 billion yen (about US$14.9 million). The opening weekend sales represent 111.2% of the total that last year's Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Shūrai! Uchūjin Shiriri (Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Invasion! Alien Shiriri) film earned in its opening Saturday-Sunday weekend. Last year's film earned a total of 1.62 billion yen (about US$15.1 million) at the box office in Japan.

The kung-fu action film is set in a Chinatown named Aiyātown in Kusakabe, Saitama (the setting of the main series). Crayon Shin-chan Bakusui! Yumemi World Dai Totsugeki director Wataru Takahashi returned to direct the film. Eiga Crayon Shin-chan: Ora no Hikkoshi Monogatari ~Saboten Daishūgeki scriptwriter Kimiko Ueno wrote the script.

The live-action film adaptation of Robico's My Little Monster (Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun) manga dropped from #6 to #7 in its second weekend. The film earned 79,929,000 yen (about US$733,700) from Friday to Sunday, and has now earned a cumulative total of 363,292,400 yen (about US$3.33 million).

The film opened in Japan on April 27.

Masaki Suda played the character Haru Yoshida. Tao Tsuchiya played Shizuku Mizutani. Shō Tsukikawa (live-action Kurosaki-kun no Iinari ni Nante Naranai, Kimi no Suizō o Tabetai) directed the film.

The live-action film of Hiroya Oku's Inuyashiki manga fell from #7 to #10 and earned 64,854,200 yen (about US$595,400) from Friday to Sunday in its third weekend. The film has earned a total of 605,686,900 yen (about US$5.56 million). The film is expected to surpass 1 billion yen (about US$9.21 million) at the box office.

The film opened on April 20 in Japan, and sold 91,000 tickets to earn 124 million yen (about US$1.14 million) to rank #5 in its opening weekend.

Noritake Kinashi and Takeru Satoh star in the film. Shinsuke Satō, who also directed the live-action film adaptation of Oku's Gantz manga, as well as its Gantz II: Perfect Answer sequel film, directed the film.

Digimon Adventure tri.- Chapter 6: Our Future, the sixth and final film in the Digimon Adventure tri. series, opened on May 5 and ranked #1 in the mini-theater rankings in Japan.

The film will screen for three weeks. As with previous films in the series, theaters screening the film are also selling a limited-edition Blu-ray Disc. The film also debuted online for a fee on the same day in Japan. Crunchyroll is streaming the film as five episodes.

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