×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more
You are welcome to look at the talkback but please consider that this article is over 12 years old before posting.

Interest
K-On! Sells More than 15 Billion Yen in Merchandise

posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Slice-of-life comedy franchise about high school girl band peaks in popularity in Japan

In an article describing the widespread popularity of the K-ON! anime and manga franchise, the December issue of Nikkei Entertainment magazine is reporting on Thursday that K-ON! has sold over 15 billion yen (about US$192 million) in related goods so far. During the 2011 fiscal year alone, K-ON! t-shirts and tie-in goods sold 1.8 billion yen (about US$20 million). The slice-of-life comedy has become a social phenomenon in Japan, according to Nikkei Entertainment, and the franchise's popularity has spread internationally over the past three-and-a-half years.

The story follows four girls who try to rescue their high school's light music club. kakifly's original four-panel manga serialized in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara from May 2007 to October 2010. Four compiled books were published, and Yen Press released them in English in 2010 and 2011.

A K-ON! television adaptation premiered in Japan in 2009, and its sequel aired in 2010. The series' Blu-ray Discs were among the top-selling anime titles in Japan in 2009 and 2010. Bandai Entertainment released the first anime on DVD and Blu-ray in North America this year. The K-ON! anime film will open in theaters across Japan on December 3.

CD releases of K-ON! anime's songs have also become top-selling titles. The franchise's albums and single CDs have been repeated chart toppers, and the K-ON! Live Event ~Let's Go!~ Blu-ray was the second top-selling music Blu-ray Disc in Japan from December 14, 2009 to December 12, 2010.

[Via Hachima Kikō]

Update: Corrected story description. Thanks, Darkonlore.


discuss this in the forum (59 posts) |
bookmark/share with: short url

this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history

Interest homepage / archives