Yesterday I posted the top selling manga of 2009 by series. Today we'll take a look at the top selling manga by volume for the year. The results can be surprisingly different between the two different lists, though One Piece still comes in at #1- its 53rd volume sold more copies than any other manga this year, & the only one to break 2 million.

But just like last year & the year before that, the top selling manga volume after One Piece goes to Nana. So why did Nana rank so high on this list but didn't even appear on yesterday's? Because there was only one volume of Nana released during the whole year. & while that one volume sold like hotcakes & more than most manga titles out there (Nana is insanely popular, after all), most other titles had several volumes over the year, which collectively boosted their sales & rank.

Duplicates are removed from this list, so that only the top selling volume for each series is listed. For example, while One Piece grabbed all top four spots with different volumes, it'll only be listed once as the top seller. Check out the top 20 rankings below:

( Read more... )

With 2009 now almost over, it's time to take a look at the best selling manga series in Japan of 2009. The results below combine the total volumes sold for each series. For example, the top four selling individual manga volumes this year were all One Piece, but they were all combined into one number. One Piece's massive popularity in Japan shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone at this point, so it only makes sense for it to be at #1.

Interestingly enough, two titles on the list- 20th Century Boys & Mei-chan no Shitsuji- didn't even release any new volumes in 2009. But due to both getting live-action remakes this year, interest in these older titles surged. The top three though were the Big Three Shonen Jump titles, naturally. You can check out the top 10 below:

( Read more... )

The latest issue of ICv2 Insider's Guide has revealed the top selling manga properties of the third quarter (July-September) of 2009 in the United States. In addition to an overall list, a top 10 list of both shonen & shojo titles was also listed. Viz continues to dominate most of the list, most notably with Naruto once again being the top seller. But Tokyopop held strong with their best selling title, Fruits Basket, beating everything else. Just a shame most of its sales came from the final volume, meaning sales for FB are all downhill from here.

While the lists do divide which gender each title is targeted to, it doesn't specify which gender is buying which. For example, despite being shonen titles, Rosario + Vampire & Chibi Vampire both have huge female followings, & more than likely more girls purchase each title than guys. (Girls are buying vampire books? Whoda thunk?) Details below:

( Read more... )

Despite the horror that was Haruhi season two's Endless Eight, the DVDs continue to sell like hotcakes. Kadokawa recently released the second Endless Eight DVD (third Haruhi Season 2 DVD overall), & just like the first one, it's been selling very well. Proving that the followers of Haruhi-ism will buy anything that features their goddess. In its first week, it sold well over 12,000 copies, placing it as the third highest DVD of the week.

While we're talking about the DVDs, it should be pointing out that the DVDs for Bakemonogatari have been doing surprisingly (or rather unsurprisingly) well. The second DVD took the top spot once again, selling over 18,000 copies in its first week on sale. Not only that, but the Blu-ray version sold so many copies that it's now the highest selling anime Blu-ray of all time, even surpassing K-On. Here are the top 10 DVDs in Japan for last week:

( Read more... )

The current FullMetal Alchemist series "Brotherhood" isn't doing so well in Japan, at least when you compare it to the original series. While the first series saw its ratings climbing higher & higher at this point into the series, Brotherhood's ratings keep dropping lower & lower. Episode 20 for both series sees the largest gap yet- 8% viewership versus 2%. Of course, these numbers don't include the online viewings through the worldwide simulcasts.

The original FMA averaged about a 6% viewership during its 50 episode run, while the current series has averaged only 3.3% so far. Granted that's only 20 episodes versus more than double that amount, but it still doesn't bode well. There are talks about moving the series to a better timeslot to help boost ratings. Things could still pick up though. The second season of Code Geass did horrible in the beginning, but viewership & interest picked up as the series went on.

Source: http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/09/01/full-metal-alchemist-ratings-collapse

Naruto may be the top selling manga in America for the new year thus far, but it's a different story in Japan. Oricon released two separate lists detailing the best selling titles in Japan for the first half of 2009 (technically November 08 to May 09)- one showing the top manga by series, & the other being the top manga by volume. They might sound like the results would be quite similar, but there are some key differences. See, most shonen manga release two or three volumes in a half-year's time. But a title like Nana, the most popular shoujo manga in Japan, only release one volume during that time.

Being how insanely popular Nana is in Japan as evidenced by the list of the top selling manga of 2008, its latest volume was only beat out by the two newest One Piece volumes. But since that again was the ONLY volume for the title, Nana didn't even make it into the top 10 list of manga by series. The multiple volumes of Naruto, Bleach, FullMetal Alchemist, & the rest saw to that. Check out both lists below:

( Read more... )

Earlier this month, the New York Times added a brand new manga category to its bestseller lists. You know how you see "New York Best Seller" on popular books? Well perhaps now we'll be seeing that on manga volumes as well. Or at least for Naruto anyway.

As it unsurprisingly turns out, Naruto is the ruling king of American manga. The NYT has only been publishing this list for the past two weeks, but both times you pretty much nothing but Naruto volume after Naruto volume in the top 10. Of course it doesn't help the competition that right now Naruto is in the middle of its latest release blitz, meaning we're getting tons of new volumes in a very short amount of time.

The list isn't COMPLETELY ninja-based though. MPD-Psycho, Eden, Bleach, Gentlemen's Alliance, & Black Cat have taken turns on the lower end of the list. Still though, this is drastically different from what we see from Japanese manga lists. Japanese 2ch posters are pretty surprised by American's obsession with orange-clad lad as well. Check out what they're saying about it:

( Read more... )

A list of Japan's top selling manga of 2008 has appeared online, compiled by Oricon. The results are a bit different from the previous list of the top selling manga on Amazon Japan. But this list compiles sales from all retailers in Japan, not just one online shop.

The list however is quite similar to last year's list of top selling manga of 2007. In fact, the top 5 titles are exactly the same this year. One Piece once again tops the list, with mature shoujo series Nana (a personal favorite of mine) at number 2. The lovely Nodame Cantabile comes in at #3. The rest of the list is largely dominated by shonen titles, as to be expected. You can see the rest of the top sellers listed below:

( Read more... )

The Japanese version of popular webstore Amazon has posted various lists of its top selling products for 2008, including several anime & manga related categories. Check out what the top selling anime DVDs, CDs, toys, manga volumes, & light novels were over the past 12 months:

( Read more... )

The Japanese website for ManiaxZ magazine has recently put up a table of stats that depict the average viewership for every Shonen Jump manga to ever be adapted into an anime series. & considering SJ's 40 year run in Japan, that's a lot of anime.

Topping the list is Akira Toriyama's first classic "Dr Slump." In fact all of the titles on top are older series, which just goes to show how far viewership of anime has gone down in Japan. A few decades back, everyone in Japan would watch anime. But now the genre has become so otaku-centric, only a certain kind of viewer will watch most of it. Sure there are still a few anime in Japan that everyone & their grandmother watch, like Sazae-san, Maruko-chan, & Shin-chan. But none of those are Jump titles.

The most popular current Shonen Jump title, & the most popular otaku-aimed series in general, is of course One Piece. & while not in the top 10 or anything, it does rank reasonably high. In fact almost all Jump anime in general do when compared to other series. These days, an anime series is considered popular if 4% of Japanese people watch it on a regular basis. Sounds small, I know, but it's just the way things are nowadays. So while titles like Naruto & Bleach appear low on the list, there nonetheless considered successful. Though their low rankings compared to titles of the past makes one realize how far Jump titles have fallen when those are considered gigantic hits. The full list below:

( Read more... )

While Code Geass may be just starting here in America, the second season recently began airing in Japan. As one of the most popular anime series of last year, this was one highly anticipated series. So why is it that the most recent episode of the series came in nearly dead last among all anime series last week?

I haven't covered the weekly anime ranking in awhile, but this week felt like a special occasion. According to the ratings, episode 4 came in third to last place among all anime. It beat out only "Top Secret" & a rerun of Bleach. OUCH. Just what the heck's going on for that to happen?

( Read more... )

After taking some time off the week before, Crayon Shin-chan is back this week & even made it into the top 3. But one show coming on the list forces another show off, & the unfortunate program this week was Naruto Shippuden. The rest of the list was more of the same:

1. Sazae-san- 18.7
2. Chibi Maruko-chan- 13.1
3. Crayon Shin-chan- 11.4
4. Doraemon- 10.3
5. Yatterman- 9.3
6. Detective Conan- 8.5
7. Gegege no Kitaro- 8.5
8. One Piece- 8.5
9. Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl- 7.2
10. Yes! Precure 5 GoGo!- 6.6

( Read more... )

Both Yatterman & One Piece rose in the ratings this week as compared to the previous week. Yatterman made it into the double digits, & One Piece got closer to it. Such numbers are usually only typical of whole family viewings, so props to One Piece especially for scoring so high. But with Doraemon holding an hour special this week, it's to be expected that it'd hold tough numbers to beat. At the bottom of the top 10 (but still doing pretty good), Naruto holds on tight & continues to pull in good numbers. Meanwhile Precure 5 GoGo made its way back into the top 10 as well, proving that no matter how often Precure changes series, it'll always be popular. The rest of the list was more of the same:

1. Sazae-san- 18.1
2. Chibi Maruko-chan- 13.5
3. Doraemon: Zenyasai- 11.0
4. Yatterman- 10.0
5. Detective Conan- 10.0
6. One Piece- 9.4
7. Gegege no Kitaro- 8.0
8. Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl- 7.6
9. Yes! Precure 5 GoGo!- 6.2
10. Naruto Shippūden- 5.6

( Read more... )

After climbing higher & higher on the ratings chart for the past few weeks, the Yatterman remake series finally sees itself dip a bit. It's still in the Top 10, mind you, but noticeably lower than usual. On the other hand, both Pokemon & Naruto saw themselves sneak back into the list after being gone for awhile. Sure they are at the bottom of the 10, but it still counts as something:

1. Sazae-san- 17.7
2. Chibi Maruko-chan- 12.2
3. Crayon Shin-chan- 11.6
4. Doraemon- 10.8
5. Detective Conan- 9.8
6. Yatterman- 8.4
7. One Piece- 7.8
8. Gegege no Kitaro- 7.5
9. Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl- 7.4
10. Naruto Shippūden- 5.8

( Read more... )

Two new shows that started this Winter managed to make their way back into the top 10 list this week. New is only a relative term though, as both are just part of longer, ongoing franchises. That being said, Precure 5 GoGo & Major are the only fresh blood on the list, as every other show is just the regulars:

1. Sazae-san- 17.6
2. Chibi Maruko-chan- 13.3
3. Yatterman- 9.7
4. One Piece- 9.0
5. Crayon Shin-chan- 8.9
6. Doraemon- 8.5
7. Detective Conan- 8.2
8. Gegege no Kitaro- 8.0
9. Yes! Precure 5 GoGo!- 6.9
10. Anime Major- 5.3

( Read more... )