Gundam Surges Past Dragon Ball & One Piece With Astounding New Record

by

Bandai Namco recently disclosed their financial findings from the initial three months of their 2025-2026 fiscal period, which spans April to June of 2025. This report encompasses the income they generated during that time. The report includes the overall revenue made, estimated total earnings for the entire year, and a comparison with the previous fiscal year’s report. Bandai also spotlights its most profitable franchise, detailing the sales figures from its primary franchises in Yen. This year’s report contains two tables breaking down the global and Japanese sales of each major franchise. Despite Dragon Ball and One Piece remaining popular sellers for the company, Gundam has emerged as Bandai’s top-grossing franchise during the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

Bandai’s iconic Gundam series has consistently been a top-selling product, but lately, it’s seen an impressive surge in popularity. New projects like “Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury,” “Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom,” and “Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX” have significantly boosted sales and interest in the franchise. In fact, the first quarter of 2026 saw nearly double the sales compared to previous years, making it one of Bandai’s most lucrative years for Gundam yet.

Bandai Namco’s Financial Report Reveals Gundam as the Company’s Best-Selling Franchise

According to Bandai Namco’s financial report, the Gundam franchise generated approximately 65 billion yen (over $440 million USD) in the first quarter of their fiscal year ending March 31, 2026. This is an increase compared to the previous year, where the franchise earned around 36 billion yen for the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year. Bandai estimates that Gundam will generate roughly 115 billion yen in the first half of the current fiscal year and potentially reach 160 billion yen by its end, surpassing the previous year’s earnings of 153 billion yen if these projections hold true.

Comparing their performance in the first quarter of this year, Bandai’s second and third best-selling properties, namely One Piece and Dragon Ball, have generated approximately 32 billion yen for One Piece and 26.9 billion yen for Dragon Ball. Interestingly, while Dragon Ball led Bandai’s sales in the previous fiscal year with earnings of 150 billion yen, it is projected to decrease to around 130 billion yen by the end of this current fiscal year. On the other hand, One Piece, which achieved 139.5 billion yen in sales last year, is expected to maintain a similar level with a forecast of 140 billion yen for the conclusion of the 2026 fiscal year.

Gundam’s Popularity Continues to Grow

It’s important to mention that Bandai holds complete ownership of the Gundam franchise via its subsidiaries. However, for other franchises like Dragon Ball, One Piece, and Naruto, Bandai earns revenue from licensing agreements with their original creators, publishers, and animation studios. Although Bandai generates substantial income from sales of these popular titles, the full rights to these properties remain with the original creators, publishers, and studios. Instead, they make profits through various methods such as streaming royalties, television ratings, manga sales, and collaborative projects.

Despite this, it shouldn’t lessen the fact that Gundam continues to gain a significant following globally. On the other hand, shows like “Witch from Mercury” have seen incredible Gunpla sales, and films such as “Gundam Seed Freedom” and “Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning-” have been cinema successes. Moreover, Bandai is intensifying its promotional efforts for the anniversary of “Mobile Suit Gundam Wing,” an anime that has enjoyed immense popularity outside Japan.

https://comicbook.com/anime/news/gundam-wing-30th-anniversary-frozen-teardrop-sdcc/embed/#

Read More

2025-08-08 01:14