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Laws of the Universe Ranks at #3, Macross at #8 in Japanese Box Office

Uchū no Hō: Elohim-hen (The Laws of the Universe: Elohim Chapter), the newest film in The Laws of the Universe film series by controversial religious organization Happy Science (Kōfuku no Kagaku), dropped from #2 to #3 in its second weekend. The film earned 131,468,450 yen (about US$1.14 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 424,391,180 yen (about US$3.71 million).

The film opened on October 8 and sold about 170,000 tickets to earn more than 200 million yen (about US$1,756,000) in its first three days.

Isamu Imakake returned as director, character designer, and chief animation director of this new installment. Yūichi Mizusawa also returned as composer. Sayaka Ōkawa penned the script. Yumiko Awaya is once again credited as visual effects creative director. Happy Science founder Ryuho Okawa is credited with the original work and as the chief production supervisor for the film.

Uchū no Hō: Elohim-hen is the second film in a planned trilogy. The Laws of the Universe: Part 1 opened in Japan in October 2018. Eleven Arts Anime Studio hosted the film's world premiere with an English dub at the Awareness Film Festival in Los Angeles earlier that month.

The Laws of the Universe Part 0, the film that sets up the trilogy's story, premiered in Los Angeles in September 2016. Eleven Arts then screened the film in selected theaters in the U.S. and Canada in October of that year, and the film opened in Japan in the same month. The film screened in North America with an English dub.

The Gekijōban Macross Delta: Zettai LIVE!!!!!! feature film dropped from #6 to #8 in its second weekend. The film earned 38,116,380 yen (about US$333,300) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 177,434,360 yen (about US$1.55 million).

The film opened on October 8 alongside the "Gekijō Tanpen Macross Frontier Toki no Meikyū" (Macross Frontier Film Short: Labyrinth of Time) film short.

The "Walküre Senjō no Premium Live Event at Toyosu Pit" had announced the new film in September 2018 and described the film as "entirely new" — as opposed to that year's Macross Delta the Movie: Passionate Walkūre (Gekijō-ban Macross Delta: Gekijō no Walkūre), which compiled earlier television anime footage with some new sequences.

The 26-episode Macross Delta television anime series ran from April to September 2016, after a preview of the first episode in 2015. Gekijō-ban Macross Delta: Gekijō no Walkūre opened in Japan in February 2018.

Macross Delta has also inspired several manga series, a novel, and a PlayStation Vita game. The in-story idol unit Walküre also performs as an idol unit in real life, and the group holds live events.

Big West, Studio Nue, and Harmony Gold USA announced in April that the companies agreed to allow the immediate distribution of most Macross television sequels and films globally. The companies agreed to cooperate on the distribution of future Macross and Robotech projects.

The first film of Free! The Final Stroke, Kyoto Animation's new two-part anime film project in the Free! franchise, dropped from #7 to #10 in its fifth weekend. The film earned 25,794,660 yen (about US$225,500) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 543,136,940 yen (about US$4.75 million).

The film opened on September 17, and ranked at #3 to earn 137,272,340 yen (about US$1.23 million) in its opening weekend. The second part will open in Japan on April 22, 2022. The films' trailer previously teased that the films are the "final chapter" for the franchise. The project's tagline is, "Let's go, to the stage of glory."

Eisaku Kawanami returned from previous installations in the franchise to direct the film at Kyoto Animation.

The Free! franchise about the Iwatobi High School Swim Club includes three television anime seasons that aired in 2013, 2014, and 2018. The High Speed! -Free! Starting Days- prequel film opened in 2015. The Free! The Movie -Timeless Medley- the Bond and Free! The Movie -Timeless Medley- the Promise compilation films opened in April 2017 and July 2017, respectively. The Free! -Take Your Marks- omnibus film of short stories then opened in October 2017.

The franchise's most recent entry was Free! ~Road to the World~ Yume (Dream), which opened on July 5, 2019, and was a "reconstruction" of the Free! Dive to the Future television anime series, as well as a "bridge" to the new films.

Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu's BELLE (Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime, literally "The Dragon and the Freckled Princess") anime film dropped off the top 10 chart in its 14th weekend.

Gekijō-ban Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu. Spain-Hen (DAKAICHI -I'm being harassed by the sexiest man of the year- the Movie in Spain), the anime film adapting the Spain Arc for Hashigo Sakurabi's Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu. (DAKAICHI -I'm being harassed by the sexiest man of the year-) manga, fell off the top 10 chart in its second weekend.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin, Eiga.com, comScore via KOFIC