Weekly Oshi-katsu News (July 25, 2025): Hokuto Matsumura & Lake Hamana Pal Pal, FGO × JR Central

Here is our roundup of notable corporate oshi-katsu (fandom support activities) marketing and fan business news from the week of July 18 to July 24, 2025.

This Week’s Highlights

The keyword for this week was borrowing the authentic, unvarnished side of talent and characters.

Lake Hamana Pal Pal (Hamanako Pal Pal), an amusement park in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, celebrated the 66th anniversary of its opening. Its operating company appointed Shizuoka native Hokuto Matsumura of SixTONES as the representative of its fans, known as “Parukko.” Kao’s hair care brand Essential asked ROIROM, the duo appearing in its web commercials, to supervise limited-edition drinks inspired by its new product line. Suntory revived the character “Genkai-chan,” played by Airi Suzuki, for the first time in roughly two and a half years. All three companies built their campaigns around a sense of genuine authenticity—such as a talent’s actual hometown roots or hands-on involvement.

At the same time, companies continued to cast long-running intellectual properties (IPs) in corporate advertising. QTnet released the second installment of its cybersecurity awareness commercial featuring seven Kamen Riders. In a collaboration with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Meiji put up the franchise’s very first peel-off advertisement at Shibuya Station. In gaming IP news, JR Central collaborated with Fate/Grand Order as part of its “Oshi-tabi” (fandom travel) initiative, with a digital stamp rally set in Nagoya scheduled to begin on August 1.

Authentic Talent & IP Tie-Ups

• Hometown & Hands-On TalentLake Hamana Pal Pal × Hokuto Matsumura, Kao Essential × ROIROM, and Suntory's Genkai-chan
• Nostalgic & Blockbuster OOH AdsQTnet × 7 Kamen Riders for B2B security and Meiji × Demon Slayer peel-off cards in Shibuya
• Playful Participation Lowering BarriersShueisha's 200-manga school club posters and Graniph's flagship store puzzle event
• Everyday & Seasonal StorylinesConvenience store and fast-food Hawaii fairs and the BayStars' game-linked short drama
• Game IPs in Real-World SpacesFGO × JR Central in Nagoya, Gakuen Idolmaster protein, and Pokémon × Sanfrecce Hiroshima
• XR, VTubers & Experiential RetailHokota City × Nanashiinku, Daimaru Matsuzakaya VR photos, Hatsune Miku AR fireworks, Uniqlo, and JoJo

Source: The Oshi Lab’s summary of the article

Bringing the Authentic Side of Talent and Characters into Brand Experiences

Hokuto Matsumura × Lake Hamana Pal Pal — Hometown Talent Appointed Representative for 66th Anniversary

Lake Hamana Pal Pal, an amusement park in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, marked its 66th anniversary on July 18. Taking this opportunity, operator Entetsu Tourism Development appointed Shizuoka Prefecture native Hokuto Matsumura of SixTONES as special ambassador and representative of “Parukko” (fans of the park). The anniversary period was announced as July 18, 2025, to July 16, 2026. Matsumura had publicly shared that he visited the park starting in early childhood. The television commercial, titled “Tadaima, Pal Pal.” (“I’m home, Pal Pal” / “Right now, Pal Pal”), opened with a scene of Matsumura riding a bus and “coming home” to the park. From there, it followed him walking around the grounds in a close-up documentary style that overlapped with his past memories. In addition to television broadcasts, the commercial aired on a large outdoor screen in front of Hamamatsu Station. Interview videos introducing the inside of the park were also streamed on the official YouTube channel and other platforms (ORICON NEWS (in Japanese)).

The Japanese word tadaima in the title is said to carry a double meaning: “I’m home” (having returned) and “right now” (at this very moment).

The Oshi Lab Note: This campaign is built entirely around the fact that Matsumura is a local native. Having someone who actually grew up in the area speak from personal memory makes his affection for the facility far more persuasive than simply hiring a nationally famous celebrity with no local ties. For companies selecting an ambassador for an anniversary campaign, adding “a real connection to the local area” alongside name recognition is well worth considering.

ROIROM × Kao Essential — A Pop-Up Where the Commercial’s Duo Supervises the Drinks

From July 24 to 27, Kao’s hair care brand Essential held an experiential cafe called “Essential New Sensation Cafe” at Zero Base Omotesando in Omotesando, Tokyo. At the cafe, limited-edition drinks recreated the three textures—torotoro (silky-smooth), purupuru (bouncy-plump), and urukira (dewy-glossy)—of the brand’s new line for highly damaged hair, which launched on July 12. The drinks were supervised by ROIROM, the male duo appearing in the brand’s web commercials since June. Hiromu Honda and Roi Hamakawa each supervised one drink individually, and the pair collaborated on a third drink together. Customers who purchased drinks could also enjoy an exhibition of instant photos (cheki) autographed by ROIROM as well as a hair-styling experience (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

Advance numbered tickets were required for both purchasing a drink and participating in the hair-styling experience.

The Oshi Lab Note: Kao asked its featured talent to express a hard-to-explain product value—the tactile texture of a new hair care line—from the firsthand standpoint of “supervisors.” By asking them to supervise limited-edition drinks rather than just appear in a commercial, the campaign transforms in fans’ eyes from “an advertisement you merely watch” into “a product the talent actually helped create.” Expanding the role of cast talent from advertising figureheads to co-developers is an approach that other beauty and food brands can also apply.

Suntory Revives “Genkai-chan” — Driving Highball Demand with a Character That Hit 6 Million TikTok Views

On July 10, Suntory released a promotional video titled “Konbini wa Reizoko” (“The Convenience Store Is My Fridge”), proposing a way to enjoy pairing cup ice with canned highballs. For the campaign, the company revived the character “Genkai-chan” (an exhausted, relatable office worker character), played by artist Airi Suzuki, for the first time in roughly two and a half years. Filmed in a music video format, the video depicts Genkai-chan enjoying a canned highball at home as an evening drink after returning from work. The song is an original track written specifically for the video. The release was linked to a promotional campaign offering a discount on cup ice when customers purchased a canned highball at participating convenience stores. Its target audience was convenience store shoppers in their 20s and 30s (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

Phrases connected to Airi Suzuki were woven into the lyrics, sparking noticeable reactions from fans on social media such as, “She’s so cute I’ve already watched it over 30 times.”

The Oshi Lab Note: Rather than leaving a character it had already created dormant, Suntory brought her back to match peak seasonal demand. Reviving an existing character who already has a dedicated following generates buzz much faster than building a brand-new character from scratch. By weaving elements connected to the performer into the lyrics, the campaign successfully balanced broad appeal for general viewers with special Easter eggs for fans.

Reshaping Advertising and Storefronts with Nostalgic Heroes and Manga Characters

QTnet × Kamen Rider — Appealing to Showa-Hero-Generation Executives on Cybersecurity

On July 17, QTnet, a telecommunications provider in the Kyushu Electric Power Group, released the second installment of its collaboration commercials with Kamen Rider. The goal was to promote its corporate ICT service brand, QT PRO. Joining Kamen Rider 1, Kamen Rider 2, V3, and Riderman from the previous campaign, Kamen Rider X, Amazon, and Stronger were added this year for a total cast of seven Riders. QTnet cast Riders from the early Showa-era installments of the franchise to target the generation that watched them as children—who are now active business executives. Two commercials, the cloud services spot “Glorious Seven Riders” and the vulnerability diagnostic spot “Shocker Hideout,” aired in the Fukuoka area, while director’s cut versions were released on the company’s official YouTube channel (PR TIMES (in Japanese)).

In the vulnerability diagnostic spot, the importance of cybersecurity was conveyed through a comical depiction of the villainous organization Shocker’s hideout self-destructing because it neglected security measures.

The Oshi Lab Note: QTnet worked backward from the age of its target audience and cast the heroes that generation watched in childhood. IP collaborations are often assumed to be aimed at younger demographics. However, in B2B services where executives make the purchasing decisions, nostalgia makes it much easier to close the psychological distance with prospective clients. Selecting an IP based on what your customers were watching at a given age is an approach that can be used across any industry.

Meiji Oishii Gyunyu × Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Franchise’s First Peel-Off Ad at Shibuya Station

From July 21 to 27, Meiji displayed a peel-off advertisement for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba at Shibuya Station. Station commuters could peel off and take home 30 different designs of original cards featuring famous scenes from the series. Once all the cards were peeled away, an out-of-home (OOH) advertisement appeared bearing the message “Total Concentration on Deliciousness” (Oishisa ni Zenshuchu). The underlying poster featured newly drawn illustrations of four characters, including Tanjiro, dressed as the “Meiji Oishii Gyunyu Squad.” This advertisement was part of the fifth wave of the “Meiji Oishii Gyunyu” (Meiji Delicious Milk) × Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba campaign timed to the July 18 theatrical movie release. A total of 3,000 cards were put up across two days, with 1,500 cards placed on July 21 and another 1,500 on July 23 (Comic Natalie (in Japanese), GAME Watch (in Japanese), Cho! Animedia (in Japanese), Otaku Souken (in Japanese)).

As part of the same campaign, Meiji also ran an original merchandise giveaway promotion through September 30.

The Oshi Lab Note: This advertisement is only completed when station commuters physically peel off the cards. Unlike a conventional billboard that people simply walk past, the full picture underneath cannot be seen until the cards are removed. That design gave people a reason to stop in the middle of a busy transit hub. When an OOH advertisement leaves room for fans to physically interact with and alter it, the unfolding process until completion becomes natural material for people to share on social media.

Publishing and Apparel Lowered the Barrier to Participation Through Play

Shueisha’s “Bukatsu Yarouze!” (“Let’s Do Club Activities!”) — Supporting New Member Recruitment with 200 School Club Manga Titles

Starting April 2, Shueisha launched the “Bukatsu Yarouze!” (“Let’s Do Club Activities!”) campaign to support student club members and incoming freshmen nationwide. A special campaign website introduced roughly 200 manga titles themed around school clubs (bukatsu) and let visitors read free preview chapters on the spot. The site also distributed downloadable “club recruitment posters” featuring character illustrations from each title so students could use them for actual club recruitment at school. A special promotional video featuring characters from titles such as The Prince of Tennis, Eyeshield 21, and Kuroko’s Basketball was also released. The special website generated buzz on social media immediately after launching, and cumulative views of the promotional video surpassed 1 million within a week of its release (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

Shueisha reported that it even received inquiries from active schoolteachers and club advisors asking how they could use the posters.

The Oshi Lab Note: Shueisha designed its IP not just to be “read,” but to be “put to use” in a third-party setting—namely, actual schools. By distributing the recruitment posters free of charge, teachers—a group the publisher could not normally mobilize through standard marketing—took on the role of spreading awareness of the manga titles through the posters. When an IP holder addresses a broader social issue like declining participation in school clubs, it becomes much easier to gain collaborators beyond the boundaries of conventional sales promotion.

Graniph’s “Mitsukete! Graniph!” (“Find It! Graniph!”) — Showcasing Product Variety Through a Flagship Store Puzzle Game

As part of its 2025 Spring/Summer campaign, the fashion brand Graniph held a puzzle-solving event titled “Mitsukete! Graniph!” (“Find It! Graniph!”). The event took place across its official online store and its flagship store in Harajuku, where the in-store activation was titled “Nazotoki? Graniph! in graniph Tokyo” (“Puzzles? Graniph! in graniph Tokyo”). Alongside four puzzle stages on a special website, the flagship store hosted a real-life puzzle game utilizing the entire shop floor. Participants who visited five checkpoints on the first floor could advance to the second floor. The event incorporated touches unique to an apparel brand, such as displaying non-sale T-shirts printed with puzzle clues right alongside regular merchandise on the racks. Over the three-day event period, 343 people took on the challenge, and existing customers shared feedback such as, “I had no idea Graniph carried such a wide range of lifestyle goods” (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

After clearing the puzzles, participants were also treated to exclusive secret latte art at the adjoining cafe on the second floor.

The Oshi Lab Note: Graniph intentionally set the puzzle difficulty on the higher side, drawing in dedicated puzzle-game enthusiasts alongside existing brand fans. While keeping costs down by making use of existing store fixtures and decor, the brand let visitors experience its commitment to “expressing playfulness in earnest.” For retail stores with diverse product lines they want customers to browse, turning the physical path through the sales floor into a game is a highly effective approach.

Food Service and Pro Baseball Moved Fans Through Seasonality and Storytelling

FamilyMart, McDonald’s, and Lotteria — Hawaii Fairs Continue Despite Rising Prices

Restaurant chains and convenience stores rolled out a wave of “Hawaii Fairs” this summer. FamilyMart launched its “Famima de Uma Aloha~♪” (“Delicious Aloha at Famima~♪”) campaign on July 15. On July 22, the company announced that sales of its Malasada doughnut had surpassed 500,000 units in its first week on sale, ranking number one in weekly units sold across the chain’s bread category. Its “Acai Bowl Ice Cream” also topped 155,000 units in the first week. FamilyMart aired a television commercial starring actors Kotaro Yoshida and Rikako Yagi as well. Meanwhile, McDonald’s introduced limited-time Hawaii burgers starting July 16, and chains including Lotteria, Pizza-La, and Marugame Seimen also rolled out Hawaii-themed menu items (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

FamilyMart had achieved 116% of its target during the previous year’s Hawaii Fair and stated that it was aiming for 110% of the previous year’s actual result this summer.

The Oshi Lab Note: Precisely because a real trip to Hawaii has become too expensive for many people to take, companies are bringing a simulated Hawaii experience onto the sales floor. Rather than ignoring consumers’ frustration over not being able to travel, these campaigns let people savor the mood of a vacation destination in everyday settings like convenience stores and fast-food restaurants. This is a classic example of seasonal marketing: the further out of reach actual travel becomes, the more demand is captured by companies that can offer an accessible substitute experience.

Yokohama DeNA BayStars — Cultivating New Fans with a Short Drama Linked to Real Game Results

Starting in April, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars streamed a short drama series titled Kamisama, Onegai (“Please, God”) on the team’s official social media accounts, with the storyline linked directly to the team’s real-life game results throughout the season. New episodes were released every other Monday. The protagonist is Kirara Hamabe, a university student and BayStars fan. Haunted by a grim reaper, Hamabe makes a pact that her life will be spared if the BayStars win the league championship, and she watches over the team’s battles as the season unfolds. Takenori Hasegawa of the BayStars noted, “We were looking into ways to reach younger audiences in particular.” Planning and screenwriting were handled by creative director Takuma Takasaki (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

Every time viewers checked the daily baseball scores, they were reminded of the protagonist’s fate.

The Oshi Lab Note: What makes this initiative fresh is that it prioritized the gamified hook of linking with real-world game results over standalone dramatic polish. Instead of competing purely on vertical-video production values, the ballclub wove the daily game scores that fans already check every day directly into the unfolding plot. Any business that generates daily activity data has room to present that data as the next chapter of an ongoing story.

Game IPs Spilled Over into Real-World Railways, Sports, and Food Products

FGO × JR Central “Oshi-tabi” — A Digital Stamp Rally Around Nagoya

arma bianca and Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) announced that they would hold a collaboration event with Fate/Grand Order titled “JR Central × Fate/Grand Order Grand Journey City of Charming Discovery: Nagoya” from August 1 to October 26. Part of JR Central’s “Oshi-tabi” (fandom travel) initiative, the campaign was announced with original illustrations of Mash, Nemo, Ishtar, and Taigong Wang dressed in railway uniforms. In addition to an exclusive audio story accessible only aboard the Tokaido Shinkansen, the event was set to feature a digital stamp rally across four locations in Nagoya City. Visitors who completed all checkpoints would be able to download an exclusive wallpaper. Furthermore, presenting a proof-of-boarding certificate at Animate Nagoya would entitle participants to receive a commemorative novelty card (Inside (in Japanese)).

Nearly 20 types of collaboration merchandise, including trading tin badges and acrylic stands, were also prepared for the event.

The Oshi Lab Note: For a railway operator, “Oshi-tabi” is a strategy that turns the destination itself into something fans actively enjoy exploring. Because fans cannot obtain the exclusive wallpaper without visiting every stop on the stamp rally, traveling around the city becomes an objective in its own right. That, in turn, drives secondary spending across Nagoya. Businesses whose core product is transportation itself have immense room to partner with IPs to attach a compelling “reason to go.”

Gakuen Idolmaster × Protein — Translating Character Traits into Nutritional Ingredients

Anideal announced a collaboration protein powder featuring the characters Saki Hanami and Ume Hanami from Gakuen Idolmaster. Made-to-order pre-sales were scheduled to run from August 1 to September 2. Each product came as a set with a shaker bottle recreating the in-game item “Hatsuboshi Whey Protein.” Saki Hanami’s set featured a dark chocolate flavor formulated with 300 mg of arginine per 30 g serving, while Ume Hanami’s set featured an orange flavor formulated with 900 mg of citric acid per 30 g serving. Each set was priced at 4,320 yen (Inside (in Japanese)).

Varying both the flavor and the functional ingredients by character gave each character’s fans a distinct product to choose.

The Oshi Lab Note: Varying not only the flavor but also the nutritional ingredients for each character shows careful attention to detail. Rather than simply slapping character illustrations onto a package, the product aligns the lore—“this character would use this ingredient”—with the actual product formulation. That alignment gives fans a clear reason they can articulate to themselves for buying the item. The more practical and everyday a collaboration item is, the more crucial this match between character lore and product specs becomes in driving purchases.

Pokémon × Sanfrecce Hiroshima — Supporting Match Attendance with Team-Colored Merchandise

As the second wave of commemorative merchandise celebrating the renewal of Pokémon Center Hiroshima, The Pokémon Company announced collaboration goods with the professional soccer club Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Sales were set to begin online on August 14 and in stores on August 16. Based around the club’s signature purple team color, the designs featured an emblem with Teddiursa and an Ursaring using the move “Scary Face.” The lineup comprised 16 items in total, including towel scarves, T-shirts, and kids’ caps with Pikachu ears. At the J1 League Matchday 26 game against Gamba Osaka on August 16, commemorative photo spots and mini-games were also scheduled to take place at the stadium (Inside (in Japanese), Sanfrecce Hiroshima (in Japanese), GAME Watch (in Japanese), 4Gamer.net (in Japanese)).

Using its regional Pokémon Center stores as local hubs, The Pokémon Company has been advancing partnerships with hometown sports clubs.

The Oshi Lab Note: The Pokémon Company produced merchandise featuring nationally beloved characters dressed in the team colors of a regional sports club. As an IP, Pokémon itself is the same everywhere in the country. Yet adopting the local club’s purple color scheme creates unique value as “Hiroshima’s own Pokémon goods.” For companies with nationally known IPs and regional store locations, matching colors with a local sports club is a low-cost way to create localized differentiation.

Municipalities and Department Stores Expanded Fan Touchpoints with XR

Hokota City, Ibaraki × Nanashiinku — City Promotion with VTubers

Hokota City in Ibaraki Prefecture announced a city promotion tie-up with the VTuber agency Nanashiinku. The goal was to broaden awareness of the city and attract tourists through VTubers. As part of the “Machi Super Chat Project” (Machi Spacha Project), the city produced a tourism video featuring Haneru Inaba—who had also participated in past installments of the project—and other agency talents. The video introduced local attractions including the tourism facility Sun Green Asahi, Forest Park Melon no Mori, and the Hokota Melon Festival 2025. The city also announced that multiple YouTube livestreams themed around local specialties and Japan’s hometown tax donation system (furusato nozei) would be held starting July 20. Plans were also underway for a sweet potato and strawberry cultivation project in cooperation with local farms, as well as the development of VTuber collaboration products (Mogura VR (in Japanese), PANORA (in Japanese), PR TIMES (in Japanese)).

The “Machi Super Chat Project” had previously collaborated with seven municipalities, including Hachimantai City in Iwate Prefecture and Niimi City in Okayama Prefecture.

The Oshi Lab Note: Hokota City designed a thorough program that does not stop at a single promotional video, planning crop cultivation and collaboration merchandise to connect directly to economic activity. Municipalities have limited ways to reach people in their teens through 30s—the core VTuber fanbase—directly. Hokota City plans to convert fan interest into actual purchases and donations through initiatives like selling harvested produce at unmanned farm stands in the city and accepting hometown tax donations. Pairing municipal hometown tax campaigns with IP collaborations makes it easy to align promotional efforts with clear performance metrics.

Daimaru Matsuzakaya — Simultaneous VRChat Virtual Photo Exhibition in Kanazawa and VR

From July 23 to 27, 2025, Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores held an exhibition of winning works from the “Daimaru Matsuzakaya Virtual Photo Awards vol.2,” a contest gathering photography shot inside virtual spaces. The exhibition took place simultaneously across two venues—Citizen’s Gallery B at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, and “ART Frame -Daimaru Matsuzakaya-,” an exhibition space inside VRChat—with free admission at both locations. From entries submitted under the theme “(epoch) A Single Shot Coloring the Era,” one Grand Prize winner, four Excellence Award winners, and other selections were chosen. The company had previously held two similar exhibitions (Mogura VR (in Japanese)).

The exhibition space inside VRChat was set up within an original virtual world that the department store operator had created the previous year.

The Oshi Lab Note: By holding the exhibition simultaneously at a physical venue and a VR venue, the company ensured it would not miss out on the interest of people unable to travel to the site in person. Even the department store sector—a business model traditionally built on the premise of customers physically visiting a store—is starting to count visitors in virtual spaces. Partnering with a regional art museum is also a useful reference for broadening access to art exhibitions, which tend to be overly concentrated in Tokyo.

Hatsune Miku × XREAL — Live Music Fireworks Enhanced with AR Glasses

On September 15, “Hatsune Miku Night Sky Program 2025” (Hatsune Miku Yozora Program 2025) was scheduled to be held at Suntopia World in Agano City, Niigata Prefecture. Earlier, on July 11, XREAL announced a special activation at the event utilizing the XREAL One Pro AR glasses. At the fireworks show, attendees would be able to enjoy a performance where musical fireworks and Hatsune Miku collaborated through special augmented reality (AR) content. Limited to the first 50 applicants, participants would be able to join a special “Special AR Music Fireworks” experience. Participation would require the smartphone app HoloModels and an advance paid ticket, and attendees were set to receive an exclusive original instant-photo-style (cheki-style) card (Mogura VR (in Japanese)).

The XREAL One Pro was a new, higher-end device model with a wider field of view that had just been unveiled in July.

The Oshi Lab Note: This activation layered an AR glasses experience limited to 50 people onto a completely physical event—a traditional fireworks display. Narrowing the capacity to a small, first-come, first-served group makes the activation easier to talk about as an exclusive experience only a handful of people could try. Adding a digital component to just one part of an event without overhauling the entire production is a realistic scale for municipalities and regional venues looking to bring new energy to local summer festivals.

Apparel and Experiential Shops Brought IPs into Everyday Life

Uniqlo × Disney “MAGIC FOR ALL” 10th Anniversary — Reviving Archive Releases

Uniqlo and Disney announced a roughly year-long anniversary initiative running from July 2025 through August 2026 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their “MAGIC FOR ALL” project. As part of the celebration, an archive collection was scheduled to go on sale starting August 4. The lineup included the “MAGIC FOR ALL Timeless toy” (three patterns in total, 1,990 yen each), which revived a Mickey Mouse plush toy originally released in 2015 for the first time in roughly 10 years; “Timeless UT” (including seven men’s designs), which redesigned past UT graphic T-shirts; and “Disney Art UT” (six men’s designs), created by six artists and groups. Characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars were brought together across the collection (Anime! Anime! (in Japanese)).

All items were set to be carried at Uniqlo stores nationwide and through the online store (with some items limited to select locations).

The Oshi Lab Note: Uniqlo and Disney placed “revivals” rather than brand-new items at the center of their 10th anniversary campaign. Reissued archive items feel just like new releases to fans who were unable to buy them at the time, while evoking fond nostalgia for those who bought them years ago. For companies running long-term collaborative projects, simply re-releasing past archive items makes it possible to create a marquee anniversary attraction without incurring new product development costs.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure — First Official Experiential Shop Opens at Shibuya PARCO

“THE★JOJO WORLD,” the first official experiential shop for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, opened at Shibuya PARCO on July 24, 2025. At the opening ceremony on July 17, original creator Hirohiko Araki took the stage and shared behind-the-scenes stories about creating the newly illustrated life-size panels of all nine generational protagonists. Inside the store, an interactive feature turned visitors who touched it into “Stand users.” Other attractions included the “Stand Ability Research Institute,” which diagnoses which of roughly 120 Stands is closest to a visitor’s own ability, and “Iggy Cafe,” serving themed drinks and sweets. Cumulative worldwide circulation of the manga’s collected volumes had surpassed 120 million copies (Anime! Anime! (in Japanese)).

Araki remarked, “I hope this becomes a shop like a Stand—closely connected to fans’ everyday lives.”

The Oshi Lab Note: The original manga creator himself drew brand-new illustrations and appeared onstage at the opening ceremony. Designing the launch as a unified whole up to that level points to a major investment. Unlike conventional official shops that simply line up merchandise on shelves, the store itself is built out as a physical extension of the original work’s world. When a company with a long-running serialized IP opens a flagship store, how deeply the original creator is involved makes all the difference in the quality of the fan experience.

Talent & Creator Roots

• Hokuto Matsumura's real childhood memories as a Shizuoka native at Lake Hamana Pal Pal
• ROIROM supervising three texture-inspired drinks for Kao Essential's pop-up cafe
• Airi Suzuki reviving Suntory's Genkai-chan with lyrics referencing her own background
• Hirohiko Araki drawing 9 protagonists and speaking at THE★JOJO WORLD's opening

Audience & Lore Alignment

• QTnet casting 7 Showa-era Kamen Riders to reach executives who watched them as children
• Anideal matching Gakuen Idolmaster character traits to arginine and citric acid formulas
• Pokémon adopting Sanfrecce Hiroshima's purple team colors for local matchday goods
• Uniqlo reissuing 2015 Disney archive plush toys and UT shirts for its 10th anniversary

Interactive & Regional Design

• Meiji's 3,000 Demon Slayer peel-off cards revealing a hidden OOH ad at Shibuya Station
• Shueisha's free club recruitment posters and Graniph's flagship store puzzle trail
• BayStars' biweekly short drama tied to real baseball scores and JR Central's Nagoya rally
• Hokota City's VTuber farming tie-up, Daimaru VR photos, and 50-seat Miku AR fireworks

Source: The Oshi Lab’s summary of the article

Editorial Reflections on the Week

This week stood out for initiatives that placed the “genuine authenticity” of talent and characters at the center of the plan.

Examples include the fact that Hokuto Matsumura is actually from the local area, ROIROM’s supervision of limited-edition drinks, and Airi Suzuki playing “Genkai-chan” again after two and a half years. In each case, the company gave the cast talent a role beyond that of a mere advertising figurehead, placing the performer’s real background or hands-on craft at the heart of the project. QTnet’s Kamen Rider commercial likewise worked backward from the “authentic reality” of its target generation’s childhood memories when casting the campaign.

The combinations of municipalities and XR can be read through the exact same lens. Hokota City in Ibaraki Prefecture announced a plan connecting VTuber exposure to the actual cultivation and sale of agricultural produce. Meanwhile, the Hatsune Miku AR fireworks activation was planned to limit participation to just 50 people to preserve the richness and intensity of the experience. Rather than flashy exposure volume alone, how carefully a company or municipality designed the way fans engage with the project is what separated strong results from the rest.

When considering how much genuine authenticity your company can build into the talent or IPs you work with, review this week’s developments alongside our guides on the fan marketing perspective and design principles for oshi-katsu marketing.

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Weekly Oshi-katsu News brings you a weekly roundup of the intersection between oshi-katsu and business. Browse past issues in our Oshi-katsu × News category.