Japan Box Office: Look Back Anime Film Makes No. 2 Debut in Ticket Sales Ranking

Soreike! Anpanman: Baikinman to Ehon no Lulun (Let's Go! Anpanman: Baikinman and Lulun of the Picture Book), the 35th feature film in the Anpanman anime franchise, took first place in the ticket sales ranking on the weekend of June 28-30, according to Kogyo Ts

Soreike! Anpanman: Baikinman to Ehon no Lulun (Let’s Go! Anpanman: Baikinman and Lulun of the Picture Book), the 35th feature film in the Anpanman anime franchise, took first place in the ticket sales ranking on the weekend of June 28-30, according to Kogyo Tsushinsha. The movie debuted in 319 theaters across Japan on June 28, with 137,000 admissions and 172 million yen (1.06 million USD) in box office revenue. Its first-week performance was 152 percent higher compared to the first-three-day revenue of last year’s 34th film, Roboly to Poka Poka Preseny, and 129 percent higher compared to the Saturday-Sunday performance of the highest-grossing film of the Anpanman anime franchise, Kagayake! Kurun to Inochi no Hoshi, in 2018.The movie ranked third in Filmarks’ first-day satisfaction ranking with an average rating of 3.87/5.0 based on 108 reviwes.

Meanwhile, the film that made the most money last weekend was Look Back, an anime movie based on the one-shot manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto (Chainsaw Man), which opened in 119 theaters on June 28, earning 227 million yen (1.4 million USD) on 135,000 admissions. The reason for the split between the ticket sales and box-office revenue rankings is the difference in ticket prices between the two in Japanese theaters. The main audience for the Anpanman movie, based on children’s picture books by Takashi Yanase, is pre-elementary school-aged children whose admission fee is usually 1,000 yen ($6 USD). In the case of Look Back, on the other hand, the ticket price in Japanese theaters is standardized at 1,700 yen ($11 USD), regardless of the audience’s age. As a result, Anpanman is number one in the rankings based on the number of attendees, but the amount of money it earned is less than Look Back.Look Back took first place in Filmarks’ first-day satisfaction ranking with an average rating of 4.45/5.0 based on 6,839 reviews. That number is better than any other Japanese anime film released this year, including Case Closed: The Million-dollar Pentagram (4.04) and HAIKYU!! The Dumpster Battle (4.40).

Case Closed: The Million-dollar Pentagram, the 27th feature film in the Case Closed/Detective Conan anime franchise, ranked seventh in its 12th weekend, down three places from last weekend.