Oricon has finally revealed some of the bestselling series and volumes for the half-year of 2023, which took place from November 21, 2022, to May 21, 2023. The 2018 Manga series by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yuusuke Nomura, Blue Lock tops the list with 8,046,032 copies sold within the span of 182 days, leaving behind Chainsaw Man at number 2 with 4,492,906 copies sold. Slam Dunk re-emerges here amid a strong push thanks to its latest film and the release of THE FIRST SLAM DUNK re:SOURCE volume, clinching the 3rd spot at 4,199,966 copies and outpacing Jujutsu Kaisen, which settles for 4th place with 3,757,215 copies. One Piece is the 5th bestselling series here, with 3,550,097 copies sold.
Despite Blue Lock taking the first spot here, it falls far short of what Kimetsu no Yaiba achieved in 2020 and 2021, selling 45,297,633 and 26,351,483 copies, respectively. Jujutsu Kaisen also had a significant turnout thanks to its Anime in 2021, sitting behind Kimetsu no Yaiba with 23,797,483 copies sold for its half-year sales before slowing down to 9,382,099 copies the following year.
Some of the titles that have fallen off the top 10 list compared to last year are Kimetsu no Yaiba, Mystery to Iu Nakare, Kaijuu 8-gou, and Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru, all of which occupied the bottom five spots on the 2022 list.
Remember! That it is thanks to Oricon that we get to see these charts on a yearly basis, so be sure to say your thanks by visiting their site here. All the information you see below is accessible via Oricon right here (Series) and here (Individuals). For previous years’ charts, you can read them here (for 2020), here (for 2021) and here (for 2022). Please note that Oricon only tracks physical copies sold in Japan from participating stores. More about Oricon can be learned via this page here.
In terms of genres, action is the most popular here, with eight titles and accounting for 27.59% of the total genres present in the top 10. Drama is the second most popular, with four titles at 13.79%, while the battle genre takes the third spot with three appearances at 10.34%.
Note. The genres and themes were taken from criteria set by official publishers: Viz Media, Kodansha etc. There are few titles that did not possess a theme, as such, it is sourced from sites such as MyAnimeList or Anilist. Some themes like isekai for instance, tend to not be listed oddly enough, for instance Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken only has fantasy noted as its genre by Kodansha Comics.
In terms of publishers, Shueisha has shown strong dominance over the past nine years with 65 titles featured on each respective top 10 list since 2015, selling almost 280 million copies. This figure is more than three times that of Kodansha’s 19 appearances, which sold 75 million copies. Shogakukan and Square Enix each have two titles over the course of the nine years, while Akita Shoten and Kadokawa both have one each.
Are Manga Sales Slowing Down?
The short answer is no. Digital sales are growing.
When observing the top 5 series and top 25 volume sales, the lower rung does not see much of a difference compared to the year 2022. However, the difference is significantly larger when compared to what was observed in 2020 and 2021, both years mainly driven by the sales of Kimetsu no Yaiba and Jujutsu Kaisen, which were boosted to a great extent by their Anime adaptations. To compare, the cutoff figure for the top 25 volume sales in 2020 was 811,819 copies, whereas in 2021, it was 1,005,265 copies. For 2021 and 2022, it was 421,439 and 342,045 copies, respectively.
Although this is still limited since we are only taking into account 25 volumes out of the tens of thousands out there, it still corresponds to the performance of some major publishers until FY2022. Note that Oricon only captures physical sales of Manga reported by participating stores, and digital sales are not counted in its daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly aggregations. From FY2015 to FY2022, Shogakukan, Kodansha, and Shueisha all reported declining physical manga sales.
In FY2012, for instance, Shueisha saw sales worth 39,964 million yen (≈285.96 million USD) made for its physical Manga, compared to 2,899 million yen (≈20.74 million USD) for digital for the same year. From that year onward, sales continued to fall for physical Manga, with only 25,189 million yen (≈180.18 million USD) achieved for FY2018. However, digital sales have been on the rise since FY2012. While physical sales of Manga slumped to perhaps an all-time low, digital sales climbed to 16,240 million yen (≈116.18 million USD). Then, Kimetsu no Yaiba came into the picture, pushing sales of physical Manga to 43,114 million yen (≈308.42 million USD) in FY2020. But it was in FY2021 that sales were most impressive for the publisher, reaching 61,713 million yen (≈441.47 million USD) thanks to both Jujutsu Kaisen and Kimetsu no Yaiba. Note that during that time, according to Oricon, both titles had full-year sales of 30,917,746 copies and 29,511,021 copies, respectively. Digital sales have also responded synonymously, recording a significant jump in sales. For FY2020 and 2021, the segment each noted 31,519 million yen (≈225.48 million USD) and 44,909 million yen (≈321.26 million USD) in sales, respectively.
After sales of Jujutsu Kaisen and Kimetsu no Yaiba passed the maturity stage and began to decline, physical copies of Manga sold for Shueisha dropped to 34,058 million yen (≈243.64 million USD), a 44.81% drop year-over-year. This is directly proportional to what we observed for physical Manga sales performance through Oricon for 2022. On the other hand, digital sales peaked for FY2022, reaching a massive 60,241 million yen (≈430.91 million USD) in sales, which is almost twice as large as FY2022’s Manga sales performance and bigger than the sales of periodic magazines and Manga combined for Shueisha.
Shogakukan more or less experienced the same thing. While Shueisha experienced improvement in the physical space for FY2020 and FY2021, Shogakukan has seen a continuous decline in physical Manga sales from FY2015 to FY2022. Sales for FY2015 were at 22,701 million yen (≈162.38 million USD), whereas in FY2022, the figure dwindled to 16,608 million yen (≈118.80 million USD). Compared to digital, sales have consistently risen from FY2015 to FY2022. For FY2015, the publisher witnessed 7,599 million yen (≈54.36 million USD) worth of sales made for its digital segment, as opposed to physical Manga sales of 22,701 million yen (≈162.38 million USD). In FY2022, the digital segment ballooned to 38,287 million yen (≈273.87 million USD), more than double the sales of Manga for the same fiscal year.
Kodansha did not release a separate figure for its Manga sales, but under the Magazine department (where its physical Manga belongs to), sales have noted a year-over-year drop from FY2009 to FY2019. However, according to the Annual Report on the Publication Market 2022, digital sales for Kodansha have more than quadrupled the figure noted in FY2015. The publisher saw 54,400 million yen (≈389.13 million USD) in sales for the segment in FY2020, compared to 12,100 million yen (≈86.55 million USD) in sales in FY2015.
That said, the digital sales mentioned by all of the publishers above take into consideration other aspects as well, and not just Manga. Sales of books, novels, and whatever else the publishers are offering digitally are included. However, the figures released by the Annual Report on the Publication Market 2022 (page 213) reaffirm that digital Manga sales overall have grown significantly over the past few years. In 2020, physical sales of both Manga and magazines were 270.6 billion yen (≈1.94 billion USD), with digital sales at 342 billion yen (≈2.45 billion USD). In 2021, that number dropped to 264.5 billion yen (≈1.89 billion USD) for physical sales, while digital sales grew to their highest level since 2014 at 411.4 billion yen (≈2.94 billion USD), or about 1.6 times the amount made by physical sales of Manga and magazines in the year 2021. The situation continued to worsen for the physical space when the latest results showed that sales dropped by a further 13.38% for the market to 229.1 billion yen (≈1.64 billion USD) while Digital sales continued to reinforce itself climbing another 8.87% year-over-year to 447.9 billion yen (≈3.20 billion USD).
Going forward, the current situation of slow physical sales is expected to persist. The grand success of Kimetsu no Yaiba and Jujutsu Kaisen can also be attributed to the compounded effect of the pandemic, which forced many people to stay at home throughout FY2020 and FY2021, leading to an increase in disposable time. Hence, the overall sales for Shueisha and Kodansha, for instance, peaked around the same time before a drop in FY2022 when the situation concerning the pandemic improved over time. But I will leave that for a separate post. From now on, with the market slowly beginning to normalize and taking into account inflation, if you notice a low turnout for physical sales, I hope this explanation will suffice for the time being.
Manga Series Sales Ranking (Top 5)
(November 21, 2022 to May 21, 2023)
1. Blue Lock
by (Story) Muneyuki Kaneshiro and (Art) Yuusuke Nomura
Publisher: Kodansha
Estimated number of copies: 8,046,032
Analysis
This is Blue Lock’s second appearance on the Top 10 list. The 8,046,032 copies achieved here represent a 416.33% increase in sales compared to the same period the year before.
The series has seen a sharp incline in copies sold after its Anime aired. Debut sales showed a significant rise, particularly for Volume 22, with 78,295 copies sold in just three days, compared to Volume 16 and Volume 20, which sold 48,181 copies and 45,450 copies respectively. The most notable increase, however, was seen for Volume 23, which sold 196,726 copies in four days, compared to the 80,839 copies achieved by Volume 18 in its first four days. Volume 24 also had strong sales, with 201,573 copies sold in its first five days, although there wasn’t much improvement in sales compared to its debut.
Blue Lock is set to have a second season of its TV Anime adaptation in the future. However, with an increasing number of new adaptations coming in, consumers’ attention may shift away from the series throughout the remainder of 2023, which could impact the series’ physical sales performance.
2. Chainsaw Man
by Tatsuki Fujimoto
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 4,492,906
Analysis
Chainsaw Man was last seen with 4,181,650 copies sold in 2021 on Oricon’s half-year sales chart. The 4,492,906 copies sold in 2023 represents a 7.44% increase compared to its performance in 2021.
Similar to Blue Lock, Chainsaw Man‘s resurgence here is also thanks to its Anime adaptation, which began airing on October 12, 2022. This has led to increased demand for its Manga’s previous volumes, resulting in a surge in copies sold, particularly in the month of October. After the Anime aired, there was another spike in physical sales in Japan noted in January, followed by a continuous decline in sales from February onwards.
While the overall sales of the Manga have greatly benefited from the Anime adaptation, there hasn’t been much movement in the debut sales of its newer volumes. The six-day sales of Volume 12 and Volume 14 were 233,928 copies and 260,183 copies respectively, sold in October 2022 and April 2023. However, these numbers are not as high as the 328,038 copies sold by Volume 11 in its first four days, prior to the Anime adaptation. Volume 13 sold 284,558 copies in its first five days in January 2023, which is greater than Volume 10’s 300,802 copies in seven days, but not as good as Volume 11.
Considering its current slowdown, the series may be excluded from the Top 5 by the end of the year.
3. SLAM DUNK
by Takehiko Inoue
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 4,199,966
Additional Comments
Another case of a strong push thanks to Anime, SLAM DUNK has made a big comeback this time, with 4,199,966 copies sold within the period. This success is also supported by the release of THE FIRST SLAM DUNK re:SOURCE, which is placed 15th on the volume chart below with 448,680 copies sold. This would mean that the rest of its volumes sold 3,751,286 copies.
Despite being a classic, SLAM DUNK‘s stellar performance here can be largely attributed to the release of The First Slam Dunk on December 3, 2022, which achieved great success, earning a box office revenue of 10 billion yen (≈71.55 million USD) in its first 67 days. This, in turn, has sparked increased demand for its Manga volumes. However, it appears that sales may slow down further until the end of the fiscal year tracked by Oricon.
4. Jujutsu Kaisen
by Gege Akutami
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 3,757,215
Analysis
This marks Jujutsu Kaisen‘s third consecutive appearance in the Top 5, although the number of copies sold has significantly decreased year-over-year after reaching a peak in 2021. In that year, the series sold 23,797,483 copies, followed by a 60.58% drop to 9,382,099 copies in 2022. The latest result represents another decline of 59.95%. In total, the half-year sales alone amount to 36,936,797 copies from 2021 to 2023. The series achieved a total of 43,209,898 copies sold for the full years of 2021 and 2022 combined.
The series is anticipating the release of its second season for the TV Anime in July of this year. As its previous volumes have already reached maturity levels, it is difficult to predict if there will be a significant rebound in overall copies sold. However, the upcoming new season may provide a slight boost for its newer volumes.
5. One Piece
by Eiichiro Oda
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 3,550,097
Additional Comments
This marks One Piece‘s ninth consecutive appearance in the Top 10 and eighth consecutive appearance in the Top 5. Out of the nine appearances, the series has been the bestseller for four consecutive times.
While the number of copies sold has not reached the intensity seen from 2015 to 2017, the latest outcome is still stronger than what the series experienced in 2021. However, the 3,550,097 copies sold in the latest year represent a 14.57% decrease compared to the 4,155,790 copies achieved in 2022. This is a somewhat unexpected outcome, considering that it occurred after the release of One Piece Film: Red (on August 6, 2022, the half-year performance of 2022 was up to May 22 of the same year) and takes place after the popular Wano Country Arc, as indicated to have performed greatly by Toei Animation’s latest fiscal year performance.
Manga Individual Volume Sales Ranking (Top 30)
(November 21, 2022 to May 21, 2023)
1. One Piece Vol. 105
by Eiichiro Oda
Release Date: March 3, 2023
No. of Days: 80
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 1,758,255
Debut Week: Feb. 27 – Mar. 5, 2023
2. Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 21
by Gege Akutami
Release Date: December 2, 2022
No. of Days: 171
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 1,553,984
Debut Week: Nov. 28 – Dec. 4, 2022
3. Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 22
by Gege Akutami
Release Date: March 3, 2023
No. of Days: 80
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 1,318,536
Debut Week: Feb. 27 – Mar. 5, 2023
4. Spy x Family Vol. 11
by Tatsuya Endou
Release Date: April 4, 2023
No. of Days: 48
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 1,177,254
Debut Week: Apr. 3 – Apr. 9, 2023
5. Tokyo Revengers Vol. 31
by Ken Wakui
Release Date: January 17, 2023
No. of Days: 125
Publisher: Kodansha
Estimated number of copies: 846,297
Debut Week: Jan. 16 – Jan. 22, 2023
6. Boku no Hero Academia Vol. 37
by Kouhei Horikoshi
Release Date: February 3, 2023
No. of Days: 108
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 726,883
Debut Week: Jan. 30 – Feb. 5, 2023
7. Chainsaw Man Vol. 13
by Tatsuki Fujimoto
Release Date: January 4, 2023
No. of Days: 138
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 698,001
Debut Week: Jan. 2 – Jan. 8, 2023
8. Kingdom Vol. 67
by Yasuhisa Hara
Release Date: January 19, 2023
No. of Days: 123
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 618,955
Debut Week: Jan. 16 – Jan. 22, 2023
9. Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken Vol. 22 [Regular Edition]
by (Story) Fuse and (Art) Taiki Kawakami
Release Date: December 8, 2022
No. of Days: 165
Publisher: Kodansha
Estimated number of copies: 529,770
Debut Week: Dec. 5 – Dec. 11, 2022
10. Blue Lock Vol. 22
by (Story) Muneyuki Kaneshiro and (Art) Yuusuke Nomura
Release Date: December 16, 2022
No. of Days: 157
Publisher: Kodansha
Estimated number of copies: 518,277
Debut Week: Dec. 12 – Dec. 18, 2022
11. Kingdom Vol. 68
by Yasuhisa Hara
Release Date: April 18, 2023
No. of Days: 34
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 517,986
Debut Week: Apr. 17 – Apr. 23, 2023
12. Tokyo Revengers Vol. 30
by Ken Wakui
Release Date: November 17, 2022
No. of Days: 182
Publisher: Kodansha
Estimated number of copies: 482,942
Debut Week: Nov. 14 – Nov. 20, 2022
13. Chainsaw Man Vol. 14
by Tatsuki Fujimoto
Release Date: April 4, 2023
No. of Days: 48
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 479,266
Debut Week: Apr. 3 – Apr. 9, 2023
14. Kaijuu 8-gou Vol. 9
by Naoya Matsumoto
Release Date: March 3, 2023
No. of Days: 80
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 453,197
Debut Week: Feb. 27 – Mar. 5, 2023
15. THE FIRST SLAM DUNK re:SOURCE
by Takehiko Inoue
Release Date: December 15, 2022
No. of Days: 158
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 448,680
Debut Week: Dec. 12 – Dec. 18, 2022
16. Blue Lock Vol. 23
by (Story) Muneyuki Kaneshiro and (Art) Yuusuke Nomura
Release Date: March 16, 2023
No. of Days: 67
Publisher: Kodansha
Estimated number of copies: 445,253
Debut Week: Mar. 13 – Mar. 19, 2023
17. Mystery to Iu nakare Vol. 12
by Yumi Tamura
Release Date: January 10, 2023
No. of Days: 132
Publisher: Shogakukan
Estimated number of copies: 435,559
Debut Week: Jan. 9 – Jan. 15, 2023
18. Detective Conan Vol. 103
by Gosho Aoyama
Release Date: April 12, 2023
No. of Days: 40
Publisher: Shogakukan
Estimated number of copies: 397,185
Debut Week: Apr. 10 – Apr. 16, 2023
19. One Piece Vol. 104
by Eiichiro Oda
Release Date: November 4, 2022
No. of Days: 182
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 360,601
Debut Week: Oct. 31 – Nov. 6, 2022
20. Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Vol. 11
by (Story) Natsu Hyuuga, Itsuki Nanao and (Art) Nekokurage
Release Date: February 25, 2023
No. of Days: 86
Publisher: Square Enix
Estimated number of copies: 350,781
Debut Week: Feb. 20 – Feb. 26, 2023
21. Blue Lock Vol. 12
by (Story) Muneyuki Kaneshiro and (Art) Yuusuke Nomura
Release Date: December 17, 2020
No. of Days: 182
Publisher: Kodansha
Estimated number of copies: 349,636
22. Blue Lock Vol. 13
by (Story) Muneyuki Kaneshiro and (Art) Yuusuke Nomura
Release Date: March 17, 2021
No. of Days: 182
Publisher: Kodansha
Estimated number of copies: 347,432
Debut Week: Mar. 15 – Mar. 21, 2021
23. Blue Lock Vol. 21
by (Story) Muneyuki Kaneshiro and (Art) Yuusuke Nomura
Release Date: October 17, 2022
No. of Days: 182
Publisher: Kodansha
Estimated number of copies: 346,093
Debut Week: Oct. 17 – Oct. 23, 2022
24. Chainsaw Man Vol. 12
by Tatsuki Fujimoto
Release Date: October 4, 2022
No. of Days: 182
Publisher: Shueisha
Estimated number of copies: 343,271
Debut Week: Oct. 3 – Oct. 9, 2022
25. Blue Lock Vol. 14
by (Story) Muneyuki Kaneshiro and (Art) Yuusuke Nomura
Release Date: May 17, 2021
No. of Days: 182
Publisher: Kodansha
Estimated number of copies: 342,045
Debut Week: May 17 – May 23, 2021
As always, if you find any faults with the list above, please do not hesitate to let me know! Also, don’t shy away from dropping a comment or two down below and share your thoughts with us!
Featured Image:
Blue Lock
Source: Oricon
Previous Half-year Chart: 2022
Additonal Souces:
Shinbunka
Annual Report on the Publication Market 2022
Visualisations:
Series Top 5
Individual Volumes Top 25
Past Bestsellers (Part 1)
Past Bestsellers (Part 2)
Past Bestsellers (Part 2)
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