Ultraman IP has contributed to the sale of products in Japan and China.
Author: Totoro
On March 22, Fields, a Japanese company listed in arcade and film and television entertainment, announced that it would become a holding company system in October through corporate division, and the holding company was named "Round Valley Fields Holding Company".
Fields' original main product was Bai Qingge, which acquired Round Valley Productions in 2010, and its CG production company Digital Frontier. The name change, "Round Valley" in front of the new name, it can be seen that Fields will be the main direction of the future development of the content business and the digital field.
Another example of a name change in japanese industry mergers and acquisitions:
Originally Kadokawa acquired Niconico's parent company, Dwango, renamed Kadokawa Dwango, and later changed back to Kadokawa, which was known as Do and wa from Dwango.
Rely on ultraman-Round Valley's IP business
In recent years, the arcade market has been sluggish, the performance has been very severe, and Round Valley Productions has become the pillar supporting Fields' operations.
In FY2021, Fields' overall sales were JPY 82,145 million, up 40.17% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders for the current period was JPY 1,012 million, a decrease of 51.81% year-on-year. Overall sales have rebounded, but profitability is still in the middle of a bitter battle.
Fields' subsidiary, Marutani Manufacturing Co., Ltd., is doing well in marketing in Japan and China.
According to the available data released by Fields, in the second and fourth quarters of 2021, the performance of Round Valley monomer was sales of 3.847 million yen, an increase of 49.1% year-on-year; operating profit was 1,075 million yen, an increase of 220.4% year-on-year; net profit was 910 million yen, an increase of 408.6% year-on-year, a substantial increase in revenue across the board.
Fields' estimates are more "exaggerated":
Round Valley Productions' operating profit for the March 2022 period (April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022) is expected to reach JPY 1.25 billion, up 232.8% year-on-year, and net profit of JPY 920 million, an increase of 472.7% year-on-year. Significant incremental gains are foreseeable.
In addition to the IP business with Ultraman IP as the main axis, Round Valley Manufacturing actively develops large-scale new IP and shifts to the digital field, and the licensing business in Japan is growing steadily, and actively expanding overseas markets with China, Asia, and North America as the center, contributing to revenue.
Holley Technology, a Chinese listed company that sells Ultraman IP cards, is an example, with revenue from its animation IP derivatives (mainly cards) of 175 million yuan in 2021, an increase of 156.52% year-on-year. Review: 10,000 devices sold 170 million yuan of cards a year, and Holley Technology increased revenue without increasing profits
Holley Technology's animation IP derivative
Holley Technology mentioned that IP such as "Pokémon" and "Ultraman" are deeply loved by consumers, which has promoted the rapid growth of sales revenue of animation IP derivative products and the gradual increase in gross profit margin (gross profit margin of 38.05% in 2021, an increase of 4.82% year-on-year).
An example of an Ultraman Fusion Guild Wars card
In 2021, Holley Technology increased the number of animation cartoon devices, increasing to nearly 10,000 units by the end of the year, reaching 32 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) and covering more than 2,000 playground stores.
In 2020, it was 6971 devices, the sales of animation IP derivatives earned 68.219 million yuan, and the sales of 22.7707 million animation image cards, of which the income of ultraman cards was 41.6802 million yuan.
The main IP distribution of Holley Technology's sales cards in 2020
Ultraman Content: Moving Towards the Digital Realm and Streaming
In 2021, Marutani actively cooperated with NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest telecommunications operator, to launch the official quota digital platform service "TSUBURAYA IMAGINATION", the online mall "TSUBURAYA STORE ONLINE" and the live distribution business "INTO THE STORY", actively transforming into the digital field.
Ultraman series of film and television works and works in cooperation with other companies can be viewed in Round Valley Video, and the Round Valley Online Mall also continues to introduce limited peripheral goods, such as "Ultra Hero EXPO2022 New Year Festival" peripheral miscellaneous goods, the Big Monster series ULTRA NEW GENERATION Ultraman Diga Special Edition and so on.
In December 2021, the immersive live distribution platform "INTO THE STORY" held a series of performances of "INTO THE STORY Ultraman Ultra Ancient Treasure" and started the platform activities.
In terms of the video business, Hideaki Anno's "New Ultraman", "Teliga Ultraman Episode Z", and "Ultraman" series 2, which Hideaki Anno is responsible for planning and scripting, are also planned to land on platforms such as Netflix in 2022.
In terms of discs other than streaming, Round Valley also released the "Diga Ultraman" 25th Anniversary CD BOX, "Teliga Ultraman NEW GENERATION TIGA" Blu-ray BOX, TDG 25th Anniversary Blu-ray, "Ultraman Hero EXPO 2021 Battle Stage", "Ultraman Hero EXPO THE LIVE Ultraman Z" DVD and so on.
Ultraman IP Action: Increasingly Broad Licensing
In 2021, Ultraman IP continued to expand its marketing scope in Japan, involving infrastructure, clothing, food, stationery, etc., and launched a new licensing business.
For example, Ultraman cooperated with Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd. to launch 10 "Ultraman 55th Anniversary Tokyo Metro Original 24-Hour Limited Ride Ticket";
In cooperation with the popular mobile game "Badge Warrior S", "Legend of the Magic Sword", "Monster Watch", etc., ultraman popular characters appear in the mobile game;
In cooperation with food companies, we have launched the "サッポロ一番" series of ramen, Fuji bar bread, junmi Daigin sake, Ultraman New Year dishes, and authorized food packaging use role IP.
In addition, Ultraman has partnered with stationery manufacturers to launch the 55th Anniversary Limited Design Stationery Set, "Ultraman & Monster Handbook Today is also Ultraman Monster Day and 2022";
We have launched cold suits in collaboration with Uniqlo, TDG team-style backpacks and hiking suits with Bandai, and ULTRA STYLE, an Ultraman-themed clothing brand, which continues to launch new products.
In terms of toys, Ultraman launched "S.H. Figuarts Dark Trigal", "S.H. Figuarts Zeta Ultraman Beta Impact", "ThreezeroX Takagi アキノリ Cyro Ultraman", "S.H. Figuarts Taiga Ultraman Triple Rainbow Form", "S.H. Figuarts Zeta Ultraman Armory Machine III", "Character Classics Diga Ultraman", "Threezero" 1/6 ULTRAMAN SUIT "Ultraman" and other handmade, S.H. Figuarts series of new products continue.
In addition, there are a variety of peripheral groceries.
For example, Ultraman 55th Anniversary Original Stamps, Greeting Cards, Canvas Bags, Umbrellas, Silk Scarves, Electronic Bracelets and Diga Ultraman 25th Anniversary Photo T-Shirts, Commemorative Rings and Three-Sided Weird Dada Pillows, Zeta Ultraman Limited Model Set, DX Ultraman Ultraman TDG 25th Anniversary Transcendence Key, Dark Spark Prism 25th Anniversary Edition & Camilla Transformers, New Ultraman Limited Edition Watches, Toddler Educational Toys, etc., IP involves a wide range of products and industries.
In terms of offline activities, in December, OceanDo Toy Park held an Ultraman Hand Exhibition, while Marutani also held a New Year's Eve performance "Otter Hero EXPO 2022 New Year Festival IN Tokyo Dome City", in October held a new interpretation art project exhibition "Otter Monster Ghost Picture Scroll Exhibition", in July held "Otter Hero EXPO 2021 Summer Festival IN Ikebukuro Sunshine City" and toured around Japan to hold "Ultraman 55th Anniversary TSUBURAYA EXHIBITION 2021" Exhibitions and much more.
In addition, in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Diga Ultraman, a special event was held at the SHIBU HACHI BOX, A Shibuya Station-in-front facility at NTT DoCoMo, where you can experience ultraman scene VR.
Other fields business: The arcade business has been seriously affected by the epidemic
In the first quarter of 2021, fields' arcade sales fell sharply due to the emergency declaration. Sales were good in the second to fourth quarters, with a total sales volume of 1.32 million units in the newly launched arcade market, up 1.6 times year-on-year. Older model replacements also drove sales.
Once Fields issued "P Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion", "Idolmaster Million Live", "Absolute Buffer III", 3 Desk Type, 27,000 units issued by The Public Corporation;
In the second quarter, the 3 models of Bai Qingge "GANTZ Pole", "Tairo Ultraman 2", "P", "P", "Gantz Pole", "Tyro Ultraman 2", "P.R.D., P.R., P.R., P. D., P. Tyinggo", "Gantz Pole", "Tyro Ultraman 2", "P", "Gantz Pole", "Gantz Pole Pole", "Gantz Pole Pole", "Gantz 30000000000000000000000000000000000000000 units", the number of deliveries;
Three seasons, grant date Kashiwa Seijo,P Space 战舰 Yamato 202-202-202-202-1982", Wakashi Seijo, Ushiotora Thunder Spear Flash, Traffic Volume 27,000 units;
In the fourth quarter, Bai Qingge's "Evangelion ~ Roar for the Future~" and Bai Qingjie's "GANTZ Pole THE SURVIVAL GAME" and "Monster Hunter: World Gold Hunt" were delivered, with a delivery of 64,000 units.
For the full year of 2021, Fields delivered a total of 169,514 arcade units, an increase of 5.28% year-on-year, although there was a slight increase, but from the sales movement data, the overall trend declined.
Limited by the epidemic, the opportunities for vulnerable elderly groups to play have decreased, while the play opportunities of young people have increased, and the amusement machines suitable for young people have a tendency to penetrate the market. However, in the case of a sharp stagnation in the trend of mass consumption, the sales of goods have had a great impact.
Fields' IP and digital businesses, in addition to Round Valley, also include subsidiary Digital Frontier.
In addition to participating in ultraman films, Digital Frontier was also responsible for the CG image production of Hosoda's new work "Dragon and Freckled Princess", coupled with CG of a major game company in Japan and a VFX production business from Netflix, which improved smoothly.
In addition, Digital Frontier and Unicast have jointly developed the remote reception service "KSIN" for high-precision 3D CG avatars, which has been adopted by NEXCO East (East Japan Expressway Co., Ltd.) as part of the program, and is further promoting practical development and actively engaging in the use of 3D models and digital space.
Fields announced that the ip and digital business for the March 2022 period (April 1, 2021 - March 31, 2022) operating profit is expected to reach 1.42 billion yen, an increase of 210.1% year-on-year; net profit for the current period is expected to be 1.04 trillion yen, an increase of 464.8% year-on-year.