Cash Cow Franchise / Anime & Manga

• Every harem series, especially those with apparent ecchi elements, is this by default. No matter what people say, who argue that they ´´came for the porn but stayed for the plot´´.
• Aggretsuko (made by Sanrio) is based on a TBS series that never aired outside of Japan, Aggretsuko became a worldwide hit when Netflix picked up and produced the series for everyone, winning acclaim for its animation and well-written humor.
• Aikatsu! was this for a while. At one point, it made more money than Pretty Cure, at 14.1 billion yen. However, sales started dropping after it was dethroned by PriPara. Once Season 3 rolled around, it didn't do as well, and Season 4 did even worse, resulting in the anime being cancelled. Its reboot, Aikatsu Stars!, was a last-ditch effort to the save the franchise, but it isn't helping the situation. Many kids in the target demographic did not approve of the changes to the game they once loved, which included a bigger screen and different cards that were inferior to the originals. Aikatsu Stars' movie also bombed when it was in theaters due to its low popularity. The lack of growth from Stars ultimately led into another reboot titled Aikatsu Friends!.
• The Anpanman franchise has spanned books, an anime, movies, a multitude of products, and a few children's museums. The franchise often ranks high on "highest grossing franchises" lists as a result. What makes this growth notable is the surprising lack of spread Anpanman has, as it has normally stuck with the Asian market.
• Attack on Titan has become this since the advent of the anime adaptation. The anime has sold very well in Japan, volumes of the manga surged in sales^note To the point it overtook the One Piece manga in sales in Japan for the first half of 2014; granted, the One Piece manga has reached a saturation point a while ago while Attack on Titan's manga is nowhere as near saturated yet plus Attack on Titan saw the release of two volumes in that timeframe versus One Piece's one; none the less, it's still very impressive, there are three manga Spin Offs and one Light Novel Spin-Off, a live action film, and a ridiculous amount of merchandise and crosspromotions ranging from the more typical anime figures to things like perfumes to car commercials and a freaking Titan Burger!
• Berserk, at least by the standards of the Seinen demographic, is pretty darn successful. Kentaro Miura drew the manga from 1989 to his death on May 6, 2021, by which time it was still unfinished at 41 volumes worth of material and had at least 50 million volumes in circulation. Adaptations include Berserk (1997) by OLM Incorporated; two videogame adaptations by Yuke's, Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage (Dreamcast, 1999) and Berserk: Millennium Falcon Hen Seima Senki no Shō (PS2, 2004); The Berserk: The Golden Age Arc theatrical anime film trilogy (2012-2013) by Studio 4°C, which produced this◊ amusing fast food cross-promotion; Berserk (2016), a TV anime (2016-2017) by GEMBA and Millepensee which picks up after the movies; the videogame Berserk and the Band of the Hawk (Fall 2016) developed by Omega Force; a light novel, Berserk: The Flame Dragon Knight; and an Official Guide Book. Fans can spend hundreds of dollars on high quality figurines of Guts, Griffith, or Casca, and all of the animated versions are available in deluxe Blu-ray box sets. Japanese fans can also buy Berserk keychains, pillows, and even underwear!
• Bleach has 82 million manga volumes in circulation. According to The Other Wiki, "The series has spawned a media franchise that includes an animated television series that was produced by Studio Pierrot from 2004 to 2012, two original video animations, four animated feature films, ten rock musicals, and numerous video games, as well as many types of Bleach-related merchandise."
• The light novel series Brothers Conflict is a smash hit in Japan, spawning two otome games, an anime adaptation, drama CDs, and countless other kinds of merchandise.
• Cardcaptor Sakura, though not to the same extent as Sailor Moon or Pretty Cure, was and still is a lucrative Magical Girl property. There's the original manga, the original anime, two movies, lots of figures and dolls, 10 video games, several audio CDs, replicas of the Clow Cards, themed cafes in Tokyo, Osaka and Sapporo during 2018, and a sequel, all within the span of 20 years.
• Case Closed has over 900 chapters, spawned 20 movies, almost 800 anime episodes, over 10 OVA specials, and much much more. It has a huge following in Japan, with a statue of the main character in the author's hometown.
• The absolute phenomenon that is Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, a manga with just 4 years of publication history got an anime that elevated the series to break all sorts of records previously thought to be impossible: 82 million manga volumes sold in a single year in 2020, 150 million volumes sold in just the 4 years the series was published, a movie adaptation that broke all records in Japanese cinema and so on; Aniplex holds the license close to its heart, to the point they personally oversee and publish all the first ventures in the expanded merchandising efforts, video game adaptations sticking out in particular since Bandai Namco Entertainment had secured almost all licenses to publish anime based video games but here Aniplex do it by themselves.
• DEVILMAN crybaby, the debut anime miniseries that was the platform first true Netflix Original anime, and took full advantage of it with thematic elements that could never be done outside of it. Being Netflix's Breakthrough Hit that established them as an anime producer and winning universal acclaim, this will likely be a signature.
• Digimon, yet another Toei Animation example. Inevitable given it's an anime based on toys, but it was a significant cash cow both in Japan and overseas back in the early days. It did experience a significant slump in this status for few years after Digimon Tamers, with its merch sales generally lagging along with interest in the anime...until Digimon Fusion came along, breathing new life into the franchise and its money-printing abilities...only for the sequel series to ruin that, with ratings and sales so bad it's sent the franchise back into obscurity. However, the release of Digimon Adventure tri. appears to have won back the fans.
• Doraemon. Having been around since 1969, the manga is one of the best-selling in the world, there have been three anime adaptations (1973; 1979-2004; 2005-present), and the films (which have been around since 1980) are among the highest grossing animated film franchises, as well as the highest of all anime film franchises. It's spawned so much merchandise, it can fill a house.
• The Dragon Ball franchise has proven to be almost as unkillable as the Saiyans themselves. You've got the manga, multiple anime series, action figures, a trading card game, scads of video games, a Live Action... "adaptation"... there's just no stopping 'em.
  • Dragon Ball Z Kai, a condensed recut of the more-than-fifteen-years-old Dragon Ball Z, began in Spring 2009, and it regularly garners ratings on par with One Piece.
  • The proof is in how many times the series has been released on home video: VHS (both edited and uncut), uncut DVD singles (including boxsets), edited and uncut movie DVD singles, mini-DVD and Game Boy player (DBGT only) Ultimate Uncut singles, Season boxsets, Dragon Boxes, DBZ Movie double-features, movie boxsets, DBZ Kai, DBZ Blu-Ray, and there's sure to be more to come!
  • You can practically slap Dragon Ball Z on anything and it will sell well in Japan. Even more so in North America and South America.
• Fairy Tail, after the success of Rave Master, Hiro Mashima decided to create something shorter and planned to make Fairy Tail a ten volume manga. What followed was a manga that lasted 63 volumes, many spin-off manga, over 300 episodes of anime, multiple OVAs, two movies, and countless pieces of merchandise. Not to mention light novels and video games. Even Fairy Tail's sequel, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest, which is written and storyboarded by Mashima, has lasted over ten volumes and has an anime adaptation announced.
• Fist of the North Star was probably WSJ's biggest franchises throughout The '80s. It's even the 17th highest grossing franchise, two places behind Dragon Ball.
• Production I.G are quite well known throughout the anime industry by having some form of involvement in providing 3D CGI visual effects for numerous anime. It was their direct involvement in the production of Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex that put their anime production on the map.
• Gundam, inspiring spinoffs, video games and toys since 1979. This especially applies the model kits. There are more grades, variants and designs that one can count.
• Haruhi Suzumiya was especially notable for the sheer number of Radio Dramas, Image Songs, and merchandise for a show that for a long time had only fourteen episodes (though there's also the Light Novels). There were even Playboy Bunny Haruhi figures whose clothes changed color based on temperature. Though it was probably at least partially due to a dedication to a polished level of quality, the main reason for the second season not coming out until three years after the first was most likely because they wanted to milk the first for as much as they could. Unfortunately, this wouldn't last, as a number of factors would lead to the death of the franchise around the beginning of The New '10s.
• Idol Densetsu Eriko: Merchandise sales for this show amassed 8 Billion Yen.
• For '80s kids, it was Yōko Hanabusa's Lady!!. The manga spawned two anime series, a compilation movie and two sequel manga. Toei Animation frequently used the anime series to shill toys associated with the Lady franchise, mainly the Lady's Crest and the Lady's Key, and they were very popular amongst young girls.^note Hell, Fan Wank is that the second season was made purely to sell toys, given how much it deviates from the manga and has Lynn obsess over winning the Lady's Crest Merchandise of the franchise is often the first thing that comes up when you search the series title on Twitter.
• The Love Live! franchise had a very humble start in 2010 (the franchise's first single, "Bokura no LIVE, Kimi to no LIFE", sold only 434 copies upon its initial release, most of which were purchased by the voice actresses' families to show support) but has since expanded into various other media such as anime series, books, manga, mobile games, music albums, and even concerts. It wasn't until Love Live! School idol festival was released in Japan that the series really took off; the first Blu-Ray volume of the second season of Love Live! School Idol Project sold over 90,000 copies in its first week, the highest of any anime at the time.
• Manga Time Kirara is no exception to this, as for every show that doesn't stick around, there is usually one that does and ends up becoming the company's favorite for years until the next one comes.
  • Hidamari Sketch was Kirara's first venture into anime, and ended up lasting for four seasons and a host of extra specials. It also has plenty of merchandise including collectibles and video games.
  • After, K-On!, a previously mildly popular manga by Kakifly, simply exploded on the scene when KyoAni made it into an anime series. There's no escaping its presence throughout Japan, with stores even selling guitars using the show's imagery. This and Hidamari would be the flagship franchises of Kirara during the late 2000s and early 2010s.
  • Following the end of both, Is the Order a Rabbit? quickly turned into this in the mid-to-late 2010s, as the show became profitable in no time to spawn 3 seasons and 2 OVAS, plush dozens of figures and tie-ins.
  • Laid-Back Camp was commissioned relatively fast for a Kirara manga (premiering less than three years after the debut of its manga) and exploded in popularity. It has received three seasons, a feature film, video games, and is present in many camping sites across Japan.
  • Bocchi the Rock! became this due to the surprise success of its anime adaptation. While still new, it has already had a spin-off manga debut less than a year after the anime's release, a film slated for spring 2024, and various concerts across Japan. One could argue it is their biggest hit since ironically K-On! itself.
• Mazinger Z: Much like Gundam, since its inception in 1972, it has spawned one dozen of different manga versions, sequels, spinoffs, Crossovers, video games and toys, and it does not stop even forty years after its creation.
• Negima! Magister Negi Magi, with all the spinoffs, video games, toys and other merchandise being created to advertise the manga. Ironically enough, there has never been a successful full adaptation of the series into an anime.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion is still creating new merchandise and sparking hot debates over a decade after the end of the original series. And about a million different spin-offs and "reinterpretations" of the original, each with a completely different ending. As if the viewers weren't confused enough..... Plus there's the figures, figurines, statues, and any other tiny form just about anything from the series. They've made 666 unique Asuka figurines, over 700 Reis, and probably many more of each by the time you read this.
• Naruto:
  • There's just something about ninjas that managed to get this manga to sell over 200 million copies and become the third best selling manga of all time. With 700 chapters, an anime with 720 episodes in total counting Part 1 and Shippuden, 11 movies (with a live-action one in development), several OVAs, dozens of video games (with a new one coming out soon), tons of action figures and toys, a couple of spin-off manga, several collabs with big-name companies (Primitive, Coach, Adidas, Seiko, Hypland, Champion and even Nike), tons of merchandise, a themed smartphone, crossovers with other franchises (Hello Kitty, TMNT, Fortnite, etc), a few plays and musicals, several novels, a few theme parks and an ongoing Spin-Offspring manga with over 80 chapters and anime with 293 episodes to date, Naruto has proven its popularity as a cash cow.
  • The cash cow is pretty evident in the anime adaptation. When the manga ended on November 10, 2014, there was still a whopping 115 episodes airing afterwards, mostly consisting of fillers, adaptation of extended media like novels, and tie-ins (by this point, there were only 47 chapters left to be adapted). The year 2015 only saw 8 episodes that were adapted from the manga. Although the Naruto anime is rather infamous for its numerous fillers, there was really no reason for Studio Pierrot to continue making fillers after the manga ended other than wanting to keep the property alive for as long as they could.
• One Piece is literally the best selling manga in history. Its newer volumes continue to top one another as the highest selling book in Japan, and beat Dragon Ball to the title of best selling manga series of all time with 320 million copies in print. The franchise is particularly EVERYWHERE in Japan. You know you're a Cash Cow when there's tons of crap that people won't buy or touch, like One Piece toilet paper, One Piece deodorant,....even One Piece razors and glasses cross promotions.
• Pokémon, initially thought to be a one-hit wonder, exploded into decades of video games, trading cards, dozens of manga, and an anime series lasting over 900 episodes. That's almost double the life of The Simpsons, undergoing the transition from cel animation to digital animation and outlasting so many of its own art directors, with Ash receiving several physical redesigns! To put it into closer perspective, if one were to watch the show from start to finish, It would take almost two weeks nonstop.
• Some of Osamu Tezuka's works continue to print tons of money even after his death.:
  • Astro Boy continues on appearing on tons of merchandise, a CGI feature film, video games, and a numerous collaborations. The franchise gains newer incarnations every 20 years to reintroduce the character to new audiences.
  • Kimba the White Lion also continues to appear on a lot Japanese merchandise and has also gained multiple animated incarnations.
  • Unico has gained tons of merchandise, books, two feature films, and four animated shorts produced by Tezuka Productions. There is even a new manga in the works that will re-imagine the Unico franchise.
• PriPara dethroned Aikatsu! as the most successful idol arcade game for kids in Japan as soon as it was launched, and has been raking in tons of money since then, with the record, 13 billion yen, set during the Kami Idol series. It also has ten stores dedicated to it in Japan, three movies and even two live shows. The only thing that stopped the series from a full takeover was the company's own 4-years per series policy, and even then it ended its run completely successful.
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica, since its debut in Winter 2011, has quickly become one of these for both Studio Shaft and nitro+, spawning a manga adaptation, three manga spinoffs, a novel, loads and loads of merchandise (both official and non-official), a PlayStation Portable and Play Station Vita videogame adaptation, a magazine, two online video games, and a two-part Compilation Movie. A sequel movie was released in 2013. All the Blu-Ray volumes in the series have sold more than 415,000 copies altogether in Japan. And even more sequels are considered by the writer. It later sold a very impressive 40 billion yen worth of merchandise.
• Toei Animation usually has at least one of these in the Magical Girl genre running at any one time:
  • Sailor Moon, so much so that Toei Animation is thoroughly sick of it and has stopped licensing it out. That didn't stop it from getting a new adaptation of manga in 2014... Though that might have something to do with the American rerelease of the Sailor Moon manga which began in 2011. It was extremely successful and probably is the reason why the new anime is closer to the manga and has a simultaneous worldwide release.
  • Ojamajo Doremi, which ran for four seasons and was popular enough to have quite a bit of merchandise (mainly toys).
  • Pretty Cure, which has been going strong since 2004. Notable in that its TV ratings has consistently rivaled those (and occasionally surpass) of One Piece, and it usually makes at least 10 BILLION yen a year annually (with three major exceptions), it should probably be noted that Doki Doki! PreCure and HappinessCharge Pretty Cure! almost killed the franchise.
• Saint Seiya, especially with their never ending supply of high priced action figures, going as far as to even adapt filler characters. The fact that a new series of OVA called "The Lost Canvas" has started as well doesn't help either. Actually, the main protagonist of that series, which is a prequel set several centuries before the main series, has already been conceived as one of these action figures, foreshadowing a long way to go before they run out of ideas for characters. Even if they do, they come up with variant figures like "damaged" armors or just casual clothes.
• Like Yo-Kai Watch below, Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion, introduced in 2015, became a top-selling toyline after its anime began airing in 2018. It's even beaten Super Sentai and Kamen Rider in merchandise sales!
• Spy X Family is shaping up to be a major cash cow. Not only is there merchandise as esoteric as a tea set, but within a year of the anime airing, it got a musical, a second season renewal, a movie order, and is getting an attraction at Universal Studios Japan.
• It doesn't quite push huge piles of money these days, but Voltron (or the Lion version, at any rate) still sells a lot of DVDs and Voltron.com and retro retailers like Hot Topic still do a reasonably brisk business selling merch. Back in the mid-80s, of course, Voltron was an unstoppable juggernaut and only really started to lose steam when faced with a somewhat more coordinated effort from Transformers: Generation 1 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) (and when "Vehicle Voltron" confused some viewers).
• Yo-kai Watch is absolutely huge with children in Japan. The original game did well, however when the anime came out it became something of a phenomenon. The cute cat mascot, Jibanyan, was everywhere in the early-to-mid 2010s and the ending dances were popular as well. It received a Spin-Offspring sequel Yo-kai Watch: Shadowside, before the original anime was revived.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!, while not quite as long-running as some of the other examples, has generated considerable attention, especially with its tie-in collectible card game which is in the Guinness Book of World Records (circa 2009) for best selling TCG worldwide. Apparently, card games really are Serious Business. It also spawned spinoffs, including Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, and Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, as well as several movies.

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