As for i know, one piece's sales in US is around 3-4 million. Which i considered very low but now knowing best selling numbers they are decent numbers in comparison. They are low from naruto by half ( per volume numbers are more lower than half though) but considering what i always hear that one piece is not very popular in US they are still good numbers.
Manga Sales | Discussion Thread
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One Piece was at 1.6M as of 2018 using that same source
If your source for 3-4M was my own estimate, it's outdated, considering I found an actual source for US numbers since.
It's probably between 2.5M and 3M right now.
Well, it was hard to believe for me too ( to think that any manga sold 100 million in a single territory other than japan). But considering it's resemblance with 'journey to the west' which is quit famous in china and Chinese population i thought may be it's true.
Well these numbers are quite good also haha.
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Okay, now that we’re at a new page, I wanted to ask everyone here a question:
What are some of your favorite manga? Or manga that you like to read at the moment? I think it could make for a some good talking points in terms of manga sales down the line.
I believe @Tbone5189 listed his favorites earlier onwards, so I got curious.
What are some of your favorite manga? Or manga that you like to read at the moment? I think it could make for a some good talking points in terms of manga sales down the line.
I believe @Tbone5189 listed his favorites earlier onwards, so I got curious.
I just said that it hard to imagine a manga who sold more than 100 million in a single territory other than japan but what are you're thoughts on one piece in France?
In my opinion more than 50 million is quite likely by the end of the series (may be Sooner).
In my opinion more than 50 million is quite likely by the end of the series (may be Sooner).
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Well
That will depend on when "the end of the series" is
But it's on pace to reach 50M units sold in 2025.
One piece
Your name ( well actually is amine originally but i like it's anime, manga adoption and light novel)
Silent voice
Dragon ball
Oregairu ( originally light novel)
Haikyuu
Tensura ( also light novel)
Naruto
Dr stone
Hunter × hunter
Since we had the topic of piracy in games just recently, I think it's even more relevant in manga. A quick google search will let you read any manga "for free" and I can't imagine this not having a severe effect on manga sales. Personally, I don't like reading digital stuff and the only manga I still actively follow is Detective Conan anyway, but am I wrong in assuming that that piracy robs the manga industry of well over half its potential sales? I'd even say n-folds the amount. Manga piracy is so easy, I often find myself thinking that people who buy manga waste their money.
Is there any semi-reliable data on how much impact piracy has on the manga industry?
Is there any semi-reliable data on how much impact piracy has on the manga industry?
I can't imagine One piece ending before 2027.
and if, if the manga industry continue to grow like this in france then it's likely for one piece to reach 100 million ( well, it may will take about 15-17 year. sooner is more likely if manga industry continue to grow at this pace in France).
It will also be affected by how the manga will end.
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There have been studies about the subject, but in the end, it's impossible to know because there is too much to consider and because it's based on a hypothetical that will likely never happen (no piracy).
Of the people who pirate, but don't buy what they read, how many would actually start to buy the volumes if piracy was eradicated?
How many sales would be lost because people don't want to buy a volume blindly, without having read it before?
Realistically, there is no way to answer these two key questions.
In the end, just like everywhere else, the only way to counter piracy is to beat it at its own game, and offer a better service.
This is exactly what MangaPlus is. And it's working.
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This is a good point but I can only give anecdotal evidence.
I bought 500-600 volumes of manga (and some LNs) as eBooks but that's still only 20-30% of the manga I've actually read.
Of course there are some series that are either not published digitally or not published internationally at all but there are also many series that are but it's "cheaper"/free to pirate them or in recent years there have been other options to read them free or cheap in a legal way (no volume sales).
I have friends who only buy physical volumes and only read what they bought and I have friends who only read digitally and don't buy any volumes.
A few years ago mangaplus started and some of the big translation groups shut down. There is a free service to read the new chapters and some pirates still decided it's better to translate them a few days early.
Compared to ~10 years ago it's gotten a lot easier to read manga legally for free (or cheap) but it's also gotten easier to read manga without buying the volumes.
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You would think other publishing companies would learn from MangaPlus and offer a service like that for the stuff they own, but alas. Of course part of it is that they likely don’t have the global pull Shueisha does with its own manga to bring readers to their own service, but still. It’s better to try, I think.
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My favorite is Naruto.
Reading at the moment:
JJK, Chainsaw, Mashle, Billy Bat, one piece, Sakamoto days, MHA, Nagatoro, spy x family, undead unlock and other stuff at the moment
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One Piece (on going)
Hunter x Hunter (on going)
Attack on Titan (finished)
Kaguya Love is War (ends in 4 chapters)
Oshi no Ko (on going)
Evangelion's Manga adaption (finished)
Three Days of Happiness (finished)
Chainsaw Man (on going)
Spy x Family (on going)
I know my name has Joestar in it, but I am actually technically Anime only for Jojo. Even though I have read all of Part 6 and a little of Part 7. But haven't read Part 8 yet, but I will read both Part 7 and 8 once we start hearing when Part 9 is about to begin.
Part of how Mangaplus (and Viz in US) maintains its pull is that it is basically up to date on most current Shueisha properties, which are big and tend to be long-running. I haven't counted all the active series they offer but, the smaller publishers rely on spreading the net as far wide as possible and turning a profit on smallish runs. That's not even acknowledging that most of the mangas are only targeted because they find series that get popular through scans and that most series they acquire don't get long runs i.e. they acquire the license at volume 4 but, the series only lasts to volume 8 where they catch up. Crunchyroll does have a manga section that works on a similar model but, they have very few regular updated series and most don't seem popular
Square Enix did release an app but it was heavely censored and with a weird paid systeme where chapters are cut in part and limited in time
I think that the philosophies of publishers/magazines have a play on that. If we use Shougakukan as an example, they co-own Viz with Shueisha and I believe that they should be able to launch an initiative similar to MangaPlus, however, their magazines output doesn't have the same western appeal that Shueisha does. The Sunday brand (Weekly, Super, Gessan, Webry) prides itself for having a laid-back line-up, with series that are the face of a relaxing Sunday, and I honestly believe that at least half of the Weekly magazine series have little to offer to the big western public. Big Comic brand being a Seinen brand is in a similar spot, something that is proven by how picky Shueisha is with Young Jump titles (a seinen magazine far more 'shounen-like' than anything published on Big Comic brand). Kodansha has more western appeal and I could see something similar to MangaPlus working for them, but I guess they lack the means to make it happen. They used to publish some titles simultaneously but in a pay for each chapter scheme, so it was not very popular (I remember Edens Zero, in multiple languages, and Sayonara Watashi no Cramer in English. There were probably more titles I don't remember), I have no idea if they are still doing it or something similar. Akita Shounen most likely lacks both the Western appeal and the means to do something similar lol
PS: Although I'm giving my two cents here, I have little to none knowledge in overseas markets and haven't followed Japanese market closely, so I'm very sorry if I said something innacurate and/or wrong.
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God I remember downloading that app when it launched because I want to use to read and catch up on My Dress Up Darling. The payment system alone confused me enough, that I didn't even check out to see a single chapter to see the censorship.
Taking this back since a friend was able to get a hold of the article, so I have verified that it atleast does exist. Still though, like Rouk said, it's just grey market estimations of dubious accuracy, nothing official about it.
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Hello, Thanks Rouk & others for the informative data and charts. Glad to be here with other knowledgeable people!
As for Dragon Ball. unlicensed copies were definitely high in number. Because when China and South Korea got their (late) official release it still managed to sell 10m+ in China and 22M+ in South Korea. These aren't normal numbers. These are top 1# Manga numbers even now. So yes its very likely Dragon ball has tens of millions of unlicensed copies. In China It was so popular that the publisher made an 'official' knockoff sequel with volume covers and everything.
Also, Shueisha does not seem to be able (or care) to accurately calculate Dragon Ball circulation. We've heard numbers from 300 to 350 million back in mid 2000's. And even if we go publisher per publisher its already higher than 300 based on just 16 countries (most of which are outdated or have some kind of inaccuracy) data.
I think Dragon Ball is truly one of a kind in the manga and anime industry. It managed to sell over 100 million copies when the manga market was very small outside Japan. This is an amazing feat.
According to this Naruto had 12m as of 2014 https://asahi.gakujo.ne.jp/common_sense/morning_paper/detail/id=964
One Piece has 2.9m as of August 2022.
www.publishersweekly.com
One Piece has benefited and will benefit from the growth in manga market.
My Hero Academia has 10m. and 1.2m for its first volume
www.animenewsnetwork.com
Kimetsu had 4 million as of 2021 but I don't think they said it was USA specific number.
screenrant.com
As for Dragon Ball. unlicensed copies were definitely high in number. Because when China and South Korea got their (late) official release it still managed to sell 10m+ in China and 22M+ in South Korea. These aren't normal numbers. These are top 1# Manga numbers even now. So yes its very likely Dragon ball has tens of millions of unlicensed copies. In China It was so popular that the publisher made an 'official' knockoff sequel with volume covers and everything.
Also, Shueisha does not seem to be able (or care) to accurately calculate Dragon Ball circulation. We've heard numbers from 300 to 350 million back in mid 2000's. And even if we go publisher per publisher its already higher than 300 based on just 16 countries (most of which are outdated or have some kind of inaccuracy) data.
I think Dragon Ball is truly one of a kind in the manga and anime industry. It managed to sell over 100 million copies when the manga market was very small outside Japan. This is an amazing feat.
Not bookscan data but print.
According to this Naruto had 12m as of 2014 https://asahi.gakujo.ne.jp/common_sense/morning_paper/detail/id=964
One Piece has 2.9m as of August 2022.
This Week's Bestsellers: August 15, 2022
'Long Live the Pumpkin Queen,' a paranormal YA romance based on 'The Nightmare Before Christmas,' is the #6 book in the country. Plus the August book club picks hit our hardcover fiction list, and BookTok is atwitter over 'Husband Material.'
www.publishersweekly.com
One Piece has benefited and will benefit from the growth in manga market.
My Hero Academia has 10m. and 1.2m for its first volume
Bleach Manga Crosses 2.7 Million Copies in Print in U.S., My Hero Academia Manga Crosses 10 Million
Viz launches 20th Anniv. Edition of Bleach manga on August 2, 20-volume box set of My Hero Academia on October 18
Kimetsu had 4 million as of 2021 but I don't think they said it was USA specific number.
Manga Is More Popular Than Ever, And Marvel Is Capitalizing On It
Manga is booming so the game is changing.
screenrant.com
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We don’t. But piracy is interesting in the context of the manga industry because it could be argued that it was pirated fan translations that helped establish its presence in the overseas audiences, which paved the way to the success of manga/anime in the market today.
As has been mentioned, Mangaplus has done a great job at countering piracy. We used to have teams of scanlators (some of them sketchy) scrambling to release their versions of weekly JUMP releases, and they’re mostly gone now.
I read a crapton of manga, so I’ll just list some of my favorites:
- One Piece: one of the best fantasy adventures, period
- 100 Kanojo: harem rom com fused with internet shitposts
- Dungeon Meshi: another immaculately written fantasy manga with a focus on cooking and eating
- 20th Century Boys: you can’t go wrong with any Naoki Urusawa works, honestly
- Bokurano: depressing mecha
Yes it was a phenomenon which can not be replaced in any aspect ( sales, popularity, anime and culture impact).
DBZ was the hight of anime/manga industry both in Japan and worldwide.
Fellow one piece fan, huh?
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I read it as "rent a girlfriend" at first. I almost ignored you
I read a lot of manga and I still have a lot planned but
actually i prefer 8.3 and above but the list is too long then
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-(web novel)
Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun
Atsumare! Fushigi Kenkyuu-bu
Made in Abyss
ONIMAI: I'm Now Your Sister!
Shadows House
Kaguya-sama: Love is War
SPY x FAMILY
Kanan-sama wa Akuma de Choroi
Ueno-san wa Bukiyou
Chained Soldier
Grand Blue Dreaming
Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun
Atsumare! Fushigi Kenkyuu-bu
Made in Abyss
ONIMAI: I'm Now Your Sister!
Shadows House
Kaguya-sama: Love is War
SPY x FAMILY
Kanan-sama wa Akuma de Choroi
Ueno-san wa Bukiyou
Chained Soldier
Grand Blue Dreaming
I'm pretty sure 350M originated from an oricon article which sort of became the source for every other article reposting it and was most likely an error on a PR article that went unnoticed. The article in question was about Dragonball Evolution, iirc. I say most likely a mistake as the number stuck as 250M on every other official source (i.e. official books still citing 250M even as recently as 2018).
The source of 300M is a saikyo jump issue (and much more recent), and as such should be very much correct as it is a straight from the publisher number. Obviously publishers tend to like giving out round numbers, so that doesn't mean it's 300M flat. If could also be 315 or something like that.
Worldwide probably, Japan definitely not. It's pretty much impossible to find an argument against DS.
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Yes. I’m going to cry when it ends. I know I will.
Ugh no, Rental Girlfriend is terrible.I read it as "rent a girlfriend" at first. I almost ignored you
Haha
Man when the announcement came after the Paramount war that one piece had reached half way point of the story i was like no one piece can't end.
Being one piece fan is though we want to know the ending but we also don't want it to end.
You can say that now but before one piece DB was giant is Japan.
Now one piece is most famous manga in Japan. even though KNY was super duper hit won't and can't replace one piece popularity in Japan.
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DS was (and is, as s2 posted monster ratings and streaming numbers) far bigger. It holds pretty much nearly every oricon-era record and I'm not referring exclusively to manga.
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The way I see it, personally, Shueisha uses the global popularity of their currently running manga (as well as the worldwide popularity the Shonen Jump name has garnered over the years) to bring people to MangaPlus, where they can then introduce them to newer works. For a couple of years now, every new manga that has launched in Weekly Shonen Jump also go on M+ from the very beginning, meaning that they have the opportunity to grow worldwide from the very beginning. Now Shueisha’s aiming to do the same thing with new manga launching on their increasingly popular Jump+ website.
This whole process has honestly worked wonders for them: I don’t think Spy x Family, Chainsaw Man, and Kaiju No. 8 grow as popular as they are (before an anime adaptation, no less!) without MangaPlus’s influence.
Though you are right in that series that are popular through scans can make their way to the service - see Dandadan, which got an announcement of an English release months in advance.
I don’t even think you can argue that, I think it’s just a given. I’ve personally always felt that Komi doesn’t fall into Viz’s hands if it wasn’t for jsut how popular the manga itself is, but for something more concrete - Seven Seas, one of the more known localizers, holds monthly surveys where you can suggest both manga and light novels for them to consider licensing.
Both. There's a sheet on the first page with yearly numbers (both series and volumes), and while LTDs aren't really obtainable (for OP, anyway, as oricon does not track before 2008), circulation numbers are so far apart in average that it's fairly obvious DS tops OP on that front too (and due to OP's print philosophy the gap between circulation and sales is going to be quite a bit bigger for it than DS', too, which matches much better in tracked numbers). Even moreso when we know from its prints that OP easily peaked in 2011 due to the fact that its first prints are nearly all available, which is quite convenient since it gives us a decent picture of how the series evolved over the years even without actual sales data.Guys, when you are talking about 'which is bigger', are you talking about yearly sales or LTD sales? It's a bit unclear right now, for me at least. Sorry
But my post was much wider than simply manga sales, as DS' domination extended far beyond that. Since I suspect this might be a point of contention, I'll elaborate so that it doesn't turn into a back and forth. I'll put it under spoiler to not clog the page.
- Manga sales are obvious: as far as Oricon is concerned DS' best selling volume yearly nearly doubles OP's physically, and likely more than doubles it with digital included (since an article saw Shueisha indicate DS as its best-selling all-time digital seller, and that tracks well with what we saw on digital store rankings; OP is just third, as Kingdom takes second on that front, and given the large discrepancy in volume #, it goes without saying that DS tracks way higher on average; and this is fairly clear, but digital in general would obviously be much more relevant in 2020 than in 2011).
- The film has a ridicolous stranglehold on box-office records, and is 30% higher than its closest contender in Spirited Away. This is remarkable because Japan is largely an inflationless market for BO, so that translates to beating the film by a huge amount on ticket sales too.
- The DS compilation rebroadcasts had giant ratings on all instances they aired, both in 2020 and 2021, IIRC ranging between 12 and 15, which are ratings no other anime can match with nowadays. The film crossed 20, the first time that happened for a movie in years, since 2014 if memory serves. Season 2 had unprecedented ratings for a late-night show, getting between 7 and 10 for its live broadcast, but generally hovering around 20 with recordings, making it the most watched anime broadcast during the weeks it aired and damn near the top overall. When including its streaming domination, it likely was #1. Considering how quickly tv is dying, with even Sazae-san being a far cry from its best days, these numbers are ridicolous.
- The film's home video sales are the second highest of the oricon era (2008-2022) below only those of frozen, which is really something in 2021 as home video is a completely dying market.
- The sales for its J-Books light novels (first and second in this, though the third one also sold ludicrously) aren't just the highest ever for a manga-based novel by an absurd margin, they are high enough to crack them one of the highest spots for novels in general in the oricon era, as both sold well over a million copies.
- Gurenge is the highest-selling anime single, with Homura also being a huge success and Zankyosanka currently projected to be the best selling digital single of the year as far as I'm aware. No other LiSa or Aimer song is anywhere near the numbers of their DS-related hits.
- Merch sales were beyond ridicolous, with absurd collabs not just coming forward but selling absurdly well. A coffee-can collab with the series sold 50 million cans in the span of three weeks, making Dydo's sales for the month of october 2020 1.5x those of the respective month the previous year.
- The series was estimated to have generated 1 trillion yen (~8.5 billion usd) in Japan alone in 2020 including everything.
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Very true, I just didn’t want to sound so definitive since we don’t really have hard data, but yeah from my perspective that’s exactly the scenario.
Here is a comparaison between France and North America for the size of manga market.
Blue: France / Red: US+Canada
Manga yearly sales in units
Manga yearly sales in revenue
Note : Revenue are in euros for France and dollars for US/canada.
These graphs did not include 2021 data a year that show an huge increase across evry market.
Manga yearly sales in France
Source 1
Source 2
This was post on Twitter severall months ago by a person who post a lot of data about the comic book market in France. (it's based on GFK/ICv2-Comichron data)
Blue: France / Red: US+Canada
Manga yearly sales in units
Manga yearly sales in revenue
Note : Revenue are in euros for France and dollars for US/canada.
These graphs did not include 2021 data a year that show an huge increase across evry market.
Manga yearly sales in France
Source 1
Source 2
This was post on Twitter severall months ago by a person who post a lot of data about the comic book market in France. (it's based on GFK/ICv2-Comichron data)
Sorry, if it feels like i was arguing but i was simply stating my point of view. Nor do i like arguing about which is best and which is not. Everybody has their point of view and if you argue you will only waste time on these kind of discussions.
Does anyone know why manga sales escalate in last quarter of the year in France??
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OP
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Because of the holidays. People buy manga as presents.
Also, publishers tend to release a lot in the last 4 months of the year (especially compared to the usually quiet summer) to benefit from the holiday effect, which in turns helps sales escalate in that period.
Some Worldwide sales data:
Detective Conan (Case Closed):
China: 30 million
Taiwan: 10 million
Vietnam: 300k initial print for recent volumes
Slam Dunk:
South Korea: 14.5 million
Hong Kong: 150k copies each volume (4.6 million)
Fist of The North Star:
Total worldwide: 40 million
Detective Conan (Case Closed):
China: 30 million
Taiwan: 10 million
Vietnam: 300k initial print for recent volumes
Slam Dunk:
South Korea: 14.5 million
Hong Kong: 150k copies each volume (4.6 million)
Fist of The North Star:
Total worldwide: 40 million
Doesn't summer has more holidays than winter??
By Holidays, I think Rouk refers to the end of the year shopping season. Lots of people are buying presents and goods at that moment.
I assume upcoming circulation announcement for Slam dunk 200M and Naruto 300M is due soon.
Also Its a bit weird we don't have any kanzenban or shinosban (Dragon ball didn't get a Shinsoban yet as well) for Naruto. I know the volume count is a problem but they do need to figure it out since they'd also need to do it to One Piece at some point. a 1.5 volume kanzenban would go up to 48 volumes which isn't very far off from the Prince of Tennis release they did. Bleach didn't have any special editions despite the recent anime as well.
Perhaps on the 10th anniversary?
Also Its a bit weird we don't have any kanzenban or shinosban (Dragon ball didn't get a Shinsoban yet as well) for Naruto. I know the volume count is a problem but they do need to figure it out since they'd also need to do it to One Piece at some point. a 1.5 volume kanzenban would go up to 48 volumes which isn't very far off from the Prince of Tennis release they did. Bleach didn't have any special editions despite the recent anime as well.
Perhaps on the 10th anniversary?
That one will be interesting to follow. Pretty curious to see what the long hiatus will do to its sales potential.
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Do you guys think Hunter x Hunter vol37 will manage to sell 1 million copies in the first week
Its first week will be 3 days long so I think it won't reach the 1M, but will be close. Perhaps 700-800k.
It won't judging by the last few volume releases years ago. One thing I want to know is if it will maintain it's 1st print run of 1.3 Million Copies from Volume 36 for the new volume.
HxH at its very peak still never had that good of a FW and it hasn't been at its peak in years. Best case scenario that FW is 400k-500k range if it doesn't drop further, and I'm not sure how likely that is either.
How long will it last though…
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10 chapters, as usual. Unless somehow Togashi manages to finish the next 10 while those release, then I guess we could have 20, but it's a longshot for now.
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didn't he write/or writing 2 new volumes?
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Having followed Togashi on Twitter since he created his account back in April, I think we are getting 20 at least. He has been consistently posting updates on the chapters for volume 39 for a while now. His most recent update yesterday was the first few pages of chapter 404.