Toei Animation, the production company behind Dragon Ball, shared the annual report for the fiscal year ending March 2021, and things are looking great for the shonen franchise.

The report said net sales were 51,595 million yen (~454 million USD), 5.88% from 54,819 million yen (~483 million USD)less than the prior year.

Due to this, its net income suffers a slight retreat to 11,067 million yen (~97 million USD), 3.24% lower than 11,437 million yen (~100 million USD) for the Fiscal Year 2020.

The reason for the slight decline in sales is the product of the COVID-19 pandemic, which completely collapsed the revenues in cinemas across the country and the limited operating capacities due to the constant emergencies in various regions of Japan, such as the reduction in operating time, including the Reduction of the maximum capacity of the room occupancy.

The discontinuation of animation programs on television and the postponement and cancellation of live events fall under other reasons.

According to the report, Toei has faced a rise in the Overseas market overtaking the Domestic market with overseas sales of 30,442 million yen (~268 million USD), up 10.07% year on year.

However, the Domestic market this year had the worst performance since Fiscal Year 2012, producing only 21,254 million yen (~187 million USD) in sales, a 23.08% drop year on year. 

As a result of the much lower sales produced from its Domestic market, its Overseas market now comprises 58.9% of its global sales.

The report also mentions the performance of its four best intellectual properties in the concept of national licenses, foreign films, and international licenses.

Popular titles such as One Piece and Dragon Ball dominate the ranks, however, there are other titles aplenty such as Pretty Cure, Sailor Moon, and Digimon.

Slam Dunk has also reappeared, being the 3rd best seller in the Overseas Licensing Business which brought in 2,316 million yen (~20 million USD) in sales.

In the end, One Piece and Dragon Ball franchises are at the helm of Toei. With respect to feature film performances, the two titles have a neck-to-neck competition with Dragon Ball accounting slightly lower than One Piece in overall sales.

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However, it is in domestic and foreign licenses where Dragon ball definitely shines the brightest having both occupied the segments by 49.1% of the total sales.

It was not always Dragon Ball that top sales among the many Toei Animation titles. At one point, One Piece led by a huge margin especially for Fiscal Year 2012 to Fiscal Year 2016.

Dragon Ball catapulted in sales the following year, and since it is still one of the most profitable anime franchises, and Akira Toriyama’s series has no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

With improved sales, Toei has also succeeded in reaching the 1 Trillion Yen Market Capitalization mark for the first time in September.

Source: Erzat Blog