It’s Official, An Old Anime Has Finally Beaten One Piece

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For many manga fans, One Piece is the first series that comes to mind. It’s currently the best-selling manga of all time, and it’s likely to stay that way for a long time. While One Piece dominates manga sales, it doesn’t always lead in overall profits. Recently, Mobile Suit Gundam, a classic and well-known series, actually generated more profit for Bandai Namco.

It surpassed all expectations, easily outpacing popular series like One Piece and Dragon Ball. One Piece didn’t perform as well, likely due to fewer episodes planned for 2025 and the lack of a new movie release.

Mobile Suit Gundam Beat One Piece In Revenue

One Piece is a globally popular series with a massive fanbase. It’s been a significant earner for Bandai, the company that creates a wide range of merchandise – like action figures and toys – based on anime.

Bandai recently announced its financial results for the first half of fiscal year 2026, and the popular series One Piece didn’t quite meet expectations. While One Piece generated ¥69.5 billion, it was ¥500 million less than the company had projected.

Mobile Suit Gundam is the clear financial winner this year, earning an impressive ¥127.2 billion. This is significantly higher than the initial expectation of ¥80 billion. Gundam outperformed not only One Piece, but also long-running and popular franchises like Dragon Ball and Super Sentai.

Why One Piece Was Beaten By Gundam

This year, One Piece didn’t perform as well financially, raising concerns about the series’ current trajectory. The anime adaptation has been losing momentum, and a four-month gap in new episodes at the beginning of 2025 likely impacted merchandise sales.

Since 2022, One Piece hasn’t released a new movie. Movies are a major source of revenue, especially through merchandise sales. For example, Mobile Suit Gundam recently had a movie release, which significantly boosted its earnings this year.

As Jump Festa approaches in December, One Piece fans are hoping for announcements that will revitalize the series. This could include a new movie, updates on the planned remake by WIT Studio, or even news about a new video game.

Overall, One Piece is still doing well and continues to be a very successful and consistent source of revenue for Bandai.

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2025-11-14 02:34