Anime
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Drops to #2 in Japan in 5th Weekend – News

© 2026 Nintendo and Universal Studios
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie — Nintendo, Illumination, and Universal Pictures‘ sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie — dropped back from #1 to #2 in its fifth weekend. The film sold 203,000 tickets and earned 276,962,830 yen (about US$1.73 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 4.94 million tickets and earned a cumulative total of 6,819,837,230 yen (about US$42.74 million).
The film opened at #1 at the Japanese box office. The film sold 1.121 million tickets and earned 1,601,093,600 yen (about US$9.96 million) in its first three days.
The film opened in the United States and the United Kingdom on April 1, in other select territories on April 3, and in Japan on April 24.
Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and Nintendo representative director and fellow Shigeru Miyamoto again produced Illumination and Universal Pictures‘ new film. Directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic and screenwriter Matthew Fogel returned from the previous film for the new project. Brian Tyler returned to compose the soundtrack.

© 2026 青山剛昌/名探偵コナン製作委員会
Detective Conan: Highway no Datenshi (Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway), the Detective Conan franchise‘s 29th film, dropped from #3 to #4 in its seventh weekend. The film sold 189,000 tickets and earned 277,492,600 yen (about US$1.73 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has sold a total of 8.40 million tickets to earn a cumulative total of 12,404,866,900 yen (about US$77.74 million).
The film is now the fourth consecutive film in the franchise to earn more than 10 billion yen, beginning with 2023’s Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine film.
The film sold 2,318,009 tickets and earned 3,502,137,800 yen (about US$21.9 million) in its first three days, making a new opening-weekend record for the franchise, and debuting at #1 at the Japanese box office.
The new film centers on the character Chihaya Hagiwara, member of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police and the leader of its motorcycle division. Miyuki Sawashiro now voices the character, replacing the late Atsuko Tanaka. The movie also features Kanagawa inspector Jugo Yokomizo, teenage detective Masumi Sera, Chihaya’s late younger brother Kenji Hagiwara, and Kenji’s Police Academy classmate Jinpei Matsuda.

©鈴木祐斗/集英社 © 2026映画「SAKAMOTO DAYS」製作委員会
The live-action film of Yuuto Suzuki‘s Sakamoto Days manga stayed at #5 in its fourth weekend. The film earned 115,246,500 yen (about US$722,200) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 2,403,602,400 yen (about US$15.06 million).
The film ranked at #4 in its opening weekend. The film sold 346,000 tickets and earned 478 million yen (about US$3.05 million) in its first three days. In its first eight days in the Japanese box office, which spanned the entirety of the Golden Week holidays, the film sold 1.14 million tickets and earned 1.5 billion yen (about US$9.58 million).
The film opened in Japan on April 29. The film is also screening in the panoramic ScreenX format in 27 theaters all over Japan.
Viz Media and MANGA Plus are publishing the manga in English digitally.
Snow Man member Ren Meguro stars as Tarō Sakamoto, and Fumiya Takahashi plays Shin Asakura. Aya Ueto plays Tarō Sakamoto’s wife Aoi Sakamoto, while Miyu Yoshimoto plays Tarō Sakamoto’s daughter Hana Sakamoto. Other cast members include Mayū Yokota as Lu Shaotang, Junki Tozuka as Heisuke Mashimo, Akihisa Shiono as Kashima, and Keisuke Watanabe as Natsuki Seiba. Takumi Kitamura, Yūsei Yagi, and Meru Nukumi play Order assassins Nagumo, Shishiba, and Osaragi, respectively.
Yūichi Fukuda (live-action Gintama, Under Ninja) directed and wrote the script for the film. Keiya Tabuchi (Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time, live-action Attack on Titan, Kamen Rider Amazons) directed the action. CREDEUS is producing the film with Avex Pictures.

©大谷アキラ・夏原武・水野光博/小学館 ©2026 映画『正直不動産』製作委員会
The live-action film of Mitsuhiro Mizuno and Akira Ōtani‘s Shōjiki Fudōsan (The Honest Realtor) manga dropped from #4 to #6 in its second weekend. The film earned 99,333,340 yen (about US$622,500) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 397,301,260 yen (about US$2.48 million)
The film ranked at #4 in its opening weekend, and earned 179,443,360 yen (about US$1.13 million) in its first three days.
The film opened in Japan on May 15.
The first season of the live-action TV series adaptation launched in 2022, with a special episode in 2023, and the second season aired in 2024.
Mizuno and Ōtani debuted the series based on a concept by Takeshi Natsuhara in Shogakukan‘s Big Comic magazine in 2017. Shogakukan shipped the 24th compiled book volume on May 8.
The “File 1” film for the Patlabor EZY anime project dropped off the top 10 in its second weekend. The Mahōka Kōkō no Rettōsei: Yotsuba Keishō-hen (The Irregular at Magic High School THE MOVIE – Yotsuba Succession Arc –) anime film also dropped off the top 10 in its third weekend.
Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2), comScore via KOFIC
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Anime
Comic Publisher Dark Horse’s Workers Form Union – News

© Dark Horse Comics LLC
Employees at Dark Horse Comics and its retail store Things From Another World have formed a union on Wednesday named Dark Horse Workers United, affiliated with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The union is seeking “equitable pay, workplace democracy, and a continued commitment to creator-owned comics.”
The union is seeking voluntary recognition from Dark Horse Comics and its interim CEO Jay Komas by June 3. If the company does not recognize the union by then, the union will petition the National Labor Relations Board for an election.
The union cites “looming uncertainty from recent layoffs, wage/hiring freeze, change in leadership power, emergence of artificial intelligence, and return-to-office policies (despite their economic impact on employees)” as the reasons for its collective organization.
Publishing company Seven Seas Entertainment voluntarily recognized the United Workers of Seven Seas (UW7S), a union for its employees, in 2022. Like Dark Horse Workers United, UW7S is affiliated with the CWA.
Should Dark Horse Workers United be voluntarily recognized or win an election, it will be the third U.S. comic publisher to form a union affiliated with the CWA (with the first being Workers at Image Comics, and the second being UW7S). Employees at Abrams Books and its manga- and comic book-focused division Abrams ComicArts also recently formed a union in 2025, but part of UAW Local 2110.
Dark Horse Media’s parent company Embracer Group announced on May 20 that it plans to split the group into two publicly listed companies, through the spinoff of Fellowship Entertainment. The board plans to list Fellowship Entertainment, which will include Dark Horse Media, on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange in 2027. Fellowship Entertainment aims to become an IP (intellectual property)-led entertainment company built around game development, publishing, and licensing. The company will include Dark Horse Media and several other companies. Its IPs include The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and Tomb Raider. Dark Horse Comics announced on May 21 that it would shutter all three of its Things From Another World retail locations from June to September later this year.
Embracer Group began acquiring Dark Horse Comics in December 2021, and completed the acquisition in March 2022. The acquisition was part of the company’s spree of acquisitions of media and game companies beginning in 2019. After a planned US$2 billion investment from Savvy Games Group (a company owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund) did not go through as planned in May 2023, the company found itself in debt, with the company soon planning restructuring, leading to mass layoffs, the sale of properties and subsidiary companies, and the three-company split from April 2024. Dark Horse Comics founder and CEO Mike Richardson departed the company earlier this year in March, after 40 years with the company. Jay Komas — General Manager of Dark Horse‘s owners within Embracer Group, Middle-earth Enterprises — is serving as Interim CEO.
Richardson founded Dark Horse Comics in 1986 as an offshoot of his comic book store chain Things From Another World. The company published its first manga, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, in 1987.
Dark Horse confirmed in February 2025 it had begun laying off staff positions. Dark Horse stated at the time it was responding to “increasing overhead, changing market conditions, and external economic factors.”
Sources: Dark Horse Workers United’s website, ICv2 (Milton Griepp)
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Anime
Astra Awards Nominate Witch Hat Atelier, Dandelion, Sakamoto Days, JoJo Part 7, MAO, Rooster Fighter for Best Anime – News

© 白浜鴎/講談社/「とんがり帽子のアトリエ」製作委員会
The film critics in the Hollywood Creative Alliance (formerly the Hollywood Critics Association) announced their nominees for the 2026 Astra TV Awards on Wednesday. The nominees for Best Anime Series include:
Anjali Kunapaneni and Patrick Seitz are both nominated for Best Lead Voice Over Performance in a Series for their English dub work, with Kunapaneni nominated for her role as Coco in Witch Hat Atelier, and Seitz nominated for his role as Keiji in Rooster Fighter.
Joshua Waters is also nominated for Best Supporting Voice Over Performance in a Series for his role as Qifrey in Witch Hat Atelier.
The awards ceremony will take place on August 15 in Los Angeles.
The HCA hosts four sets of awards: the Astra Creative Arts Awards, the Astra Film Awards, the Astra Podcast Awards, and the Astra TV Awards. The organization is composed of critics, journalists, actors, producers, podcasters, publicists, writers, and “other creatives across the entertainment landscape.”
The first Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle anime film won the “Animation is Cinema” honorary award at the 9th Annual Astra Film Awards in January.
The Dragon Ball Daima anime won Best Anime Series, and Aleks Le won Best Lead Voice-Over Performance for his role as Sung Jinwoo in the Solo Leveling Season 2 -Arise from the Shadow- anime at the 2025 Astra TV Awards.
Sources: The Astra Awards X/Twitter account (link 2, link 3) and website
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Anime
Sou Hamayumiba’s Dropout Idol Fruit Tart Manga Ends in 3 Chapters – News
Series launched in 2015, inspired anime adaptation in 2020

©Sou Hamayumiba, Houbunsha
The official X (formerly Twitter) account of Houbunsha‘s Manga Time Kirara magazine announced on Thursday that Sou Hamayumiba‘s Dropout Idol Fruit Tart (Ochikobore Fruit Tart) manga will end in three chapters. Houbunsha will publish the manga’s final chapter in Manga Time Kirara Carat‘s September issue, which it will release in July. To commemorate the manga’s final chapter, the magazine plans to include a special feature of pages filled with messages sent in by the readers.
The manga’s story begins when first-year high school student Ino Sakura heads to Tokyo to pursue becoming an idol. She teams up with fellow Nezumi Dorm residents — unpopular former child actor Roko, musician HAYU, and model Nina — to form the new idol unit Fruit Tart. These dropout idols get back on their feet and enter the world of show business to prevent their dorm from being demolished.
The story debuted as a one-shot manga in Manga Time Kirara Carat in 2014. The manga then launched as a series in 2015. Houbunsha published the manga’s eighth compiled book volume in December 2024.
The manga inspired an anime adaptation in 2020. Funimation streamed the series, and also produced an English dub in 2021.
Hamayumiba launched the earlier Hanayamata manga in Houbunsha‘s Manga Time Kirara Forward magazine in 2011 and ended it in 2018. The 10th and final compiled book volume shipped in April 2018. That manga inspired a television anime by Madhouse in 2014, and Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired in Japan. Sentai Filmworks licensed the anime, and released it with an English dub on home video in 2016. The manga also inspired several smartphone apps, as well as a PlayStation Vita game in 2014.
Sources: Manga Time Kirara magazine’s X/Twitter account, Oricon via Otakomu
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