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TV Tokyo's Most Profitable Anime: April 2015 to March 2016
posted on by Amanda Whalen
TV Tokyo has seen an increase in both sales and profits this year, due to the popularity of their anime titles both inside and outside of Japan. At the meeting held to publish the financial balance sheet for the span of April 2015 to March 2016, President Yūichi Takahashi alluded to the Naruto franchise as being the primary cause of this increased profit.
TV Tokyo's sales for March 2016 were 14,423,000,000 yen ($134,774,000), a 74.4% increase. Gross profits were 4,889,000,000 yen ($45,684,800), a 102.0% increase. Both sales and profits have been quickly rising. The sales are roughly equivalent to 10% of the worth of the TV Tokyo group, and the gross profits are close to 70% of the total operating profit of the company.
Supplementary material to the TV Tokyo balance sheet showing the sales and gross profits of the top five anime titles was made available to the public. The title with the largest sales was Naruto, which has been doing remarkably well overseas while remaining popular within Japan. Its profits also include overseas licensing and the high sales of tie-in video games. For example, the smartphone game Hokage Ninja MOBILE, created for a Chinese audience, was ranked number one on the Chinese App Store in March 2016, and the PlayStation 4 game Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, which was released in February 2016, sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide.
Children's shows comprised a large part of the overall sales, with Yōkai Watch ranked #2, Yu-Gi-Oh! ranked #4, and Pokémon ranked #5. Gintama, aimed at young adults, was the only non-children's show to make the list, coming in at #3 in sales.
Last year, Yōkai Watch was #4 in sales, and not only did it rise to #2 this year, it actually surpassed Naruto in gross profits. Yōkai Watch's continued merchandising has led to it becoming a more long-lived franchise than first expected. Also, Yōkai Watch began broadcasting in the U.S. starting in 2015, and has begun broadcasting in Europe as well, so there is hope for additional overseas profits in the future.
Top Five in Sales (April 2015 to March 2016):
- Naruto
- Yōkai Watch
- Gintama
- Yu-Gi-Oh!
- Pokémon
- Yōkai Watch
- Naruto
- Pokémon
- Gintama
- Yu-Gi-Oh!
Top Five in Gross Profits (April 2015 to March 2016):
Source: Anime! Anime! Biz
