VTuber Merch Earnings & McDonald's Anti-Resale Limits: Weekly Oshikatsu News (Sept 12, 2025)

Here is our roundup of standout corporate oshikatsu (fan-support activities) marketing and fan-business news from the week of September 5 to September 11, 2025.

This Week’s Highlights

This was a week in which merchandise and physical retail sales stood out as a core pillar supporting corporate earnings.

Two companies operating VTuber agencies announced their financial results, and in both cases the strength of merchandise and trading cards stood out. At COVER, which operates hololive, merchandising revenue expanded in the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2026, rising 99.2% year-on-year to 5.838 billion yen. ANYCOLOR, which operates NIJISANJI, also posted substantial gains in both revenue and profit, with net sales up 112.1% and operating profit up 157.6%. Commerce had become the company’s main business domain.

Meanwhile, McDonald’s was busy responding to bulk purchases for resale and abandoned food. For its next Happy Meal (known as Happy Set in Japan), McDonald’s introduced sales restricted to front counters, in-store touchscreens and drive-thrus, along with per-group quantity limits. Kentucky Fried Chicken upgraded its well-received Uma Musume collaboration into permanent content. Narumiya International opened its first flagship character store in a location directly connected to Shinjuku Station. According to Yano Research Institute, the size of the character business market in fiscal 2024 was estimated at 2.7773 trillion yen, or 102.9% of the previous fiscal year’s level.

DIAGRAMKey Market and Earnings Figures Reported This Week

5.838B yen: COVER Q1 FY2026 merchandising revenue (+99.2% YoY)
15.768B yen: ANYCOLOR Q1 FY2026 total net sales (+112.1% YoY)
2.7773T yen: Estimated FY2024 Japan character business market size
108.45B yen: Estimated national economic impact of the Hanshin Tigers' league title

Source: The Oshi Lab’s summary of the article

Beverage and Apparel Companies Welcoming IP into Brand Public Relations

Sokenbicha (Coca-Cola Japan) x Licca-chan — Appointed Temporary PR Representative

On September 8, Coca-Cola (Japan) Company and its bottling partners launched a renewed version of the blended tea Sokenbicha. The new recipe blends 12 ingredients, newly adding corn silk while maintaining its sugar-free and zero-caffeine formula. Alongside the launch, the dress-up doll Licca-chan (from Takara Tomy) was appointed as the brand’s public relations representative for a limited time, taking charge of posts on the official X account. According to an INTAGE survey, Sokenbicha ranked No. 1 in cumulative sales value in the blended tea category from July 2024 through June 2025 (Gourmet Watch (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: A long-established brand launched in 1993 enlisted a dress-up doll that has likewise been loved across generations. Communicating the length of a brand’s own history by overlapping it with a long-running intellectual property (IP) from a different genre is a useful reference for companies grappling with anniversary initiatives.

Narumiya International — First Character Flagship Store Directly Connected to Shinjuku Station

On September 11, children’s apparel company Narumiya International opened a store inside LUMINE EST Shinjuku, a commercial facility directly connected to Shinjuku Station. Named NARUMIYA HAPPY PARK, it is the company’s first flagship shop dedicated specifically to characters. The store brought together characters from four original brands that gained popularity in the 2000s: Angel Blue, Mezzo Piano Junior, Pom Ponette Junior, and Daisy Lovers. Merchandise featuring a new character, Mimily-chan, was also sold for the first time as a store exclusive. A dedicated vending machine selling character-design “label cans” was installed through October 5, featuring a prize draw mechanism where lucky winners received a limited-edition acrylic keychain (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: Bringing multiple characters together in a single flagship store fits the demand driven by the Heisei retro boom (nostalgia for late-1990s and 2000s Japanese youth culture). Instead of multiplying stores for individual brands, the company created a single hub location. This approach offers a helpful hint for companies managing multiple IPs when organizing their retail footprints.

MOS Burger — MOS Shake 50th Anniversary Enlists Voice Actor Akira Ishida

Starting September 3, MOS Food Services launched a campaign celebrating the 50th anniversary of its popular drink, the MOS Shake. First released in 1975, the MOS Shake had surpassed 800 million cumulative cups sold as of the end of July 2025. The theme for this campaign was “3 O’Clock ‘Sip-and-Rest’ Break” (3-ji no Kyukei, a pun replacing the first character of “rest” with “sip”), rolling out a four-part web video series in which voice actor Akira Ishida voiced the MOS Shake itself. A large-format advertisement measuring 14 meters wide was also displayed along the Shinjuku Station Metro Promenade. Yuki Masuda of ENJIN TOKYO, who handled production, explained that the team designed the communication to make Ishida’s fans instinctively want to react (PR EDGE (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: Rather than putting the product itself front and center, this campaign foregrounded the time of day—“cafe time”—and cast a popular voice actor as its narrator. Designing a campaign around fan reactions as the starting point to spark social media sharing can be applied as a way to build buzz for anniversary campaigns.

Companies Reading Oshikatsu Through Numbers and Data

Duolingo “Dosukoi Sumo Tournament” — 8 Mascots Clash Behind a 2.8 Trillion Yen Market Tailwind

On September 6, the educational app Duolingo held the “Duo Dosukoi Sumo Tournament,” featuring eight corporate mascot characters, at LUMINE 0 in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Eight characters competed—including Duo, Sonic (SEGA), Pac-Man (Bandai Namco), Donpen (Don Quijote), and Ponta—with Ponta taking home the championship. Social media entries drew more than 1,000 applications, and 150 members of the general public were invited to the venue. According to a survey released in July 2025 by Yano Research Institute, the character business market in fiscal 2024 reached 2.7773 trillion yen, or 102.9% of the previous year. The same survey forecast the market to reach 2.8492 trillion yen in fiscal 2025, or 102.6% year-on-year (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: This is a case where an educational app—a business category that might seem far removed from oshikatsu—stepped onto the side of being “stan-worthy” through its mascot character. The more a service requires long-term continuity, such as learning, the more affection for a character can directly become a motivation to keep using it. Viewed alongside figures backing up the market’s expansion, it is easy to see why companies are investing in characters.

Asahi Kasei Home Products — Ziploc Surveys 20 Fan and Hobby Subcultures, Including Oshikatsu

On September 3, Asahi Kasei Home Products launched a participatory campaign titled the “Ziploc Yay-or-Nay National Survey.” The project was designed to discover new uses for Ziploc household storage bags. Going beyond conventional food storage, it proposed ways to use the bags across 20 different communities (kaiwai, or subculture circles), including the “oshikatsu circle,” the “gacha (capsule toy) circle,” and the “music festival circle.” Users were asked to vote “yay” (ari) or “nay” (nashi) on each proposed use. In Shibuya, Tokyo, the company held an in-person event aimed at the oshikatsu community on September 6–7, and scheduled another event for the gacha community on September 13–14. Participants made original storage-bag pouches on the spot to take home (Gadget Tsushin (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: What matters here is that the company tailored its proposed uses separately for each subculture community. Instead of selling a single product to everyone using the exact same words, it retold the product’s story in different contexts for each group. For everyday household goods manufacturers looking to build touchpoints with oshikatsu fans, this kind of contextual reframing is especially useful.

Major Fast-Food Chains Systematizing IP Collaboration Operations

Kentucky Fried Chicken x Uma Musume — Upgrading a Popular Collaboration to Permanent Content

Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan launched its second collaboration with the game Uma Musume Pretty Derby starting September 9. It revived “KFC Stroll” (KFC Sanpo), which had been well received in August 2024, as permanent content that players can enjoy inside the game at any time. Exclusive to KFC Net Order, the “Why Not Take a Stroll with Uma Musume Today? Pack” (1,000 yen including tax) was also sold through September 29. In addition, the company ran a lottery campaign exclusively for purchasers, offering prizes such as diorama acrylic stands (Inside (in Japanese), gamebiz (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: The decision to turn a limited-time collaboration into permanent content catches the eye. Rather than letting a high-buzz initiative end as a one-off event, this mindset builds it in as an ongoing touchpoint. Companies that have a mechanism for keeping well-received projects in place find it easier to build lasting relationships with fans.

McDonald’s — Anti-Resale Quantity Limits Placed on Happy Meals

On September 9, McDonald’s Company (Japan) announced the sales method and quantity limits for its upcoming Happy Meal release on September 12. On launch day, September 12, Happy Meal sales through mobile ordering and delivery were suspended, with sales restricted to front counters, in-store touchscreens and drive-thrus. The company announced that during the periods of September 12–15 and September 26–28, purchases would be limited to up to three sets per group. Back in August, a Pokémon Card campaign had triggered bulk buying for resale as well as abandoned and discarded food. In response, the company had already called off the planned distribution of its One Piece Card Game Happy Meal (Inside (in Japanese), Otonanswer (in Japanese), ORICON NEWS (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: The more overheated merchandise popularity becomes, the more the design of purchasing rules itself determines corporate trust. Companies holding highly popular collaborations increasingly need to think through sales quantities and purchasing pathways in advance.

FamilyMart x Snoopy, Gong cha x Stray Kids’ Felix — Deploying Characters to Expand Customer Demographics

Starting September 9, FamilyMart ran its second collaboration with Snoopy, the “FamilyMart Special Collection,” across approximately 16,300 stores nationwide. The initiative commemorated the 75th anniversary of the PEANUTS comic strip. During the first collaboration in April 2024, sales of collaboration products reached roughly double the company’s internal target. This time, primarily targeting adult women in their 30s to 50s, the chain rolled out sweets featuring artwork from the 1950s through the 2000s (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)). Meanwhile, Gong cha Japan launched a collaboration project on September 11 with Felix of Stray Kids, who had been appointed global ambassador in June. Nine stores received special decorations, and collaboration videos were screened on outdoor and indoor digital signage at 18 LaLaport shopping centers (HiRTo (in Japanese), Entabe (in Japanese), SPUR (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: Both companies narrowed down their target age groups and interests by design. FamilyMart focused on adult women, while Gong cha built its campaign around the genuine affection for the brand that Felix himself had publicly expressed. Choosing an age group or intensity of interest that matches actual fan behavior before planning the campaign is what leads to results.

DIAGRAMOperational Frameworks Behind This Week's Food and Retail Collaborations

Permanent Touchpoints

KFC upgraded its August 2024 'KFC Stroll' feature into permanent in-game content in Uma Musume
Paired ongoing digital engagement with a 1,000-yen net-order pack and acrylic stand lottery through Sept 29

Purchase Rule Controls

McDonald's suspended Happy Meal sales through mobile orders and delivery on Sept 12 after August Pokémon Card resale and food waste issues
Restricted Happy Meal purchases to counters, in-store touchscreens and drive-thrus and capped sales at 3 sets per group on peak weekends

Demographic & Affinity Targeting

FamilyMart targeted women in their 30s–50s for its 75th-anniversary PEANUTS sweets after its first tie-up doubled targets
Gong cha built its 9-store decor and 18-LaLaport video rollout around global ambassador Felix's public love for the brand

Source: The Oshi Lab’s summary of the article

Baseball Teams and Arenas Partnering with Corporations to Expand the Fan Experience

Yokohama DeNA BayStars “Yokohama Otoko Matsuri” x AC-bu — Now a 3rd-Year Annual Tradition

To coincide with a three-game series against the Hanshin Tigers from August 26 to 28, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars held “Yokohama Otoko Matsuri 2025” (Yokohama Manly Festival 2025). Designed to unite fans and the stadium in excitement, the event marked its third installment this year. Karateka Nobuaki Kakuda served as “Head Cheer Commander” (Oen Socho) for the third consecutive year. The event visuals were created by the creative team AC-bu around the themes of “sweltering intensity” and “manliness.” To match the event, the team also staged a tie-in at the nearest train station, JR Kannai Station, changing the characters on the station name signs to read “Kannai” written with the character for “manly guy” (otoko) (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: What stands out is how the initiative drew in a location outside the baseball club’s direct management—a train station name. By not confining the event inside the stadium and instead modifying the experience along the transit route at the nearest station, it built up fans’ excitement before they even arrived at the venue. How far brands can stage touchpoints outside the venue itself looks set to become the next point of differentiation.

Hanshin Tigers League Championship — 108.4 Billion Yen Economic Impact and Commemorative Sales Across Companies

On September 7, the Hanshin Tigers clinched the Central League championship at their home ground, Koshien Stadium. It was the club’s seventh league title and first in two years, and the September 7 clinching date was the earliest in history across both the Central and Pacific Leagues. According to estimates by Professor Emeritus Katsuhiro Miyamoto of Kansai University, the economic impact was estimated at approximately 108,445.13 million yen nationwide and approximately 97,600.62 million yen in the Kansai region. That figure was reportedly the largest for any championship team since 2005. Hanshin Department Store’s Umeda Main Store held a seven-day commemorative sale starting the day after the championship was decided, drawing lines long enough to prompt opening the doors 30 minutes early (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: A notable feature here is that for a one-off event like winning a championship, a numerical estimate of the economic impact is prepared every time. Having a framework that quantifies emotional excitement makes it easier for companies to make investment decisions around tie-in promotions.

Toyota and NTT Docomo — Turning Arena Operations into Proof-of-Concept Testing Grounds

Openings of large-scale arena facilities have been following one after another. TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO, a collaborative project involving Toyota Motor Corporation and partners, opened in the Odaiba area on October 3. NTT Docomo was also involved in operating multiple stadiums and arenas. TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO covers a site area of approximately 26,446 square meters, with a capacity on the scale of roughly 10,000 spectators for basketball and 8,000 for concerts. The arena is also slated to serve as a proof-of-concept testing hub for next-generation mobility technologies, such as mobile shops using e-Palette vehicles (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: The idea here is to double a spectator venue as a showroom for a company’s own technologies. By layering proof-of-concept trials onto places where fans naturally gather, companies can create opportunities for people to experience new technology without spending on traditional advertising. Arena operations are becoming testing grounds that are no longer limited to companies holding sports teams or IP.

Theme Parks and Exhibitions Becoming Venues for Immersive Brand Experiences

USJ x KATE — Limited-Time Attraction from a Cosmetics Brand

On September 5, Kanebo Cosmetics launched a limited-time attraction for its makeup brand KATE. Set inside Universal Studios Japan’s (USJ) Halloween event, the attraction was titled “The Witches of 18th Street: Mansion of Witches Playing with Emotions.” It featured a walk-through production in which four witches governing joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure put visitors through trials. After the experience, visitors could try out new makeup in a makeup room. KATE Brand Manager 岩田有弘 commented, “We wanted to create a place that stirs customers’ emotions, and the very first place that came to mind was USJ.” The attraction was open for visitors to experience through November 3 (AdverTimes. (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: What makes this unusual is that a cosmetics brand put an “emotion-stirring experience” ahead of the product itself. By placing a mechanism that moves visitors’ emotions prior to the act of applying makeup, it creates a memorable experience before the outcome of a purchase.

Shogakukan “Betsucomi” 55th Anniversary — Immersive Exhibition with a Giant Screen

From October 3 to 13, Shogakukan held a special exhibition titled “The Continuation of Love” (Suki, no Tsuzuki.) at LUMINE 0 in NEWoMan Shinjuku, commemorating the 55th anniversary of its shojo manga magazine Betsucomi. At the venue, an approximately 20-minute video was screened on a massive screen measuring roughly 4 meters high and over 20 meters wide. The video compiled famous scenes from 16 works, including The Poe Clan (Poe no Ichizoku) and BANANA FISH. Original manga manuscripts and high-quality reproduction art were also displayed. Planning, development, and operations were handled by THRUSTER, a company experienced in metaverse and VR live production (Mogura VR (in Japanese), Nijimen (in Japanese), PR TIMES (in Japanese), CanCam.jp (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: This exhibition placed 55 years of archives side by side in two formats: original manuscript displays and large-scale video projections. By preparing both paper materials and a video experience, the layout appealed to longtime readers as well as new visitors from the video-native generation. It is a strong example of how to re-edit the IP of a long-running magazine.

Toyota Miraidon and Honda Koraidon — Appearing at Japan Mobility Show 2025

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association began ticket sales for Japan Mobility Show 2025 (October 30 to November 9 at Tokyo Big Sight) and released an advance preview of part of the exhibition lineup. One of the highlights announced was the display of the “Toyota Miraidon” and “Honda Koraidon,” life-size scale creations of Pokémon characters built independently by Toyota and Honda. General advance tickets were announced at 2,700 yen (including tax), with admission free for high school students and younger (Inside (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: The background of two competing automakers each building life-size versions of the same game IP with their own separate interpretations is fascinating. By treating the IP as a friendly rivalry within the industry rather than an exclusive collaboration with a single company, the project created a new way for audiences to appreciate the work by comparing the two side by side.

Financial Results from Two VTuber Agencies Underscore the Strength of Merchandise

COVER (hololive) — Merchandising Revenue Doubles on Strong Trading Card Sales

In the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2026, COVER—which operates the VTuber agency hololive production—posted net sales of 9.629 billion yen, up 50.1% year-on-year. Operating profit rose 16.5% year-on-year to 972 million yen. In particular, the merchandising business covering goods sales expanded rapidly, jumping 99.2% year-on-year to 5.838 billion yen, helped by the hit performance of the hololive OFFICIAL CARDGAME. The merchandising segment’s share of total revenue exceeded 60%, rising sharply from under 50% in the prior year. Meanwhile, growth in streaming content—which serves as the company’s earnings foundation—was moderate, and talent development remained an ongoing challenge amid a string of graduations (retirements) by popular VTubers (Inside (in Japanese), GameBusiness.jp (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: These results show that tangible products people can hold in their hands—trading cards—drove earnings more strongly than intangible streaming content. Whether a business has pathways that connect fan support not just to watching streams, but also to purchasing physical goods, makes a decisive difference in business stability.

ANYCOLOR (NIJISANJI) — Higher Revenue and Profit as Commerce Becomes the Mainstay

ANYCOLOR, which operates NIJISANJI, announced its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending April 2026. Net sales rose 112.1% year-on-year to 15.768 billion yen, and operating profit climbed 157.6% year-on-year to 7.003 billion yen. By segment, the commerce domain was the main pillar, generating 10.394 billion yen in revenue, supported by anniversary projects and live-event merchandise sales. The agency had 165 affiliated VTubers, and ANYCOLOR IDs—required for joining fan clubs and related services—reached approximately 1.76 million accounts. Following this strong performance, the company revised its full-year earnings forecast upward (Mogura VR (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: Just as with COVER, growth in the commerce domain lifted the financial results. The two companies announced their earnings on different dates. The numbers confirm that the VTuber market is shifting from a stage of competing over stream viewership counts to a stage of competing over the ability to design merchandise and retail operations.

Characters Becoming Entry Points for Talent Recruitment and Government PR

WakuWork 2026 Autumn — Seven Companies Exhibit at Anime Industry Job Fair

WakuWork announced that it would hold “WakuWork 2026 Autumn,” a job fair specializing in the anime industry, on November 9, 2025, at the TKP Ikebukuro Conference Center in Tokyo. Seven companies were named in the first wave of exhibitors: Arch, Asahi Production, Inaho, CloverWorks, CA Soa, Shin-Ei Animation, and ufotable. The “WakuWork 2026” event held by the company in March drew more than 1,000 attendees. Since its very first installment, the event has consistently maintained the concept “It’s okay even if you can’t draw.” The event was announced as a fully in-person gathering, with priority tickets priced at 1,000 yen and general admission tickets free of charge (Anime! Anime! (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: Its strength lies in consistently championing the concept “It’s okay even if you can’t draw” ever since the first event. When there is a gap between an industry’s public image and the actual breadth of job roles available, turning that gap itself into the catchphrase works well. It is a helpful model of continuity for companies that view fans as potential recruitment candidates.

Kitashirakawa Kakapo x Cabinet Office — Appointed PR Character for the Space Development and Utilization Awards

Virtual science communicator Kitashirakawa Kakapo was appointed as the PR character for the 7th Space Development and Utilization Awards, hosted by Japan’s Cabinet Office. The application period ran from September 5 to October 7. The awards honor cases that have achieved notable results in space development and its utilization, with the goal of broadening public understanding and interest. Kitashirakawa Kakapo commented, “From the call for entries through to the award ceremony, I will help build excitement in a variety of ways” (Mogura VR (in Japanese)).

Lab Note: This is a case of enlisting a VTuber to publicize a government award program that can be difficult to bring to the attention of younger demographics. Precisely because the character has subject-matter expertise, she can handle public relations without undermining the credibility of the content. Moves by government ministries and local municipalities to borrow oshikatsu techniques look likely to keep spreading.

This Week’s Takeaways

This was a week in which whether companies could translate the passion of oshikatsu into the tangible form of “merchandise” fed directly into their bottom-line numbers.

The financial results from COVER and ANYCOLOR show that growth in merchandising businesses—rather than stream view counts—was what pushed earnings higher. Both KFC making its popular collaboration permanent and McDonald’s introducing purchase limits as an anti-resale measure are responses to the exact same underlying challenge: how to sustain what fans want as an ongoing system, and how to deliver it fairly. Building systems that meet fan demand has directly become a core management issue.

At the same time, moves to re-edit existing IPs in new spaces—such as Narumiya’s Shinjuku flagship store and Shogakukan’s Betsucomi special exhibition—also stood out. According to Yano Research Institute projections, the character business market is expected to reach 2.8492 trillion yen in fiscal 2025. As the market continues to expand, steady, behind-the-scenes operational capabilities—how well a company designs its merchandise, physical hubs, and purchasing rules—will matter far more than generating one-off buzz.

What kinds of experiences and purchasing pathways have you prepared for your own fans? Take a look at this week’s developments alongside our guides to Oshikatsu Marketing Design Principles and Oshikatsu Market Size.

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