We are honestly not surprised in this development.
Oricon’s weekly print sales chart from the February 10-16 week reveals that Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has completely occupied the entire top 19 ranks with the recently released 19th volume at #1. This is the first time the since Oricon launched its weekly rankings that manga series’ volumes have conquered the top 19 ranks. This is also the third consecutive week that manga series have occupied the entire top 10 rankings.
It was reported previously that the 19th volume of the manga has sold around 1,378,000 copies. This based on Oricon’s weekly print sales chart during previous week (February 3 to 9). With that said, Demon Slayer is now the third manga series to have a single volume to sell over 1 million copies in a week. The first two series that reached this kind of manga sales achievement were Attack on Titan (2 times) and One Piece (45 times).
This was also the second consecutive week that Demon Slayer has sold a lot of manga volume and topped the manga sales ranks. The manga’s third volume was the first one to get such an achievement.
As of February 4, the manga series has sold around 40 million copies in circulation. This includes both print and digital releases.
While this specific manga volume made it to the ranks, nine other volumes of Demon Slayer were also included in the top ten in the same week. This is the second time consecutively that manga series occupied the entire top 10 rankings. According to Oricon, the franchise has already earned an estimate of 1.5268 billion yen (around USD $13.90 million) from CDs, to its printed publications, DVDs, and Blu-Ray Discs in just that week alone.
Demon Slayer is a popular shonen manga series written by Koyoharu Gotoge. It was first released in February 2016 in Weekly Shonen Jump and still ongoing. 16 compiled volumes have been released so far in Japan. The manga is released officially in English by VIZ Media.
The anime adaptation of the series premiered in April 6, 2019 with animation done by Ufotable, notable for their productions of the animated adaptations of the Fate franchise.
A summary of the manga series is found below:
“ Since ancient times, rumors have abounded of man-eating demons lurking in the woods. Because of this, the local townsfolk never venture outside at night. Legend has it that a demon slayer also roams the night, hunting down these bloodthirsty demons. For young Tanjiro, these rumors will soon to become his harsh reality. Ever since the death of his father, Tanjiro has taken it upon himself to support his family. Although their lives may be hardened by tragedy, they’ve found happiness. But that ephemeral warmth is shattered one day when Tanjiro finds his family slaughtered and the lone survivor, his sister Nezuko, turned into a demon. To his surprise, however, Nezuko still shows signs of human emotion and thought. Thus begins Tanjiro’s request to fight demons and turn his sister human again.”
In a previous report, Aniplex of America has rekeased new trailer for the manga’s anime adaptation. You can watch it here!
The trailer also reveals the English dub cast for the Spider Demon family. They are:
· Billy Kametz as Rui
· Allegra Clark as Spider Demon (Mother)
· Derek Stephen Prince as Spider Demon (Brother)
· Kellen Goff as Spider Demon (Father)
· Erica Lindbeck as Spider Demon (Daughter)
The cast for the main characters have been announced previously:
· Zach Aguilar as Tanjiro
· Abby Trott as Nezuko
· Aleks Le as Zenitsu
· Bryce as Innosuke
· Johnny Yong Bosch as Giyu
The English dub of the Demon Slayer anime is directed by Steve Staley, who was also the voice director of the English-dubbed Gundam Build Drivers and The Promised Neverland.
The series will premiere on Cartoon Network’s Toonami block in English dub on October 12.
In a previous report, Mora, the music download website announced the most downloaded anime theme songs of 2019. As expected, the song “Gurenge” (Red Lotus) from the series Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) topped the charts. The song is a performed by popular Japanese singer LiSA and it reached certified platinum by the Japan Record Association on September 22. Aside from this, this powerful and catchy song is the most downloaded song of the Summer anime season with over 300,000 downloads in October.
Below shows the complete list of Mora’s most downloaded anime songs of 2019:
1. “Gurenge” by LiSA (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)
2. “Umi no Yūrei” by Kenshi Yonezu (Children of the Sea)
3. “Ai ni Dekiru koto wa Mada Arukai” by RADWIMPS (Weathering With You)
4. “I beg you” by Aimer (Fate/stay night: Heaven’s Feel II. lost butterfly)
5. “Haru no Hi” by Aimyon (Crayon Shin-chan Shinkon Ryokō Hurricane)
6. “Love Dramatic” by Masayuki Suzuki ft. Rikka Ihara (Kaguya-sama: Love is War)
7. “Grand Escape” by Tōko Miura featuring RADWIMPS (Weathering With You)
8. “Onegai Muscle” by Ai Fairouz & Kaito Ishikawa (How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?)
9. “RESISTER” by ASCA (Sword Art Online: Alicization)
10. “from the edge” by FictionJunction feat. LiSA (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)
Mora’s most downloaded anime song albums of 2019 are:
1. Weathering With You (High Resolution) by RADWIMPS
2. I beg you/Hanabiratachi no March/Sailing by Aimer
3. Kimi to Koi no Mama de Owarenai Itsumo Yume no Mama ja Irarenai/Barairo no Jinsei by Mai Kuraki
4. Weathering With You by RADWIMPS
5. FIRE BIRD by Roselia
6. Sundance by Aimer
7. Penny Rain by Aimer
8. Face my Fears by Hikaru Utada
9. BRAVE JEWEL by Roselia
10. Safe and Sound by Roselia
Source: ANN