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Japanese Box Office: Top 10 Anime Movies of 2007
posted on by Egan Loo
With over 5 billion yen (US$40 million) in the Japanese box office, the 10th anniversary Pokémon movie easily earned the crown of the top grossing anime movie of 2007 in Japan. That total was about one and a half times more than the 3.4-billion-yen (US$30 million) total of last year's Pokémon movie, Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea.
Even though there was no Studio Ghibli movie this year (2006 had Tales from Earthsea, and 2008 will have Gake no Ue no Ponyo), the children's anime franchises helped lift the overall box office total. The latest movies in the children's anime franchises of Pokémon, Doraemon, Crayon Shin-chan, Naruto, and Precure all surpassed last year's installments in box office totals. Only the latest movie in the Detective Conan franchise, Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure, dipped slightly in box office totals from 2006's entry (The Private Eyes' Requiem at US$25,810,944).
According to the animeanime.jp news website, Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone was a surprise hit. As a film aimed at older anime fans, it was expected to top out in the 1-billion-yen (US$9 million) range, similar to 2005's Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa (1.22 billion yen or US$10.8 million) and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation - Heirs to the Stars- (850 million yen or US$7.5 million). Instead, it earned 1.7 to 1.8 billion yen (US$15 to 16 million).
Although it was not on the top ten list, Summer Days with Coo earned about 350 million yen (US$2,988,362). That is similar to other critically acclaimed, award-nominated films from studios besides Studio Ghibli, such as 2006's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Paprika.
| Title | Gross in US$ | Release |
|---|---|---|
| Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl: Dialga vs. Palkia vs. Darkrai (movie) | $42,238,454 | July 14 |
| Doraemon: Nobita no Shin Makai Daibōken - Shichinin no Mahōtsukai | $28,671,322 | March 10 |
| Detective Conan: Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure | $20,094,670 | April 21 |
| Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone | $15,343,699 | September 1 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi wo Yobu Utau Ketsu dake Bakudan! | $12,465,599 | April 21 |
| Naruto Shippūden (movie) | $9,830,039 | August 4 |
| One Piece: Episode of Alabaster - Sabaku no Ojō to Kaizoku Tachi | $7,075,924 | March 3 |
| Yes! Precure 5: Kagami no Kuni no Miracle Daibōken! | $6,690,495 | November 10 |
| Chou Gekijouban Keroro Gunso 2: Shinkai no Princess de Arimasu! | $3,877,862 | March 17 |
| Mushiking/Oshare Majo Love and Berry: Shiawase no Mahou | $3,583,712 | March 21 |
The above list does not include live-action movies based on manga (Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 at #8 for all movies with US$34,035,726, #15's Dororo with US$27,082,688, #19's Crows Zero with US$21,867,963, #21's Gegege no Kitarō with US$18,836,036, Sakuran with US$5,973,534, Mushishi with $4,194,890). It also does not include films with a loose manga tie-in (Spider-Man 3 at #4 overall with US$58,320,289, #7's Transformers with US$34,305,553, #16's Resident Evil: Extinction with US$24,256,959, #36's Masked Rider Den-o with US$11,276,171). At least three manga-related movies — Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion - Mō Hitotsu no Hyōrinmaru, Eiga de Tōjō! Tamagotchi Doki Doki! Uchū no Maigotchi!?, and Always 2— are still in theaters and stand to increase their 2007 box office totals.
Source: Box Office Mojo via animeanime.jp
Image © Nintendo, Creatures, GAME FREAK, TV Tokyo, Sho-Pro, JR Kikaku
© Pokémon
© 2007 Pikachu Project
follow-up of Japanese Box Office, December 22-23: Bleach Film at #4 (Updated)
