Star Detective Precure! The Movie: The Mysterious Garden and the Secret of 2 People has become the highest-grossing standalone film in the Precure franchise, the film's staff announced on Sunday.
In its first month the film sold 977,000 tickets and earned an estimated 1.24 billion yen, about $7.8 million. That edges past the 1.24 billion yen lifetime total of 2024's Wonderful Precure! The Movie! Dokidoki Game no Sekai de Daibōken!, which had held the record among films that aren't crossover all-star productions.
The film opened in Japan on September 18 and landed at No. 3 in its opening weekend, selling 358,000 tickets for 446 million yen, roughly $2.82 million, in three days. A month later it has out-earned every standalone Precure film before it. That is a slow-burn pattern rather than a front-loaded opening, which for a kids' franchise usually means word of mouth and repeat family visits.
The story
The Detective Precures are investigating the "X Mark Incident" when a fairy named Rain shows up asking for their help. Rain leads them to a garden called Karin's Garden, which is being overrun by small creatures known as Dame Dame. The team investigates the creatures and finds the secret the garden is hiding.
Three actors voice the film's original characters. Akari Kitō plays Karin, a 14-year-old girl who holds the key to the story. Nobunaga Shimazaki voices Alan, a fairy who watches over Karin. Kōki Uchiyama plays Rain, the fairy who asks the Detective Precures for help. Characters from You and Idol Precure and Wonderful Precure also appear.
Who made it
Hanako Ueda directed. Ueda's credits include episode direction on You and Idol Precure and Summer Time Rendering. Yoshimi Narita wrote the script, with earlier Precure film work on HappinessCharge Precure! Ningyō no Kuni no Ballerina and both Tropical-Rouge! Precure films. Erika Fukasawa and Misaki Umase composed the music, and Emiko Miyamoto designed the characters and served as chief animation director.
The rest of the core staff: Risa Fujii as art director, Satoshi Takezawa as color key artist, Takumi Arai as compositing director of photography and Hirotaka Naota as production manager. Yūka Masui and Chihaya Yoshitake perform the ending theme "FIRST PRISM," and Ami Ishii performs the insert song "First Step."
The series behind it
Star Detective Precure! is the 23rd main entry in the franchise. The TV anime debuted on February 1 on ABC TV, TV Asahi and their affiliates, and Crunchyroll streams it across North America, Central and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the CIS.
The premise runs on a time jump. Anna Akechi is a second-year middle school student in Makoto Mirai Town who travels back from 2027 to 1999 when her companion fairy Pochitan appears on her birthday. In 1999 she meets Mikuru Kobayashi, another second-year student who wants to be a great detective. The two witness the Phantom Thieves stealing people's treasured belongings, and they transform into Precure detectives to stop them.
Why the number matters
Precure films have a ceiling that's set by the franchise's core audience, and standalone films sit below the all-star crossovers by design. Beating the previous standalone record inside a month, in a year when the TV series is only eight months old, says something about how the current entry is landing with families.
It also puts the movie in the same conversation as the year's bigger anime releases, at least in Japan. For a Sunday-morning kids' show, that's a real result.
Source: Star Detective Precure! film’s official website, via Anime News Network
Featured image: Poster for Star Detective Precure! The Movie, via Anime News Network.
