https://finance.logmi.jp/378499I decided to try my hand at a better tl;dr of the article (Q1 Financials of Anycolor).
Their initial explanations -
> Luxiem 6 month anniversary had inflated the numbers last year. Obviously you can't celebrate 1.5 year anniversaries, so the numbers are down this year.> No mention of other NijiEN groups, they are likely irrelevant - financially speaking.> They are seeing fans of "Nijisanji EN" in Japan moving towards Nijisanji, they use this as an explanation for why NijiEN is on a downward trend.> Stockholders are obviously suspicious of number manipulation in this instance, and do question them about it in the Q&A> They promise to work towards expanding NijiEN's overseas fanbase... by debuting more VTubers..> They mentioned there were 3 new debuts and 1 graduation in the first quarter, resulting in a NET INCREASE of 2 people (lmao)> They also mentioned Anycolor ID, mentioning that there were 2 graduations and no debuts so their number of VTubers is down.> They also have some cope about "steady influx of new fans" for Anycolor ID, saying some bullshit like "we have over 1M accounts at the end of the current quarter" (Very likely they're counting the new subs from the graduations as "new fans").The Q&A is interesting, as I mentioned they seem suspicious about financial manipulation and asked some pointed questions.
Anycolor CFO is picking the questions and asking, while Riku is answering (note that this is a HEAVILY abridged version, there's a lot of corpo fluff talk in between the main points) -
> Q: Current rate of growth should have led to an upward revision, so why did you not revise the projections?Riku: We revised it twice last year, so we're being more conservative about it this year.
> Q. You say that NijiEN fans are switching to にじさんじ, why do you think language barrier is not a problem for them when watching NijiEN?Riku: Both branches put out a lot of music content, which can be enjoyed regardless of language. But from our longer-term perspective, NijiEN does need to focus on expanding it's overseas fanbase.
> Q. Salome got a new outfit, will this have any impact on your KPIs?Riku: No direct impact, but it helps with fan engagement and mindshare.
> Q. Will Koshien goods sales be reflected in 2nd quarter?Riku: Some of the merch shipped in August or later, and those will be recorded for Q2.
> Q. Please tell us how NijiEN is progressing compared to the initial plan.Riku: We don't have any difference in plans between にじさんじ and NijiEN internally, but compared to the initial forecast and with the Q1 results, NijiEN are making positive progress.
> Q. Commerce for NijiEN appears to be struggling, so will にじさんじ continue to be the main growth driver over NijiEN in the future?Riku: Anime market is 50/50 in terms of domestic and foreign consumption, so we can aim for a similar ratio in VTuber market as well. In the long-term, we aim for NijiEN to grow to the same level as にじさんじ.
> Q. While domestic commerce was strong, did you purposely suppress NijiEN's commerce numbers?Riku: This applies not only to NijiEN but also to にじさんじ, but we have not done anything in Q1 to deviate from the actual situation.
> Q. With regard to NijiEN, merch purchases from Japan have decreased, but have commerce sales from overseas increased YoY?A. Although specific figures are not disclosed, purchases of goods by overseas fans increased compared to the same period last year.
And now for the most important one : The numbers as they see internally -
> Q. You say that Japanese fans of NijiEN have moved to にじさんじ. Does this mean that the disposition of the fans has moved from buying commercial goods aimed at NijiEN towards domestic commerce?Riku : That is indeed what the numbers tell us.
NijiEN was developed as a means of starting a new VTuber Group. We wanted to create content that could [approach] both the fans of the already well-developed にじさんじ, as well as a new fan base. As a result of this success, we were able to launch NijiEN (yes he actuall words it in that confusing-ass way).
NijiEN has both domestic fans and overseas fans. Among them, there are many domestic fans who have never seen "にじさんじ" before and who came to know about "にじさんじ" from NijiEN.
I believe that a trend is occurring where such people are thinking "Let's take a look at the domestic version as well" and becoming interested in "にじさんじ" as a result.
Since にじさんじ and NijiEN are two groups that operate side by side, we believe that depending on the timing, fan interest can circulate in both directions.
In the area of commerce, we are aware that domestic fans of NijiEN are also interested in にじさんじ and are making purchases.
> END <They're trying to mask the recline of NijiEN by phrasing it as simply a change in interest of the fans towards one of their own products (currently inflated by Koshien).
It also shows that Riku is more interested in deflecting the reality shown by the numbers rather than addressing the problem.