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New Laws of the Universe Film Opens at #2, Macross Delta: Zettai LIVE!!!!!! at #6

Uchū no Hō: Elohim-hen (The Laws of the Universe: Elohim Chapter), the newest film in The Laws of the Universe film series by controversial religious organization Happy Science (Kōfuku no Kagaku), ranked at #2 in its opening weekend. The film sold about 170,000 tickets to earn more than 200 million yen (about US$1,756,000) in its first three days.

The film opened on October 8.

Isamu Imakake returned as director, character designer, and chief animation director of this new installment. Yūichi Mizusawa also returned as composer. Sayaka Ōkawa penned the script. Yumiko Awaya is once again credited as visual effects creative director. Happy Science founder Ryuho Okawa is credited with the original work and as the chief production supervisor for the film.

Uchū no Hō: Elohim-hen is the second film in a planned trilogy. The Laws of the Universe: Part 1 opened in Japan in October 2018. Eleven Arts Anime Studio hosted the film's world premiere with an English dub at the Awareness Film Festival in Los Angeles earlier that month.

The Laws of the Universe Part 0, the film that sets up the trilogy's story, premiered in Los Angeles in September 2016. Eleven Arts then screened the film in selected theaters in the U.S. and Canada in October of that year, and the film opened in Japan in the same month. The film screened in North America with an English dub.

The Gekijōban Macross Delta: Zettai LIVE!!!!!! feature film ranked at #6 on its opening weekend.

The film opened on October 8 alongside the "Gekijō Tanpen Macross Frontier Toki no Meikyū" (Macross Frontier Film Short: Labyrinth of Time) film short.

The "Walküre Senjō no Premium Live Event at Toyosu Pit" had announced the new film in September 2018 and described the film as "entirely new" — as opposed to that year's Macross Delta the Movie: Passionate Walkūre (Gekijō-ban Macross Delta: Gekijō no Walkūre), which compiled earlier television anime footage with some new sequences.

The 26-episode Macross Delta television anime series ran from April to September 2016, after a preview of the first episode in 2015. Gekijō-ban Macross Delta: Gekijō no Walkūre opened in Japan in February 2018.

Macross Delta has also inspired several manga series, a novel, and a PlayStation Vita game. The in-story idol unit Walküre also performs as an idol unit in real life, and the group holds live events.

Big West, Studio Nue, and Harmony Gold USA announced in April that the companies agreed to allow the immediate distribution of most Macross television sequels and films globally. The companies agreed to cooperate on the distribution of future Macross and Robotech projects.

The first film of Free! The Final Stroke, Kyoto Animation's new two-part anime film project in the Free! franchise, dropped from #4 to #7 in its fourth weekend. The film earned 40,718,780 yen (about US$359,000) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 478,124,020 yen (about US$4.21 million).

The film opened on September 17, and ranked at #3 to earn 137,272,340 yen (about US$1.23 million) in its opening weekend. The second part will open in Japan on April 22, 2022. The films' trailer previously teased that the films are the "final chapter" for the franchise. The project's tagline is, "Let's go, to the stage of glory."

Eisaku Kawanami returned from previous installations in the franchise to direct the film at Kyoto Animation.

The Free! franchise about the Iwatobi High School Swim Club includes three television anime seasons that aired in 2013, 2014, and 2018. The High Speed! -Free! Starting Days- prequel film opened in 2015. The Free! The Movie -Timeless Medley- the Bond and Free! The Movie -Timeless Medley- the Promise compilation films opened in April 2017 and July 2017, respectively. The Free! -Take Your Marks- omnibus film of short stories then opened in October 2017.

The franchise's most recent entry was Free! ~Road to the World~ Yume (Dream), which opened on July 5, 2019, and was a "reconstruction" of the Free! Dive to the Future television anime series, as well as a "bridge" to the new films.

Gekijō-ban Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu. Spain-Hen (DAKAICHI -I'm being harassed by the sexiest man of the year- the Movie in Spain), the anime film adapting the Spain Arc for Hashigo Sakurabi's Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu. (DAKAICHI -I'm being harassed by the sexiest man of the year-) manga, ranked at #8 in its opening weekend.

The film opened on October 9.

The television anime's main staff returned for the film. Naoyuki Tatsuwa (Nisekoi - False Love, Gourmet Girl Graffiti) directed the anime at CloverWorks, and Yoshimi Narita (Saint Seiya Omega, Our love has always been 10 centimeters apart.) wrote the screenplay. Minako Shiba (Noir, .hack//SIGN, Black Butler) and Senri Kawaguchi (one of the television anime's chief animation directors) designed the characters. Masaru Yokoyama (Fruits Basket, Horimiya) composed the music. Aniplex is distributing the film.

The television anime premiered in Japan in October 2018. Aniplex of America streamed the series on Crunchyroll as it aired in Japan. The anime had 13 episodes.

Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu's new BELLE (Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime, literally "The Dragon and the Freckled Princess") anime film dropped from #6 to #10 in its 13th weekend. The film earned 27,492,900 yen (about US$242,600) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 6,397,159,950 yen (about US$56.44 million). The film is Hosoda's highest-grossing film. MX4D screenings for the film will open on October 22.

BELLE opened in Japan on July 16. The film has IMAX screenings in 38 theaters throughout Japan. This makes BELLE the first of Hosoda's films to have IMAX screenings. GKIDS licensed the film for North America, and will release the film in English and in Japanese with English subtitles this winter.

Hosoda (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, The Boy and The Beast, Mirai) directed and scripted the film, and is also credited for the original work. The film marks Studio Chizu's 10th anniversary. Taisei Iwasaki (Blood Blockade Battlefront, Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan, The Naked Director) is the film's music director and composer.

My Hero Academia THE MOVIE: World Heroes' Mission dropped out of the top 10 in its 10th weekend, but it still earned 25,878,350 yen (about US$228,300) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 3,295,467,500 yen (about US$29.07 million).

The live-action sequel film Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai - Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunōsen Final dropped off the top 10 in its eighth weekend, but it still earned 17,828,800 yen (about US$157,200) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 1,006,391,600 yen (about US$8.87 million).

The 4K release of Hayao Miyazaki's 1979 Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro anime film dropped off the top 10 in its second weekend, but it still earned 13,380,240 yen (about US$118,000) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 54,445,960 yen (about US$480,300) for this theatrical run.

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