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Neofilms Opens Natsume's Book of Friends Film in Hong Kong in December
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Hong Kong film distributor Neofilms announced last Friday that it will open Natsume Yujin-cho the Movie: Ephemeral Bond (Natsume Yūjin-Chō: Utsusemi ni Musubu), the anime film of Yuki Midorikawa's Natsume's Book of Friends (Natsume Yūjin-Chō) manga, in Hong Kong on December 6.
The film topped the Japanese box office rankings in its opening weekend on September 29-30, selling 117,473 tickets to earn 172,144,780 yen (about US$1.5 million). The movie is projected to earn over 1 billion yen (about US$8.7 million). The film has earned a cumulative total of 622,235,540 yen (about US$5.56 million) as of October 14.
The film features a returning cast. In addition, Kengo Kōra plays Mukuo Tsumura, a young man whom Natsume meets and befriends. Sumi Shimamoto plays Yorie Tsumura, Mukuo's mother. Ayumu Murase plays Daisuke Yūki, Natsume's schoolmate from elementary school. Viking comedy duo member Eiji Kotōge plays Monmonbō, a yōkai who has come to take its name back from Natsume. Viking comedy duo member Mizuki Nishimura plays Roppon-ude, a six-armed yōkai who aims to take Natsume's book.
Midorikawa supervised the film's original story. Animation studio Shuka returned from the television anime's fifth and sixth seasons to animate the film. Takahiro Ōmori again served as chief director, but Hideki Ito was the new director. Sadayuki Murai again handled series composition, Tatsuo Yamada returned for yōkai design, and Makoto Yoshimori again composed the music. Uru performed the film's theme song "remember."
