The 2012-2015 Japanese film box office was not ideal: it was all the sequel's fault

In recent years, in the context of the strong invasion of Hollywood blockbusters, Japanese domestic films have been mainly featured in the release of sequels last year, such as the 2014 blockbuster films "Ranger Sword Heart" and "Parasitic Beast", as well as "Attack on Titan" and "Solomon's Perjury" that will be released in 2015, all of which are released in the form of "pre-part + post-part". However, judging from the box office of sequels released in recent years, most of the sequels have not surpassed the previous ones, although most of them are sold by the ending, but the reasons for the decline in the box office of sequels are worth exploring.

The most watched Japanese film of 2015 is undoubtedly the first and second installments of Attack on Titan, which was released in August and September. Based on a popular manga by Isayama, the film is directed by Masayoshi Higuchi, director of "The Sinking of Japan", and gathers powerful movie stars such as Haruma Miura, Hiroko Hasegawa, and Keiko Mizuhara, telling the story of humanity's fantasy adventure against the invasion of "super giants". In addition, the "first part" and "after" of "Solomon's Perjury", which were released on March 7 and April 11, are still attracting much attention. This film, based on the novel by best-selling author Miyuki Miyabe, was directed by Narima, the director of the hit film "The Cicada of the Eighth Day", and all the actors were selected as newcomers, which attracted countless topics.

Judging from the box office comparison of sequels released in recent years, the box office of the latter part has not exceeded the previous part. The first part of "The Great Fire of Kyoto" grossed 5.21 billion yen, and the second part of "The End of the Legend" was 4.33 billion yen. Released in 2013, SPAC: The End of the First Part grossed 2.75 billion yen and the sequel grossed 2.06 billion yen. Released in 2012, "Our Existence" grossed 2.52 billion yen in the first part and 1.72 billion yen in the back part. Released in 2010, "Symphonic Lover's Dream Final Movement: Part 1" grossed 4.1 billion yen and the back part 3.72 billion yen. The first part of "VIP Police Officer" is 3.63 billion yen, and the second part is 3.33 billion yen. (Exchange rate as of February 5, 2015: 100 yen = 5.3409 yuan)

Judging from the decline in the sequel box office alone, in addition to the loyal fans of the original work, the root cause of the decline is inseparable from the enthusiasm of ordinary audiences. In addition, in order to pursue box office interests, it is also true that the filmmakers split a movie into two films for release. Today's audiences are picky and extremely sensitive to commercialized films, and it is difficult to attract audiences to enter the cinema again in the face of films that focus on packaging and lack connotation.

However, there are also examples of the box office of the sequel exceeding the previous part, such as "Death Note" released in June and November 2006, the release time of the first and second parts is 5 months apart, in addition to the selling point of the final part, the increased publicity is also the key to the big sale of the sequel. "Parasitic Beast: The End", which will be released in April 2015, is nearly 5 months away from the release of the previous part, how will the film launch a new round of publicity offensive for the upcoming release of the latter part, and can it reproduce the big hit of "Death Diary" that year? In addition, including "Attack on Titan" and "Solomon's Perjury", the sequels that will be launched in 2015 will satisfy the audience, and wait for the box office to be revealed.