“Dragon Ball is the best anime of all time” is not the statement of a fan who is unwilling to acknowledge other works.
This is reflected in the regular numbers released by Toei Animation, which show that Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball consistently brings in the best profits with year-end financial reports in Japan.
Anime production company Toei Animation has updated its figures for the ongoing fiscal year, and Dragon Ball now appears in first place. While One Piece was Toei's highest-grossing anime in its previous financial report, which ran from April 2023 to March 2024, Akira Toriyama's creation took the lead in the first quarter of this year.
The war between Dragon Ball and One Piece
Dragon Ball recorded a profit of 5.67 billion yen, or about $39 million. While One Piece came in second, making a profit of 5.54 billion yen, or about $38 million.
The war between Dragon Ball and One Piece is very healthy because we are talking about the profits of the same company, Toei Animation.
Dragon Ball stands out because despite not having an anime for six years, since the Tournament of Power story in 2018, it still continues to be the top grossing anime for Toei. Audiences can only enjoy Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero as the two most recent anime movies.
Meanwhile, the One Piece anime is still entering its Final Saga, and there's a very well-made live-action series produced by Netflix.
