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On Friday, January 5, 2024, the official X (formerly Twitter) account for the Anpanman film franchise revealed the title and announced the release date for the franchise's 35th movie, which is set to release in summer 2024. The full title is Soreike! Anpanman: Baikinman to Ehon no Lulun, and a roughly 30-second-long trailer of the film was also released alongside this news.
The upcoming Anpanman film is being produced to commemorate both the 35th anniversary of the original anime series, and the 50th anniversary of the original picture book series. The upcoming film also continues the franchise’s impressive streak of opening a new film for the franchise in Japan each and every summer since 1989.
New Anpanman film set to premiere in Japanese theaters on June 28, 2024
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Alongside the reveal of the new Anpanman movie’s full title—Soreike! Anpanman: Baikinman to Ehon no Lulun, the release date of the film in Japanese theaters was also confirmed, which is Friday, June 28, 2024. The information and nearly 30-second-long teaser trailer for the movie come from the official X account for the franchise’s films.
The story focuses on Anpanman’s nemesis, Baikinman. While typically evil, Baikinman attempts to become a hero of justice when he is sucked into a fantasy picture book. Inside the book is a large forest where fairies live, including Lulun, whom Baikinman befriends. Lulun eventually asks him to defeat an elephant rampaging in the forest.
The reluctant Baikinman tries his best but finds the elephant too strong for him. As a result, he tells Lulun to call the titular hero in order to help protect the picture book world from the elephant.
The film serves as a sequel to the 34th in the franchise, which opened in Japanese theaters in June 2023 and was entitled Soreike! Anpanman Roboly to Pokapoka Present. The previous film earned over 113 billion yen (788 thousand USD) in its first three days.
While the Anpanman films are likely how the series is best known contemporarily, the story began as a children’s superhero picture book, which was published in 1973. The picture book series continued publication for 40 years until 2013, stopping due to the death of the series creator and author, Takashi Yanase.
However, the series was later adapted into a television anime in October 1998, which was produced by TMS Entertainment. This original anime series is still ongoing over 30 years later, totaling 1,627 episodes with 3,425 segments across them.
The character has inspired various works since its inception, such as the One-Punch Man anime and manga series. The character is also Japan’s top-grossing, having eclipsed Hello Kitty in 2002 and remained in the spot as of 2019.
Be sure to keep up with all anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2024 progresses.
