Apr 14, 2025 04:49 PM IST
The highest-grossing anime series of all time has earned more money than Marvel and Disney combined.
The anime industry generates a revenue of around $20 billion each year. Based in Japan, this cultural phenomenon has such a strong global footprint that some of the biggest anime series and franchises dwarf even Hollywood franchises and blockbusters. The biggest of them all has revenue that is the size of a few countries’ GDP.
World’s highest-grossing anime franchise
Even as Demon Slayer, Solo Leveling, and One Piece dominate the ratings and viewership charts these days, their revenues are much lower in comparison to the chart-topping sensation that is Pokemon. The Japanese media franchise began as a series of role-playing games in 1996, followed by a manga series, trading card games, and eventually anime series and films. In the 29 years since, the franchise has grossed a staggering $100 billion worldwide across formats. This includes $92 billion from retail sales of games and merchandise, $6 billion from video games, and over $1.2 billion from box office receipts and home video sales of the anime.
Just how big of a deal this $100 billion gross is can be gauged by the fact that Pokemon’s revenue is thrice as much as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The world’s biggest movie franchise has earned $33 billion in box office and home entertainment gross.
How Pokemon dwarfs other anime series
Pokemon sits at number one comfortably in the list of the world’s highest-grossing anime franchises. Anpanman comes in the second spot with gross of $38 billion, followed by Dragonball at $10 billion. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Gundam follow suit with each grossing between $7-10 billion. Modern hits like Solo Leveling and One Piece are so far not in the top 10 with gross under $1 billion each.
All about the Pokemon behemoth
Pokemon began as a series of role-playing games in 1996 from an original concept by its founder, Satoshi Tajiri. The Gameboy games gave way to the anime series launched in Japan in April 1997. Pokemon was exported worldwide from 1998-2000, becoming a global sensation.
The craze for the anime series and the games was dubbed Pokemania in the early 2000s. It turned its protagonists – Ash and Pikachu – into cultural icons. Since then, the series has expanded into spinoffs, including 23 anime films, 3 TV specials, and 27 short films. A live-action Hollywood adaptation was made in 2019. Titled Detective Pikachu, the film starred Ryan Reynolds.
