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Live-Action Kappei Opens at #6, Butt Detective Anime Film at #7

The Doraemon: Nobita's Little Star Wars 2021 anime film dropped from #1 to #2 in its third weekend. The film sold 193,000 tickets for 236 million yen (about US$1.95 million) over the weekend. The film has sold a total of 1.09 million tickets for a cumulative total of 1.3 billion yen (about US$10.79 million).

The film opened at #1, and sold 350,000 tickets for 440 million yen (about US$3.81 million) in its first three days. The film opened on March 4 after a yearlong delay due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Doraemon: Nobita's Little Star Wars 2021 is the 41st film in the Doraemon franchise. The film is a remake of the 1985 Doraemon film of the same title. Susumu Yamaguchi — a key animator on many previous Doraemon movies, unit director of Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Chronicle of the Moon Exploration, and the director of Mobile Suit Gundam AGE — directed the new film. Dai Sato (Eureka Seven, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Listeners) penned the script. Official HiGE DANdism created the theme song "Universe" specifically for the film. Sibling folk duo Billy BanBan performed the insert song "Kokoro Arigatō" (Thank You for the Heart). Shirogumi, the 3D CG studio behind the production of the Stand By Me Doraemon films, handled the CG for the spaceships in the film.

The Gekijō-ban Jujutsu Kaisen 0 anime film dropped from #4 to #5 in its 13th weekend. The film has sold a total of 9.28 million tickets for over 13 billion yen (about US$108 million) since it opened in Japan on December 24, and is currently the 20th highest-grossing film in Japan of all time.

The film is now the #1 highest-earning film at the Japanese box office from the 2021 calendar year, after surpassing Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time, according to the Mainichi Shimbun paper's Mantan Web.

The film earned 2,694,128,150 yen (about US$23.5 million) in its first three days, and topped the box office chart for its opening weekend. The film also has IMAX, 4D, and Dolby Cinema screenings.

The film is based on Gege Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Tokyo Toritsu Jujutsu Kōtō Senmon Gakkō (Jujutsu Kaisen 0: Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School) manga prequel story, with MAPPA animating again and Toho distributing. Megumi Ogata voiced the main character Yuta Okkotsu, and Kana Hanazawa voiced the character Rika Orimoto.

The live-action film of Kiminori Wakasugi's Kappei comedy manga ranked at #6 in its opening weekend. The film opened in Japan last Friday.

Hakusensha describes the manga:

Kappei is a martial artist living in a secluded and isolated small island, among many young men training vigorously with their Master to survive the July 1999 apocalypse predicted by Nostradamus — which never came. The Master finally gave up in 2011, disbanded the martial art camp, and sent members back to modern-day Japan. With no knowledge of the modern world, Kappei arrives in Tokyo and starts a new life: as a hero without antagonists.

The film moves the story's time period to 2022. Takashi Hirano (Dororo, Library Wars live-action films) directed the film, with a script by Yuichi Tokunaga (Kaguya-sama: Love is War live-action film). Koji Endo composed the film's music.

Eiga Oshiri Tantei Shiriarty, the first feature-length film in the Butt Detective (Oshiri Tantei) franchise, ranked at #7 in its opening weekend. The film opened in Japan last Friday.

The film pits the franchise's titular character against criminal mastermind Professor Shiriarty (a play on Sherlock Holmes' arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty).

Masaharu Fukuyama plays Shiriarty in the film. Mie Sonozaki plays rookie Wanterpol investigator Audrey.

Eiga Oshiri Tantei: Sufūre-to no Himitsu (Butt Detective the Movie: The Secret of Sufūre Island), the latest film in the franchise, opened in Japan in August 2021 as part of last year's Toei Manga Matsuri omnibus project. While Eiga Oshiri Tantei Shiriarty is the fourth Butt Detective film, it is the first standalone feature-length film.

The Kamen Rider OOO 10th: Fukkatsu no Core Medal 10th anniversary movie for the Kamen Rider OOO show dropped from #6 to #9 in its second weekend.

The Ensemble Stars!! Road to Show!! theatrical anime dropped from #9 to #10 in its third weekend. The film ranked at #6 in its opening weekend. The film opened in theaters in Japan on March 4. The anime takes place in New York and features the characters visiting New York to attend an Idol Film Festival.

Masakazu Hishida returned to direct the film at David Production, and Asami Nakatani was the chief director. Seitarō Kino from Happy Elements wrote the screenplay, and Happy Elements is again credited with the original character design. Haruko Iizuka was the animation character designer and the chief animation director. Tatsuya Katō again composed the music.

Director Kenji Kamiyama's new anime feature Eien no 831 (The Eternal 831) ranked at #5 in the mini-theater ranking in the opening weekend for its theatrical screenings. The film opened in Japan last Friday.

The film premiered on the premium subscription television channel WOWOW on January 30.

Kamiyama directed and wrote the anime at Craftar, and he said last November that the anime is a "socially conscious youth crime adventure story." The story is set in Tokyo that is in deep disarray due to "an unprecedented calamity."

Gō Shiina (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba) composed the music for the anime. Music duo angela performed the anime's theme song, while KanoeRana (first TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You ending theme) performed the anime's opening theme song.

The anime commemorates the WOWOW network's 30th anniversary, which occurred in April 2021.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2, link 3), Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web