There is no denying that anime is bigger these days than ever, and its global scale continues to grow. The industry’s top brands are bringing in money hand over foot at times, and those overseeing top IPs are even more lucrative. This goes for Bandai Namco given its connection to Dragon Ball, but according to a new fiscal report, it seems Goku’s gang just fell to Gundam in a surprising defeat.
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The update comes from the company itself as the brand released its Q1 results for the 2023 financial year. It was there fans were informed of Bandai’s return on overall IPs and merchandise IPs. As it turned out, Mobile Suit Gundam came in first place this quarter even though Dragon Ball did earn more in Q1 compared to its results last year.
According to the data, Gundam earned 29 billion yen in Q1 while Dragon Ball did about 27.5 billion yen. If the forecasts are right, then the first half of Q1 will go to Gundam as it is expected to earn 60.5 billion yen in the first half of this fiscal year. Dragon Ball will follow suit at over 59 billion, and if all goes as planned, the shonen series will end the 2023 fiscal year on top with 133.5 billion yen projected.
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Clearly, Gundam is giving Dragon Ball a run for its money. The IPs overall are neck in neck, and when it comes to hobby sales, Gundam is projected to take a clear lead. Not only did it beat Dragon Ball in sales this quarter at 14.8 billion yen versus 5.6 billion yen. But by the end of this fiscal year, Gundam is projected to bring Bandai over 50 billion yen in hobby sales while Kamen Rider comes second before Dragon Ball.
Of course, these projections can change over the year, and Dragon Ball Super does have new content coming for it. The anime’s new film is set to launch stateside this month before heading to global theaters. Of course, the same can be said for the Gundam IP. The series will welcome The Witch from Mercury this October, so mecha fans won’t want to miss the premiere.
What do you think about this latest report from Bandai? Are you surprised it took this long for Dragon Ball to fall before the mecha IP? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.
