A new report for Bandai Namco's fiscal year 2024 (April 1, 2023-March 23, 2024) shows that One Piece is steadily catching up to Dragon Ball in terms of profitability as an IP.
According to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by user Ethan Law, Mobile Suit Gundam reigns supreme as the most profitable Bandai Namco IP over this fiscal period, with Dragon Ball hovering around second place and One Piece close behind in third. These three properties have been quite the cash cow for Bandai Namco in recent times.
Law stated below the post that Dragon Ball's profitability may have stagnated since the hugely successful 2018 film Dragon Ball Super: Broly, which 2022's Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero did not manage to replicate. "It’s interesting how DB has been pretty flat post-Broly, while other IP grow. Make no mistake, DB is making a metric shit ton of money, but the huge gap between Broly and SH followed by SH not really exciting fans in the same way has harmed momentum," Law said. "It will be interesting to see if Daima can bring momentum back, or if the controversy over turning the cast int[o] kids and it not being Super 2 will result in it having the same effect as SH."
Meanwhile, One Piece has seemingly been on a roll over the past few years, with 2022's One Piece Film: Red grossing around $246 million worldwide, placing it as the sixth highest-grossing anime film of all time. In addition, the recently released Netflix live-action adaptation of One Piece was both a major critical and commercial success that was praised for breaking the live-action anime 'curse.' While this momentum isn't big enough to overtake Dragon Ball and especially not Mobile Suit Gundam in the fiscal rankings, it helps explain why the series has narrowed the gap over time.
Dragon Ball fans shouldn't get too discouraged, as the newly announced Dragon Ball Daima series will provide brand-new canon content. However, audiences will have to wait until November 2024 in order to experience this 26-episode interquel set between the end of Dragon Ball Z and the start of Dragon Ball Super.
Source: X (formerly Twitter)
