He paused, his sharp gaze dissecting the current situation.
"More importantly, right now, Pokémon is only a project. The anime and the electronic pet haven't even launched yet, and the IP's true value hasn't shown itself."
"What we have in hand now lacks enough weight for us to demand overly harsh terms."
"For example, using only our Sega brand."
Mr. Suzuki took a deep breath. Takuya's words had jolted him awake, cooling him down from his earlier excitement and making him recognize the challenges of reality.
Watching Mr. Suzuki's grave expression, Takuya continued, "So our bottom line is to reach a co-branding partnership."
"Let plush toys printed with the 'Pokemon x San-X' logo smoothly enter their sales channels. That is the most important thing. As for whether we can fight for them to carry only our own Sega logo, that would naturally be a huge victory, but it will be very difficult. There's no need to force it. Prioritize securing the partnership."
Mr. Suzuki silently noted down that core objective.
Then Takuya changed the subject and threw out a fallback move that somewhat surprised Mr. Suzuki.
"And besides, San-X isn't our only option."
"Remember, we still have cards to play."
He looked at Mr. Suzuki, a trace of slyness flashing through his eyes.
"Go investigate the situation over at Mattel."
"Although Barbie is still strong, she has also faced fierce competition from the Disney Princess line over the past few years, and a fair bit of market share has been eaten away."
"They likewise urgently need a powerful new IP with potential to consolidate the market, even to fight back against Disney's impact."
"Get a clear understanding of their needs and intentions. This may become an important bargaining chip when we negotiate with San-X."
"If it really doesn't work out,