Toei Animation released its latest quarterly results, and from what we can tell, the Dragon Ball franchise continues to bring in the dough. The franchise is quite popular in Japan, however, the same cant be said for overseas markets.
According to a domestic report, Dragon Ball earned Toei Animation around 2.5 billion yen, while in second place, One Piece was able to deliver a respective 1 billion yen. Pretty Cure and Saint Seiya came in at third and fourth place respectively, each earning less than 1 billion yen.
Looking at the overseas market, One Piece is more popular than Dragon Ball in this regard. You see, Luffy and the Straw Hat Crew earned over $800 million, while Goku and the rest of the Z Fighters only brought in over $500 million.
Many fans are quite surprised at the popularity of Dragon Ball and how it was able to earn so much money despite having less content available for viewers. One Piece anime is airing right now, so one can understand why it's on top for the moment overseas.
Things might change in 2020 should TOEI Animation releases a new season of Dragon Ball Super for the fans.