Manga printings in 2009

[blkmage]

As we all know (I hope), manga is much more mainstream and representative of the types of things people in Japan like. Here's an interesting chart of the largest printings of volumes for the three largest publishers in 2009 (hence, why stuff like FMA doesn't show up here). This is taken from the ever wonderful welcome datacomp, who translated it from a 2ch copypaste. It's not too hard to track down these numbers from an official source.

Code: Select all

Publisher    Copies printed    vs ‘08     Title #volume
Shueisha     3,000,000         +500,000   One Piece #57
Shueisha     1,575,000         +45,000    Naruto #50
Shueisha     1,450,000         -20,000    Hunter x Hunter #27
Shueisha     1,200,000         -60,000    Bleach #41
Kodansha     1,100,000         -40,000    Nodame Cantabille #22
Kodansha     1,080,000         -100,000   Vagabond #30
Shueisha     860,000           -90,000    Real #9
Shogakukan   860,000           -70,000    Detective Conan #64
Shogakukan   800,000           -70,000    Pluto #8
Shueisha     800,000           +170,000   Kimi ni Todoke #10
Kodansha     750,000           +100,000   Saint Young Men #4
Shueisha     650,000           -50,000    D.Gray-man
Shueisha     610,000           -30,000    Gintama #28
Shueisha     610,000           -20,000    Hitman Reborn #26
Kodansha     550,000           +160,000   Fairy Tail #20
Kodansha     530,000           -60,000    Big Windup
Kodansha     500,000           n/a        Billy Bat #1
Kodansha     500,000           n/a        GTO Shonan 14days #1
Kodansha     495,000           -85,000    Initial D #39
Shueisha     490,000           n/a        Bakuman #7
Shueisha     470,000           +20,000[1] New Prince of Tennis #2
Kodansha     460,000           -30,000    Hajime no Ippo #88
Shogakukan   480,000           [2]        Bokura ga Ita #13
Shogakukan   480,000           55,000     Black Lagoon #9
Kodansha     450,000           -70,000    xxxHolic #16
Shogakukan   450,000           +-0        Hayate the Combat Butler #21
Kodansha     445,000           +250,000   Moyashimon #8
Shogakukan   440,000           +25,000    Cross Game #16

Obviously, the big three are topping the charts here (with a slightly unexpected HxH in there), but after that, it's interesting to see that the field is very, very mixed. We've got Nodame Cantabile, a josei romantic comedy about classical music, immediately following, and then Vagabond, a seinen story set during the Shogunate. You've got your shoujo stuff like Kimi ni Todoke and Bokura ga Ita, a smattering of shounen, and your weird stuff like Saint Young Men and Moyashimon.

Anyway, thought you'd be interested in looking at these figures and overanalyzing them.

[Yamamaya]

I'm surprised Saint Young Men made it so far on the list. Apparently Japan finds Jesus and Budha sharing an apartment together and Jesus spending lots of cash on frivolous things(not to mention the fact he has an anime blog) very amusing.

[AnimeGirl]

Ooh, xxHOLiC is #16! I wasn't sure if I was going to see any manga I read on the list, but then there's xxxHOLiC! <333

[Atria35]

I'm surprised Saint Young Men made it so far on the list. Apparently Japan finds Jesus and Budha sharing an apartment together and Jesus spending lots of cash on frivolous things(not to mention the fact he has an anime blog) very amusing.

I'd expect this to be a cultural thing. I've heard interesting things about it, and have been considering taking a look myself.

In any case, the list is skewered towards shounen, but it's pretty cool to see that there really are different demographics represented, though I don't see any josei manga on here. General lack of manga geared towards that group? Or is it just not a popular genre?

[blkmage]

I'd say it's likely because the target audience is so much smaller. Shounen reaches way beyond its "target" demographic and is generally a lot more mainstream. The only josei on the list is Nodame, which runs in Kiss, Kodansha's only josei publication. Glancing at the list of titles running in it, Nodame's the only one that I recognize.

But yeah, it seems like it's pretty much a function of the size of the target demographic.

[airichan623]

Wow... I'm surprised Kimi ni Todoke was so far up the list... and is so happy! XD

[CrystalChalice]

Wow... I'm surprised Kimi ni Todoke was so far up the list... and is so happy! XD

I'm happy about this, too! And it looks like it's the only shojo in the Top 10!

I'm more surprised that New Prince of Tennis is in the list, actually.

[Yamamaya]

I'd expect this to be a cultural thing. I've heard interesting things about it, and have been considering taking a look myself.

In any case, the list is skewered towards shounen, but it's pretty cool to see that there really are different demographics represented, though I don't see any josei manga on here. General lack of manga geared towards that group? Or is it just not a popular genre?

It's possible. I was just surprised to see so much interest in a comedy manga that features Christ(when Christianity is in the minority in Japan).

I've read a few chapters. It isn't disrespectful but it is rather inaccurate in its portrayal of Jesus and Budha.

[Atria35]

It's possible. I was just surprised to see so much interest in a comedy manga that features Christ(when Christianity is in the minority in Japan).

I've read a few chapters. It isn't disrespectful but it is rather inaccurate in its portrayal of Jesus and Budha.

I expect the inaccuracy I'm not suprised at the popularity- as many have noted, the Japanese are just as fascinated by Western culture as we tend to be of theirs, and Christianity is certainly a big feature of Western culture. I think a comedy makes it more accessable to people, too.

[blkmage]

My guess is that Kimi ni Todoke got the anime bump, since the anime did pretty well and was pretty popular, thus fuelling an already popular series (otherwise it wouldn't have gotten an anime adaptation).

Also the reason that Saint Young Men might be so popular is because it could be a pretty good comedy in its own right. I haven't read any of it, but I've been watching Arakawa Under the Bridge, which is by the same guy, and that is pretty great.

[Nate]

Seriously you guys Saint Young Men is awesome and hilarious.

[Fish and Chips]

Interesting that Takehiko Inoue (Vagabond, Real) and Naoki Urasawa (Pluto, Billy Bat) are the only authors with two different series in the top printings - considering their prolific bodies of work, however, perhaps not so much.

And Saint Young Men disappoints me actually, not that I've read much of it (some, though) - any plot thread revolving around contrary religious figures as roommates should be a comedy goldmine, let alone Jesus Christ and the Buddha. Instead it felt like the author was going for the novelty of these larger than life people going about doing incredibly mundane things, a gimmick I could appreciate in small doses, but feels stretched next to what the Manga could have been.

[blkmage]

Interesting that Takehiko Inoue (Vagabond, Real) and Naoki Urasawa (Pluto, Billy Bat) are the only authors with two different series in the top printings - considering their prolific bodies of work, however, perhaps not so much.

Also, how many authors are doing two series concurrently? I'd guess that that's not many.

[Atria35]

I feel like a faliure. I didn't notice that Naoki Urasawa came out with a new series. *zooms off to read what she can of it*

[MasterDias]

I'm still sort of in awe One Piece managed to hit 3,000,000. Selling twice as much as the following top sellers is pretty insane. Although, maybe there was 500,000 closet Whitebeard fans who rushed out to buy that volume...

[AnimeGirl]

Ooh I just noticed Bakuman on the list. #7!!!

[CrystalChalice]

My guess is that Kimi ni Todoke got the anime bump, since the anime did pretty well and was pretty popular, thus fuelling an already popular series (otherwise it wouldn't have gotten an anime adaptation).

[spoiler]In addition to the anime bump, there was a pivotal event in this volume the fans had been practically waiting for because of the mangaka's maternity leave

I'm putting this in a spoiler tag because I think most people would correctly guess what this aformentioned "pivotal event" is [/spoiler]