Three DVD editions of HayaoMiyazaki's hit animation Howl's MovingCastle grabbed the top three spots in the latest Oricon chart released onNov 22.

Occupying the number oneslot was the stand-alone DVD, which sold 708,000 units in its first week onrelease, followed by the special edition, a four-disc set that includes a "makingof" video and interview with Miyazaki, with 50,000 units.

In third place is a four-discset that includes Howl's Moving Castleand a collection of Ghibli short films which sold 47,000 units. All three DVDswere released on November 16. The film has racked up morethan 15 million admissions in Japan since opening in November 2004.

The only other Japanese filmfranchise to score a similar DVD trifecta was Bayside Shakedown, which took the top three Oricon rankings inJanuary 2001.

First-weeksales for the stand-alone Howl's MovingCastle DVD of 708,000 units isthe highest for any DVD in 2005, surpassing the 476,000 units recorded by The Incredibles DVD in June. It's alsothe only DVD this year to clear the 500,000 mark.

Oricon is a database andmarket research company serving the Japanese entertainment industry. Its chartis similar to the Billboard chart in the US an as industry standard.