‘My Hero Academia’ and ‘Demon Slayer’ Top the Ranks on New York Times’ Graphic Books Bestseller List for October

Two awesome manga series made its way to the ranks of the popular New York Times Graphic Books and Manga Bestseller List this October. The New York Times first started this listing back in October 2019 and since then it has given fans a list of the top titles that are mostly sold in a particular month.

Both Demon Slayer and My Hero Academia made it to the list. It’s no surprise as they are currently two of Shonen Jump’s popular manga series. The first volume of My Hero Academia ranked at #6, and its second volume ranked at #8. The first volume of Demon Slayer ranked at #9, and its 16th volume ranked at #12.

The fourth season of My Hero Academia aired last October 2019 and covered the events of the Shie Hassaikai arc of the manga, the longest arc in the series. In that arc, the students of Class 1-A learned about Hero Internships, where they will be mentored by a real Hero so that they can gain real-life experience.

Most of the original cast returned for the fourth season. New cast members previously announced were Yuto Uemura (as Tamaki Amajiki), Kiyono Yasuno (as Nejire Hado), Tarusuke Shingaki (as Mirio Togata), Shinichiro Miki (as Sir Nighteye), and Shino Shimoji (as Kaoruko Awata).

Season 4 was still directed by Kenji Nagasaki, with script written by Yosuke Kuroda and character design by Yoshihiko Umakoshi. Studio Bones will still be producing the series. No word yet on the staff for the 5^th season.

My Hero Academia is a manga series written by Kohei Horikoshi, and is being serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine since 2014. It tells the story of Izuku Midoriya, who was born without a superpower or Quirk but still dreams of becoming a hero despite this. It was eventually adapted into an anime series by Bones, which premiered on April 2016. The success of the first season immediately prompted the release of a second and third season in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

The 42^nd issue for this year’s Young Jump magazine revealed the Demon Slayer manga will be reaching 100 million copies in circulation when the magazine issue ships on September 24 and the 22^nd compiled volume of the manga was release on October 2.

Manga publisher Shueisha announced that the company will be releasing a novel adaptation of Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train anime film. It is slated to be released on October 16—the same day as the film’s premiere date in Japan.

The novel will be written by Aya Yajima, the same author of the previous three novels released under the franchise.

It is confirmed that both Funimation Films and Aniplex of America have teamed up to premiere the movie to North American theaters in 2021.

Oricon previously reported that the regular and limited editions of the 21st Volume of the ‘Demon Slayer’ manga sold more than 2 million copies in just three days since its release. Aside from this, they were ranked #1 and #2 respectively in Oricon’s manga chart.

The regular edition sold 1,191,086 physical copies while the limited edition sold 850,091 physical copies—making it an overall total of 2,041,177 copies sold. The previous 20th volume also made the #1 and #2 ranks in the manga charts. Aside from this, the third novel of the franchise titled Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kaze no Michishirube (Kimetsu no Yaiba: The Wind’s Telltale Signs) sold 230,673 copies on its first week and made it to #1 in Oricon’s general book ranking.

The manga series has so far sold 80 million copies in circulation (including digital releases).

Previously, the Demon Slayer manga officially ended with its final chapter published in this year’s 24th issue of the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine.

Although it’s a bit sad that this popular series has already ended, there is still something to look forward to for the fans as Ryoji Hirano stated in the issue that a short spinoff series titled Kimetsu no Yaiba: Rengoku Gaiden is now in the works. As of this writing, there is still no definite date to when this series will be released. The spinoff will be centered on Rengoku, the Flame Hashira.

Ryoji Hirano was also the creator of the four-panel spinoff manga Kimetsu no Aima! which was published in the Shonen Jump+ manga app and website last year. Hirano also drew Kimetsu no Yaiba: Tomioka Giyū Gaiden, which is a two-chapter side-story manga that was published in the Weekly Shonen Jump in April last year.

 For those who want to bring home something memorable in the case of the manga’s last chapter, Weekly Shonen Jump will be reprinting the manuscript of the final chapter in B5-size which includes the reprint of the 21 black-and-white-two color pages of the last chapter in a manuscript envelope. Those who are interested to get this  may purchase it at 3,850 yen (around USD $36)

Other announcements in the relation to the franchise have also been revealed in the issue such an upcoming crane game merchandise in Bandai Namco game centers, a collab with a medical supplies company Hakujuju, and upcoming lotteries in the magazine for various merchandise.

It was announced by Japanese publisher Shueisha that the Demon Slayer manga will have a third novel to be released on July 3 in Japan. The novel is titled Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kaze no Michishirube (Kimetsu no Yaiba: The Wind’s Telltale Signs). This upcoming book will be a short story collection, mostly focused on Sanemi Shinazugawa, the Wind Hashira.

The previous novels that were released: Shiawase no Hana (Flower of Happiness) and Kataha no Chō (One-Winged Butterfly), were two of the fastest franchise novels under Shueisha’s “Jump j Books” novel label to reach 1 million copies in circulation. Last February, over 1.16 million copies were sold. 

So far, to date, the whole Demon Slayer franchise has officially reached more than 60 million copies in circulation this week, this includes digital releases and 2.8 million copies of the 20th volume, which was released in Japan on Wednesday.

It is not surprising that the popular Demon Slayer manga series will officially be reaching 60 million copies in circulation on May 13. This record includes digital copies. About 2.8 million copies of the 20th volume is expected to ship on May 13 after a delay due to COVID-19.

As of April 2019, the franchise had reached about 3.5 million copies in circulation. This is the time when the manga’s anime adaptation made its premiere in Japan. Due to the hype of the series since then, it had expanded its publication circulation about 17 times in just a year.

Demon Slayer had more than 12 million copies in circulation as of the release of the manga’s 17th volume last October 4. Its 18th volume (which was released on December 4) debuted its first printing record of 1 million copies, which increased its total franchise circulation to more than 25 million copies.

The manga’s publisher Shueisha revealed that last November 24, the Demon Slayer manga is the company’s second highest-selling manga last year. It just second to the popular One Piece manga series. 

During the debut of the manga’s 19th volume, it had 40 million copies in circulation. The said volume alone sold an estimated 1.378 million copies which made it #1 in Oricon’s weekly print sales during the February 3-9 week.

It was announced recently by Aniplex of America this week that they will be releasing Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba anime series on Blu-ray disc.

In this release, you can choose either getting the standard or limited editions. A trailer for the announcement of the Blu-ray release was also uploaded.

The company will first release the first limited-edition Blu-ray disc volume on June 30, which contains the anime’s first 13 episodes. The second limited-edition volume which will have episodes 14 to 26 is slated to be released on November 24.

For those who are curious on the contents of the Blu-ray discs volumes, it will contain the following: a soundtrack CD, illustration card set, booklet featuring character art and scene designs (with staff comments), box with cover art, and package illustrations done by the anime’s character designer Akira Matsushima.

Aniplex of America is partnering with Funimation on the release of the Standard Blu-ray discs. The first volume will be released on September 2020 and the second volume will be on January 2021.

Aniplex of America describes the anime’s synopsis below:

It is the Taisho Period in Japan. Tanjiro, a kindhearted boy who sells charcoal for a living, finds his family slaughtered by a demon. To make matters worse, his younger sister Nezuko, the sole survivor, has been transformed into a demon herself.

Though devastated by this grim reality, Tanjiro resolves to become a “demon slayer” so that he can turn his sister back into a human, and kill the demon that massacred his family.

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.

The news of the manga officially reaching its climax was confirmed when one of its licensors and editors stated the series would be officially wrapping up in May.

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.”

The first info about the ending came from Anabel Espada Norma, who is one of the manga editors at Norma Editorial. They currently licensed the manga series for Spansh-speaking readers. Of course we will not deny that everyone can make theories and some of you would agree that it just too soon to say the possibilities. However, many fans have beginning to agree on this possibility when Yonkou Productions shared it, and this immediately resonated to the manga’s followers. The said tweet contains a livestream link featuring the editor confirming the manga’s end in May.

Source: ANN