Pokemon Movies Break Japanese Records

The Pokemon series of movies has become the highest-grossing animated series ever in Japan, according to distributor Toho. The 11 movies have grossed more than ¥50 billion ($460m) in Japan, since the launch of the franchise in 1998. According to a Variety report, the latest movie, named 'Giratina and the Sky’s Bouquet,' has grossed $32 million alone since its release on July 19th this year. The first Pokemon movie still holds the record for the highest-grossing Japanese movie in the U.S., with earnings of $85.7 million. Subsequent movies in the series though have proven less successful in the West, despite the games continuing to enjoy a similar level of success to that in Japan. Although now released mostly straight to DVD in the West, each new movie in Japan is heavily promoted with exclusive Pokemon merchandise, and often interactive downloads relating to the most recent games.