One Piece or Dragon Ball? Toei Animation’s 2025 Profit King Takes the Crown
Toei Animation’s greatest rivalry is tilting: signs point to One Piece sailing past Dragon Ball, reshaping the pecking order of Japan’s most powerful anime exports.
One Piece just did the thing everyone assumes Dragon Ball always does: it topped Toei Animation’s money charts. And no, you’re not misreading that.
One Piece slides past Dragon Ball in Toei’s latest report
Toei Animation’s Q2 fiscal update, released this week, covers April through September 2025. In that window, Dragon Ball pulled in 12.3 billion yen. Solid. One Piece did 13.3 billion yen. Better. If you saw chatter saying One Piece only squeaked by with a million-yen edge, the math here says it’s actually a full 1.0 billion yen gap.
How the categories shook out
Toei breaks its revenue into buckets like Overseas Film, Domestic Licensing, and Overseas Licensing. Dragon Ball still led in two of those sections, but One Piece’s advantage in Overseas Film pushed its overall total higher. The short version: Dragon Ball didn’t fall off a cliff; One Piece just outpaced it where it mattered.
Why One Piece pulled ahead
- Steady global money, not a one-shot spike: One Piece grew through multiple revenue streams, with a noticeable lift in overseas licensing, especially in North America and Europe.
- Anime momentum that actually paid off: The show came back from a six-month hiatus right as the final saga heated up with the Egghead Island arc. Those episodes dove into long-teased revelations, and fans showed up.
- Category win that counts: Leading the Overseas Film slice of the report helped One Piece overcome Dragon Ball’s strength in other sections.
- Dragon Ball’s timing didn’t help: Dragon Ball DAIMA ran October 2024 through February 2025, which means its TV run missed this Q2 accounting window entirely. With no major new content hitting during April–September, overall growth slowed.
So is Dragon Ball in trouble?
Not really. Historically, Dragon Ball dominates Toei’s earnings thanks to a gigantic global fanbase, evergreen merch, and video games that print money. 2025 just wasn’t its flashiest stretch. Meanwhile, One Piece had both momentum on screen and fresh licensing muscle. Call it a rough patch for Goku and co., not a crisis.
The bigger picture
These two have been Toei’s twin pillars forever, shaping the studio’s global footprint. Dragon Ball is the brand everyone knows; One Piece is the juggernaut that just keeps climbing. This quarter, the crown shifts. Next quarter, we see if Dragon Ball snatches it back.
By the numbers (because I know you want them)
Q2 earnings: Dragon Ball at 12.3 billion yen vs. One Piece at 13.3 billion yen. On the scorecard side, Dragon Ball sits around an 8.5 on IMDb and 7.98 on MyAnimeList; One Piece hovers near a 9.0 on IMDb and 8.73 on MAL. Different vibes, different strengths, both clearly working.
Both series are streaming on Crunchyroll, so if you want to see what fueled the One Piece surge or why Dragon Ball’s still the perennial contender, it’s all right there.