Why Ryoma Takeuchi’s “On the Day the World Ends with You” Falls Flat Beyond “Subtle Zombies”
The film version of the drama series “Kimi Sekai ga End of the World ni Hibi ni FINAL” (“Kimi Seka”), starring actor Ryoma Takeuchi (30), has been in theaters since January 26.
The film was released in 317 theaters nationwide, but in the “Weekly Movie Ranking” (provided by Kogyo Tsushinsha) from January 26 to February 1, it only came in 6th place for the first time and dropped to 9th place the following week.
Its rival released the same week was “Silent Love,” starring Ryosuke Yamada (30) of “Hey! Say! JUMP” and Minami Hamabe (23) as the heroine. However, the film drew 155,000 people and grossed 212 million yen in its first three days. In contrast, “Kimiseca” grossed about 130 million yen in three days. Considering the scale of the film and the amount of time spent on promotion, it was not enough to get off the ground.
The film is the first theatrical version of a survival drama series about people whose daily lives are suddenly taken away by the “golem virus,” a mysterious infectious disease that turns people into monsters when it bites them. Originally, Season 1 of the drama series was aired on NTV in January 2009, and drew attention as the first zombie action drama on prime time terrestrial television.
Although the drama was quite innovative, the average household viewership rating for all 10 episodes was a meager 7.7% (according to Video Research, Kanto region, hereafter the same). The quality of the zombies was not on par with Hollywood movies or Korean films, and while some viewers were hooked, there were also a number of viewers who rejected the series.
The series was co-produced by Nippon TV and the video distribution service Hulu. The series was originally broadcast as a series, but Season 2 through 4 were distributed only on Hulu. Season 5 will be distributed from February 9, and it is the first Hulu original drama to be adapted into a movie. ……
At first, not only Hulu but also Nippon TV tried to make it a popular signature series. However, the viewer response to Season 1 was so subtle that it did not lead to the broadcast of subsequent series. While the market for video distribution has been expanding year after year, Hulu’s sales have been declining, and last December it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Disney, a former competitor.
In the first place, if the film was distributed only through Hulu, only Nippon TV would be able to promote the film, and awareness of “Kimi Seka” itself had not increased by the time the film was released. It is unlikely that many new subscribers would have joined Hulu just to watch “Kimi Seka”. The lack of awareness of the film was probably a major factor in the film’s lack of success.
