This $100 Billion Anime Franchise Beats Marvel by 3X—And It’s Not One Piece or Solo Leveling

This $100 Billion Anime Franchise Beats Marvel by 3X: The anime industry rakes in about $20 billion a year in revenue. Based in Japan, this cultural phenomenon has such strong global roots that some of its biggest anime series or franchises dwarf even those of Hollywood. The largest of these can present revenues comparable to the GDP of some countries.

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World's highest-grossing anime franchise

Although these days names like Demon Slayer, Solo Leveling, and One Piece command the ratings and viewership lists, none of them manages to bring in revenues even close to the international sensation that is Pokemon. The franchise began on Japanese media with role-playing games in 1996, continued into a manga series, and proceeded to include trading cards, and ultimately incorporates series and films in anime form. In its 29 years of existence, this franchise has grossed worldwide in excess of $100 billion across formats: retail sales of games and merchandising contribute $92 billion; $6 billion gross from video games; and$1.2 billion-plus revenue from box office receipts and home video sales on the anime end.

The figure of gross revenue of $100 billion can be appreciated in terms of how Pokemon's revenue is triple that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The world's biggest movie franchise has garnered around $33 billion in gross worldwide box office and home entertainment sales.

How Pokemon dwarfs other anime series

Pokemon sits atop the crown of the world's highest gross anime franchises. The second place is occupied by Anpanman with gross of $38 billion, immediately followed by Dragonball at $10 billion. Between $7-$10 billion gross for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Gundam. Contemporary blockbusters like Solo Leveling and One Piece are currently outside the top 10, with each under $1 billion gross.

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All about the Pokemon behemoth

Pokémon started out as a series of role-playing games all drawn up in 1996 from an initial concept penned by its author Satoshi Tajiri. The Gameboy games gave way to the anime series launched in Japan in April 1997. Pokémon, between 1998 and 2000, spread to other parts across the globe, transforming the metaphor into a global phenomenon.

Pokemania was the term used for the frenzy that surrounded the series and games in the early 2000s, and it turned its main characters, Ash and Pikachu, into cultural icons. Since then, the series has birthed spin-offs that include 23 anime films, 3 TV specials, and 27 short films. A live-action Hollywood adaptation came out in 2019. Titled Detective Pikachu, the film starred Ryan Reynolds.

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