Chiikawa Movie Passes 10 Billion Yen at Japan's Box Office

Chiikawa: The Secret of the Mermaid Island has passed 10 billion yen at Japan's box office. The franchise's first theatrical anime reached the milestone within 30 days of opening nationwide on July 24, extending a strong debut into one of the summer's biggest domestic runs.

The movie reached 11 billion yen after 31 days

The film crossed 10 billion yen on its 30th day in theaters. Its cumulative total then reportedly climbed to approximately 11 billion yen by August 23, the end of its first 31 days, with roughly 7.66 million admissions during that period.

That means the movie added around 1.7 billion yen after its 24-day total reached approximately 9.28 billion yen. The later result also places its average gross across the first 31 days at more than 350 million yen per day, although daily earnings naturally vary between opening weekends, weekdays and holiday periods.

A fast start became a sustained theatrical run

The movie opened across 447 locations in Japan, including 65 IMAX venues. It earned approximately 990 million yen on its first day and about 2.24 billion yen over its first three days, establishing the momentum that carried it through the 10 billion yen threshold.

Its cumulative performance rose to approximately 4.4 billion yen after 10 days, 6.77 billion yen after 17 days and 8.07 billion yen after 20 days. By day 24, the total had reached approximately 9.28 billion yen. Passing 10 billion yen six days later shows that the release continued attracting audiences well beyond its opening frame.

The milestone also gives Chiikawa a box-office pace close to a major contemporary anime benchmark. Detective Conan: The Fallen Angel of the Highway had recorded 11.4 billion yen after 31 days, putting the two releases in a similar range at the same stage of their theatrical runs.

The Siren Arc makes its theatrical debut

Chiikawa: The Secret of the Mermaid Island adapts the long-form story commonly known as the Siren Arc. Original creator Nagano developed the story for the movie and fully supervised the animated production.

The adventure begins when Chiikawa and friends receive an invitation to a special island and set out for an island training camp. The familiar characters are drawn into a larger story built around the island and its Siren, bringing one of the franchise's most prominent extended narratives to cinemas.

The movie follows the short-form Chiikawa television anime, which began airing in 2022, but expands the property into a feature-length format. Its theatrical performance shows that the characters can support a sustained cinema release as well as brief episodic adventures.

Special screenings will extend the run

The release is scheduled to add new theatrical formats in September. 4DX screenings begin September 5, while organized cheer-along events are planned for September 11. Additional screenings using automatically synchronized penlights are set for September 23.

Those events give the film several opportunities to maintain its box-office momentum after the first-month milestone. The next figure to watch is how far the total moves beyond 11 billion yen as the expanded screenings begin.