Chiikawa Movie Opens #1 in Japan With ¥2.24 Billion Weekend

Japan’s box office just got a very soft, very sharp punch. Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island (Eiga Chiikawa: Ningyo no Shima no Himitsu) opened Friday, July 24, and over its first three days hauled in about ¥2.24 billion (roughly $13.7 million) from 1.5 million admissions across 447 screens—including 65 IMAX venues—claiming the No. 1 spot on the weekend rankings, according to distributor figures reported by Animate Times and Kogyo Tsushinsha.

Opening day alone hit roughly ¥990 million, a rocket start that put the film in rare company for a domestic anime release. Industry watchers have already lined the three-day haul up against 2024’s Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle, which opened on a nearly identical pace before finishing well past ¥100 billion—fueling early talk that Chiikawa’s mermaid-island odyssey could become a long-haul summer monster.

The feature is the first theatrical film for illustrator Nagano’s viral X-born manga, adapting the series’ darker “Siren” arc under full creator supervision. Cygames Pictures handles animation, with Kei Oikawa directing and Toho distributing. Audiences are praising the oceanic set pieces, the island’s earworm music, and Minori Suzuki’s Siren vocals—while social feeds keep spinning theories about how deep the “cute” story really goes.

Still playing wide in Japan, the film already has Taiwanese screenings slated from July 31. For a property built on tiny anxieties and big feelings, the debut is anything but small.

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