One Piece has essentially dominated the shonen anime landscape of the 21st century, surpassing countless other iconic franchises in the process. Meanwhile, Dragon Ball remained a significant draw for the medium, endlessly filling the coffers of Toei Animation since the first anime debuted in 1986. However, it was only a matter of time before the anime king was toppled.
Recent reports reveal the financial fall of Dragon Ball, with One Piece taking the top spot as the studio’s biggest earner. Toei Animation confirmed a significant shift in the charts, highlighting both One Piece‘s meteoric rise and Dragon Ball‘s gradual decline. That said, things might change if Dragon Ball Super returns before One Piece reaches its conclusion.
One Piece and Dragon Ball Have Always Been Toei Animation’s Top Titles
Originating in 1948, Toei Animation has since become a juggernaut anime studio. Some of its most popular franchises include Dragon Ball, One Piece, Sailor Moon, Slam Dunk, Pretty Cure, Saint Seiya, and Digimon. Interestingly, all the aforementioned titles are still relevant in 2026, with Toei’s latest financial report highlighting various shares of three major markets covered by these properties.
The report highlighted enormous earnings for Toei Animation, a total of $593 million for the fiscal year that ended in March 2026. This was spread across three categories: Domestic Licensing, Overseas Licensing, and Overseas Film. The Dragon Ball franchise, which had dominated the first two in 2025, was displaced when One Piece took all three categories in 2026. Other high-earning franchises for this year included Sailor Moon, Digimon, Pretty Cure, and Saint Seiya, although the competition was always between Dragon Ball and One Piece.
CBR Exclusive · One Piece Quiz WHICH ONE PIECE LEGEND ARE YOU? Set sail — Quiz sequence initiated ⚓ The Grand Line stretches endlessly before you. Across its treacherous waters, legends are born — forged in Devil Fruit power, unbreakable will, and the fierce loyalty of a crew that would sail into any storm. Twenty questions. One legendary result. Your adventure begins now. 🌊
🍖Luffy
⚔️Zoro
🗺️Nami
📖Robin
🍳Sanji
01
The Going Merry is ready to leave port. What’s your first move? 🚢 How you set sail says everything about who you are at sea.
02
A Marine warship is blocking your route. You: 🏴☠️ Crisis response reveals your true pirate nature.
03
You find a Devil Fruit on the table. What do you hope it is? 🍈 The fruit you crave is the power you were always meant to have.
04
What is your one, unshakeable dream? 🌟 Every great pirate sails for something deeper than treasure.
05
The Thousand Sunny docks at a new island. First stop? 🏝️ What you do first in port reveals your deepest priorities.
06
Your greatest weapon aboard the ship? ✨ Every Straw Hat has one thing that makes them irreplaceable.
07
What’s your natural role when things get tense? 🪝 The pressure moment is where your true function reveals itself.
08
Honest confession — what is actually your biggest flaw? 😬 Even the greatest pirates have one thing they’re still working on.
09
A crewmate is in serious danger. You: 💪 How you protect the people you sail with is who you truly are.
10
Halfway across the Grand Line. What keeps you going? 🌟 Not the crew’s reason. Yours. The private one.
11
You lost the fight. The crew is watching. Now what? 😳 How you rise after falling is what separates legends from passengers.
12
Your bounty poster just went up. What’s on it? 💰 The World Government describes you the way your enemies see you.
13
Free day on a peaceful island. What actually happens? 🌴 How you rest is a window into what drives you when no one’s watching.
14
What does your crew actually say about you behind your back? 📋 The people who sail with you see the version you can’t.
15
Which Haki do you feel most aligned with? 🔮 The Haki you master reflects the deepest truth of who you are.
16
What does it truly mean to you to be a pirate? 🌊 Not Garp’s definition. Not the Marines’. Yours.
17
In a hundred years, what will they say about you? 🎬 The Void Century has room for one more name. What does yours mean?
18
A Warlord of the Sea is blocking the path forward. You: 👀 Warlords don’t intimidate legends. They reveal them.
19
The crew celebrates a big victory. Your contribution? 🎉 How you celebrate says as much as how you fight.
20
You reach Laugh Tale. The One Piece is real. What do you do? 🔥 Twenty questions. One truth. No turning back now.
⚓ The Grand Line has made its judgement ⚓ YOUR ONE PIECE LEGEND
Your scores are revealed below! The character with the highest number is your One Piece counterpart. Read their profile to discover your true pirate destiny. 🌊
🍖 Luffy
⚔️ Zoro
🗺️ Nami
📖 Robin
🍳 Sanji
You don’t understand the word impossible — not because you’re naive, but because you genuinely never accepted that it applied to you. You charge into every situation with the full force of your personality, your body, and your heart, and somehow the universe rearranges itself to accommodate you. You don’t lead through command; you lead through being so completely, recklessly yourself that everyone around you becomes a better version of who they were. You eat too much, feel too loudly, and care too deeply. The world calls it recklessness. Your crew calls it home. 🍖
You have made exactly one promise and you have organised your entire existence around keeping it. Stoic to a fault, terrifying in combat, and somehow always facing the wrong direction — you are the immovable foundation that the whole crew leans against when everything else shakes. You don’t ask for recognition. You don’t need it. The work is its own reward. The sword is the path and the path is the sword. You will lose a thousand times before you reach the top, and you will get back up every single time. That is not stubbornness. That is who you are. ⚔️
You are sharper than anyone in the room and you know it — but you also know exactly when not to show it. Pragmatic, resourceful, and carrying more than you ever show on your face, you are the reason the ship reaches anywhere at all. Every route was planned by you. Every impossible weather reading, every near-catastrophe avoided — that was you. The world tried to take everything from you once, and you built something extraordinary out of the wreckage. You love the people you’ve chosen fiercely, quietly, and without much ceremony. The map isn’t finished. You’ll get there. 🗺️
You spent so long being hunted for what you know that you forgot — briefly, painfully — that you were also worth loving for who you are. You carry the weight of erased history in your memory and the quiet certainty of someone who has survived what should have been unsurvivable. Calm where others panic, perceptive where others miss everything, and in possession of a dark humour that still catches people off guard. You don’t trust easily, and when you do, it is the most complete and devastating loyalty imaginable. You want to know the truth. You deserve to live to read it. 📖
You have principles carved so deep they function like a skeleton — invisible, structural, and the thing holding everything else upright. You cook for people because food is love expressed at its most honest. You fight for the crew because protecting them is the most natural thing in the world. You are elegant, occasionally absurd, capable of extraordinary tenderness and absolutely terrifying combat in the same five-minute span. You came from darkness and chose light so deliberately and so completely that it became your defining act. The sea called and you answered. All Blue is out there. You’ll find it. 🍳
One Piece earned around $176.9 million, more than a third of Toei’s total revenue, while Dragon Ball lagged behind at $134.2 million. Despite having released zero movies since 2022’s One Piece Film: Red, the parent franchise generated upwards of $64 million in the Overseas Film section, ensuring a continued overall relevance as the anime heads into the Elbaph arc. Overseas Licensing revenue was much higher at nearly $78.5 million, a sign of One Piece‘s international popularity, whereas Domestic Licensing made a respectable $32.2 million.
One Piece’s 2026 Triumph Establishes It as an Unstoppable Force
Luffy smiles as he runs in One Piece’s Elbaf arc.Image via Toei Animation
Although Dragon Ball remains one of the most commercially influential anime franchises in history, One Piece overtaking it underscores a generational shift within the industry itself. Eiichiro Oda’s magnum opus has evolved into a worldwide multimedia phenomenon sustained by a combination of streaming power, international licensing, live-action adaptations, as well as the upcoming Netflix-Wit Studio remake titled The One Piece.
While the rivalry between these two anime giants is far from finished, especially with new shows like Daima and the potential renewal of Dragon Ball Super, One Piece seems to have hit a stride that might just keep it going. The anime recently announced a major overhaul that slows down the release schedule, allowing the manga to maintain its narrative lead throughout the Final Saga. This change also impacts various popularity-governing factors like hype, quality, and audience retention, further increasing the franchise’s ongoing dominance.
On a similar note, Netflix’s live-action adaptation topped the charts when both Seasons 1 and 2 were released, despite a two-year gap between them. Further, incremental inclusions from widespread merchandising have helped boost One Piece‘s position as Toei’s best performer.
At this stage, Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece no longer resembles a pirate adventure competing with other equally iconic properties for revenue. Instead, it has become a cultural powerhouse with remarkable staying power, even across multiple generations and media presentations. Considering the anime’s expanding worldwide footprint and the anticipation regarding the final stretch, it looks like One Piece might remain Toei Animation’s crown jewel for years to come.
