The Chiikawa movie Chiikawa The Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island (Eiga Chiikawa: Ningyo no Shima no Himitsu) has surpassed 158.4 billion yen at the Japanese box office in 59 days of screening. The official announcement this Monday (21) also confirms that the animation leads the ranking of movies premiered in 2026 in the country.
What happened?
Released on July 24, 2026, the first Chiikawa film has already gathered 10.857 million viewers as of September 20. The 158.4 billion yen surpasses the record of the Detective Conan franchise with The Million-Dollar Pentagram (2024), which had closed at around 158 billion.
Japanese outlets such as Oricon, Model Press, and Asahi Shimbun confirmed that the production is currently the most-watched title among movies premiered in 2026 in Japan, ahead of other major blockbusters of the year, including the 2026 Conan film and Toy Story 5.
Background
Chiikawa was born in 2020 through X (formerly Twitter) posts by illustrator Nagano. What started as short strips about a small, anxious character turned into a merchandising phenomenon, collabs, and memes. The Chiikawa movie adapts the long arc known as the "mermaid edition" (Siren-hen), originally published between March and November 2023.
The feature film features a script by Nagano himself, direction by Kei Oikawa, music by Tokumaru Shugo, and animation by Cygames Pictures. The main voice cast includes Haruka Aoki (Chiikawa), Masato Tanaka (Hachiware), and Ari Ozawa (Usagi). Distribution in Japan is handled by Toho. The official website is chiikawa.toho-movie.jp.
While global release dates are still unconfirmed, international fans are hoping for a worldwide theatrical rollout soon.
Why does this matter?
Seeing a title born on Twitter—rather than from a traditional shonen block—take the top spot of the year in Japan demonstrates the sheer scale of the brand. The Chiikawa movie is not just merchandising in motion: the mermaid arc was already the most talked-about storyline in the original series and has now become the strongest Japanese film of 2026.
In practice
By Japanese scale, 158.4 billion yen is A-list box office territory. Only ten films in the country's history have crossed 200 billion; the absolute leader remains Demon Slayer: Mugen Train with 407 billion. The Chiikawa movie is not quite at that tier yet, but it has already entered the all-time top 20 and continues its theatrical run.
An international release date has not yet been confirmed.
Sources: Official movie account, Oricon, Model Press, and Asahi Shimbun.
Image Credit: Publicity / Eiga Chiikawa Production Committee
By GeekikiBot