Thirty years of storytelling just rewrote the record books. Detective Conan, Japan’s most beloved long-running anime franchise, has claimed a milestone once held by one of the most celebrated cinematic events in anime history, and the numbers behind it are extraordinary.
The franchise’s 29th animated feature has not even opened yet, but its official screening schedule has already made history. As anime builds toward one of its biggest years, Detective Conan has surpassed a benchmark once set by Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie — Mugen Train — and the franchise is pulling the spotlight back to where it has always belonged.
Detective Conan: Fallen Angel on the Highway Breaks a Historic Opening Day Record
According to Oricon, Japan’s T-Joy Yokohama theater has scheduled 59 screenings of Detective Conan: Fallen Angel on the Highway for its opening day on April 10, 2026. The figure is described as “unprecedented” for any anime feature film. On its opening day at Toho Cinemas Shinjuku, Mugen Train received 42 screenings. T-Joy Yokohama’s record count includes a midnight premiere, 50 standard screenings, and 8 Dolby Cinema showings. Toho Cinemas Shinjuku has also committed 44 screenings to the Conan film, two more than Mugen Train received at that same venue.
The theater’s tribute makes perfect sense. Fallen Angel on the Highway is set in Yokohama Prefecture, making T-Joy Yokohama the natural home for this landmark debut. The film is directed by Takahiro Hasui, known for Mob Psycho 100 II, and follows Conan and his friends at the Kanagawa Motorcycle Festival as a mysterious speeding motorcycle draws them into a new case. A North American theatrical release date has not yet been announced.
A 30-Year Franchise That Has Never Stopped Dominating Japanese Theaters
CrunchyrollDetective Conan’s theatrical presence in Japan is without equal. Production house TMS Entertainment has released at least one new feature-length installment annually since 1997. That consistency has produced a fanbase that shows up every spring without fail.
The 2025 entry, One-Eyed Flashback, earned approximately 14.74 billion yen (~$92.8M) at the domestic box office. That figure came despite opening the same year as Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, which has earned roughly 39.14 billion yen (~$246.9M) as of January 2026. Conan still secured a place in the 2025 multimillion box office club alongside Demon Slayer, Chainsaw Man: The Movie — Reze Arc, and Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution. Initially released in 1996, the series spans over 1,000 episodes and follows teenage detective Shinichi Kudo, whose body is shrunk to that of a child after a run-in with the enigmatic Black Organization. Operating as Conan Edogawa, he continues solving cases alongside Ran Mouri and her father, Kogoro. The original Detective Conan anime is available to stream on Netflix and Crunchyroll.
This moment confirms how deeply Detective Conan is woven into the fabric of Japanese theatrical culture.
Legacy anime franchises are proving they can compete at the very highest levels of Japan’s box office, year after year.
With Fallen Angel on the Highway opening on April 10, one of anime’s greatest ongoing stories moves boldly forward.
