One Piece officially beats Dragon Ball in Toei revenue

Toei Animation Studio has been at the forefront of some of the biggest anime series in Japan. Founded in 1948, this studio brought to life some of the current greatest IPs in the world, such as Eiichiro Oda's magnum opus One PieceAkira Toriyama's Dragon Balland Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moonamong many other monumental series.

Among all the IPs Toei has acquired for quite some time, Dragon Ball and One Piece have been its best achievements. While Dragon Ball is used to topping the charts as its biggest revenue generator, in the last fiscal year, One Piece has officially beaten it, and by quite a margin.

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

One Piece is a brilliant series created by Eiichiro Oda, which began its serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in July 1997. Two years after the manga's debut, it received 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. Around the time of One Piece's beginning, Dragon Ball continued to be known as the father of shonen by many. Its adaptation was also handled by Toei Animation since 1986.

Over the years, these two franchises have generated revenue in the millions, and their influence has only increased with time. Toei holds onto them as its biggest IPs, and they often top the charts when it comes to revenue generation for the studio. While the two series are often neck and neck, Dragon Ball used to be at the top until One Piece started growing in popularity.

For the latest fiscal year, from March 2026, the latest report from Toei Animation released on May 12, 2026 officially revealed that One Piece has not only beaten Dragon Ball, but blown it out of the water, as shown by the new numbers. According to the latest revenue reports from Toei Animation, One Piece earned $179.6 million for the year. In the meantime, Dragon Ball peaked at $134.2 million. The two series are well ahead of any other Toei franchise, as indicated by the fact that the third highest performing IP, Digimon, is only at $20 million, which is only a fraction of what the other two have generated. This shows the hold they have on the industry as a whole.

One Piece tops domestic licensing, foreign film and overseas licensing

Image by Toei Animation

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

• Domestic Licensing

• Film from abroad

• Foreign Licensing

The biggest chunk of money earned both Dragon Ball and One Piece came from foreign licenses. There alone, One Piece earned 12.5 million yen, while Dragon Ball earned 11.3 million. For One Piecethat's growth compared to last year, while Dragon Ball experienced a loss here. Films from abroad also proved to be a huge increase for the One Piece series, from 8.8 million to 10.2 million. Meanwhile, with foreign licenses, Dragon Ball experienced a loss again, falling from 6.5 to 4.3 million yen.

For domestic licensing, both series actually experienced a slight drop from around 6 million to 5 million. Regardless, in all of these categories, One Piece maintains its first place and Dragon Ball maintains its second place. For context, One Piece and Dragon Ball each on their own trump every other series combined for Toei.

One Piece and Dragon Ball will stand as the main pillars of Toei animation in 2026

With One Piece and Dragon Ball Since they are the biggest money makers for Toei Animation, the studio is expected to produce high-quality content for these series with its new projects. One Piece is currently continuing 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 another 13 episodes.

Meanwhile, Dragon Ball faced some obstacles after its creator, Akira Toriyama passed away in 2024. The manga for this series slowed down, and so has the anime, with its latest project being Dragon Ball Daima 2024. Even so, Toei Animation recently revealed major projects for the Dragon Ball series, which will span 22026 and continue beyond 22026.

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

Source: Toei Animation Financial Report