K-On!! T-Shirts, Tie-In Goods Bring in 1.8 Billion Yen
TBS Holdings, the parent company of the Japanese television station TBS, revealed in its financial results for the first quarter of the 2011 fiscal year that it earned 1.8 billion yen (about US$20 million) in sales of K-ON!! anime t-shirts and other tie-in characters goods. Home video sales and licensing rights for the anime itself are not counted towards that 1.8-billion-yen total. The financial results cover the three-month period from April 1 to June 30.
K-ON!!, the second television anime series based on kakifly's four-panel comedy manga about high school girls who form a rock band, premiered on April 6. Bandai Entertainment announced at Anime Expo in July that it licensed the first K-On! television series, and Yen Press licensed the original manga.
Image © kakifly, Houbunsha/Sakuragaoka High School Light Music Club
Update: Oricon reports that the CD single for the new ending theme song ("No, Thank You!") of K-ON!! moved 28,916 copies on its first day of recorded sales this week and 26,989 more copies on the next day. The new opening theme song, "Utau yo!! Miracle," sold 28,172 copies and 26,686 copies during the same days.
Poll source: ANIME NEWSNETWORK