This week’s Japanese box office carries plenty of eye-catching stories — from a mecha anime format that still dominates the market to newly opened titles making their debut.

Super Mario Galaxy Movie Holds No. 1 for Fourth Week

Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the animated feature from Nintendo, Illumination, and Universal Pictures — the sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie — reclaims the No. 1 position for the fourth week after previously sitting at No. 2. This week it sold approximately 258,000 tickets for revenue of ¥360,360,530 (approximately US$2.26 million) over the Friday-to-Sunday period. Its cumulative total stands at 4.66 million tickets and ¥6,436,820,000 in revenue (approximately US$40.47 million).

The film opened in the United States and the United Kingdom on April 1st, expanded to other countries on April 3rd, and arrived in Japan on April 24th — with Chris Meledandri, founder and CEO of Illumination, and Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo returning as producers. Directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic return alongside screenwriter Matthew Fogel, with Brian Tyler back for the score.

Detective Conan: Highway no Datenshi Still Strong at No. 3

Detective Conan: Highway no Datenshi (Detective Conan: The Angel of the Highway), the 29th film in the franchise, holds at No. 3 in its sixth week, earning ¥340,946,300 (approximately US$2.14 million) from 223,000 tickets sold. Its cumulative total reaches 8.10 million tickets and ¥11,954,329,900 (approximately US$75.16 million) — making it the fourth consecutive Conan film to surpass the ¥10 billion mark, a streak dating back to Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine in 2023.

The film stars Chihaya Haniwara, a female detective sergeant in the Kanagawa Prefectural Police and head of a traffic-investigation unit, voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro replacing Atsuko Tanaka in the role. Additional key characters include Jugo Yokomizo, Masumi Sera, Kenji Hagiwara — Chihaya’s younger brother — and Jinpei Matsuda, Kenji’s fellow classmate from the police academy.

Live-Action Shojiki Fudosan Opens at No. 4

The live-action film adaptation of the manga Shojiki Fudosan (The Honest Realtor) by Mitsuhiro Mizuno and Akira Otani opens at No. 4 in its first week, earning ¥179,443,360 (approximately US$1.13 million) over three days. The film opened in Japanese cinemas on May 15th.

The source manga was previously adapted into a live-action TV drama series, with Season 1 airing in 2022, a special episode in 2023, and Season 2 in 2024. The manga itself has been serialized in Shogakukan’s Big Comic magazine since 2017, based on a concept by Takeshi Natsuhara — with Shogakukan recently releasing the collected volume 24 on May 8th.

Sakamoto Days Live-Action Climbs to No. 5

The live-action film adaptation of the manga Sakamoto Days by Yuuto Suzuki climbs from No. 4 to No. 5 in its third week, earning ¥168,091,300 (approximately US$1.05 million). Its cumulative total stands at 1.57 million tickets and ¥2,186,834,700 (approximately US$13.75 million).

The film opened in Japan on April 29th and is also screening in the panoramic ScreenX format at 27 cinemas across the country. It stars Ren Meguro from Snow Man as Taro Sakamoto, Fumiya Takahashi as Shin Asakura, Aya Ueto as Aoi Sakamoto (Taro’s wife), and Miyu Yoshimoto as Hana Sakamoto (Taro’s daughter). The supporting cast includes Mayu Yokota, Junki Tozuka, Akihisa Shiono, and Keisuke Watanabe, while Takumi Kitamura, Yusei Yagi, and Meru Nukumi portray members of the Order organization — Nagumo, Shishiba, and Osaragi respectively.

Directed and scripted by Yuichi Fukuda (Gintama live-action, Under Ninja), with action direction by Keiya Tabuchi (Evangelion: 3.0+1.0, Attack on Titan live-action). Produced by CREDEUS in association with Avex Pictures.

Patlabor EZY “File 1” Opens at No. 8

The animated film Patlabor EZY “File 1” opens at No. 8 in its first week, earning ¥99,744,820 (approximately US$627,000) over three days. It opened in cinemas on May 15th.

The Patlabor EZY project consists of eight animated episodes in total, divided into three theatrical films. “File 1” and “File 2” (scheduled for August 14th) together cover the first six episodes, each presenting a self-contained story in omnibus format. “File 3” is set for release in March 2027 and will contain the final two episodes with a continuing narrative.

The story is set in the 2030s, during a period of labor shortages and the rapid expansion of AI-controlled automation — technology that was once cutting-edge has become commonplace in daily life and is being steadily replaced by autonomous robots. Yet SV-2 continues to police crimes involving Labors (human-operated robots), deploying the upgraded SV-98 Ingrams.

• Director: Yutaka Izubuchi (original Patlabor mecha designer) — Studio J.C. Staff
• Screenplay: Kazunori Ito (Patlabor the Mobile Police)
• Character Design: Masami Yuuki (Patlabor creator)
• Animation Director and Character Design Supervision: Takamitsu Satou (Lostorage incited WIXOSS)
• Music: Kenji Kawai (Patlabor)
• Producer: Taro Maki from GENCO (Patlabor the Mobile Police, Nodame Cantabile, Millennium Actress)
• CG Production: GAZEN
• Original: HEADGEAR group

The opening theme “Reimei Compass” (Daybreak Compass) is performed by Mori Calliope, and the ending theme “Baton” is performed by Mariko Nagai.

Other Box Office Movements

Mahouka Koko no Rettousei: Yotsuba Keisho-hen (The Irregular at Magic High School THE MOVIE – Yotsuba Succession Arc –) drops from No. 5 to No. 10 in its second week, earning ¥62,995,120 (approximately US$396,000) for a cumulative total of ¥265,415,460 (approximately US$1.66 million). Directed by Jimmy Stone at Studio 8-Bit, with music by Taku Iwasaki, and featuring returning voice cast Yuichi Nakamura, Saori Hayami, Chiwa Saito, and Emiri Kato, plus newcomers Daisuke Ono and Ai Kayano. The theme song “YES” is performed by LiSA.

The 3D film Love Live! Hasu no Sora Jogakuin School Idol Club Bloom Garden Party drops out of the Top 10 in its second week but still earns ¥38,863,010 (approximately US$244,300) for a cumulative total of ¥164,487,630 (approximately US$1.03 million).

Meanwhile, Cosmic Princess Kaguya! (Cho Kaguya-hime!) by Shingo Yamashita continues to earn in its 13th week despite falling out of the Top 10, bringing in ¥27,652,100 (approximately US$173,800) for a cumulative total of ¥2,526,627,600 (approximately US$15.88 million).

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Source: ann_jp