For the past seven years, “Dragon Ball” has been Toei Animation’s most profitable anime franchise. However, the company’s latest 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 over 22.2 billion yen. On the other hand, "Dragon Ball" only grossed around 19 billion yen, marking the end of the franchise's seven-year winning streak.

While “Dragon Ball” continues to maintain a significant audience, this data confirms that “One Piece” continues to expand its already massive fan base, becoming an even more formidable opponent for current and future competitors. “One Piece” has also found notable success with companies like Bandai Namco Entertainment, which oversees the franchise’s video game division.

According to the company's fiscal 2024 report, "One Piece" grossed over 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" and lose the top spot to "Mobile Suit Gundam," which grossed over 145.7 billion yen in total sales. Prior to 2024, “Dragon Ball” maintained a six-year winning streak as Bandai Namco Entertainment’s most profitable franchise..

For Toei, there is no doubt that “One Piece” emerged victorious. 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 3 billion yen difference when it has everything going for it… again this is more impressive for Dragon Ball”, wrote one user.

It's notable that there is some controversy within the Toei Animation community over how the company treats its two titans. Some fans have argued that Toei invests most of its international marketing efforts in “One Piece,” while devoting a comparatively scant amount of advertising to “Dragon Ball,” especially in the West. Fans online have pointed this out in relation to Toei's upcoming anime series "Dragon Ball Daima," which has only received a few promotional videos to keep the community guessing until its fall 2024 (October-December) premiere.

Source: Schaewn Frost on Twitter