Market Overview

The character business market size (merchandising, licensing) for FY2020 declined to 2,523.5 billion yen, 99.6% of that of the preceding fiscal year. Though there was a megahit movie “Demon Slayer (Kimetsu-no-Yaiba)", the shortened business hours at stores in the COVID-19 calamity led the entire market to negative growth.

The character business market consists of merchandising and licensing. While the merchandising business size for FY2020 (based on the retail price) ended up with 98.4% of the previous fiscal year, yielding 1,233.5 billion yen, the licensing business (based on the contract price) reached 100.8% of the preceding fiscal year to have generated 1,290.0 billion yen. The merchandising market went through ups and downs, as it enjoyed mighty-hit movie sales while generally suffering from shrinking market size stemming from ever decreasing number of children, causing stagnant sales. On the other hand, the licensing market has been on the rise, as SNS and movie streaming services spread, urging many businesses to use characters for advertisement or as their so-called image characters or brand ambassadors.

Because the messages became more influential when sent by characters especially in case of emergency, as they were spread/retweeted/reposted via various media, the attempt to use characters for sales promotions increased, which stabilized the market, despite being in the COVID-19 calamity.

Noteworthy Topics

Though the Boom Ended, Mascots are still Popular as Local Characters

The world of mascots faced the end of its era, as the “Yuru-Chara Granprix (i.e. annual mascot competition)” terminated in 2020. Meanwhile, many locally-popular characters have been generated, which developed into a character business that contribute in down-to-earth regional development.

Future Outlook

The character business market size (merchandising, licensing) for FY2021 is forecasted to achieve 2,530.5 billion yen, 100.3% of that of the preceding fiscal year. Merchandising business can face predicament, as inbound tourism demand disappeared and as product sales at theme parks decreased, but new characters (IP: Intellectual Property) are expected to fuel the market to steadfast growth, such as “KUMARBA” from Kumarba channel, a movie streaming channel.

As the COVID-19 infections have discouraged people to go outside, watching animation among people has increased, which popularized many anime characters to be used, helping the licensing business to prosper. In addition, the experiencing business may thrive, such as, onstage, acting and museum business, which take place by taking thorough measures against the infections.

Research Outline