Okay, I have been trying this for awhile now, trying to discern ways if we could calculate the full extent of a series’ performance (via copyright sales) particularly that of IG Port’s since sales performances for some of its series are disclosed on an annual basis. IG Port has so far not revealed sales from the production of a specific show (through its Video Production Business) in its reports, however, has consistently done so for those under its Copyright Business. Please refer to my past posts about the group right here and here. The group currently operates four main businesses: Video Production, Publishing, Copyright and Others. As for its Copyright Business, the group describes it as follows (page 7 of its annual securities report):
The group, with the purpose of producing animation works along with Video Production Business, invest through a production committee etc, derive sales domestically or internationally via the secondary use of rights through its content property. Furthermore, the returns earned will be distributed according to the investment ratio. In addition, the group earns royalties from the planning and production of works in-house as well as original works.
As it turns out, IG Port does reveal some of its ownership over some of its titles in its reports, but not for all. And by using the percentage it noted in its report, it is possible to a certain extent that we will be able to calculate the near or complete sales performance of a series through its Copyright Business.
Methodology
Before we move on, there are a couple of things to note of and that would be the Royalties and Others income it generated through its Copyright Business. It took me some time to figure out how to interpret the data as in are they included in the percentage disclosed by IG Port in their presentation materials? And would that also correspond to the percentage it invests or owns in a project? It is quite hard to say since this would require confirmation from IG Port’s side. The number of sales it generated from the two aforementioned segments were quite small, particularly for FY2022 as they only contributed to 6.52% and 1.83% of the total sales each. That said, I decided to for now strongly assume that the sales we see the group disclosed for FY2019 to FY2022 correspond to the percentage of investment or ownership as stated and note that the actual total sales made is counted as an estimated value (just to be safe) that is close to the actual amount the series made or may even be the complete amount the series made via its copyright sales only (not including video production, publication etc.).
Now that is said, the following is the calculation deployed to calculate the Total Sales made by a series from FY2019 to FY2022:
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Fiscal Year 2019
As for the Fiscal Year 2019, the group saw its highest ownership through the production committee of Mahoutsukai no Yome series at 58.3%, followed by Cyborg 009: Call of Justice at 50%. Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu was at 35% whereas Soukyuu no Fafner: The Beyond was at 30%. Both Amanchu! Advance and Koutetsujou no Kabaneri: Unato Kessen were at 20% each.
The sales performances for Amanchu! Advance, Soukyuu no Fafner: The Beyond and Koutetsujou no Kabaneri: Unato Kessen were not disclosed for the fiscal year and was included in the Others section which amounted to 392 million yen (≈2.8 million USD) worth of sales at the time. For the fiscal year, only sales of Cyborg 009: Call of Justice, Mahoutsukai no Yome and Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu were known. IG Port derived 29 million yen (≈208 thousand USD) from the Cyborg 009: Call of Justice series, 203 million yen (≈1.46 million USD) from the Mahoutsukai no Yome series and 102 million yen (≈735.31 thousand USD) from the Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu series. If we calculate the remaining percentage and include them in, Mahoutsukai no Yome’s full copyright sales performance stood at 348 million yen (≈2.51 million USD), Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu at 291 million yen (≈2.10 million USD) whereas Cyborg 009: Call of Justice was at 58 million yen (≈418 thousand USD).
Cyborg 009: Call of Justice
Investment Ratio (%): 50%
IG Port Sales via Copyright: 29 million yen
Estimated Total Series Copyright Sales: 58 million yen
Mahoutsukai no Yome
Investment Ratio (%): 58.3%
IG Port Sales via Copyright: 203 million yen
Estimated Total Series Copyright Sales: 348 million yen
Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu
Investment Ratio (%): 35%
IG Port Sales via Copyright: 102 million yen
Estimated Total Series Copyright Sales: 291 million yen
Fiscal Year 2020
As for FY2020, the top series with the highest ownership percentage remained mostly unchanged. However, the group disclosed two additional series which are Vinland Saga and Koukaku Kidoutai: SAC_2045 at 26.7% and 40% respectively. Note that Koukaku Kidoutai: SAC_2045 was aired in April 2020 whereas Vinland Saga was aired between July and December 2019.
The only known sales for this particular fiscal year through IG Port alone would be Cyborg 009: Call of Justice whose sales went up to 52 million yen (≈374.80 thousand USD), then Mahoutsukai no Yome noted less sales from the prior fiscal year to 105 million yen (≈756.81 thousand USD). Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu increased by 71.57% to 175 million yen (≈1.26 million USD). Vinland Saga on the other hand was at 52 million yen (≈374.80 thousand). As a result, its full copyright sales for the series mentioned above would be 500 million yen (≈3.60 million USD) for Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu, the highest among the four, Vinland Saga edged Mahoutsukai no Yome to see 194 million yen (≈1.40 million USD) worth of sales made while the latter was at 180 million yen (≈1.30 million USD). Cyborg 009: Call of Justice was at 104 million yen (≈749.60 thousand).
Cyborg 009: Call of Justice
Investment Ratio (%): 50%
IG Port Sales via Copyright: 52 million yen
Estimated Total Series Copyright Sales: 104 million yen
Mahoutsukai no Yome
Investment Ratio (%): 58.3%
IG Port Sales via Copyright: 105 million yen
Estimated Total Series Copyright Sales: 180 million yen
Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu
Investment Ratio (%): 35%
IG Port Sales via Copyright: 175 million yen
Estimated Total Series Copyright Sales: 500 million yen
Vinland Saga
Investment Ratio (%): 26.7%
IG Port Sales via Copyright: 52 million yen
Estimated Total Series Copyright Sales: 194 million yen
Fiscal Year 2021
As for FY2021, Cyborg 009: Call of Justice, Vinland Saga and Soukyuu no Fafner: The Beyond remained unchanged over the previous fiscal year, but the group disclosed two new series and omitted a few more from the prior fiscal year. Great Pretender makes its presence known here at 55.5% of ownership while Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song was at 13.3%. Note that Great Pretender aired between July and December 2020 while Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song was between April and June 2021.
The only known sales among the six titles here are Great Pretender at 348 million yen (≈2.51 million USD) whereas Soukyuu no Fafner: Dead Aggressor – The Beyond and Vinland Saga were at 39 million yen (≈281.31 thousand USD) and 154 million yen (≈1.11 million USD) each with the latter noting a 196.15% jump over the prior fiscal year. At a full 100% percentage, Great Pretender was at a massive 627 million yen (≈4.52 million USD), Vinland Saga at 577 million yen (≈4.16 million USD) and Soukyuu no Fafner: Dead Aggressor – The Beyond at 130 million yen (≈937.68 thousand USD).
Vinland Saga
Investment Ratio (%): 26.7%
IG Port Sales via Copyright: 154 million yen
Estimated Total Series Copyright Sales: 577 million yen
Soukyuu no Fafner: Dead Aggressor – The Beyond
Investment Ratio (%): 30%
IG Port Sales via Copyright: 39 million yen
Estimated Total Series Copyright Sales: 130 million yen
Great Pretender
Investment Ratio (%): 55.5%
IG Port Sales via Copyright: 348 million yen
Estimated Total Series Copyright Sales: 627 million yen
Fiscal Year 2022
Finally, for the latest fiscal year, Great Pretender and Soukyuu no Fafner: The Beyond remained the same as the fiscal year before, though this time, we see the inclusion of Mahoutsukai no Yome OAD at 50%, Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu makes a return at 35.7%, up from the 35% it had in FY2019 and FY2020. Then, Bubble at 30%. IG Port bumped up its ownership of Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song from 13.3% in FY2021 to 20% in FY2022. Note that the Mahoutsukai no Yome OAD is titled “Nishi no Shounen to Seiran no Kishi” or “The Boy from the West and the Knight of the Blue Storm” in English. The OAD will see a total of three episodes with the first released on September 10, 2021 and is expected to see its final episode this year on September the 10th as well. Bubble, on the other hand, was released in April 2022 in a film format.
The known sales via IG Port alone are Great Pretender, down by 62.07% to 132 million yen (≈953.19 thousand USD) and Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song at 79 million yen (≈570.53 thousand USD). At full percentage the two titles’ copyright sales would be 240 million yen (≈1.73 million USD) and 395 million yen (≈2.85 million USD) respectively.
Great Pretender
Investment Ratio (%): 55.5%
IG Port Sales via Copyright: 132 million yen
Estimated Total Series Copyright Sales: 240 million yen
Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song
Investment Ratio (%): 20%
IG Port Sales via Copyright: 79 million yen
Estimated Total Series Copyright Sales: 395 million yen
Mahoutsukai no Yome’s Stellar Success
One title that should not be overlooked here would be Mahoutsukai no Yome which has been going strong since it was adapted in October 2017. The reason why I started out the post from FY2019 is due to the fact that IG Port did not disclose the percentage of sales for titles other than Mahoutsukai no Yome in FY2018 and the prior fiscal years to that. In FY2018, the series earned 205 million yen (≈1.48 million USD) in sales for IG Port. The broadcast of the Anime, which was aired between October 2017 and March 2018, proved to be a great success having account to around 40% of IG Port’s total copyright sales for the fiscal year and has boosted demand for its Manga which went on to sell 96 million yen (≈692.73 thousand USD) worth of copies the same fiscal year. With 58.3% of ownership, at full percentage, the series would have earned 351.63 million yen (≈2.54 million USD), and including its publications, that would be 447.63 million yen (≈3.23 million USD). The series has also consistently been at the top of IG Port’s best performing copyright titles with sales data available through the segment from FY2018 until FY2022. It has so far earned 650 million yen (≈4.69 million USD) in copyright sales alone for IG Port.
Unfortunately, after the broadcast of its Anime, sales have slowed down quite a bit y-o-y but is starting to pick up once again in FY2022 with the release of its OAD. Seeing how the series has been a great success for IG Port, the potential for a sequel is there. As for now, only time will tell.
IG Port, Inc. is incorporated in Japan with its head office in Musashino-shi. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under ticket symbol: 3791.
Note: All currency conversion were done at the time of writing.
Sources:
Presentation Material FY2018
Securities Report FY2018
Presentation Material FY2019
Securities Report FY2019
Presentation Material FY2020
Securities Report FY2020
Presentation Material FY2021
Securities Report FY2021
Presentation Material FY2022
Securities Report FY2022
Notice of Convocation of Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (Ending May 2022)
Visualisations:
IG Port Major Titles’ Copyright Sales Performance as of FY2022
IG Port’s Copyright Sales of Titles Estimated Total Sales for Series (FY2019)
IG Port’s Copyright Sales of Titles Estimated Total Sales for Series (FY2020)
IG Port’s Copyright Sales of Titles Estimated Total Sales for Series (FY2021)
IG Port’s Copyright Sales of Titles Estimated Total Sales for Series (FY2022)
IG Port’s Production Committee Involvement (Ownership %) for the Fiscal Year 2019
IG Port’s Production Committee Involvement (Ownership %) for the Fiscal Year 2020
IG Port’s Production Committee Involvement (Ownership %) for the Fiscal Year 2021
IG Port’s Production Committee Involvement (Ownership %) for the Fiscal Year 2022
Mahoutsukai no Yome Performance over the Years in Million Yen
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