A slice of Toei revenue officially beats Dragon Ball

Toei Animation Studio is at the forefront of some of Japan's biggest anime franchises. Founded in 1948, the studio has brought to life some of the world's greatest IPs of recent times, such as Eiichiro Oda's magnum opus. a pieceof Akira Toriyama Dragon Balland of Naoko Takeuchi Sailor MoonAmong many other monumental series.

Of all the IPs that Toei has acquired, for the longest time, Dragon Ball and a piece It has been a top performer. Dragon Ball is used to top the list of biggest revenue generators in the last financial year. a piece Officially it has been lost, and by a very large margin.

One Piece has overtaken Dragon Ball as Toei's most profitable franchise in the last fiscal year

a piece is a fantasy series created by Eiichiro Oda, which began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in July 1997. Two years after the manga's debut, it went on to receive an anime adaptation by Toei Animation, one of Japan's largest studios. Meanwhile, Dragon Ball, created by the legendary Akira Toriyama in 1984, was already huge at this point. At the time of One Piece's launch, Dragon Ball was known by many as the father of shonen. Its adaptation was also handled by Toei Animation since 1986.

Over the years, these two franchises have generated revenue in the millions, their influence only growing with time. Toei holds them as their biggest IP, and they are often at the top of the charts when it comes to generating revenue for the studio. While the two series are often neck and neck, Dragon Ball Many used to be one of the tops until one piece began to grow in popularity.

For the latest fiscal year, dating from March 2026, Toei Animation's most recent report released on May 12, 2026 has officially revealed that One Piece has not only blown Dragon Ball out of the water, new figures have made clear. According to the latest revenue reports from Toei Animation, A piece earned $179.6 million a year. Meanwhile, Dragon Ball peaked at $134.2 million. The two series are far ahead of any other Toei franchise, as indicated by the fact that the third-highest performing IP, Digimon, only took in $20 million, a mere fraction of what the other two generated. This goes to show their grip on the industry as a whole.

Top in one piece domestic licenses, foreign films, and foreign licenses

Image by Toei Animation

Toei's latest financial report categorized the three main revenue streams covering the past year, specifically:

• Domestic license

• foreign film

• Foreign license

Dragon Ball and the biggest chunk of money made by both a piece It comes from a foreign license. There alone, One Piece earned 12.5 million yen, while Dragon Ball earned 11.3 million. for the a pieceWhile there is an increase compared to last year, Dragon Ball suffered a loss here. Overseas films also saw a big increase for the One Piece franchise, from 8.8 million to 10.2 million. Meanwhile, with overseas licensing, Dragon Ball again experienced losses, falling from 6.5 to 4.3 million yen.

For domestic licenses, both series actually experienced a slight drop from 6 million marks to 5 million. However, in all these categories, One Piece retains its number one spot and Dragon Ball retains the second spot. For reference, One Piece and Dragon Ball each handily trump every other series combined for Toei.

One Piece and Dragon Ball will stand as a mainstay of Toei Animation in 2026

with a piece and Dragon Ball Since Toei is the biggest money maker for animation, the studio is expected to produce high-quality content for these series with their new projects. One Piece, currently, continues with its current anime adaptation. Right now, the story is in the Elbaf arc, and for the most part, the adaptation has been great, with only pacing issues remaining. The Elbaf arc will release 13 episodes in the first half before returning later this year with a batch of 13 more episodes.

Meanwhile, Dragon Ball faced some setbacks after the death of its creator, Akira Toriyama, in 2024. The manga of the series slowed down, and so did the anime with its last project in 2024, Dragon Ball Daima. Despite that, Toei Animation recently revealed big projects for Dragon Ball that will continue in 2024. 2027.

Based on the information revealed in Dragon Ball Zenkidamatsuri In January 2026, the series is getting a Beerus remake anime this year, followed by a Resurrection F remake, and a continuation of the story, Dragon Ball: The Galactic Patrol, later down the line. Going forward, these two series will further cement themselves as mainstays for Toei Animation.

Source: Toei Animation Financial Report