The movie has retained its top spot in the Japanese box office on its fourth weekend.
The latest anime blockbuster “Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island” has surpassed all expectations and held on to the top spot in the Japanese box office for two consecutive weeks. The movie came out on 24 July and made over JP¥ 2.2 billion (appx. US$ 13.7 million) in just three days. Now on its fourth weekend, the movie has surpassed 6.45 million viewers and JP¥ 9.28 billion (appx. US$ 58.11 million) in revenue.
Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island
Japanese premiere date: 24 July, 2026
Animation studio: Cypic
Streaming platform: TBA
The Chiikawa movie’s popularity is not slowing down
Based on Nagano’s adorable web manga titled Chiikawa, the anime movie became an instant national phenomenon in Japan when it premiered on 24 July.
The last weekend (14 to 16 August) also coincided with Japan’s Obon holiday. Over the three days, the movie had 602,000 admissions and made JP¥ 895 million ( US$ 5.6 million).The numbers are truly impressive even though they came down about 47.3% from the previous weekend.
According to a report by Oricon news, the total revenue of the 24 days since the movie’s release is JP¥ 9.28 billion (appx. US$ 58.11 million) over 6.45 million admissions.
Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island is now the third highest grossing film to open in Japan in 2026, surpassing The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which made JP¥ 7.93 billion (US$ 49.66 million). It has also become the 69th highest grossing movie in Japan’s all-time box office chart, already having surpassed 2010’s Arietty ( JP¥ 9.26 billion/ US$ 57.9 million) and 2018’s Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer ( JP¥ 9.18 billion/ US$ 57.49 million).
Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island has made it back to the top of the box office and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
What is Chiikawa about?
The Chiikawa franchise is based on Nagano’s web manga series that has been serialised via X (formerly Twitter) since January 2020. The first season of the Chiikawa anime by Doga Kobo came out in April 2022, followed by the second season in July of that year. Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island adapted the manga’s Siren Arc, which is one of the most popular story arcs from the series.
The story takes place in a world inhabited by small and adorable creatures known as the chiikawas, armour-wearing monstrous creatures known as Yoroi-san, and various other creatures. We follow the titular protagonist Chiikawa and their friends as they try to find pleasure in the small things offered by life while also living amongst monsters and taking up dangerous jobs from the Yoroi.