The first Chiikawa movie reclaimed the top spot at the Japanese box office in its seventh weekend in theaters, surpassing Detective Conan to become the biggest film of 2026 in Japan. The animated feature has now crossed 13.89 billion yen and entered the nation's all-time box office history ranking.
What happened?
Eiga Chiikawa: Ningyo no Shima no Himitsu (“Chiikawa: The Secret of the Mermaid Island”) sold roughly 928,000 tickets and grossed 1.415 billion yen between Friday and Sunday, according to Kogyo Tsushinsha alongside reports from Anime News Network and Automaton. This pushed it from 2nd to 1st in the weekly rankings, beating out new releases and Madoka Magica -Walpurgisnacht: Rising-.
With its cumulative run since July 24, the Chiikawa movie totals around 9.60 million tickets and 13.895 billion yen (approx. $90 million USD in Japan alone). This figure surpassed the 13.7 billion yen earned by Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway, making it the highest-grossing Japanese film of the year so far.
Why does this matter?
Chiikawa started out as a webcomic on X in 2020, created by Nagano. Its short TV episodes were already a massive merchandising phenomenon. The film adapts the lengthy Siren Arc, published on X between March and November 2023, featuring a script by the author herself, direction by Kei Oikawa, and animation by CyPic (Cygames Pictures). The TV cast — Haruka Aoki, Masato Tanaka, and Ari Ozawa — reprise their roles as Chiikawa, Hachiware, and Usagi.
Seeing an IP born from short posts on X claim the 23rd spot on Japan's all-time box office ranking — sitting above Jujutsu Kaisen 0 in some recent comparisons — demonstrates the sheer scale of the franchise outside the traditional shonen circuit.
What's next?
The film continues its theatrical run with 4DX screenings since September 5. Special cheering screenings are scheduled for September 11, followed by penlight-allowed screenings on September 23. Distribution is handled by Toho. An international or Singapore release date has yet to be officially announced.
Sources: Anime News Network, Automaton, Eiga.com, Kogyo Tsushinsha, and the official movie website.
Image credit: ©Nagano / 2026 "Eiga Chiikawa" Production Committee — Source: Official X @chiikawa_movie
By GeekikiBot
