Why One Piece Film: Red will likely shatter Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero collection

The unofficial war between the Dragon Ball and One Piece fandoms to control the box office continues. After the recent success Super Hero had in cinemas outside of Japan, fans of Toriyama’s work were ecstatic to learn that their movie made the most money on its release weekend.

However, Film: Red still has to be released worldwide, which could mean bad news for the Dragon Ball fandom. If the same thing that happened in Japan repeats itself internationally, One Piece’s latest film could obliterate Super Hero at the box office. Continue reading to learn more about the subject and why fans believe Film: Red will win in the end.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author’s opinion. Sportskeeda does not claim ownership of any media used in the article unless otherwise specified.

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One Piece Film: Red is expected to surpass Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero in the box office

Gohan, as seen in the new film (Image via Toei Animation)

Film: Red and Super Hero are two of the most anticipated anime films of 2022. Since fans were first told about them, they could not hide the excitement they felt for these new movies. Following the news, the question of which one would be more popular started to flood the minds of both Dragon Ball and One Piece fans, who have always had a rivalry over which franchise is better.

Sadly, the choice of which movie would be more successful was determined by the executives at Toei months before either of the films was released. The people behind the publicity for both movies decided to focus heavily on making Film: Red as marketable as possible, leaving Super Hero behind in almost all aspects.

Luffy and Uta as seen in the film (Image via Toei Animation)

When the two films were released, Film: Red was an instant success, making millions of dollars in a considerably short amount of time. On the other hand, Super Hero’s release was barely talked about, and the film did much worse than its competitors during its first weekend in theaters.

When Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero was released internationally, the trend repeated itself, with Toei barely announcing the film at all. It got to the point where fans had to find out about the premiere of the film via the social media profiles of the voice actors involved with it.

In a few months, One Piece Film: Red is also expected to be released in cinemas worldwide. Fans expect Toei to continue favoring Luffy’s latest film, so it is expected that the film will also be heavily marketed outside of Japan as well. This would mean that many more people would be aware of One Piece’s film release, as opposed to the scarce few that were informed about Dragon Ball's.

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Will One Piece Film: Red exceed Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero’s records?

Despite the lack of promotional material for the film, Super Hero managed to become the fifth most successful anime film to ever be released in the United States. While the film has not broken any such records in other countries, it has done remarkably well since being released a few weeks back.

Unfortunately, if a film from a franchise as beloved as Dragon Ball does this well with barely any advertising behind it, it is expected that One Piece will do several times better. Toei will most likely focus on promoting Film: Red months in advance of its release, meaning fans of this world-famous franchise will be more than ready to go see it in cinemas.

If things continue like they are going right now, One Piece Film: Red will most likely end up smashing Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero when it is released. Regardless, these two films are still extremely entertaining and both should be equally enjoyed by fans.

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Final thoughts

Uta and Luffy as kids (Image via Toei Animation)

This year being One Piece’s 25th anniversary, Toei made the conscious decision to help the franchise’s new film be as successful as possible. This meant leaving other projects unattended, like Dragon Ball’s latest film. As expected, this decision gravely affected Super Hero’s performance at the box office, both in and out of Japan.

Film: Red, on the contrary, did exponentially better than expected, breaking all kinds of records in its country of origin. It is probable that this will repeat itself when the film is released internationally in a few months, making the success of Super Hero pale in comparison.

Pan as seen in the new film (Image via Toei Animation)

Nevertheless, it is important to remind fans that box office profits do not mean one franchise is better than the other. Both franchises are amazing and deserve all the fans they have gathered throughout the years.