It’s hard to understate the ubiquity of Chiikawa in Japan and to an extent the world. Written and illustrated by the artist Nagano, the series has become a cultural phenomenon for its unconventional dark undertones that occasionally peek through the series’ cutesy guise. Since its beginnings as a web manga on X in January 2020, the series has exploded into an anime, manga volumes, various merchandise, and most recently, a theatrical film, as Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island.
Even after its seventh weekend since opening on July 24, the film has been a smash hit, becoming Japan’s highest-grossing movie this year, grossing over 1.415 billion yen from 928,000 admissions over the weekend (Source: LivedoorNews).
For the uninitiated, Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island is the first film adaptation of the web manga. The film is based on the manga’s “Siren Arc” which originally serialized online via X from March to November 2023, following the trio of protagonists, Chiikawa, Hachiware and Usagi as they set sail for an island adventure. The seaside getaway quickly turns for the worse, as they encounter the sea monster Siren and their two mermaids.
According to reports by Kogyo Tsushinsha , Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island has grossed a total of 13.9 billion yen from 9.6 million admissions in the 45 days since its release. The film has currently surpassed the 13.7-billion-yen ticket revenue of Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway, placing it 23rd on Japan’s all-time box office chart as of September 6, just above Jujutsu Kaisen 0’s 13.89 billion yen.
On its opening day, the film sold out across theaters in Japan from early in the morning, with TOHO Cinemas screening it a whopping 41 times in one day at its Ikebukuro location. The film has recorded box office revenue of 990 million yen alone on opening night. The figure surpasses the opening day revenue of 960 million yen set by Detective Conan: The Million Dollar Pentagram in 2024, which had surpassed the Detective Conan series’ highest box office revenue of 15.8 billion yen, making it a huge hit start for Chiikawa the Movie.
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