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Yo-Kai Watch the Movie 2 beat Star Wars: The Force Awakens in ticket sales, but not in total revenue. Image courtesy: Nintendo

While Star Wars: The Force Awakens is going gangbusters in North America, but in Japan the blockbuster film is losing out to another mega franchise.

Last Week, Yo-Kai Watch the Movie 2: King Enma and the 5 Stories, Nyan! (what a title) beat Star Wars in ticket sales with over 975,000 tickets sold during its opening weekend.

In Japan, the revenue from the total sales isn’t as important as the number of tickets sold. Most Japanese theatres have lower ticket prices for children who are also the main demographic for Yo-Kai Watch.

According to Yahoo news, opening day questionnaires revealed that 51.4 per cent of Yo-kai watch’s viewers were elementary school age or younger, and another 40 per cent were over 30 (aka the parents).

In addition, kids who are younger than 13-years-old are given a special Yo-kai Watch medal, a free prize as first come first served with each purchase, with over one million such purchases made.

The total revenue from both films during that time span is a different story. In its first three days, Star Wars earned $13.3 million (USD) from 1.04 million viewers. Yo-Kai Watch didn’t make those sales numbers grabbing only $10.3 million from 800,000 viewers.

Unlike the new Star Wars film, the children’s anime series seems to have more longevity as Toko, the producers of the film, expect it to make up to $50 million (USD) by the end of its run in theatres. The first Yo-Kai Watch film ended its run with over $64 million (USD) earned.

While it goes without saying that Star Wars is still one of the most popular movie series of all time, it seems that Japan isn’t its best market.

Advanced ticket sales alone exceeded over $50 million (USD) in North American almost four weeks before its premiere. Movie booking site Fandango noted that the film is now the biggest pre-seller in the history of their company.