ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter "ITOCHU") announced today that it has acquired the global master license rights for Perfect Piggy, a character emerged on social media—including for Japan, through its wholly-owned subsidiary iRightsport Inc.^*1 (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Hikaru Inadome, Representative Director and President; hereinafter "iRightsport"), which serves as the core of ITOCHU's IP content business. Based on this acquisition, ITOCHU will begin developing consumer products and expanding content in collaboration with local partners, tailored to consumer needs and local business practices, with a focus on Japan, Greater China, Southeast Asia, South Korea, and North America.

The global anime and character market continues to experience significant growth and is projected to reach approximately 77.3 billion dollars by 2033 (with a compound annual growth rate of 9.2% from 2026 to 2033)^*2. In recent years, numerous characters have emerged from social media platforms and rapidly gained widespread popularity, particularly among Generation Z. As this trend accelerates globally, the importance of developing regionally tailored products and content strategies to nurture IP and enhance long-term brand value continues to increase.

Perfect Piggy is a vertical short-form animated series that depicts the relatable daily lives of the protagonist, Piggy, and her friends, who "always want to be perfectly cute in front of the people they love."
With its humorous take on romance, relationships, and everyday moments, the series has cultivated a strong following, primarily among Gen Z women. To date, it has amassed over 420,000 social media followers and more than 900 million total video views, gaining traction not only in Japan but also across Asia and North America via platforms such as TikTok.

Through iRightsport, ITOCHU has collaborated with Rights & Brands Asia Ltd. (headquartered in Hong Kong)^*3 and Octas LLC (headquartered in the United States)^*4—both of which operate licensing businesses—to expand the foundation of its anime and character licensing business, focusing on Greater China, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and North America.
Going forward, ITOCHU will leverage the licensing management capabilities, sales networks, and marketing expertise of these partners, along with the broader ITOCHU Group’s network, to accelerate the global commercialization and content development of Perfect Piggy, including within Japan.

Under its management policy, "The Brand-new Deal – Profit opportunities are shifting downstream," ITOCHU is committed to creating new products and services that address the evolving needs of consumers in the retail and consumer goods sector. Through this acquisition, ITOCHU aims to further strengthen its expertise in the licensing business and drive the global expansion of anime and character IPs.