It is that time of the year when we get to check out the yearly manga sales numbers. As always, ICv2 is the best source for these sales numbers. ICv2 released the Full Year 2022 Manga sales chart. This is based on NPD BookScan numbers. NPD BookScan collects weekly point-of-sale data on print books from over 16,000 locations through direct reporting from all major retailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Target, independent bookstores, and many others. NPD BookScan covers approximately 85% of the U.S. trade print book market.
Unit sales increased by 9% year over year and unit sales of the Top 20 increased by 50% over 2021.
NPD BookScan Full Year 2022 Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels
Top 10
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 1 (VIZ Media) 276,761 units
- SPY X FAMILY VOL. 1 (VIZ Media) 271,376 units
- DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 1 (VIZ Media) 264,824 units
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 2 (VIZ Media) 223,736 units
- DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA–STORIES OF WATER AND FLAME HIRANO, RYOJI (VIZ Media) 214,662 units
- JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 0 (VIZ Media) 181,848 units
- MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 1 (VIZ Media) 179,953 units
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 3 (VIZ Media) 178,537 units
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 4 (VIZ Media) 174,039 units
- SPY X FAMILY VOL. 2 (VIZ Media) 173,870 units
The entire top ten is from VIZ Media. It continues to be disappointing to see a complete lack of competition from different manga publishers in the North American market.
Chainsaw Man is now the eight-hundred-pound gorilla as it dominated all other franchises with four volumes in the Top 10 including the overall number 1 spot. Fujimoto’s manga enjoyed a big boost from its white-hot anime in 2022.
Spy X Family and Demon Slayer tied for second place with two volumes apiece. Both franchises accounted well for themselves in the Top 20. No doubt that the popular animes for both franchises helped their manga sales in 2022.
Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia tied for fourth place with one volume apiece. This is a respectable finish for both franchises given how long they have been around.
There were absolutely no surprises at all in the Top 10. These are the franchises that we saw dominate the Top 10 sales charts for each month during the course of 2022.
Top 20
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 10 (VIZ Media) 173,054 units
- DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2 (VIZ Media) 170,169 units
- JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 1 (VIZ Media) 160,768 units
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 9 (VIZ Media) 159,791 units
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 11 (VIZ Media) 156,985 units
- BERSERK DELUXE VOL. 1 (Dark Horse Comics) 145,829 units
- DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 3 (VIZ Media) 143,226 units
- CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 5 (VIZ Media) 134,397
- SPY X FAMILY VOL. 7 (VIZ Media) 125,274
- MY HERO ACADEMIA VOL. 30 (VIZ Media) 123,291
VIZ Media continues to have no competition at all. VIZ Media grabbed nineteen of the Top 20 spots. Dark Horse Comics took one spot. That is ridiculous. We absolutely need to see more competition among the publishers. VIZ Media is riding high thanks to its partnership with Shueisha. It is imperative that Kodansha and Shogakukan get far more serious about their efforts in the North American market.
The consumer always benefits when there is healthy competition between publishers. Right now there is no competition at all. Hopefully, as the manga market continues to grow the other publishers will look to aggressively compete with Shueisha/VIZ Media in the United States. This would be the biggest boon to manga consumers. It would also open up so many more unique and different franchises to American manga readers.
Chainsaw Man crushed all of the other franchises as it placed eight volumes in the Top 20. This is a huge improvement over the three volumes that Chainsaw Man put in the Full Year 2021 Top 20 Manga sales chart. Obviously, the anime is the main reason why Chainsaw Man exploded in 2022.
The big question is if Chainsaw Man can continue this type of success through 2023. I think there is a good chance that will happen if Chainsaw Man Season 2 ends up debuting in the fall of 2023.
Demon Slayer took second place by placing four volumes in the Top 20. This was an impressive finish! I will admit that I was not expecting this. Demon Slayer also had four volumes in the Full Year 2021 Top 20 Manga sales chart. That is fantastic constancy.
I was not expecting Demon Slayer to equal its 2021 success and take second place in the Top 20 for 2022 because the manga ended on May 18, 2020. I thought that even though Demon Slayer continued to have wonderful success in 2021, it would slow down a bit in 2022. That definitely did not happen.
Sure, the manga had been over for two years, but the Demon Slayer anime continued going strong throughout 2022. The current anime continues to help the manga to sell very well even after it has been concluded for several years. The immense power of an excellent anime cannot be understated.
Spy x Family came in third place with three volumes in the Top 20. This finish surprised me. I picked Spy x Family to beat Demon Slayer and take second place in the Full Year 2022 Top 20 sales chart. My reasoning was that the Spy x Family manga was still ongoing during 2022 while Demon Slayer’s manga had been concluded for two years. Also, Spy x Family also had a popular anime in 2022.
Welp, looks like that was not enough for Spy x Family to dethrone Demon Slayer. Maybe 2023 will be the year where Spy x Family manages to surge forward to the number two spot. Yeah, I am discounting any competition for the number-one spot for 2023. I think that first place is a lock to go to Chainsaw Man at the end of 2023.
Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia tied for fourth place with two volumes apiece in the Top 20. Remember when My Hero Academia used to be the eight-hundred-pound gorilla tossing all of the other franchises around like lightweights? Times have changed.
Still, this is a good finish for both Jujutsu Kaisen and My Hero Academia. These are consistent sellers who have been going for a long time. In My Hero Academia’s case, it has been almost ten years!
Berserk came in sixth place with one volume in the Top 20.
Several franchises that made the Full Year 2021 Top 20 Manga sales chart dropped out in 2022. Attack on Titan with three volumes in the Full Year 2021 Top 20 Manga sales chart. That is a large drop to go from three volumes in the Top 20 to none. All while the Final Season of the immensely popular Attack on Titan anime has been on TV. This was a bit of a surprise to me.
Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun and Death Note also dropped out of the Top 20. These two franchises dropping out of the Top 20 did not surprise me at all.
All right, that is it for the Full 2022 Year Manga sales! It will be interesting to see what manga does in 2023!
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