Toei Animation Fiscal Report Details Dragon Ball's Slide and One Piece's Rise
Toei Animation's Q3 report breaks down which anime series are thriving in 2024.
When it comes to anime, Toei Animation is one of the industry's top names. The studio oversees some of the biggest IPs out there from Sailor Moon to One Piece. Now, the company has released its latest fiscal report for 2024, and it shows a few top titles didn't quite hit their year-over-year goals.
The update comes amid the end of the fiscal year's third quarter. The team at Toei Animation posted its financial results for the quarter, and as usual, licensing was broken down into three categories. From domestic licensing to global releases, Toei Animation accounted its total Q3 sales, and One Piece is doing very well domestically.
In light of the series' renaissance last year, One Piece earned 5.2 billion yen in Q3 compared to last year's haul of 4.8 billion. In second place, Dragon Ball was down year-over-year at 3.8 billion yen while Pretty Cure and Sailor Moon rounded out the top four picks.
When it comes to overseas licensing, Dragon Ball managed to stay atop the list though sales were down year-over-year in Q3. This year, the franchise earned about 7.4 billion yen while it earned 8.1 billion last year. One Piece took a major bump up in second place as it went from 3.8 billion yen in 2023 to 5.0 billion yen in 2024. Digimon took third place on the list this year while Slam Dunk rounded out the top four.
And as for overseas film licensing, One Piece came in first place with a solid 6.5 billion yen earned. Dragon Ball barely scraped second place with 2.5 billion yen as Slam Dunk took a massive leap for third place. Thanks to the movie's impressive movie comeback, Slam Dunk grossed 2.0 billion yen in Q3 compared to 984 million yen last year. As for fourth place, Digimon took the spot after Pretty Cure held the mantle in 2023.
Looking at these results, it is clear that Dragon Ball is still performing very well overseas, but its totals are down year over year. One Piece has undergone an earnings boost across the board thanks to its recent publicity. And thanks to some niche comebacks, Digimon and Slam Dunk are bringing in some serious cash. So as Toei Animation moves through Q4, fans will want to keep an eye on which of its IPs are performing the best.
What do you think about this latest Toei Animation update? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!