Weekly Oshikatsu News (Nov 7, 2025): 76.9B Yen Fan Ad Market and NEC's Roblox Ad Trial

Here is our roundup of notable corporate oshikatsu (fan support activities) marketing and fan business news from the week of October 31 to November 6, 2025.

This Week’s Highlights

This was a week in which the reality of oshikatsu was told through hard numbers.

The potential market for fan-organized “support ads” (ouen koukoku, advertisements planned and funded independently by fans) was estimated at approximately 76.9 billion yen, roughly double the level seen in 2023. Meanwhile, in a survey conducted by XING, the operator of the JOYSOUND karaoke network, 59% of surveyed users responded that they have also practiced oshikatsu at karaoke venues. NEC also released the results of a proof-of-concept trial examining in-game advertisements within Roblox, finding an average viewing time of 7 seconds—equivalent to 3 to 5 times the attention span of standard web advertisements.

At the same time, significant operational risks came into view behind the numbers. At live concerts for Uma Musume Pretty Derby and Project Sekai, fulfillment failures by a floral stand production vendor came to light, prompting Cygames and the Project Sekai team to step in and handle refunds on the vendor’s behalf. In the VTuber sector, the agency “Vivid V” announced that its operating company was entering preparations for bankruptcy proceedings due to the personal misappropriation of corporate funds by its representative director. Meanwhile, in the theme park sector, three facilities—Yokohama Cosmoworld, Asakusa Hanayashiki, and Tobu Zoo—rolled out autumn-to-winter collaborations with anime franchises and gaming livestreamer groups.

DIAGRAMKey Figures in Oshikatsu Behavior and Ad Attention This Week

76.9B JPY: Estimated potential market for fan-funded support ads (approx. 2x vs. 2023)
59%: Share of surveyed users who have done oshikatsu at karaoke
75%: Streaming subscription rate in Anime! Anime! reader survey (113 respondents)
7 sec: Average viewing time per user in NEC's Roblox ad trial (3–5x standard web ads)

Source: The Oshi Lab's summary of the article

Three Amusement Parks Made IP Collaborations Their Winter Centerpiece

Yokohama Cosmoworld x Haikyu!!, Hanayashiki x Tokyo Revengers, and Tobu Zoo x Colorful Peach — Amusement Parks Became Character Stages

A collaboration between the anime Haikyu!! and Yokohama Cosmoworld alongside the YOKOHAMA AIR CABIN urban ropeway was held, with the event period announced for December 5, 2025, through January 25, 2026. The event sold merchandise featuring newly commissioned illustrations of six characters, including Shoyo Hinata and Tobio Kageyama. Inside the park, newly recorded voice announcements by Hinata (voiced by Ayumu Murase) and Kageyama (voiced by Kaito Ishikawa) were broadcast. A standalone stamp rally cost 1,100 yen, while a bundle including 1,000 yen worth of attraction ride tickets and other perks was priced at 1,900 yen (Cho! Animedia (in Japanese)).

At Asakusa Hanayashiki, a collaboration with Tokyo Revengers titled “Fairytale Revengers” (Douwa Revengers) ran from November 12 to December 28. Special admission tickets were priced at 2,300 yen. Two stage events featuring voice actors in person were also held on November 17 and December 21, with ticket prices set at 9,350 yen and 6,050 yen, respectively (Anime! Anime! (in Japanese)).

Meanwhile, Tobu Zoo held a collaboration with “Colorful Peach” (Karafuru Piichi), a gaming livestreamer group with over 2.3 million subscribers. The event ran from November 1, 2025, through February 23, 2026. The first half of the event centered on the park’s “2025–2026” winter illumination display, while the second half focused on zoo-wide collaboration activities (Inside (in Japanese)).

The Oshi Lab Note: During this single week, collaborations across three different facilities with varying schedules were reported in the press. All three shared the same core formula: voice actor stage appearances, stamp or park rally activities, and limited-edition merchandise. However, the specific hook designed to give fans a reason to visit differed by venue. The fact that three facilities with completely different locations and formats—a harbor Ferris wheel complex, a historic downtown amusement park, and a hybrid zoo—all selected the exact same methodology demonstrates that this template is rapidly becoming standard practice across the theme park industry. Re-reading Fundamentals of Oshikatsu Event Planning makes the shared underlying structure across these campaigns easy to see.

Food Industry Collaborations Placed Characters into Everyday Retail Spaces

Mos Burger x My Melody & Kuromi, and Fujiya Peko-chan x Sanrio Characters — Food Brands Put Characters on Their Shelves

Mos Burger launched a collaboration with Sanrio’s “My Melody” and “Kuromi.” With toys available from November 12, 2025, through late February 2026 or while supplies last at locations nationwide (excluding select stores), the campaign celebrated My Melody’s 50th anniversary and Kuromi’s 20th anniversary in 2025 by featuring both characters wearing matching ribbons in Mos Burger’s signature colors. The lineup included five different collaboration toys, structured so that customers could choose one toy from each store’s available stock when purchasing qualifying children’s meals such as the “Mos Waiwai Set” (priced between 540 yen and 660 yen) (Anime! Anime! (in Japanese)).

Additionally, a collaborative stationery series pairing confectionery maker Fujiya’s mascot “Peko-chan” with Sanrio Characters was announced for release in mid-November at variety goods stores and bookstores nationwide. The product line was produced by Furukawa Shiko, a 191-year-old paper products manufacturer based in Gifu Prefecture. Prices were set at 506 yen for letter sets and 440 yen for washi (traditional Japanese paper) flake stickers (Anime! Anime! (in Japanese)).

The Oshi Lab Note: Both the Mos Burger and Fujiya collaborations are projects that layer an external character IP onto an existing retail shelf space or product framework. Mos Burger added the characters to the toy bonus slot of its existing children’s meal sets, while the Fujiya collaboration slotted the characters into a stationery manufacturer’s established product line. Both represent low-additional-cost frameworks. When an IP celebrates a major milestone anniversary, it becomes much easier to find partners for this kind of “piggyback” collaboration model.

Multiple Corporate Surveys Quantified the Reality of Oshikatsu

A 76.9 Billion Yen Potential Market for Support Ads, and 59% Experiencing Karaoke Oshikatsu in JOYSOUND’s Survey — A Week That Visualized Fan Behavior

“Support ads” (ouen koukoku) are advertisements planned and financed directly by fans to be displayed in public spaces around town. According to the “Oshikatsu & Support Ad Survey 2024” conducted by JR East Marketing & Communications (jeki), the potential market for support ads was estimated at approximately 76.9 billion yen, roughly double the size recorded in 2023. This figure is equivalent to roughly 17% of Japan’s entire 448.7 billion yen outdoor and transit advertising market (as reported in Dentsu’s “2024 Advertising Expenditures in Japan”). Furthermore, the “Fact-Finding Survey on Support Ads” conducted by INFORICH estimated that around 350,000 people have contributed to placing a support ad to date, projecting that this number will surge to 1.43 million people in the future. In April, for the birthday celebration of Mana Manaka from the idol group FRUITS ZIPPER, the area around Tokyu Plaza Omotesando was decked out in her signature member color. In June, timed to coincide with all members of BTS completing their mandatory military service, video tributes played on large outdoor screens near JR Shin-Okubo Station in Tokyo, while wrapped buses drove around the area near HYBE’s headquarters in South Korea (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

XING, which operates the JOYSOUND karaoke brand, announced its “Oshi Ranking 2025.” The survey polled 1,621 users between September 19 and October 13. In the anime and game category, Project Sekai took first place. Snow Man ranked first in the male artist category, while ME:I claimed the top spot in the female artist category. Notably, 59% of surveyed users answered that they have practiced oshikatsu at karaoke (Anime! Anime! (in Japanese)).

Anime! Anime! Reader Survey Shows “75% Subscription Rate” — Viewing Environment Data Also Accumulated

A reader survey conducted by Anime! Anime! from October 20 to October 27 gathered responses from 113 people. Those answering that they are “currently subscribed” to a video streaming subscription service reached 75%, with Amazon Prime Video being the most popular platform among subscribers. At the same time, 22% identified as “definitely real-time broadcast viewers,” and 39% said they “occasionally watch in real time.” The findings show that watching live television broadcasts as they air and watching via on-demand streaming subscriptions coexist side by side (Anime! Anime! (in Japanese)).

The Oshi Lab Note: The estimated 76.9 billion yen potential market for fan support ads is equivalent to 17% of all outdoor and transit advertising spending in Japan. Because fans purchase the advertising inventory out of their own pockets, from an entertainment company’s perspective, their IP is getting media placement without the company spending its own ad budget. The 59% figure for karaoke oshikatsu and the 75% streaming subscription rate reflect the exact same dynamic: fans are actively using venues and infrastructure built by businesses as spaces to conduct their oshikatsu. For companies, whether they can provide spaces and mechanisms that fans can easily adapt for oshikatsu looks set to become a decisive competitive differentiator going forward.

The More a Business Relied on Fan Passion, the Harder Weak Governance Hit

Floral Stand Refund Troubles and Vivid V Operator LinkUp’s Bankruptcy Preparation Announcement — A Week That Questioned Financial Transparency

On October 31, the official X (formerly Twitter) accounts for Uma Musume Pretty Derby and Project Sekai published follow-up notices regarding troubles with celebratory floral stands (furasta). The incidents occurred at the “Uma Musume 6th EVENT” and the “Project Sekai 5th Anniversary Thanksgiving Festival,” both held on October 18 and 19. At both live events, a floral stand production company named Flasta (Furasuta) was responsible for unfulfilled deliveries and damaged displays. After determining that it would be difficult for Flasta itself to issue full refunds to affected fans within the designated timeframe, Cygames and the Project Sekai team announced that they would step in and process the refunds on the vendor’s behalf (Inside (in Japanese), ITmedia (in Japanese), Game*Spark (in Japanese), ORICON NEWS (in Japanese)).

Separately, on November 5, LinkUp Inc., the operating company behind the VTuber project “Vivid V,” announced that it was entering preparations for bankruptcy proceedings. The company explained that the primary cause was the personal misappropriation of company funds by its Representative Director, Shotaro Nishiguchi. The project’s official fan club was forcibly canceled effective immediately, with an announcement that membership fees would be refunded. The company also stated that refund procedures for crowdfunding backers would begin on November 10 (Mogura VR (in Japanese), GameBusiness.jp (in Japanese)).

The Oshi Lab Note: Both the Flasta incident and the Vivid V case are cases where business models built on fans paying money upfront backfired. Whether ordering a celebratory floral stand or backing a crowdfunding campaign, between the moment of payment and the moment of delivery, fans have no choice but to trust the operator. As the oshikatsu market expands, the internal financial controls and governance of businesses that handle “upfront fan payments” will directly determine the credibility of the brands involved.

Japanese IP Expanded Its Reach into Overseas Markets and the Tabletop Game Industry

“Solitary Gourmet” Makes Its Seoul Debut, and NIJISANJI x Takara Tomy Announces a Card Game — IP Stepped into New Markets

It was announced that the manga Solitary Gourmet (Kodoku no Gurume) would hold its first-ever pop-up shop in Seoul, South Korea, scheduled to run from November 13 to November 16. Hosted at “HEIGHTS” on the B2 floor of the major Seoul retail complex “THE HYUNDAI SEOUL,” the event was organized jointly with Japanese department store operator PARCO. It was announced that shoppers purchasing 40,000 won or more at the venue would receive an original zine featuring selected excerpts from the Korean-language edition of the original manga (PR TIMES (in Japanese)).

In the VTuber space, a trading card game for the VTuber group “NIJISANJI” was announced for release in New Year 2027. Developed as a joint project with toy manufacturer Takara Tomy, further details were slated to be revealed in spring 2026 (eeo (in Japanese)).

The Oshi Lab Note: PARCO has positioned its “content business as a new growth domain” and explicitly stated that it will continue expanding its initiatives in South Korea going forward. ANYCOLOR’s official announcement presents a collaboration to launch a NIJISANJI card game. In this week alone, we saw two clear examples of companies testing their IP in overseas markets or new product categories and following proven paths once demand is validated.

Local Governments and Corporations Turned the Metaverse into a Regional Touchpoint

NEC x Roblox Ad Trial, Toyota City x Cluster, and Sanjo City’s “Virtual SANJO” — The Metaverse Became a Testing Ground for Municipalities and Advertising

NEC conducted a joint proof-of-concept experiment with Kappa Create and Brave group to measure advertising effectiveness inside the Roblox game “Daruma Game.” When advertisements were served between July 22 and August 24, 2025, the average viewing time per user reached 7 seconds. This confirmed an attention effect equivalent to 3 to 5 times that of standard web advertisements (which average roughly 1 to 2 seconds). During the trial period, approximately 800,000 users logged into the game, and roughly 600,000 users viewed the advertisements, accumulating a total viewing time of over 2,200 hours (Mogura VR (in Japanese), PANORA (in Japanese)).

Meanwhile, Toyota City in Aichi Prefecture and metaverse platform operator Cluster Inc. launched the “Next-Generation Metaverse Town Development Project” with the cooperation of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing. As the first phase, a racing experience set in “Virtual Toyota Stadium” opened to the public on November 1. For the second phase, they announced a five-day town-building educational program during November and December for students at Aichi Prefectural Toyota Nishi High School (Mogura VR (in Japanese)).

In Niigata Prefecture, “Virtual SANJO,” a VRChat world themed around the city of Sanjo, was released as Ver 1.0. A 3D object creation contest featuring motifs of local specialties and regional culture also kicked off on November 1, with Sanjo Mayor Ryo Takizawa serving on the judging panel (Mogura VR (in Japanese)).

The Oshi Lab Note: All three initiatives use the metaverse for distinct purposes: advertising, tourism, and education. Yet they share a common philosophy of “starting with a small, bounded test.” NEC ran an ad trial lasting just over a month, Toyota City structured a five-day program for high schoolers, and Sanjo City began with a time-limited creative contest. Entering the space through fixed-term experiments rather than massive upfront system investments is becoming a realistic blueprint for municipalities and major corporations exploring XR.

DIAGRAMGrowth Signals vs. Operational Risks in the Week's Oshikatsu News

Market Expansion & New Formats

Fan support ad potential market reached 76.9B yen (17% of outdoor/transit ad spend)
Three theme parks and two major food/stationery brands rolled out standardized IP collaborations
NEC, Toyota City, and Sanjo City validated bounded metaverse trials for ads, education, and tourism

Prepayment & Governance Risks

Floral stand vendor delivery failures at Uma Musume and Project Sekai concerts forced IP holders to cover refunds
VTuber agency Vivid V's operator LinkUp began bankruptcy preparations after executive fund misappropriation
Upfront fan payment models (floral stands, fan clubs, crowdfunding) exposed vulnerabilities in operator governance

Source: The Oshi Lab's summary of the article

Weekly Reflections

This was a week in which the reality of oshikatsu came into sharp focus through both hard numbers and operational troubles.

With an estimated 76.9 billion yen potential market for support ads, 59% of surveyed users having experienced oshikatsu at karaoke in JOYSOUND’s study, and 7 seconds of average attention in NEC’s Roblox ad trial, data on fan behavior has accumulated to a volume that companies can readily use in corporate marketing proposals. At the same time, the floral stand refund crisis and Vivid V operator LinkUp’s entry into bankruptcy preparations exposed the fragility of systems built on fan trust and upfront payments. A single failure in an operator’s internal management structure can cause the entire mechanism to collapse. Precisely because the numbers have become so visible, the operational responsibility behind the scenes is now being scrutinized with the exact same level of detail.

The wave of collaborations across three different theme parks is another clear sign that the playbook for this market has already standardized. Reviewing this week’s developments alongside our guides on Principles of Oshikatsu Marketing Design and A Guide to Fan Support Ads will help put these structural trends into perspective.

Weekly Oshikatsu News brings you a curated weekly roundup of oshikatsu and business news. You can browse past issues in the Oshikatsu x News category.