For the
past seven years, “ Dragon
Ball ” has been the most profitable anime franchise for Toei
Animation. However, the company's most recent fiscal report reveals that
“ One Piece ”
has dethroned its iconic competitor. A Twitter user recently shared Toei Animation's total
earnings from April 2023 to March 2024. According to the report, “One Piece”
grossed more than 22.2 billion yen. On the other hand, “Dragon Ball” only
earned around 19 billion yen, marking the end of the franchise's seven-year
winning streak.
Although
“Dragon Ball” continues to maintain a significant audience, this data confirms
that “One Piece” continues to expand its already enormous fan base, becoming an
even more formidable opponent for both current and future competitors. “One Piece” has also achieved
notable success with companies like Bandai Namco Entertainment, which oversees
the franchise's video game division.
According to
the company's 2024 fiscal report, “One Piece” earned more than 112.1 billion
yen in media sales, setting a new milestone of 100 billion yen for the series.
In contrast, Dragon Ball earned 140.6 billion yen, allowing it to beat “One
Piece” while losing its number one spot to “Mobile Suit Gundam,” which grossed
over 145.7 billion yen in total sales. Prior to 2024, “Dragon Ball” had
maintained a six-year winning streak as Bandai Namco Entertainment's most
lucrative franchise .
For Toei,
there is no doubt that “One Piece” has come out on top. However, some
fans feel that the report only reinforces the supremacy of "Dragon
Ball" within the anime fandom. This is mainly due to the fact that the
franchise's most recent major anime series, “Dragon Ball Super,” concluded in
2018, while the “One Piece” anime continues to release new episodes weekly .
Despite
this, “Dragon Ball” only lost by a margin of 3 billion yen, a fact that many
fans pointed out in the comments section. “ For One Piece to compete
against a series that is completely dormant and only make a difference of 3
billion yen when it has everything going for it… once again this is more
impressive for Dragon Ball ,” wrote one user.
It's notable
that there is some controversy within the Toei Animation community regarding
how the company treats its two titans. Some fans have argued that Toei
invests the majority of its international marketing efforts in "One
Piece" while devoting a comparatively scant amount of advertising to
"Dragon Ball," particularly in the West. Online fans have
pointed this out in regards to Toei's upcoming anime series “Dragon Ball
Daima,” which has only received a few promotional videos to keep the community
guessing until its premiere in Fall-2024 (October-December). .
Source: Schaewn Frost andTwitter
