Move Over One Piece and Dragon Ball: This Anime Franchise Tops Profit Charts

Among the standout anime franchises under the Bandai Namco banner, it might come as a surprise which one topped the revenue charts last year. In its latest financial report, Bandai Namco disclosed that the Gundam franchise outperformed both One Piece and Dragon Ball, raking in around 254.3 billion yen (approximately $1.6 million).

Gundam’s revenue is impressive, especially when compared to the two shonen heavyweights, with One Piece bringing in 139.3 billion yen and Dragon Ball at 138.0 billion yen. This achievement marks Gundam’s highest revenue to date and establishes it as the top-performing IP in Bandai Namco’s history. The figures are particularly noteworthy considering Bandai Namco’s significant investment in Gundam, as this data reflects only the revenue generated by Bandai Namco itself. The company holds the rights to the Dragon Ball and One Piece video games, merchandise, and trading card games, while Gundam is fully owned by Bandai Namco, encompassing anime, merchandise, and collectibles.

Looking back at FY2025, Gundam generated 153.5 billion yen, showing an impressive year-over-year growth of about 100 billion yen (around 65%), which is remarkable for a franchise that’s been around for over 45 years. This growth highlights how Gundam has surged while other well-known anime brands have stagnated or declined under Bandai Namco’s management.

What fueled Gundam’s remarkable success? The release of last year’s Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX anime series, which debuted at the start of FY2026 in April. In Q1 FY2026 alone, Gundam revenue soared to 65.4 billion yen, reflecting an 81.2% increase year-over-year, making it one of Gundam’s best-performing quarters ever. Additionally, Gundam toys played a significant role, with Gunpla and hobby sales propelling Bandai’s Toys and Hobby division to record heights.

Bandai has consistently emphasized its strategy centered around “IP synergy.” This concept is a recurring theme in Bandai’s financial highlights, indicating that every aspect of the company contributes to Gundam through anime, games, arcades, exhibitions, model kits, licensing, streaming, card games, and more. The Gundam Next Future Pavilion in Osaka was specifically noted as a key driver of the revenue surge.

As for One Piece and Dragon Ball, One Piece remained relatively stable year-over-year with a FY2025 revenue of 139.5 billion yen, while Dragon Ball saw a significant decline of about 50 billion yen, dropping from 190.6 billion yen in FY2025 to 138.0 billion yen. This shift indicates that Gundam isn’t just edging ahead of Dragon Ball and One Piece; it has entered a whole new commercial tier within Bandai. The increase in Gundam’s revenue alone (100.8 billion yen) nearly matches the total revenue of One Piece for the year.

It’s important to remember that all of this falls under Bandai Namco Holdings. Both Dragon Ball and One Piece have their revenues distributed across various corporate partners, publishers, and merchandise stakeholders, whereas Gundam is entirely a Bandai Namco franchise. This means that Gundam’s revenue reflects a significant amount of vertically integrated income flowing through a single ecosystem.

Let’s hope this doesn’t turn into another Pacific Rim situation.