With over 30 million copies sold, Jujutsu Kaisen is the Most Popular Manga of 2021 leaving Demon Slayer and Tokyo Revengers behind.
Since Oricon has announced its year-end list for the Top 10 Best-Selling Manga Series of the year, we looked up the Oricon charts to find out the Top 25 Most Popular Manga Series in Japan for the fiscal year of 2021 based on Manga Sales.
The result is pretty much as you would expect with a few surprises here and there. But the numbers have continued to see an insane rise for the second year in a row with three manga series selling over 85 million copies this year between them.
Ever since the manga industry got the Demon Slayer-sized boost, there has been a surge in the binge-reading of manga especially as the series gets more exposure and recognition with a good anime adaptation. Jujutsu Kaisen and Tokyo Revengers continue the tradition with Jujutsu Kaisen taking the top spot as the most popular manga of 2021 with more than 30.91 million copies sold during this year of Oricon.
The first season of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime concluded in March and that was also the manga’s best month where it sold 6.33 million copies.
Demon Slayer, which sold a record-breaking 82 million copies the last Oricon year, is currently at the second spot selling 29.51 million copies so far. The series sold 6 million copies in January alone.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Revengers, which had only sold 2.7 million copies at the end of April has skyrocketed even more in sales with the massive anime boost it got after the anime’s premiere in April. The series has taken the third spot selling more than 24.98 million copies.
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Attack on Titan is the fourth most popular manga of the year selling around 7.33 million copies with the release of its final two volumes this year and the help of a massive anime boost, which made sure it surpassed last year’s total in the first four months of this year alone.
My Hero Academia has taken the fifth place in what is its best year yet since the start of the series and with this surprising turn of events, One Piece is out of the Top 5 for the first time ever since Oricon started keeping track of Manga Sales. My Hero Academia sold over 7.02 million copies this year.
One Piece is in the sixth spot selling over 7 million copies.
Chainsaw Man and Spy x Family are the Most Popular Manga of 2021 without an anime adaptation.
The Chainsaw Man manga series which will be getting its anime adaptation by MAPPA sometime next year is in seventh place, the series is the first manga in the list which doesn’t have an anime adaptation yet. Chainsaw Man has sold a massive 5.21 million copies during this fiscal year.
Spy x Family has also received a greenlit for an anime by none other than WIT Studio (Attack on Titan) and Cloverworks (Horimiya) and has taken the eighth spot in the list. The series has sold close to 4.98 million copies this year.
Kingdom holds ninth place for the most popular manga of the year with 4.67 million copies sold during this fiscal year.
The final entry in the Top 10 is our favorite sports series, Haikyuu!!, the series which concluded its run in July 2020 has sold over 4.35 million copies in just backlogs since the end of the anime in December 2020.
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Kaiju No. 8, which set the record for the biggest debut volume of all time with the release of its first volume last year took the 11th spot selling about 3.485 million copies. The manga recently won first place at the Next Manga Awards 2021 (Digital Category).
Frieren, which was in third place in the Print Category in the Next Manga Awards took the 16th spot and has sold around 2.65 million copies this year.
The 12th and 13th place have been occupied by two beloved Shonen Jump series The Promised Neverland and Dr. Stone respectively. Both aired the second season of their respective anime this year as well.
Although while Dr. Stone Season 2 was praised by both the fans and the critics alike, The Promised Neverland was heavily criticized by the same. Rightfully so, as The Promised Neverland pulled off its very own Tokyo Ghoul √A. But despite that, the manga sold over 3.45 million copies this fiscal year.
Dr. Stone has also sold around 3.4 million copies this year. The latest volume of the series came out in November which gave it a much-needed boost. The manga is currently at its last arc.
Meanwhile, despite its lackluster and rushed anime adaptation, Record of Ragnarok was the 14th most popular manga series of 2021 and sold over 3.1 million copies.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime took the 15th place and is the first entry in this list which has a manga based on a light novel. The manga series sold over 2.9 million copies. The second season of the anime has just finished airing and a sequel movie is planned for next year.
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The Apothecary Diaries is another manga adaptation based on a light novel that made the list and is in the 19th place while Jump SQ’s World Trigger was 20th on the list and sold around 2.1 million copies. The third season of the World Trigger anime premiered during the Fall 2021 anime season.
Fire Force was the only other ongoing serialization besides Tokyo Revengers from Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine to make it onto the Top 25. It was the 24th most popular manga of the year and has sold over 1.86 million copies during this fiscal year.
And, Kemono Jihen, which finally got its anime adaptation this year was in the last spot selling over 1.85 million copies. You can check out the full list below.
Top 25 Best-Selling Manga Series of 2021:
- Jujutsu Kaisen- 30,917,746
- Demon Slayer- 29,511,021
- Tokyo Revengers- 24,981,486
- Attack on Titan- 7,332,398
- My Hero Academia- 7,020,361
- One Piece- 7,002,583
- Chainsaw Man- 5,212,578
- Spy x Family7- 4,973,402
- Kingdom- 4,672,612
- Haikyuu- 4,345,443
- Kaiju No. 8~ 3,485,000
- The Promised Neverland~ 3,450,000
- Dr. Stone~ 3,400,000
- Record of Ragnarok~ 3,100,000
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime~ 2,930,000
- Sousou no Frieren~ 2,650,000
- Demon Slayer: Gaiden~ 2,340,000
- Mystery to Iu Nakare~ 2,285,000
- The Apothecary Diaries~ 2,115,000
- World Trigger~ 2,110,000
- Honey Lemon Soda~ 1,950,000
- The Quintessential Quintuplets~ 1,880,000
- Jujutsu Kaisen Volume 0~ 1,875,000
- Fire Force~ 1,865,000
- Kemono Jihen~ 1,850,000
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These are some of the most popular manga for 2021 in Japan, Comment below and let us know your pick for the Best Manga of this year.
Source: Oricon Charts, WSJ Oricon.