01:24 PST 28/12/2020
by
Patrick Brzeski
Thanks to the low local levels of COVID-19 infections and fully functioning cinemas, the anime feature has shattered almost every one of Japan’s biggest box office records and become an inevitable cultural phenomenon in the country.
Hayao Miyazaki’s nearly two-decade government above Japan’s everyday cashier rankings has come to an end.
Take away anime blockbuster Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train became the biggest box office hit of all time in Japan over the weekend, driving Miyazaki’s beloved classic Carried (2001) in the second place. From Sunday, Demon Slayer according to its distributor Aniplex, it earned 32.47 billion yen ($ 313.9 million) Carriedhistorical total of 31.68 billion yen (Carried earned 30.8 billion yen during the original release in 2001, but received a boost for the total after a reissue in Japan last summer).
Demon Slayer was a rare bright spot in a very difficult year for the global film industry. The film has broken records in Japan since its opening on October 16, including the biggest gross one-day (1.2 billion yen, or $ 11.3 million) and the largest opening weekend of three days ever (4.6 billion yen; $ 44 million). Demon Slayer also became the fastest film in the history of the Japanese box office to cross 10 billion yen and $ 100 million, and achieved it in just ten days. The film’s live CG animation action was also a lightning strike on Imax and becomes the format’s biggest film ever in Japan with $ 21 million.
Demon Slayer is based on a popular manga of 2016 by Japanese artist Koyoharu Gotoge. But the property did not become a pop culture phenomenon until it was turned into an anime series for television. The 26-episode series, produced by the studio Ufotable in Tokyo, aired on Tokyo MX and other channels in 2019, but later became a dormant hit when it aired again on Netflix and Fuji TV. The popularity of the series rekindled interest in the manga, making it a runaway bestseller. As of December, the Demon Slayer manga series has sold nearly 120 million copies.
When Ufotable’s big-screen adaptation of the series hit Japanese cinemas this fall, the conditions were ripe for a box office bonanza. Japanese theaters nationwide have reopened nationwide after a brief period of COVID-19 in the spring. As the Hollywood studios postponed most of their releases until 2021, Demon Slayer had limited foreign competition and the Japanese cinemas were very motivated to use as much earning potential as possible for the local trailer. According to Demon Slayer, one multiplex in the Roppongi district of Tokyo played more than 40 times a day The Japan Times.
Several Japanese newspapers also speculate Demon SlayerThe success may have to do with its themes of resilience in the midst of difficult times. The film tells the story of a boy in Japan (1912-1926) who fights in the Taisho era against the chance against carnivorous demons who killed his family.
Either way, the film became much more than a mere film in Japan. According to Bloomberg, companies ranging from sushi restaurant franchises to canned coffee and toy making, have seen their sales and share prices rise to ink this year Demon Slayer licensing transactions. The liquor manufacturer Dydo Group Holdings Inc. experienced a year-on-year increase in sales of nearly 50 percent in October after exceeding 50 million cans with Demon Slayer characters on the labeling. Shares of toymaker SK Japan Co. nearly doubled in Tokyo in the fall after a licensing arrangement involving Demon Slayer characters.