Kingdom: Tamashii no Kessen (Decisive Battle of the Soul), the fifth live-action film based on Yasuhisa Hara‘s Kingdom manga, ranked at #1 in its opening weekend. The film sold 993,000 tickets and earned 1,584,148,300 yen (about US$9.67 million) in its first three days. Counting the Marine Day holiday on Monday, the film sold 1,315,000 tickets and earned 2.064 billion yen (about US$12.59 million) in its first four days.

The new film opened in Japan on July 17.

Yasuhisa Hara‘s historical manga centers around the slave boy Xin and his dream of becoming a great general for the state of Qin. Xin helps Ying Zheng, the young Qin king who shares his desire to unify China, rise to power within the state. Xin does all he can to become a superior commander of an army capable of defeating the Seven Warring States.

Shinsuke Satō (live-action Gantz, Death Note Light up the NEW world, Bleach) returned to direct. Tsutomu Kuroiwa (Black Butler, Golden Kamuy) wrote the screenplay with Hara. Yutaka Yamada (Bleach, Golden Kamuy -The Hunt of Prisoners in Hokkaido-) composed the music.

The first live-action film opened in Japan in April 2019, and eventually earned a cumulative total of 5.73 billion yen (about US$53.2 million). Funimation screened the film at Anime Expo in July 2019, and screened the film in theaters in the United States and Canada in August 2019. The second film Kingdom II: Harukanaru Daichi e (To Distant Lands) opened in Japan in July 2022, and earned 5.16 billion yen (about US$37.8 million), making it the highest-earning Japanese live-action film in Japan in 2022.

The third film opened in Japan in July 2023 and ranked at #1 in its opening weekend. The film had the best opening weekend among the first three Kingdom films. The fourth film opened on July 12, 2024. Netflix began streaming the fourth film in January 2025.

The anime film of Kaori Mado‘s You, Fireworks, and Our Promise (Kimi to Hanabi to Yakusoku to or Kimi-Hana for short) novel series ranked at #5 in its opening weekend. The film earned 59,307,880 yen (about US$362,000) in its first three days.

The film opened in Japan on July 17.

The coming-of-age romance is set during the Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks Show, one of Japan’s three major fireworks shows that draws several hundred thousand visitors to Niigata Prefecture every year. What connects Makoto (a Tokyo high school boy without social skills or self-confidence) and Aki (a popular high school girl and class president with beauty and talent) is a drawing of a fireworks display. At the mercy of the drawing’s mystery and fate itself, the two have to make a choice in a limited amount of time. 

Shōri Satō of the idol group timelesz plays the protagonist Makoto Natsume, and actress Nanoka Hara (Suzume, live-action Oshi no Ko, Mieruko-chan) plays the heroine Aki Hayama.

Kei Suzuki (City Hunter The Movie: Angel Dust assistant director, Tower of God: Return of the Prince) directed  the film at Synergy SP and The Answer Studio, and Kōhei Mori wrote the screenplay. Yūji Watanabe (Flag guest character designer, animation director) designed the characters, and Michihiko Umezawa (The Dangers in My Heart, A Couple of Cuckoos) planned and produced the project with Shinei Animation. Idol group timelesz performed the theme song “Kienai Hanabi” (Eternal Fireworks).

Soreike! Anpanman: Pantan to Yakusoku no Hoshi (Pantan and the Promised Star), the 37th film in the franchise, dropped from #6 to #8 in its fourth weekend. The film earned 30,810,100 yen (about US$188,000) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 318,936,810 yen (about US$1.94 million).

The film opened in Japan on June 26, and ranked at #5 in its opening weekend, earning 123,462,050 yen (about US$759,600) in its first three days.

The story centers on a new character named Pantan, played by guest star Tao Tsuchiya. Pantan is a red panda who seeks to find the treasure thought to be in a rainbow star in the night sky, in order to keep a promise made to an adventurer long ago. When Pantan and Anpanman encounter each other, Anpanman lends his abilities to help out Pantan.

Hiroyuki Yano, who has directed numerous previous films in the franchise, returned to direct the new film. Shoji Yonemura, a similar veteran of the franchise, penned the film’s script. Franchise composers Taku Izumi and Hiroaki Kondō composed the music.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa‘s live-action film adaptation of Honobu Yonezawa‘s The Samurai and the Prisoner (Kokurōjō) samurai historical mystery novel dropped from #5 to #9 in its fifth weekend. The film earned 33,259,300 yen (about US$203,000) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 1,019,680,820 yen (about US$6.22 million).

The film opened in Japan on June 19, and ranked at #2 in its opening weekend. The film sold 196,000 tickets and earned 274,140,380 yen (about US$1.68 million) in its first three days.

The film will open in the United States in New York and Los Angeles first on July 31, before opening in other locations starting in August.

Yen Press released the novel in English, and it describes the story:

The winter of 1578, four years prior to the Honnnoji Incident. Araki Murashige has betrayed his ally Oda Nobunaga and holed up in Arioka Castle—but a string of strange incidents within the castle walls has him at his wits’ end. The desperate warlord’s only hope in solving these mysteries is imprisoned in the castle’s dungeon: a man named Kuroda Kanbei, one of Oda’s most gifted strategists. When all the conflict and intrigue reach their end, what will Murashige and Kuroda have up their sleeves? 

Yonezawa (Hyōka, SHOSHIMIN: How to become Ordinary) and Kadokawa published the novel in June 2021. The novel won the Naoki Prize (a biannual Japanese literary award for new and rising authors), and won Kadokawa‘s 2021 Fūtarō Yamada award. It also ranked #1 in the Mystery ga Yomitai!, Shūkan Bunshun Mystery Best 10, Kono Mystery ga Sugoi!, and Honkaku Mystery Best 10 guidebooks for 2022, and is the first to place at #1 in all four rankings. It ranked at #1 in Rekishi/Jidai Shōsetsu Best 3 (Historical/Period Novels Best 3) award from Asahi Shimbun‘s Weekly Asahi magazine in 2021.

Detective Conan: Highway no Datenshi (Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway), the Detective Conan franchise‘s 29th film, stayed at #10 in its 15th weekend. The film earned 27,103,000 yen (about US$165,400) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 13,608,566,400 yen (about US$83.06 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.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie dropped off the top 10 again in its 13th weekend.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2), comScore via KOFIC

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.

The official website for the television anime of  Mochimaru Sakaki‘s The World’s Strongest Witch: I’m Starting My Free Life in a World Where Only I Can See the Online Strategy Guide (Sekai Saikyō no Majo, Hajimemashita: Watashi dake “Kōryaku Site” o Mireru Sekai de Jiyū ni Ikimasu) light novel series began streaming a new promotional video for the anime on Friday. The video reveals two new cast members, as well as the October 7 television debut date for the anime.

The anime will debut on Tokyo MX, BS11, and TV Aichi on October 7, and on MBS on October 10.

The new cast members include (Note: Character name romanizations are not official):

Kana Hanazawa as Aries Tear Bluemoon, a guildmaster in the port town of Aquas

Maria Naganawa as Ruru Ru Rie, the young water dragon princess of the underwater kingdom

Previously announced cast members include:

Azusa Tachibana as protagonist Rona Hermit

Fairouz Ai as Erimina, the master of the adverturers’ guild known as the “Inferno Witch”

Honoka Inoue as Eruna, an elff princess who worries over her sick mother

Yen Press is releasing the light novels in English, and released the second volume on April 14. Yen Press describes the story:

When Lorna manifests a completely useless ability, she’s labeled an embarrassment to her family and kicked out of the house. With no money or food, she’s about to hit rock bottom. But then, she figures out how to use her supposedly worthless SSS-Rank skill, “Internet.” This cheat-level talent gives her the know-how to gather an unlimited amount of valuable items and easily acquire rare equipment. Armed with godlike knowledge, Lorna’s free to do anything she wants! If only she could figure out what “lmfao” means…

Jōji Furuta (ēlDLIVE, Double Decker! Doug & Kirill, Bad Girl) is directing the anime at the studios Bridge and Aisle. Shoji Yonemura (Pokémon Journeys: The Series, One Piece 2013-onwards, Bad Girl) is in charge of the series scripts. Yūki Morimoto (Cardfight!! Vanguard GZ, Boarding School Juliet, Bad Girl) is designing the characters.

The anime will premiere in October.

Mochimaru Sakaki began serializing the original story in the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website in May 2022. Square Enix published the first print novel volume in December 2022, with illustrations by riritto. The fifth novel volume shipped in May 2025.

Tamaki Toga launched a manga adaptation in Kodansha‘s Getsu Maga Kichi/Comic Days website in May 2023. Kodansha published the manga’s 12th compiled book volume on May 8.

Comikey publishes both Daisuke Takashima‘s manga adaptation of Sakaki’s The Strongest Swordsman Has Zero Equipment Slots novel series, as well as Namiki Tsukiyama‘s manga adaptation of Sakaki’s Final Boss Fake-out novel series in English. Square Enix also publishes both manga in English on its Manga UP! Global website.

Sources: Sekai Saikyō no Majo, Hajimemashita anime’s website, Comic Natalie

The official website for the television anime adaptation of Mochimaru Sakaki‘s Sekai Saikyou no Majo, Hajimemashita: Watashi dake “Kouryaku Site” wo Mireru Sekai de Jiyuu ni Ikimasu (The World’s Strongest Witch: I’m Starting My Free Life in a World Where Only I Can See the Online Strategy Guide) light novel unveiled a pair of additional cast and the second character promotional video on Friday.

The anime series is scheduled to premiere on October 7 at 10.00 p.m. on Tokyo MX, followed by BS11 and TV Aichi on October 8.

Voice actresses Kana Hanazawa (Yuusha Party ni Kawaii Ko ga Ita node, Kokuhaku shitemita.) and Maria Naganawa (Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon) are joining the cast as Aries and Lulu, respectively.

Jouji Furuta (Shaman King (2021), Nanatsu no Taizai: Imashime no Fukkatsu) is directing the anime at Bridge and Aisle. Shouji Yonemura (Hotel Inhumans, Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu) is handling the series composition. Yuuki Morimoto (Bad Girl, Miss Monochrome The Animation) is designing the characters.

Sakaki began penning the fantasy adventure series on both the Shousetsuka ni Narou and Kakuyomu websites simultaneously in May 2022. Square Enix began publishing the novel through its SQEX Novel imprint in December 2022, featuring illustrations by riritto. The fifth volume was published in May 2025.

Tamaki Toga began drawing a manga adaptation in Getsumaga Kichi magazine in May 2023. The 12th volume was released on May 8, with the 13th volume scheduled for an August 7 release.

Yen Press licensed the light novel in English in May 2025, and published the second volume on April 14. The third volume is scheduled to go on sale on November 10.

Character PV 2

Source: animate Times