The Japanese box office continues to be dominated by local productions, with the latest Detective Conan film holding strong at number one while a new Utano Princesama movie makes its debut. Here’s a breakdown of the recent box office news:
Detective Conan’s “One-Eyed Flashback” Dominates
Detective Conan: One-eyed Flashback (Meitantei Conan: Sekigan no Flashback), the 28th film in the popular Detective Conan (Case Closed) franchise, has maintained its top position at the Japanese box office for four consecutive weekends. As of mid-May 2025, the film has sold 7.86 million tickets, accumulating a total gross of ¥11.3 billion (approximately $77.79 million USD).
Box Office Records
- Opening Weekend Record: The film had a record-breaking opening weekend for the franchise, earning ¥3,438,626,700 (about US$24.15 million) and selling 2,314,690 tickets in its first three days.
- Franchise Success: One-eyed Flashback is the third consecutive Conan film to surpass the ¥10 billion mark, following Black Iron Submarine (2023) and The Million-dollar Pentagram (2024).
- All-Time Ranking: The film now ranks among the top-grossing films in Japanese box office history.
Film Details
One-eyed Flashback opened in 522 theaters across Japan, which is also a record for the Detective Conan franchise. The film is being shown in IMAX, MX4D, 4DX, and Dolby Cinema formats, in addition to regular screenings. Katsuya Shigehara, who previously worked as a unit director on Detective Conan: Kurogane no Submarine, directed the film, with Takeharu Sakurai writing the script. The theme song, “Twilight!!!,” is performed by King Gnu. The movie is set in Nagano Prefecture, featuring inspector Yamato, who has an injured left eye, and Kogoro, who hasn’t had a major role since 2005’s Detective Conan: Strategy Above the Depths.
Previous Conan Films
The previous film, Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram, became the highest-grossing film in the franchise. Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback surpassed The Million-Dollar Pentagram’s opening weekend earnings, setting a new record for the franchise.
Utano Princesama: Taboo Night XXXX Enters the Charts
Gekijōban Utano☆Princesama♪ TABOO NIGHT XXXX (read as TABOO NIGHT Kisses), the latest film in the Utano Princesama series, debuted at number four in its opening weekend.
Film Details
TABOO NIGHT XXXX features the QUARTET NIGHT unit. The film’s staff includes:
- Chief Director: Takeshi Furuta (Uta no Prince Sama Maji Love Kingdom)
- Director: Akiko Seki (Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- Rhyme Anima)
- Original Character Designer: Chinatsu Kuruhana
- Character Designer: Maki Fujioka (Uta no Prince Sama Maji Love Kingdom)
- Music: Elements Garden
The QUARTET NIGHT unit members include:
- Showtaro Morikubo as Reiji Kotobuki
- Tatsuhisa Suzuki as Ranmaru Kurosaki
- Shōta Aoi as Ai Mikaze
- Tomoaki Maeno as Camus
The unit also performs the film’s main theme song, “TABOO NIGHT XXXX,” and the insert song “JINN-Ω-RAY”.
About Utano Princesama
Utano Prince-sama began as a dating simulation video game series for female players. The franchise has since expanded to include multiple anime seasons, films, and other media. The anime series follows a female protagonist who attends a performing arts school with young men who aspire to become idols. Subsequent seasons focus on the idol group ST☆RISH. TABOO NIGHT XXXX is the third concert film in the Utano Prince-sama franchise. The previous films, Maji LOVE Kingdom and Maji LOVE ST☆RISH Tour, were also box office successes.
Other Notable Films
While Detective Conan and Utano Princesama are making headlines, other films have also performed well at the Japanese box office:
- Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Art World Tales has earned over $30 million, making it one of the highest-grossing films in Japan.
- A Minecraft Movie is also showing in Japanese theaters.
The continued success of Detective Conan: One-eyed Flashback demonstrates the enduring popularity of this long-running anime franchise. The debut of Utano Princesama: Taboo Night XXXX further highlights the strength of Japanese animated films in the current box office landscape.
