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The story
A tally posted on X reported that box office revenue for the movie “Chiikawa: The Secret of the Mermaid Island” had reached an estimated ¥14.053 billion as of its 47th day in theaters, and on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board, the figure sparked discussion for apparently surpassing the first Mario movie. The thread buzzed with talk of Chiikawa’s broad audience appeal and whether other Nintendo-adjacent characters (like Kirby) could compete, while old posts showing that Chiikawa’s creator, Nagano, is a fan of Nintendo and Pokémon were also dug up, drawing reactions from an angle unrelated to the box office comparison itself. Opinions were also divided over the quality of the Mario movie itself.
Movie: Chiikawa – The Secret of the Mermaid Island
Day 47, as of 16:22 ▶︎ ¥14.053 billion (estimated)
Single-day box office so far ▷ ¥41 million (estimated)
Source: x.com / Original post here
What people said
Looks like Chiikawa beat you instead lol
I think Star Fox fans would've enjoyed that one more than Mario fans did
The Nintendo fanboy ("Nishi-kun," 5ch slang for a diehard Nintendo defender): "Whoever sells more is obviously superior!"
Sure, so Spider-Man reigns supreme then
And if it doesn't, then what?
Isn't it already game over the moment you're counting on scalper demand like that?
The Pokémon movies have never beaten Chiikawa, not even historically
Even Kirby's not strong enough, honestly
Not that I don't love him, but still
You're underestimating Kirby big time
He's the only one with the potential to beat Chiikawa's opening-week numbers!
Chiikawa isn't kids' content though
Kirby doesn't stand a chance
Doesn't even come close to Chiikawa's ¥14 billion, lol, way too weak
But they can't bring up worldwide box office, where they'd actually win
Because then it gets compared to Spider-Man lol
💵 vs 💴
Mario, which only kids and gaming nerds watch, isn't even in the conversation
I've already been dragged to see it 4 times just for the merch lol
Kirby isn't kids' content either
He's for all ages!
If Sakurai (Masahiro Sakurai, Kirby's creator) wrote a dark-toned scenario, maybe it could actually compete with Chiikawa lol
Does it need to be understood though?
Movies
are made so you can enjoy them even without fully getting it
TV's about the only medium that's obsessed with 'getting it'
Is there a Chiikawa game on PlayStation?
Nagano posts a lot of Nintendo and Pokémon fan art, but is actually a fan of Doko Demo Issho (Sony's old PlayStation mascot series)
So no, nothing to do with today's PlayStation
So Chiikawa's white body design comes from Toro (the Doko Demo Issho PlayStation cat)?
Guess Sony has no choice but to sue for ripping it off — Nintendo sued Palworld too, after all
Get ready for the smear campaign and Twitter brigading~
Nishi-kun hates anything that beats Nintendo, that's just how it is
Given Chiikawa's fanbase, any gamer nerd who tries to pick a fight is guaranteed to get wrecked 🤣
Watched it but honestly didn't really get it
So that's what a kid's take on it is like
Figured the repeat viewers skew older
Kids
don't need to understand everything
It's really only adult otaku
who insist on understanding everything just to enjoy it
even though plenty of things can be enjoyed without being understood…
The second one was mediocre and the numbers cratered both at home and abroad
Mario: lost to Chiikawa at home, one-punched by Spider-Man overseas
Didn't the first one also get crushed by Barbie?
https://funakamome.com/i/6zfoY1m.jpeg
https://www.pokemon-card.com/assets/images/card_images/large/S12a/042864_P_BAOKKIVSTAR.jpg
Probably the type who dabbles in a bunch of different franchises and loses interest fast
Seems like they've been a Pokémon fan for a long time
2018, huh
So Nagano's been a Pokémon fan this whole time
There's also that Mario Kart 64 story, so I'd say they genuinely like Nintendo itself
They're around 36 too, so they're from the generation Nintendo landed a clean hit on with stuff like Pokémon
Yeah, probably
Background and Talking Points
“Chiikawa: The Secret of the Mermaid Island” is a theatrical anime based on the popular “Chiikawa” IP, with box office reported to have reached roughly ¥14 billion as of its 47th day in theaters. The “Mario” movie brought up for comparison in the thread is a Nintendo-based CG animated film that was a massive hit both in Japan and abroad, but the posts mix domestic and worldwide figures, as well as yen and dollar amounts, without laying them out in a directly comparable way — worth keeping in mind when reading. It also became a talking point that Chiikawa’s creator, Nagano, had previously posted a lot of Nintendo- and Pokémon-related fan art, but this is based solely on Nagano’s own public social media posts and doesn’t indicate any official relationship with those companies. On the Geha board, fans sparring over box office numbers for their favorite franchises is a familiar routine, but this time the discussion also took off from the angle of the creator’s personal interests.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Hardware/Industry “Geha”) thread “Breaking! Chiikawa goes and surpasses the first Mario movie!!!.”
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