CD Dumping Prompts Sales Shift & =LOVE Takes Legal Action | Weekly Oshikatsu News (August 28, 2026)

Here is our roundup of notable corporate oshikatsu (fan-support activities) marketing and fan business news from the week of August 21 to August 27, 2026.

The complete 23-story edition is available on note in “Weekly Oshikatsu News: August 28, 2026 Issue (in Japanese).” This article presents the key highlights from that issue.

This Week’s Highlights

The defining theme this week was how companies take responsibility for designing what happens even after they have gathered fan enthusiasm.

During CUTIE STREET’s concerts at Nippon Budokan, illegally dumped CDs were discovered around the venue. Management temporarily suspended on-site sales and subsequently switched entirely to reservation-based sales where physical copies are not handed over on the spot. Meanwhile, the management office of the idol group =LOVE (Equal Love) announced that it is moving forward with legal proceedings against more than 20 posts involving defamation and online abuse directed at its talents.

On the retail and dining front, the collaboration between Tough Gummy and My Hero Academia achieved more than double its normal store turnover rate, and the collaboration between the Gyu-Kaku yakiniku chain and Happy Turn rice crackers surpassed 80,000 cumulative servings sold. Overall, it was a week that tested how companies receive and protect heightened fan passion—and how they turn that energy into long-lasting relationships.

Responsible Fan Business Design

• Post-Purchase Merchandise FlowsPreventing CD dumping by shifting from on-site handoffs to reservation sales
• Talent Protection and Legal SystemsPursuing legal action against more than 20 defamatory posts and guiding fan responses
• Shared Brand and IP NarrativesAligning product values and customer memories to drive real retail turnover
• Physical Touchpoints and Local TiesUsing permanent stores and small-group regional events to build ongoing relationships
• Sustainable Fan Spending and SupportAvoiding excessive purchase pressure and linking support to public facilities

Source: The Oshi Lab’s summary of the article

Designing for Fan Enthusiasm Beyond the Point of Sale

CUTIE STREET — Switching to a Sales Method Without On-Site CD Handoffs

On August 25 and 26, the idol group CUTIE STREET held its second-anniversary debut concerts at Nippon Budokan. During the event period, multiple cases of illegal CD dumping were confirmed at the venue and in neighboring facilities. On August 26, management temporarily suspended CD sales at the venue. When sales resumed, management switched entirely to reservation-based orders, adopting a method in which physical CDs are not handed over on the spot (J-CAST News (in Japanese)).

While lottery bonuses were offered based on the total purchase amount, what to do with the physical CDs after buying them had previously been left up to individual fans. What makes this response significant is that management did not stop at issuing a polite warning; instead, they changed the actual sales mechanism to make illegal dumping much less likely to occur.

Lab Note: When companies encourage multiple purchases through bonuses, corporate responsibility does not end at checkout. What happens after a product is bought needs to be built directly into merchandise planning—whether through reservation pickups, digital bonuses, or structured pathways for collection and donation.

=LOVE — Advancing Legal Proceedings Against More Than 20 Posts

On August 26, the =LOVE management office announced its response to defamatory and reputation-damaging posts targeting its talents. The office stated that it will make new claims concerning more than 20 posts and continue taking necessary measures, including deletion requests, sender information disclosure requests, claims for damages, and criminal proceedings (=LOVE Official Website (in Japanese)).

In its statement, the office emphasized that even anonymous posters can potentially be identified. At the same time, it urged fans not to quote, repost, or spread problematic posts. Because even well-intentioned rebuttals end up amplifying the original harmful content, management provided concrete guidance on how fans themselves should act.

Lab Note: Companies that work with talents and brand ambassadors have reached a stage where responding to online defamation cannot simply be treated as reactive public relations after a crisis breaks out. Contracts, monitoring, evidence logging, and legal action must be built in from the very beginning as standard operating costs.

Reading Collaboration Results Through Sales Figures, Not Just Online Buzz

Tough Gummy × My Hero Academia — Store Turnover More Than Doubles

Kabaya Foods rolled out four collaborative package designs pairing its Tough Gummy candy with the anime My Hero Academia. The collaboration linked the brand’s positioning as a “partner gummy” with the series’ narrative of heroes becoming a source of strength for others; following the launch, the retail store turnover rate was more than double its usual level (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

Offering multiple package designs expanded fan behavior from simply buying a single pack to visiting multiple stores to collect the set. The affinity between the brand and the work offers one possible explanation for this sales result.

Lab Note: When selecting a collaboration partner, checking not just follower counts but whether your company’s core value can be naturally expressed in the language of the creative work creates a compelling reason to buy that goes well beyond a surface-level package change.

Gyu-Kaku × Happy Turn — Surpassing 80,000 Cumulative Servings

The yakiniku restaurant chain Gyu-Kaku and the rice cracker brand Happy Turn launched a limited-time collaborative menu built around Gyu-Kaku’s 30th anniversary and Happy Turn’s 50th anniversary on the market. The collaborative menu surpassed 80,000 cumulative servings sold. In addition, a voting campaign on X generated roughly 10 times the engagement of Gyu-Kaku’s past limited-time menu promotions (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

This campaign appealed directly to the parenting demographic in their 30s and 40s that both brands share, tapping into the familiar memory of flavors they have known since childhood. Even though a barbecue chain and a snack cracker might look like an unusual pairing at first glance, there is a clear rationale rooted in overlapping customers and shared history across time.

Lab Note: When a company celebrates an anniversary on its own, the campaign easily turns into inward-looking corporate messaging. By teaming up with another brand marking a milestone at the same time and turning customers’ personal memories into a shared topic between both companies, an anniversary becomes an event people actively want to join.

Physical Spaces Evolve into New Touchpoints Between IP and Fans

Sega — Opening Kansai’s First Permanent Store in Shinsaibashi

Sega announced that it would open “SEGA STORE OSAKA” at Shinsaibashi PARCO in Osaka on October 2. It would be the company’s second permanent domestic store and its first in the Kansai region. In addition to carrying Osaka-exclusive merchandise, the plans included a large transparent double-sided LED display and a sales floor designed to transform according to the season or special events (gamebiz (in Japanese)).

After stepping away from its arcade operations business in 2020, Sega has been expanding its intellectual property (IP) starting from games into merchandise, films, music, and live events. Beyond selling goods, this store was planned as a new physical place where fans could go out into the city to experience Sega’s IP firsthand.

Lab Note: Even in an era when merchandise sells easily through e-commerce, brick-and-mortar stores retain unique value as spaces for experience and observation. The strength of a permanent store lies in being able to take what fans pick up, where they stop to take photos, and what they talk about on the floor, and feed those insights directly into future products and events.

Niimi City × VTuber — Cleaning Up a Local Park With a Capacity of 10 Participants

Yumesuki Park in Niimi City, Okayama Prefecture, is a park previously visited by the VTuber Mito Shigure. Organizers announced that an event involving cleaning, painting, and litter pickup will be held at the park on October 23. Capacity is set at 10 participants, and the event is part of the “Machi Super Chat Project” (Machi Supacha Project, named after livestream tipping), which aims to foster interaction between VTuber fans and local communities (Machi Super Chat Official Site (in Japanese)).

In this initiative, the VTuber visited the area first, and organizers recruited participants only after the park had already become “the place where my oshi (favorite talent) stood” in the minds of fans. Rather than trying to draw a massive crowd all at once, the project prioritized helping a small group of people build a genuine connection with the local land.

Lab Note: In initiatives aimed at building a “related population” (kankei jinko—regular visitors and engaged outsiders who maintain ongoing ties with a region without relocating full-time), judging success solely by total headcount tends to produce one-off events. Connecting an oshi’s footsteps, small-group hands-on teamwork, and reasons to visit again turns fan support into a lasting relationship with the community.

Fan Support Mechanisms Evolve to Sustain Daily Life and Local Communities

Gen Z Survey — 73% Feel Energized While 22% Have Felt Dependent

In a survey of 392 people aged 18 to 24 conducted by the youth research institute Z-SOZOKEN, 73% of respondents said they feel oshikatsu gives them daily vitality and motivation. At the same time, 32% reported spending 30% or more of their income on oshikatsu, and 22% had at some point felt that their oshikatsu was in a state of dependence (PR TIMES (in Japanese)).

While oshikatsu supports personal happiness, it also carries the potential to put financial pressure on daily life. The more dedicated a customer is to a company, the greater the risk that short-term sales designs aimed at squeezing out maximum immediate spending will destroy a long-term relationship.

Lab Note: Sales designs that do not rush fans into buying strictly through limited editions, scarce quantities, or tight time windows protect both fans and companies. Specifically, that means offering products across different budget tiers, planning restocks, and providing free ways for fans to participate and show support.

80,000+

Cumulative collaborative meals sold by Gyu-Kaku and Happy Turn

73%

Gen Z respondents (ages 18–24) who feel oshikatsu gives them daily vitality and motivation

32%

Gen Z respondents who spend 30% or more of their income on oshikatsu

22%

Gen Z respondents who have at some point felt that their oshikatsu was in a state of dependence

Source: The Oshi Lab’s summary of the article

Oshi Yufuda — Connecting Fan Support to the Operation of Public Facilities

Funahashi Village in Toyama Prefecture released “Oshi Yufuda” (fan-support bath tags), a digital bath tag project created in collaboration with VTubers. The purchase includes a digital bath tag, an electronic admission ticket for the “Satsuki no Yu” bathhouse at the Funahashi Kaikan community center, and an exclusive digital voice recording; delivery of the digital content takes one to two months from purchase. A portion of the sales goes to the participating VTubers, and the initiative aims to support Funahashi’s public facilities (PR TIMES (in Japanese)).

Because the electronic bath ticket has no expiration date, even fans living far away can hold onto a reason to visit “someday.” Oshi Yufuda is a mechanism that linked cheering for one’s oshi, using a local facility, and supporting a regional community through a single purchase.

Lab Note: Regional initiatives do not need to demand immediate physical visitor numbers right from the start. They can begin by inviting people to become supporters first and initiating a relationship through digital bonuses. Leaving the trigger for a physical visit open over the long term makes it possible to cultivate engaged regional supporters even among people who live far away.

Editorial Takeaways for the Week

This week made it unmistakably clear that the higher fans’ enthusiasm rises, the greater the responsibility companies bear. The scope of what needs to be designed in fan business is expanding. It now spans everything from what fans do after buying a CD, to legal systems that protect talents, compelling reasons to buy collaborative products, and pathways that encourage people to revisit local regions.

Generating excitement is not the finish line in itself. Popularity becomes a long-lasting relationship only when fans can participate comfortably within their means, and when companies thoughtfully receive that enthusiasm and channel it into the next stage of support.

If you are considering what kind of fan touchpoints best fit your company, please also take a look at our guides to Design Principles of Oshikatsu Marketing and Fundamentals of Fan Marketing.

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Weekly Oshikatsu News brings you a weekly roundup of the intersection between oshikatsu and business. The complete 23-story edition is now available on note (in Japanese). You can browse past issues in our Oshikatsu × News category.