‘Dragon Ball Super’ Is Still Making Some Serious Bank

Dragon Ball Super is still raking in the cash, judging by the fiscal report posted by Bandai this month.

The comeback series for the Dragon Ball franchise revived a huge yet dormant fandom, just waiting for some new content. Even better, many people who grew up on Dragon Ball are now at the perfect age to throw disposable income at their favorite show. By the looks of it, they have done just that, as Bandai Namoc Holdings Inc. reported a ton of profits in their financial results on Aug. 7.

The company broke down their earnings by IP — or intellectual property — revealing how much each series made for them. All told, Dragon Ball has already brought in 26.6 billion yen in this fiscal year, which goes until March 31 2019. That’s up from 19.7 billion yen in the first quarter of last fiscal year. In terms of U.S. dollars, that means the series earned over $240 million on its own, beating out its already stellar performance last year of just under $178 million.

At this point, Bandai projects continued success for Dragon Ball in the first half of this fiscal year. The company is hoping to reach 45.5 billion yen (over $411 million) in the first half — beating out its 43.1 billion yen (over $389 million) in the first half of last year.

However, the estimate tapers off in the second half, predicting total earnings of 80 billion yen (nearly $723 million) for the entire fiscal year, which ends on March 31. Last year, the company totalled 97.9 billion yen (almost $884.5 million) off of the series, meaning that the accountants expect the spending spree to end.

That could spell bad news for Dragon Ball Super fans, many of whom were hoping for new episodes soon rather than later. The series is currently ramping up to a massive film debut in December with Dragon Ball Super: Broly. The movie will hit theaters in Japan and then in the U.S. in January. In addition to ticket sales, it will undoubtedly spawn toys, games, trading cards and, of course, home video sales.

Yet if Bandai is projecting that the good times will end after that, it means that the show will not be coming back for some time. As we previously reported, Toei Animation has promised more episodes of Dragon Ball Super are on the way. Back in March, episode 131 was billed as the final installment, but before long the studio changed its mind.

The series creator, Akira Toriyama, has also cast doubt on the finality of the ending. In a statement on the movie’s official website, he wrote “The animated version on TV will be ending for the time being,” implying that there was more on the horizon.

While this gave hope to some fans, it does not look like it will be coming to fruition anytime soon. Bandai is hunkering down for a change of pace, relying on other series to rake in the cash while Dragon Ball’s future remains uncertain.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly hits theaters in Japan on Dec. 14. It is expected to reach the U.S. sometime in January of 2019.