Kitaro Tanjou: GeGeGe no Nazo Becomes Top-Grossing Film in Series Franchise
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the GeGeGe no Kitaro original manga author Shigeru Mizuki's birth, the all-new anime feature film Kitaro Tanjou: GeGeGe no Nazo opened in 253 theaters in Japan on November 17, 2023. According to the latest report by Animate Times, the movie has earned 2,344,966,920 yen (15.83 million USD) on 1,643,274 admissions from November 2023 to January 2024 — becoming the top-grossing film in the whole GeGeGe no Kitaro franchise, including live-action films.
Thanks to strong critical response and word of mouth, the movie has also stayed in the Japanese weekend box office top ten for ten consecutive weeks since its opening.
The previous top-grossing film was the first GeGeGe no Kitaro live-action film starring Wentz Eiji as Kitaro, which was released in April 2007 and earned 2.34 billion yen (15.8 million USD) from its total domestic run.
The second live-action film starring Wentz, titled Kitaro And The Millennium Curse, was released in July 2008 and earned 1.45 billion yen (9.79 million USD). Separately, the previous top-grossing anime film in the franchise was Gegege no Kitarou: Nippon Bakuretsu released in December 2008 and earned 420 million yen (2.84 million USD).
The film, set in the 1950s, tells the story of Kitaro's birth and the hidden mystery of his father, Medama Oyaji. Go Koga (Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters, Gegege no Kitaro: Nihon Bakuretsu!!) served as director, alongside screenplay writer Hiroyuki Yoshino (Macross Frontier, World Trigger) and character Touko Yatabe (Evangelion Rebuild assistant director).
The movie's official Twitter account announced that theatergoers will also receive a bonus visual card newly drawn by Yatabe starting January 27.