News

Japanese Box Office, June 22-23

The live-action film adaptation of Shunju Aono's Ore wa Mada Honki Dashitenai Dake (I'll Give It My All... Tomorrow) manga fell from #5 to #7 in its second weekend. The story centers on Shizuo, a hapless 41-year-old father of a 17-year-old girl. Shizuo dreams of being a manga creator while spending his days working at a menial part-time job. Shinichi Tsutsumi (SP series, Always: Sunset on Third Street) stars in this film from director Yūichi Fukuda (Yūsha Yoshihiko to Maō no Shiro, One-Pound Gospel, Saru Lock, The 3-Mei-sama: Anime wa Anime de Arissho!, Waimo-kun~Kiiroi Kao Shite Babanban). The acoustic guitar duo Gontiti (Nobody Knows, TO-Y, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou) is scoring the music. The film earned 44,566,428 yen (US$449,363) on 147 screens for a new total of 178,462,549 yen (US$1,799,437).

The first installment in the Ghost in the Shell Arise video anime series debuted at #8. The anime's story is set in 2027, one year after the end of the fourth non-nuclear war. Newport City is still reeling from the war's aftermath when it suffers a bombing caused by a self-propelled mine. Then, a military officer implicated in arms-dealing bribes is gunned down. During the investigation, Public Security Section 9's Daisuke Aramaki encounters Motoko Kusanagi, the cyborg wizard-level hacker assigned to the military's Secret Unit 501. Batou, a man with the "eye that does not sleep," suspects that Kusanagi is the one behind the bombing. The Niihama Prefectural Police detective Togusa is pursuing his own dual cases of the shooting death and a prostitute's murder. Motoko herself is being watched by Secret Unit 501's head Kurutsu and cyborg agents. Box Office Mojo did not list the film on its chart for the June 22-23 weekend.

Meitantei Conan: Zekkai no Private Eye (Detective Conan: Private Eye in the Distant Sea), the 17th Detective Conan (Case Closed) film, stayed at #10 on Box Office Mojo's chart in its 10th weekend. The movie is set on a state-of-the art Aegis vessel with the full cooperation of Japan's real-life Ministry of Defense and Maritime Self-Defense Force. The corpse of a Self-Defense Force member has been found — minus the left arm — and a spy has infiltrated the Aegis vessel. The heroine Ran is put in jeopardy, and Conan is forced to stand up against the dangerous Spy "X." Kobun Shizuno is returning from the last few Detective Conan films to direct the latest one at TMS and V1 Studio. The television anime's cast members are reprising their respective roles. The film earned 16,575,195 yen (US$167,127) on 304 screens for a new total of 3,513,397,412 yen (US$35,425,586).

The live-action film adaptation of Hiro Arikawa Toshokan Sensō/Library Wars novels fell from #11 to #13 on Box Office Mojo's chart during its ninth weekend. The film stars V6 idol group member Junichi Okada (Tales from Earthsea, From Up On Poppy Hill) as Atsushi Dōjō, and Nana Eikura (Mei-chan no Shitsuji, Boku wa Imōto ni Koi o Suru) as Iku Kasahara. Shinsuke Satō (Gantz, Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror, The Princess Blade, Sand Chronicles) directed the film. The film earned 8,893,279 yen (US$89,670) on 238 screens for a new total of 1,638,034,231 yen (US$16,516,299).

Kenchō Omotenashi-ka, the live-action film based on a novel by Library War/Toshokan Sensō author Hiro Arikawa, fell from Box Office Mojo's chart during its seventh weekend.

Sources: Kogyo Tsushinsha, Box Office Mojo