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Impossibility Defense, Hitsuji no Ki Films Stay in Top 10 at Japanese Box Office

The live-action film of Yūya Kanzaki and Arata Miyatsuki's Funōhan (Impossibility Defense) manga fell from #3 to #4 in its third weekend in the Japanese box office. The film earned 51,751,100 yen (about US$480,200) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 579,172,800 yen (about US$5.37 million). The film sold 93,000 tickets and earned 128 million yen (about US$1.17 million) in its opening weekend.

The suspense manga centers on Tadashi Usobuki, a man who wears a black suit and is able to kill others through the power of suggestion and by warping their thoughts. Although Tadashi often appears at the scene of the crime of these unnatural deaths, no one is able to prosecute him because police can never find any proof.

A four-episode mini-series premiered on dTV last December. The cast for both the film and the mini-series includes Tori Matsuzaka (live-action Gatchaman's Ken Washio the Eagle, Samurai Sentai Shinkenger's Takeru Shiba) as Tadashi Usobuki and Erika Sawajiri (live-action Helter Skelter, Shinjuku Swan) as Tomoko Tada.

The live-action film of Tatsuhiko Yamagami and Mikio Igarashi's Hitsuji no Ki (The Sheep's Tree or The Scythian Lamb) manga stayed at #5 in its third weekend. The film earned 41,944,600 (about US$389,200) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 467,853,900 yen (about US$4.34 million). The film sold 95,000 tickets and earned 129 million yen (about US$1.18 million) in its opening weekend.

The manga's story is set in a former seaport town that becomes the center of a secret government project. The project involves sending former convicts to live in the town, with almost no one in the town aware that they are former criminals. The story depicts the tension between the former convicts, whose intentions are unknown, and the citizens.

Ryo Nishikido stars in the lead role as Hajime Tsukisue, a kind-hearted public servant who is one of the few who know about the government project central to the story.

Code Geass - Hangyaku no Lelouch - Handō (Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion - The Rebellion Path), the second film in the compilation film trilogy for the Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion and Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 anime series, fell off the top 10 in its second weekend. The film ranked #8 in its opening weekend.

Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Trilogy: Another Ending Part II - Kamen Rider Para-DX with Poppy, the second film in a trilogy that provides an epilogue to the Kamen Rider Ex-Aid series, debuted at #1 in the mini-theater ranking. The first film, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Trilogy: Another Ending Part I - Kamen Rider Brave & Snipe, ranked #2 last week.

Tokimeki Restaurant☆☆☆ Miracle6, the anime film of Konami and Koei Tecmo Games' Tokimeki Restaurant☆☆☆ smartphone game, rose from #5 to #4 in the mini-theater ranking in its second weekend. The film opened in Japan on February 10.

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