“o. itemList. length” “this. config. text. ariaShown”
“This. config. text. ariaFermé”
The pandemic has made empty cinemas not an unusual spectacle around the world, i. e. in Japan, where a single film brings audiences back to the cinema.
It’s a film about a boy who has become a demon killer, but it’s not the only thing that kills: Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train also committed a homicide in the Japanese box, fitting into the fastest movie in Japanese film history, taking just 10 days to earn 10 billion yen ($95. 3) m; 72 million euros).
In doing so, he beat the Japanese anime Spirited Away, which took 25 days to reach the same milestone and which some theaters have screened more than 40 times a day.
Hayao Miyazaki: the godfather of animation in Japan?
Spirited Away Chinese painting regulations 18 years late
Japan is now experiencing a relative increase in the number of Covid cases, with more than two hundred infections reported Thursday in the capital, Tokyo.
So what about this movie that brought the Japanese back to the movies despite the threat of infection?
The film is in a very popular Japanese comic strip, or manga, of the same name.
The plot revolves around a child who becomes a demon killer after almost his entire circle of relatives has been killed, and his sister becomes a demon.
The film follows him as he continues to fight demons on a train.
The 22-volume comedian has a stream of more than a hundred million copies, Mainichi reports, citing Shueisha Inc.
Early last year, she adapted into an animated television series, which became very popular again, and Japanese audiences called her her her favorite animated series of all time, according to a survey through cell operator NTT Docomo.
Its popularity took off internationally when the series took over through the Netflix streaming giant.
Therefore, it was no general surprise that the film was well won, although it still controlled to exceed expectations, recording $44 million in profits in the first 3 days of screening.
“One answer to why the film is so popular is to go back to the explanation of why manga and animated series are so popular,” Professor Northrop Davis of the University of South Carolina told the BBC.
“The antagonistic characters in the inherited Western comics were historically one-dimensional. However, the manga qualified the personality of the antagonists to give readers the reasons for their motivations. An” identifiability “if you will. The characters, adding demons, have well developed stories. “
The film was going to be really eye-catching, this was evident by the massive cult it had accumulated in both the TV series and the manga.
But there’s also the fact that there was no competition.
Dozens of films have had their dates delayed or production has stopped altogether due to the pandemic. Films such as James Bond and the Fast and Furious series have been reported in Japan, and even local films such as the Detective Conan series have been postponed.
In fact, one of the major Hollywood films to be screened in Japanese theaters is Christopher Nolan Tenet’s film.
Japanese cinemas are in trouble, at most other film chains around the world. The government ordered them to remain open, albeit with little monetary help.
So, of course, film chains took advantage of this golden opportunity: they had to attract the audience.
On opening day, one of Japan’s largest film networks, Toho, screened the film 42 times at its Shinjuku branch, an unusually higher number by Japanese standards.
A handful of theaters also had more than 40 screenings of the film, on a bachelor day.
According to Asahi Shimun, some on social media noted that the film’s screening program is more like a “train and bus schedule. “
Since then, the number of projections has declined slightly, to about 20 projections consistent with the weekday and 30 on weekends.
And then the escape element.
Professor Susan Napier of Tufts University says that after months of pandemic, there may be a “repressed demand, especially from young people, to revel in an emotion that theyArray . . . they haven’t known for a long time. “
Cinemas in Japan are lately allowed to open up to 50% of their capacity if they also allow the sale of food and beverages, or 100 percent of their capacity without, that is, social distance does not exist.
However, all spectators are begging to wear a mask and not speak inside the room, while the cinema is also dressed in protective gear.
A filmmaker told Mainichi that the cinemas were too complete because there were several screens appearing in the film, adding that she was not too worried about the threat of infection.
And Japanese officials don’t discourage moviegoers.
In fact, the government’s leading spokesman, cabinet general secretary Katsunobu Kato, would have said at his press convention that the film had “contributed greatly to the film industry,” adding that he himself had seen the series.
But it’s not just Japanese cinemas that benefit.
Clothing outlets, grocery outlets, stationery outlets and toy outlets have made the most of the demon’s madness.
The Uniqlo clothing store sells products with the Demon Slayer theme, and the Lawson convenience store chain puts Demon Slayer snacks on its shelves.
Additional reports via Sakiko Shiraishi