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The story
It was announced on the 14th that “Chiikawa the Movie: The Mermaid Island Secret,” currently a smash hit, will hand out a 52-page “Secret Book” as its 5th admission bonus starting on the 19th, the first day of Silver Week. The booklet reportedly includes story illustrations that original creator Nagano drew while conceiving the “Siren arc,” letting readers see early concept details that had previously only been described in a long-form interview on the official website. On 5ch, reactions were largely upbeat — “I absolutely need this,” “how lavish” — but the thread also buzzed with gripes about the repeated bonus-item marketing, the film’s box-office numbers, and sold-out theater merchandise, so the excitement wasn’t limited to the bonus content alone.
Mon, Sep 14, 4:35 PM
It was announced on the 14th that “Chiikawa the Movie: The Mermaid Island Secret,” currently playing to smash-hit success, will distribute a lavish booklet called the “Secret Book” as its 5th admission bonus starting on the 19th, the first day of Silver Week.
The “Secret Book” bonus is a hefty limited-edition booklet running a full 52 pages. It includes the “story illustrations” that original creator and illustrator Nagano drew back when conceiving the “Siren arc,” offering a rare look at early concept art — material previously only described in a long-form interview on the official website, which revealed details such as “a character called ‘that girl’ was placed where the siren would have been” and “Hitoha and Futaba originally had faces and lines.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
The ones who are happy are the scalpers
You think so? Doesn't seem like something kids would really go for
Stuff like Shimajiro and Ode, or the Mucha Uma Diary spinoff, feels totally aimed at adults at this point
As of yesterday it was estimated at 14.6 billion yen
Of course they're aiming for 20 billion
Well then, shouldn't other movies be doing the same thing?
Sure, as long as you're fine with your beloved cute-girl anime disappearing
Still, any real fan would want it
The Secret Book… don't go cherry-picking it! (slang for feeling through blind packaging to select a specific one)
There's no variation between copies, so there's no point cherry-picking
The merch was sold out everywhere too — honestly fine by me since I didn't get roped into buying pricey stuff, but this limited-run marketing is rough on kids who genuinely love Chiikawa.
Complaining that merch for a movie that's been running since July sold out yesterday is a bit unfair to the theater
It released on a Friday and didn't even last the weekend though.
They clearly planned this far ahead for the bonus items, so running out of merch in 3 days is straight-up incompetence — that's a serious missed-opportunity level of bad
My youngest wanted it a little, but we only went on a whim, not with the kind of drive it takes to guarantee grabbing one.
My older kid was asleep, coming back from a practice exam.
Kids who are real fans need their parents' schedules to line up just to get taken, and between school, lessons, and events they've got so many constraints they can't move freely — I just thought this limited-run marketing is rough on them.
Are Toho and Fuji TV trying to kill Bayside Shakedown?!
Bayside Shakedown isn't even part of this conversation, there's zero buzz about it
It wouldn't hold a candle to Chiikawa anyway
'Chiikawa audience! We can't hold them back!!' (riffing on the film series' iconic 'we can't seal it off' line)
Forget the kids — I can't believe even adults are giving a movie like this such high ratings
I actually went in barely knowing anything about it.
The first half had me thinking 'eh, whatever,' but once the truth comes out in the second half, I genuinely thought it was good
That one's available as a free official download
That was just a single flimsy sheet of paper
By that logic, it's basically like Demon Slayer's volume 0
Not landing #1 in the opening week is rough
Guess it was king for a day on Friday
All that holding back caused a massive drop-off, huh
What an awful stain on it — genuinely feel bad for Yuji Oda
Isn't it more like a metaphor for people going to see it just because the trend's being controlled, with no will of their own?
Background and Talking Points
Handing out admission bonuses in staggered waves is a box-office strategy that’s become standard for recent hit anime films like Demon Slayer, meant to encourage repeat viewings and boost box-office revenue. Worth noting: the “14.6 billion yen” figure that came up in the thread was an unconfirmed estimate circulating on 5ch, not an officially released number. Opinions in the thread split into two camps — those welcoming this kind of bonus-item marketing as fan service, and those wary of a business model that seems to bank on scalping and repeat viewings. Some pointed out that since this “Secret Book” comes in only one version with no lottery element, there’s little upside for scalpers. Meanwhile, the complaints about sold-out theater merchandise are really about the timing of bonus distribution and how individual stores manage inventory — a different issue from criticism of the source material or the bonus campaign itself, a nuance that’s easy to miss from the article alone.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku Speed+) thread “‘Chiikawa the Movie’ Drops a Surprise 5th Admission Bonus for Silver Week! Net Erupts Over the ‘Secret Book’: ‘So Lavish’ / ‘I Absolutely Need This’.”
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