Toei Animation Studio is at the forefront of Japan's largest animation franchises. Founded in 1948, the studio has brought to life some of the biggest IPs in the world today, such as Eiichiro Oda's masterpieces. one pieceAkira Toriyama dragon ballNaoko Takeuchi Sailor MoonAmong many other monumental series.
Among the IPs Toei has acquired for quite some time, dragon ball and one piece We achieved the best results. Dragon Ball topped the list as the biggest revenue generator, but last fiscal year one piece We officially won it, and we won by a pretty big margin.
One Piece surpassed Dragon Ball to become Toei's most profitable franchise in its most recent fiscal year.
one piece is an excellent series by Eiichiro Oda that began serialization in Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump in July 1997. Two years after its manga debut, it received an anime adaptation from Toei Animation, one of Japan's largest studios. Meanwhile, Dragon Ball, created in 1984 by the legendary Akira Toriyama, was already huge at this point. By the time One Piece began, Dragon Ball was known to many as the boy's father. Since 1986, Toei Animation has also been in charge of adaptations.
Over the years, these two franchises have generated millions of dollars in revenue and have grown in influence over time. Toei has this as their biggest IP and is often at the top of the charts when it comes to revenue generation for the studio. While the two series are often neck and neck; dragon ball It was at the top until One Piece became popular.
Toei Animation's most recent report, released on May 12, 2026, officially stated that One Piece not only beat Dragon Ball, but blew it out of the water, as new figures show for its latest fiscal year starting March 2026. According to Toei Animation's latest earnings report: One Piece earned $179.6 million this year.. meantime, Dragon Ball's highest price is $134.2 million. Both series are well ahead of other Toei franchises, as evidenced by the fact that Digimon, the third highest performing IP, costs just $20 million. This is only a fraction of what the other two series have created. This shows the influence they have on the industry as a whole.
One Piece, Untouchable surpasses all comic books by selling over 600 million copies
One Piece sold over 600 million copies, setting a new record, even surpassing Superman.
One Piece ranks first in domestic licensing, international film, and international licensing categories
Toei's latest accounting report covering the past year specifically breaks down its three main revenue sources:
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domestic license
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foreign movies
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overseas license
Dragon Ball and the biggest chunk of money the two companies made one piece It came from an overseas license. There alone, One Piece earned 12.5 million yen and Dragon Ball earned 11.3 million yen. for one pieceWhile there is growth compared to last year, Dragon Ball has suffered losses here. Foreign movies also showed a significant increase from 8.8 million to 10.2 million in the case of the One Piece franchise. Meanwhile, due to overseas licensing, Dragon Ball suffered another loss from 6.5 million yen to 4.3 million yen.
For domestic licenses, both series actually saw a slight decrease from around 6 million units to 5 million units. Either way, in all of these categories, One Piece maintains its #1 spot and Dragon Ball maintains #2. For context, One Piece and Dragon Ball each single-handedly surpass all of Toei's other series.
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One Piece and Dragon Ball will be the mainstay of Toei Animation in 2026
with one piece and dragon ball Toei Animation's biggest revenue-generating studio is expected to produce high-quality content for the series through new projects. One Piece is currently continuing its anime adaptation. The current story is on Elbaf's side, and the adaptation was so good that for the most part there were only pacing issues. After releasing 13 episodes in the first half of the year, Elbaf Arc is scheduled to release 13 more episodes later this year.
Meanwhile, Dragon Ball faced several obstacles following the death of creator Akira Toriyama in 2024. The series' manga production has slowed down and the anime has also moved forward, with 2024's Dragon Ball Daima being the latest project. Nonetheless, Toei Animation recently revealed a major project for the Dragon Ball franchise that will span 2026 and continue until 2027.
Based on information disclosed in Dragon Ball Genkida Matsuri In January 2026, the series will feature a Beerus remake anime this year, followed by a Resurrection F remake and a continuation of the story called Dragon Ball: The Galactic Patrol later on. In the future, these two series will further solidify themselves as major pillars of Toei Animation.
Source: Toei Animation Financial Report
