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Doraemon 2023 Film Stays at #1, My Happy Marriage at #2 for 3rd Week

Eiga Doraemon: Nobita to Sora no Utopia (Doraemon the Movie 2023: Nobita's Sky Utopia in English), the 42nd film in the Doraemon franchise, stayed at #1 in its sixth weekend. The film sold 166,000 tickets for 203,844,380 yen (about US$1.52 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold 3.24 million tickets for a cumulative total of 3,834,595,860 yen (about US$28.74 million) since opening.

The film opened in Japan on March 3 and sold 542,000 tickets for 663 million yen (about US$4.87 million) in its first three days.

The film is set in a perfect, utopian world in the sky, where everyone lives happily. Adventurers have equated the land with other mythical cities, such as Atlantis or Ryūgū-jō. Doraemon and Nobita set out on an adventure to find the utopia with the help of a gadget that is brand-new for the film, the time zeppelin equipped with a time warp function.

Takumi Dōyama (Genbanojō, Doraemon episodes) directed the film. Ryota Kosawa (Always: Sunset on Third Street, Great Pretender) penned the script — his first for a Doraemon film. The television anime's current cast members reprised their roles for the film. Ren Nagase of the idol group King & Prince made his voice acting debut as the "perfect cat robot" Sonya in the film.

The live-action film of writer Akumi Agitogi and illustrator Tsukiho Tsukioka's My Happy Marriage (Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon) light novel series stayed at #2 in its fourth weekend. The film sold 101,000 tickets for 139,573,810 yen (about US$1.04 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold 1.61 million tickets for a cumulative total of 2,121,904,890 yen (about US$15.89 million) since opening.

The film opened on March 17 and ranked at #1 in its opening weekend. The film sold 479,700 tickets for 654 million yen (about US$4.97 million) in its first three days.

Ren Meguro from the idol group Snow Man stars as Kiyoka, while Mio Imada stars as Miyo. Ayuko Tsukahara directed the film, with a script by Tomoe Kanno.

Agitogi and Tsukioka launched the novel series in January 2019. Yen Press licensed the light novels. The novels are also inspiring an upcoming television anime adaptation by Kinema Citrus.

Hideaki Anno's Shin Kamen Rider live-action film rose from #5 to #4 in its fourth weekend. The film earned 136,314,700 yen (about US$1.02 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film has earned a cumulative total of 1,737,316,950 yen (about US$13.01 million).

The film opened on March 17 and ranked at #2 in its opening weekend. The film sold 345,000 tickets to earn 542 million yen (about US$4.12 million) in its first three days.

Anno directed, wrote, and produced the film. Shotaro Ishinomori is credited as the original creator. Katsuro Onoue is credited as associate director, with Ikki Todoroki as assistant director. Famed designers Mahiro Maeda, Ikuto Yamashita, and Yutaka Izubuchi — who have collaborated with Anno on many previous projects such as Evangelion — were the designers for the film. Isao Tsuge was the costume designer. Taku Iwasaki (Read or Die, Jormungand, Gurren Lagann) composed the music.

Sousuke Ikematsu plays Takeshi Hongo/Kamen Rider, while Minami Hamabe plays Ruriko Midorikawa.

The First Slam Dunk, the new anime film of Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk basketball manga, earned 114,181,420 yen (about US$855,500) from Friday to Sunday. It rose from #6 to #5 in its 19th weekend. The film has earned a cumulative total of 12,943,919,490 yen (about US$96.99 million).

The film is now the 25th highest-earning film of all time in Japan, as well as the 11th highest-earning anime film. The film ranked at #1 in its opening weekend. The film sold 847,000 tickets and earned 1,295,808,780 yen (about US$9.50 million) over its opening weekend.

Inoue personally directed the film at Toei Animation and wrote the script. Among the listed staff members are character designer/animation director Yasuyuki Ebara (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress) and technical directors Katsuhiko Kitada (Attack on Titan episodes, Major: Yūjō no Winning Shot), Naoki Miyahara (Digimon Adventure, Popin Q), Toshio Ōhashi (LayereD Stories 0), and Yū Kamatani (Looking for Magical DoReMi, Precure Super Stars!).

Eiga Touken Ranbu: Reimei (Touken Ranbu the Movie: Dawn), the Eiga Touken Ranbu live-action film's sequel, dropped from #4 to #7 in its second week. The film earned 92,845,370 yen (about US$695,500) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 387,448,890 yen (about US$2.90 million).

The film opened on March 31.

Hiroki Suzuki, Yoshihiro Aramaki, Masanari Wada, and Fūma Sadamoto return as Mikazuki Munechika, Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, Heshikiri Hasebe, and Honebami Tōshirō respectively. Akira Emoto plays Fujiwara no Michinaga, while Kanji Tsuda plays Minamoto no Raikō, and Terunosuke Takezai plays Abe no Seimei. Saiji Yakumo (live-action Mars) is once again directing the film, with a script by Hideyuki Kobashi and Jin Haganeya.

The Touken Ranbu franchise's first live-action film opened in Japan in January 2019. The film ranked at #5 in its opening weekend.

The Touken Ranbu "sword personification training game" takes famous swords from Japanese history and interprets them as bishōnen. Nitroplus designed the characters and scenario. The game launched in Japan in January 2015.

The Gridman Universe film, which crosses over the SSSS.GRIDMAN and SSSS.DYNAZENON anime, dropped off the top 10 in its third week. The film still earned 63,603,470 yen (about US$476,400) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 446,162,800 yen (about US$3.34 million).

The anime film adaptation of Shinichi Ishizuka's Blue Giant manga fell off the top 10 in its eighth weekend, but it still earned 46,744,430 yen (about US$350,100 yen) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 1,012,764,440 yen (about US$7.58 million).

Source: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2, link 3), comScore via KOFIC