Heritage's Art of Anime Vol. VIII Realizes $2.5 Million in Record-Breaking Event

World-record total for an Anime-focused Animation Art auction fueled by global demand for Pokémon, Studio Ghibli, Akira and Dragon Ball

DALLAS, Texas (May 19, 2026) – Heritage Auctions' May 15–17 The Art of Anime, Vol. VIII Signature^® Auction realized $2.5 million and established a new world record for an anime-focused Animation Art auction, surpassing Heritage's previous benchmark of $1.48 million and underscoring the extraordinary global demand for original anime production art.

The three-day event featured 1,206 lots and achieved a remarkable 100% sell-through rate, drawing participation from 2,665 international bidders and collectors competing aggressively across nearly every major anime category.

“Bidding was spirited from Lot 1 on Friday through the very last lot Sunday evening,” says Jim Lentz, Heritage's Vice President of Animation & Anime Art. “The global response to our Art of Anime animation art auction showcases the enduring love and popularity of this art form. Every major category — from Dragon Ball to Pokémon, from Akira to Studio Ghibli and beyond — performed well above expectations.”

The auction also produced two major individual auction records. A Princess Mononoke San Production Cel realized $67,100, setting the highest price Heritage has achieved for a production cel from the LANDMARK STUDIO Ghibli film. Meanwhile, the Pokémon “Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village” Pikachu Production Cel with Key Master Background soared to $73,200, establishing a new world auction record for Pokémon production art.

That Pokémon result tied for the highest price realized in the auction alongside an iconic Akira Production Cel featuring Tetsuo, Kaori and Kaneda's motorcycle, which also finished at $73,200. Both works exemplified the intense demand collectors showed for rare and visually dynamic material tied to foundational anime franchises.

Additional top performers included a Pokémon Pikachu and Ash Production Cel with Master Background and Animation Drawing that realized $67,100, while a beloved My Neighbor Totoro Production Cel featuring Satsuki and Mei riding the Catbus brought $46,360.

Collectors also competed fiercely for original art from the Dragon Ball universe during the franchise's 40th anniversary year. A Dragon Ball “The Roaming Lake” Goku Production Cel realized $31,720, while a dramatic Dragon Ball Z “A Final Attack” Super Saiyan Goku Pan-Sized Production Cel with Production Background and Animation Drawing achieved $29,280.

Other standout results reflected the breadth of the market across classic and modern anime titles. A Berserk “First Battle” Griffith Production Cel realized $29,280, while a Cowboy Bebop “The Real Folk Blues: Part 2” Spike Spiegel Production Cel sold for $20,740. A production cel from The End of Evangelion featuring Asuka and Shinji realized $19,520.

The auction's record-setting performance further solidifies anime art as one of the fastest-growing categories in the collectibles market, with collectors increasingly pursuing original hand-painted cels, animation drawings and master backgrounds tied to culturally significant series and films.

“Collectors today recognize these works not only as nostalgic touchstones, but as important pieces of animation history,” Lentz says. “The depth of bidding throughout this auction demonstrated how global and sophisticated the anime art market has become.”

Images and information about all lots in the auction can be found here.

Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world's largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Munich, Geneva, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Heritage also enjoys the highest Online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house on earth (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). The Internet's most popular auction-house website, HA.com, has more than 2,000,000 registered bidder-members and searchable free archives of more than 7,000,000 past auction records with prices realized, descriptions and enlargeable photos. Reproduction rights routinely granted to media for photo credit.

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