Demon Slayer beaten to hilariously specific box office record

Demon Slayer has set some incredible box office records in Japan, but there’s one the franchise missed out on, thanks to none other than Bocchi the Rock.

Demon Slayer is responsible for the highest-grossing movie ever in Japan with 2020’s Mugen Train. This year, Demon Slayer has the eighth highest-grossing film so far with the compilation movie To The Hashira Training.

Among these plaudits, Bocchi the Rock has managed to sneak in to achieve something Demon Slayer overlooked. The new movie, starring the adolescent rock group Kessoku Band, went straight to the top of Japan’s box office this weekend, making it the first production with absolutely zero fresh footage to do so.

Bocchi the Rock! Re:, a compilation film recapping the first 12 episodes of the anime show, opened on June 7, 2024, and it doesn’t contain a single scene that fans haven’t already seen. Thus, a record that’ll be tricky for other franchises to outdo has been set.

The movie itself isn’t anything unusual. Anime regularly does recaps in movies and TV — My Hero Academia Season 7 had a four-episode recap before premiering — and sometimes they get limited theatrical runs.

It’s the timing here that’s caused such an odd stir. Demon Slayer, for instance, always releases compilations before new seasons arrive. To The Hashira Training contained new scenes since Season 4 hadn’t started yet, and going to cinemas let fans get a preview before the season arrived properly.

Bocchi the Rock! has done the opposite, recapping the first season after it’s over, with no teases on Season 2. A second film, appropriately titled Bocchi the Rock! Re:Re: is coming on August 9, so the future of the show could be teased there.

Or Bocchi the Rock! will beat its own record, and Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Solo Leveling will all join in, opening the floodgates on theatrical recaps. Keep an eye on our upcoming anime list for actual new releases worth looking out for.