Anime
Sumikko Gurashi Franchise Gets 5th Anime Film in 2027 – News
San-X‘s Sumikko Gurashi franchise announced on Wednesday that it will release a fifth anime film in 2027. The announcement did not reveal the film’s title, but presented a visual drawn by creator Yuri Yokomizo and hinted that the film’s story will center on the character Neko as the protagonist.
©2027 日本すみっコぐらし協会映画部
Sumikko Gurashi debuted in 2012 as slightly negative characters who like to stay in the corner of a room. The characters include “Shirokuma,” a polar bear who is sensitive to cold; “Penguin?” (with a question mark in its name), a penguin who is unsure if it is actually a penguin; “Tonkatsu,” a piece of pork cutlet that was left uneaten; “Neko,” a shy cat; and “Tokage,” who hides his nature as one of the last dinosaurs.
The first anime film, titled Sumikkogurashi – Good to be in the corner, opened in Japan in November 2019. The film eventually sold a total of 1.22 million tickets, and it earned 1.4 billion yen (about US$12.8 million) at the box office in Japan as of February 2020. The film won the award for Best Animation of the Year at the 29th Annual Japan Movie Critics Awards in June 2020.
Eiga Sumikko Gurashi: Aoi Tsukiyo no Mahō no Ko (The Magical Child of the Blue Moonlit Night), the second film, opened in Japan in November 2021, and sold about 200,000 tickets to earn about 250 million yen (about US$2.22 million at the time) in its first three days.
Eiga Sumikko Gurashi: Tsugihagi Kōjō no Fushigi na Ko (The Mysterious Child of the Makeshift Factory), the franchise‘s third anime film, opened in Japan in November 2023, and sold 192,300 tickets for 242,553,320 yen (about US$1.63 million in current conversion) in its first three days.
Eiga Sumikko Gurashi: Sora no Ōkoku to Futari no Ko (The Sky Kingdom and the Two Children), the fourth anime film of the franchise, opened in Japan in October 2025. The film ranked at #4 in its opening weekend. The film sold 150,000 tickets for 183,974,840 yen (about US$1.19 million) in its first three days. Counting November 3 (which was the Culture Day holiday in Japan), the film sold a total of 208,000 tickets for 253 million yen (about US$1.64 million) in its first four days.
The franchise had its first-ever television anime that premiered its first episode in October 2023. A puppet musical ran in Tokyo in August to September 2024. Sumikko Gurashi: Koko ga Ochitsukun Desu (This Is Where I Relax), a new series of anime shorts for the franchise, premiered on the NTV network in the ZIP! morning variety program’s new “ZIP! 1-Minute Anime” segment in April 2025.
Sources: Sumikko Gurashi film’s website, Comic Natalie
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The Universal Studios Japan theme park announced on Wednesday that it is collaborating with the Sailor Moon franchise for its Universal Cool Japan campaign next year. Universal Cool Japan is the park’s annual series of limited-time attractions and other promotions themed around anime, manga, games, and similar pop culture icons. The Sailor Moon collaboration is the first one announced for the 2027 incarnation.
© Naoko Takeuchi TM & © 2026 Universal Studios.
The collaboration will introduce a new “Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon x Story Ride” attraction with more details to be announced at a later date. The collaboration will also bring back the “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon the Miracle: Moon Place Chapter Deluxe” original manga/CG anime short, which debuted during Universal Cool Japan 2019. An updated “Deluxe” edition of the short played at the park in 2022, and the short then played at Universal Studios Hollywood in California during the Fan Fest Night event from April 25 to May 16 earlier this year.
The Universal Cool Japan 2027’s Sailor Moon collaboration will also include themed food and merchandise.
The Sailor Moon franchise has previously collaborated with Universal Studios Japan in 2018, 2019, and 2022.
Sources: Universal Studios Japan, Comic Natalie
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Japanese pop and R&B singer Mai Kuraki and the long-running Detective Conan anime series announced on Sunday that Kuraki has broken her own Guinness World Record for Most Theme Songs in a Single Anime Series. She achieved the milestone with her latest song “Ai de Zenbu Dakishimete Aishite” (Hold and Love Me with Your Love), the 76th Detective Conan ending song which debuted in the latest episode on Saturday. The singer added that she has completed her career’s “30 YEARS × 30 SONGS” with the theme song.
©青山剛昌／小学館・読売テレビ・TMS1996
The franchise is streaming the clean ending sequence featuring “Ai de Zenbu Dakishimete Aishite”:
Kuraki also announced that the song will launch digitally as a single on October 10. Kuraki will then release the Kuraki Mai x Meitantei Conan Collaboration Best 30 -Kimi ga Itekratakara, Uta ga Aru- (Mai Kuraki x Detective Conan Collaboration Best 30 -Because You Were There, There Are Songs-) album on November 11 in limited and regular editions. The limited and regular editions will sell for 5,940 yen and 4,290 yen, respectively (about US$38 and US$27).
Kuraki joined the Detective Conan family for the series’ ninth ending theme song, “Secret of my heart,” in 2009. The singer has continued to offer her voice to the series ever since, and Kuraki first received the Guinness World Record for Most Theme Songs in a Single Anime Series in 2017 with 21 songs.
The series centers on Conan Edogawa, the alias of detective Shinichi Kudo, whose body shrunk after being poisoned at the beginning of the story. Together with detective Kogoro Mori and his daughter Ran, Conan helps the police solve difficult mysteries.
The Detective Conan television anime premiered on January 8, 1996, and celebrated its 30th anniversary on January 8, 2026. Crunchyroll has been streaming the anime as it airs since the 754th episode in 2014. Netflix and Crunchyroll are also streaming specially curated selections of episodes, including some that were never released in the United States.
Gōshō Aoyama launched the original manga in Shogakukan‘s Weekly Shounen Sunday magazine in 1994. Viz Media publishes the manga under the name Case Closed, Funimation‘s original localized title. The English manga release uses the same English names from the original Funimation dub when applicable, and it uses the original Japanese names otherwise.
Sources: Mai Kuraki‘s X/Twitter account (link 2 and website, link 3), Detective Conan series’ X/Twitter account and YouTube channel, Guiness World Records via Comic Natalie, Mainichi Shimbun’s Mantan Web
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Kadokawa unveiled more details about its partnership with Marvel Comics on Wednesday, including more concept art and some story details for their upcoming Spider-Man and Spider-Gwen manga.
Tokitokoro (Jeff the Land Shark) is working on Spider-Man. News outlet Bleeding Cool reported in July that the work would be titled Spider-Man of Shibuya, although Kadokawa said on Wednesday that the Japanese title is still to be determined. The story centers on Haruto Hachidori, a high schooler in Shibuya who suddenly gains the powers of a spider. Now he swings freely through the skyline of Shibuya, not knowing that a dark presence lurks beneath the city.
Ryūsei Yamada (Revenger manga adaptation, Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Manga—Anthology) is working on Spider-Gwen (whose manga’s Japanese title is to be determined). The story follows Gwen Stacy, a normal high schooler and drummer in the band “Mary Janes.” One day, she is bitten by a radioactive spider, giving her superhuman powers. She chooses to protect the city using her powers under the alter-ego of Spider-Woman, but tough choices and conflicts await her.
Kadokawa also revealed the below concept art for Daredevil and Punisher.
The works will debut in Kadokawa‘s KadoComi service before the end of the year. Bleeding Cool stated in July that the collaboration will include “five original manga volumes,” and Kadokawa specified on Wednesday that the lineup will have five different titles.
Shueisha announced on July 1 that its contract with Walt Disney Japan to publish manga adaptations of Marvel Comics characters would end on September 30. Shueisha began removing five manga titles — Marvel x Shonen Jump+ Super Collaboration, Secret Reverse, Spider-Man: Octo-Girl, Spider-Man: Kizuna, and Deadpool: Samurai — from digital storefronts gradually from September 28 to 30, and is ceasing the sales of the same manga titles in physical print volumes. All five of these manga have ended their serializations.
Sho-Pro Books’ (Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions) contract to publish Marvel Comics titles in Japanese ended this year on March 31.
Marvel Comics had announced on July 16 that Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski would move on from the EiC role and become the editor of “Asia Originals” for Marvel. Veteran editor Stephen Wacker is the new Editor-in-Chief.
Source: Press release
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.
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