One Piece Became Toei’s Most-Earning IP in FY2026
One Piece Revenue Tops Dragon Ball in Toei FY2026 Earning Results
Toei’s latest financial report shows One Piece leading in franchise earnings, outpacing Dragon Ball as the studio's revenue driver.
Highlights
- One Piece became Toei Animation’s top-performing IP in FY2026.
- Strong overseas licensing, streaming expansion, and global demand fueled One Piece’s growth.
- Despite One Piece’s success, Toei faced an overall revenue decline, highlighting reliance on key IPs for future growth.
One Piece has overtaken Dragon Ball to become Toei Animation's top-performing intellectual property, according to the studio's fiscal year 2026 financial data published May 13. One Piece generated the strongest franchise-wide contribution with ¥27.84 billion (~$175.72M) in total revenue across domestic and overseas licensing, along with theatrical segments.
The shift in IP rankings is most visible in overseas licensing, which was previously dominated by the Dragon Ball franchise since 2022. One Piece generated ¥12.497B (~$78.87M) in overseas film revenue in FY2026/3, compared to Dragon Ball's ¥11.33B (~$71.91M).
In overseas licensing, One Piece extended its long-standing lead further with ¥10.216B (~$64.48M) against Dragon Ball's ¥4.39B (~$27.68M). The performance comes as the franchise continues to benefit from sustained international demand due to expanding streaming reach, Netflix’s live-action adaptation, and merchandise sales.
On the domestic side, Dragon Ball licensing revenue of ¥5.08B (~$32.05M) almost matched One Piece’s ¥5.130B (~$32.38M). Dragon Ball's domestic resilience reflects the franchise's continued home-market strength, even as its international performance declined.
One Piece Overseas Growth Drove its Revenue
Toei’s earnings breakdown highlighted One Piece as a major contributor to its licensing and overseas business segments, areas the company has prioritized under its Vision 2030 strategy. Dragon Ball’s overseas streaming rights, videogram rights, and DVD sales declined, whereas One Piece delivered a strong performance.
Across European markets, both IPs performed well compared to other franchises, even though Toei highlighted the reactionary sales decline of DRAGON BALL DAIMA in many regions. In Asia, both One Piece and Dragon Ball rebounded from the sales drop in FY2025, due to licensing demands.
The spike in the overseas market is likely due to the renewed visibility from Netflix’s live-action adaptation and Wit Studio remake. The live-action One Piece series claimed the number one position among Netflix's Global Top 10 TV shows, recording 16.8M views.
Netflix broadened its One Piece anime library across many regions, introducing the anime to new audiences. The original Toei animated TV series also started streaming the Elbaph Arc in April, resulting in social media hype and merchandising deals months prior to the actual episode release.
One Piece Sales Increased, Toei’s Revenue Dropped
However, the domestic revenue from licensing “failed to match the momentum in the same period a year earlier from the ONE PIECE anniversary campaigns.” The results came along with Toei's 7.1% decline in net sales. The studio recorded a net sales of ¥93.67B (~$591.14M) for the year ended March 2026.
Despite One Piece’s record revenue and strong overseas demand, Toei's overall revenue decline complicated the picture. The film segment profit dropped 15.7% year on year (YoY), licensing department was closer to flat, with only 3.1% increase in profit. With that background, One Piece's overseas trajectory positions it as the primary vehicle for Toei’s ambitious growth under the Vision 2030 strategy.
Author
Kamalikaa Biswas is a content writer at Outlook Respawn specializing in pop culture. She holds a Master's in English Literature from University of Delhi and leverages her media industry experience to deliver insightful content on the latest youth culture trends.
