Anime feature “Chiikawa: The Secret of the Mermaid Island” pushed cumulative Japanese box office past 17.1 billion yen this week, matching the pace of “One Piece Film Red” at the same point in its run, even as a live-action cancer diary opened at number one on the latest weekend chart.
Weekend split
“Mom Is No Longer in This World: My Life Diary,” starring Haruka Kawaguchi, earned 441 million yen from Friday through Sunday on 292,000 admissions, according to Kogyo Tsushin figures. Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day” debuted second with 278 million yen, while long-runner “Bayside Shakedown N.E.W.” held third.
Chiikawa’s endurance
Chiikawa added another week in fourth place with more than 11.7 million admissions to date. Exhibitors scheduled a sixth round of entry charms starting Oct. 10, a sign TOHO and partners expect school-holiday traffic even as sports events compete for family time.
What distributors learn
Toho’s dual-track strategy—family anime legs plus adult dramas—still works when each title targets a different weekday audience. Streaming windows for Chiikawa remain distant, keeping cinemas the only place to collect merchandise tie-ins, while the cancer diary leans on emotional word of mouth in matinee slots.
International titles
“Disclosure Day” expanded to 3.65 billion yen in four-day gross, showing Tokyo audiences still turn out for Hollywood event films when marketing leans on mystery-box trailers. “The Odyssey” crossed 2 billion yen lifetime, passing Christopher Nolan’s prior domestic high for a non-IMAX-first release.