Anime movies made up the top three most watched movies in Japan in 2021
Anime rules the big screen.
Almost everyone around the world enjoys watching anime, especiallyJapan, the country where the animation style originated. In fact,Japan loves watching animeso much that three anime movies made it to the top of the charts in Japan’s 2021 box office.
Evangelion tops list as Japan’s number one anime movie in 2021
Anime rules the big screen in Japan, according to data released by theFilm Classification and Rating Organization (Eirin). The film regulating body released a list ranking the best movies of 2021 according to their revenue.
Studio Khara’sEvangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time topped the list with a revenue of US$87M (JP¥10.2B). The movie is the fourth and final film of the Rebuild of Evangelion film series and was released on July 27, 2025. It was written and directed by the series creator himself, Hideaki Anno.
Other blockbuster anime films include Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet at US$61.2M (JP¥7.7B) and Belle at US$57.2M (JP¥6.6B)
Another animated film that made it to the movie charts is My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission.
Here is the full list of the most watched films in Japan according to their revenue:
Live-action movie adaptations of anime series such as Tokyo Revengers and Rurouni Kenshin also ranked highly on cinema revenues, garnering US$39M and US$37.7M respectively.
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