News

Yo-Kai Watch Shadowside Film Debuts at #2 With 399 Million Yen

Yo-kai Watch Shadowside: Oni-ō no Fukkatsu (Yo-kai Watch Shadowside: The Return of the Oni King), the fourth film in the Yo-kai Watch franchise, opened on 366 theaters on Saturday and ranked #2 at the Japanese box office for the weekend. The film sold 355,200 tickets to earn 399 million yen (about US$3.6 million). That is 65% of the opening box office for the 2015 film Eiga Yo-kai Watch: Enma Daioh to Itsutsu no Monogatari da Nyan!, which eventually earned 5.53 billion yen.

The new film is expected to earn 2.5 billion yen (US$22 million).

New to the film is the ability for yo-kai to transform into "lightside" and "shadowside" forms. In these forms, yo-kai show different personalities, abilities, and appearances. Jibanyan, Komasan, Whisper, Nurarihyon, Lord Enma, and Slimamander returned in the film. Characters from Shigeru Mizuki's GeGeGe no Kitarō manga also appear in the film. LEVEL-5 president and CEO and Yo-kai Watch creator Akihiro Hino oversaw production of the film, as well as provided the original concept and wrote the script.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi topped the latest Yo-kai Watch film in both tickets sold (737,467) and total yen earned (1.1258 billion yen or US$10 million) for the weekend, even though it opened on Friday and therefore its first day did not count towards the official weekend box office totals. (Most Japanese box office tallies only count Saturday and Sunday towards the weekend. The Yo-kai Watch film opened on Saturday) This is the third Star Wars film in a row to earn more yen than a Yo-kai Watch film opening in the same weekend, and the third to earn more money in its total run.

The Kamen Rider Heisei Generations FINAL Build & Ex-Aid with Legend Rider crossover film dropped from #1 to #5 in its second weekend, and earned 181,287,300 yen (about US$1.60 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film has earned a cumulative total of 644,157,300 yen (about US$5.72 million). The film opened on December 9 in 330 theaters. It sold 303,100 tickets to earn 359 million yen (about US$3.16 million) in its first weekend. The film sold 32.6 more tickets and earned 30.1% more on the first week compared to last year's film, Kamen Rider Heisei Generations: Dr. Pac-Man vs. Ex-Aid & Ghost with Legend Riders. The film is expected to earn up to 1.5 billion yen (about US$13 million).

The live-action film of Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist manga dropped from #5 to #7 in its third weekend, earning 71,370,400 yen (about US$633,700) from Friday to Sunday. The film has earned a cumulative 821,038,150 yen (about US$7.29 million). The film had opened on December 1 on about 400 screens in Japan, including on IMAX and 4DX screens. The film earned a total of 264,065,100 yen (about US$2.34 million) in its first week.

The first film in the six-film Girls und Panzer das Finale anime project dropped from #4 to #8 in its second weekend, and earned 53,077,520 yen (about US$471,300) from Friday to Sunday. The film has earned a cumulative total of 271,944,740 yen (about US$2.41 million). The film opened in Japan on December 9 in 59 theaters. It sold 118,798 tickets and earned 145,981,740 yen (about US$1.28 million) to rank #4 at the Japanese box office.

The new film features new characters from BC Freedom High School as they engage in a winter battle.

The Finale anime project will also have immersive 4DX and MX4D screenings, after the project's second episode ends its initial run of regular screenings. Each of the immersive screenings will combine two episodes; the first ones will combine the first and second episodes. The next set of immersive screenings will combine the third and fourth episodes, and the last set will combine the fifth and sixth episodes.

The Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru ~Makuai Kaisōroku~ the compilation film dropped off the mini-theater ranking in its third weekend. The film had dropped off the overall top 10 chart in its second weekend.

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