Dragon Ball and One Piece Fuel New Box Office Record for Toei Animation

January 18, 2023, 10:26am

It seems like 2022 ended up being a very good year for anime indeed. There is no overlooking the number of hit series that debuted last year, and of course, anime did its own thing on the big screen. In fact, a number of major movies went live in 2022, and a few of them help Toei Animation break its biggest box office record to date.

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The whole thing came to light courtesy of Deadline once Toei Animation finalized its 2022 box office numbers. It was there fans learned the production house broke its previous box office revenue record, and we have 2022 hits like Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and One Piece: Red to thank.

According to the data, Toei brought in 32.56 billion yen in 2022, or about $250 million USD. This total eclipses the company’s previous record of 17.9 billion yen or $136 million USD. Toei also shared its staggering number of ticket sales from 2022 as more than 23 million were sold. This number proves fans in Japan have returned to theaters in full force as no other market globally has bounced back this quickly following the pandemic.

Looking at Toei’s data, you can see that One Piece: Red pushed the company to all-new heights with its sales. The movie earned $144 million USD in Japan alone before scoring almost $40 million internationally. The First Slam Dunk has also grossed an impressive total of nearly $57 million to date. And of course, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero raked in $95 million globally upon its debut in June 2022.

Clearly, Toei is bringing in plenty of cash right now, and the question now is whether the company can repeat these figures in 2023. This will be a hard feat as the company’s release slate is not nearly as stacked this year. But of course, the anime industry will pander to the big screen in some ways thanks to upcoming releases like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba season three and Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King.

Did you check out any of Toei’s films in 2022? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.