733 replies to this topic

[Namaenash]

@Namaenash

Glad to have you here when most veteran member already moved on from the disastrous ending (understandable) and share us this valuable reality information. Do you have a chance to talk to some stranger in japan and ask them about Naruto ?? I'm just curious what did japanese fans think after 2-3 years after the ending. And allow me to add Samurai X/Rurouni Kenshin also completed their journey with very satisfying ends with almost zero plot hole when they can milk it more with Yahiko journey but they wisely decide to close the book.

 

Hi there, yes, I'm still around and just dropping by once in a blue moon :) I have children to take care and live to enjoy, so I'm not that active anymore online.

 

You don't really talk to random people in Japan. So, no, I didn't ask. My circles have left the series long time ago, so I don't really know how's the new series' reception in Japan. It has potential, it was there among the big three, all of sudden NH/SS happen and it went down the hill faster than the time it takes to reach its golden days.

 

It's true Rurouni Kenshin also ended well. If I remember correctly, there's a live action movie for Samurai X, produced so many years after it was ended. Japan being preserved culture, the series that takes care and respects their reader tends to be long lasting. Look at Studio Ghibli. They didn't produce anime series for years, but their studio is still active and has become tourist attraction over the years.

 

I'm not sure how it will be for SP. They have been around for so long and they have many other projects to work on. Manga/anime is still a huge industry in Japan. So, they'd probably survive, albeit bleeding?? I don't know.... there's no financial statistics shared to the public by these animation studios, except the box office figures. There are many horror stories and rumors about animator didn't get paid that much (http://kotaku.com/be...utal-1690248803)

 

Speaking of box office, do visit wikipedia for highest-grossing anime franchises and film series to draw your own conclusion. It's common that anime/manga made 90%-95% of its income from Japan.

 

As for new naruto series, it's too late to fix and I think it's beyond salvation for so many reasons (killing NS was one of them).

[Yyubie]

@Namaenash

A very wise words and decision , families and parents are always and forever be number one in our lives. By the way you are definitely better father than Naruto and Sasuke . Don't let your kids read or watch boruto manga , they sexuallized salad outfit , the anime still ok at least its safe for children.

[T XD]

 

Depends how old the kids are, Preteen should be fine. Sarada's outfit isn't overly sexualized mind (Though yes, somewhat sexualized), though they should have kept it as it was IMO. 

Salad's outfit is overly sexualized for a 12 years old girl. The anime had made her dress longer and covered her chest area.

[Namaenash]

@Namaenash

A very wise words and decision , families and parents are always and forever be number one in our lives. By the way you are definitely better father than Naruto and Sasuke . Don't let your kids read or watch boruto manga , they sexuallized salad outfit , the anime still ok at least its safe for children.

Thanks! though actually I'm a mother... T_T ha ha ha... anyways, in online world gender doesn't really matter.

 

 

I don't think Killing NS hurt Naruto, no more than killing any other major pairing would have. But years ago i might have said the same thing, except the truth is that it hurt Naruto for me back then, and others with a similar desire, because I deeply wanted NS to happen, and it didn't. 

 

 

Let's agree to disagree. Correlation does not imply causation. So, it really depends on your optics. Given lack of facts, none of us can make deductive reasoning on the matter. However, you can make an inductive reasoning out of it.

 

"Without NS, manga sales dropped by ~75-80%". It's not necessarily true, but it's also not wrong.

"With NH/SS, manga sales does not increase" or "With NH/SS, manga sales dropped by ~75-80%" --similar optics in which it's not necessarily true, but it's also not wrong.

 

People can debate this endlessly, but at the end of the day, facts matters. How do we get facts? The only 'accountable' measurements is the sales number. Why the sales number matters? It matters because it shows a point in time where general public do not buy the manga anymore. Whether you like it or not, that's the closest measures you can get to see if manga are well-received by public or not.

 

If you can't appreciate this fact, then there's no point to discuss. In God we trust, other needs data, so to say.

 

I've been following the series for 15 years --since it was born, literally. It started small, and gradually become bigger as the years gone by. if I remember correctly, it took 3-4 years before it was aired in Kanto region in Japan as anime series. Can't recall exactly. It took a while. I believe it peaked at around 2009 - 2010 during Pein Arc and Kage Summit Arc. You can browse around the internet to gather the facts (oricon.co.jp is probably the closest source you could get).

 

In any case, since we're in narusaku.com, a site dedicated to discuss Naruto in general and specifically people who support series from romance point of view, let's discuss what happened from that optics. Pairing department wise, we got Sakura hugged Naruto at the end of Pein Arc, and Naruto saved Sakura from Sasuke at Land of Iron bridge. All NH/SS moments are always closed with NS moments, so, from story telling perspective, that's all there is.

 

2009-2010 was a good year for the story as well as for its commercial success. The manga sales in that period for first half of the year is about ~75%-80% as compared to Naruto sales in its final two years (Volume 64 onwards). Naruto series was at #2 of best-selling manga in Japan, right after One Piece in that year. Check it out yourself: http://www.oricon.co...03/index13.html (first half)

 

Let that sink for you.

 

Now let's jump to second half of 2013 - 2014, where we got Hinata holding Naruto hands (it became the cover of Volume 64, btw, which was another proof that majority of the readers are probably pairing-centric). Look at the numbers and conclude it yourself. Hints: the sales are trending down. About ~2 million less to be precise. Naruto was not on the top 5 list anymore. http://www.oricon.co...1201/index.html

 

Fast forward with Boruto: Naruto Next Generation in 2016, the poor chap didn't event make it to top 25 sales by volume. Not a single volume made it.

http://www.oricon.co...pecial/49579/5/

 

So, if you're a long time fans and readers, how would you feel to see your favorite story went down the hill and crashed only to accommodate NH/SS?

 

 

Why are we only looking up local popularity? What is its international popularity, it's U.S. it's strength in Europe? I don't expect it to be wonderous, mind, the Manga is eh personally, though the Boruto Volume did well in sales in America, if I recall (#2?). 

 

Top Ten is considered very elite, IMO. I've state reasons why Boruto likely isn't in the top ten, and frankly, Shippuden rarely entered the top ten anime wise. It's too young, it's very competitive, and I don't think its current writer is as -strong- as Kishimoto was, at this moment in time.

 

Considering that the last volume of Naruto is one of the highest selling, the comments of disastrous ending is a questionable statement.

 

 

First of all, I think it's an overstretch to put Naruto and Harry Potter in the same sentence, let alone a comparison. Sorry, as a fans of Harry Potter series, I beg to differ :) Next, let me address your statement one by one...

 

 

You: Why are we looking up to local popularity?

 

Simply because Japan (and China) is where up to 95% of the manga sales / movie sales revenue are generated. US and Europe is a drop in the ocean. Simple example: your favorite Boruto movie, the most commercially successful Naruto movie ever, made about USD 39.5 million in the box office (check here), out of which US / North America contributed a mere ~900k USD (check here). So, US contributes about 2.36% of total revenue for Boruto movie.

 

With regards to manga sales, well, it didn't make it to top 25 in Japan, so let us know how many millions it made in America...

 

 

You: Top Ten is considered very elite, IMO. I've state reasons why Boruto likely isn't in the top ten, and frankly, Shippuden rarely entered the top ten anime wise.

 

I was comparing Naruto/Boruto since the manga ends (circa November 2014 onwards) against itself in the past (Naruto Part I & II). How long have you been following the series? They were on par with Meitantei Conan back then and a frequent visitor of top 10. I've been following this series since it's born. I lived in Japan long enough to experienced it first hand. Not sure why you can easily diminish this fact though... anyways...

 

 

You: Considering that the last volume of Naruto is one of the highest selling, the comments of disastrous ending is a questionable statement.

 

Check again the statistics link I sent above. I believe you are misinformed when you said Naruto last volume is one of the highest selling. Check it here for that year: http://www.oricon.co...pecial/48458/7/ Let us know the facts that backed your claim. By the way, in case you're not familiar with manufacturing and printing industry, the 'sales' are not really counted based on how many books sold to the actual end readers. When you sell to channels and distributors, those are counted in as well, and in fact those made a bulk part of sales.

 

Ever wondered why bookstores have many stock in their shelves? Ever wondered why people can't buy directly from the publisher / printer?

 

So, to only know whether a volume was sold successfully, you need to see the bigger picture: its trend. When the trend is going up, resellers will replenish their stock (making another bulk of orders). They will make the first bulk of orders based on forecast technique, which largely depends on the past data. In any product distribution, one of the technique to know whether a product is selling well is to see its subsequent batch orders. In manga printing industries, that relates directly to sales between volumes.

 

When you see the subsequent volume sales is low, you can gauge that its previous volume is not selling as expected. Therefore resellers will order a smaller batch for the next volume (if any). Otherwise, they'll run the risk of overstock.

 

First week sales of Naruto used to be beyond 1 million mark during its golden days. Compare that to the last volume, the gaiden and now Boruto. Tips: see Naruto last volume sales trend on weekly basis, and then compare it to Boruto Gaiden sales trend.

 

If you want to discuss, please back your claims with data. Otherwise, people will not respect your opinion, or yourself as a person with your style. Other than that, let's agree that the ending was horrible, people don't like it proven by declining sales; and NH/SS will forever be remembered as one thing that crashed this series (unless of course, you can proof otherwise with facts and empirical data).

 

Also, look at manga sales for its shelf-life, so, you'll get the total picture. It's possible that a manga volume still sells, even long after its release. One classic example is FMA, in which  Volume 1's initial sales were 150,000 copies; this grew to 1.5 million copies after the first anime aired. Prior to the second anime's premiere, each volume sold about 1.9 million copies, and then it changed to 2.1 million copies. https://en.wikipedia...metal_Alchemist

Edited by Namaenash, 08 August 2017 - 05:42 PM.

[Bail o' Lies]

Even if those numbers were true. Boruto manga volumes are only selling around 400,000 at best by the end of a year.

Edited by Bail o' Lies, 08 August 2017 - 08:48 PM.

[TouKen4Life3g]

The Last got numbers because it's canon and it was the end all be all. Look up One Piece numbers once it's said "Work under Oda." Names can really push the market tenfold. Otherwise, there wouldn't be any need to do so, including other movies in general (ex. The director of The Dark Knight Trilogy). When you read it, your attention increased tenfold. That's the truth.

Why PR exist in today's world? We know politic behind closed door exist. From actual politic of the government to celebrity themselves. Case in point, there's a good chance that the Last could have in fact done much better than it was intended. Was it financial failure? No. Do I believe it was meant to do more? Absolutely. Fortunately, Boruto took care of it because of the name and most importantly, the demand was met: Naruto and Sasuke.

The word of mouth is worth noting that it's a must to bring in the buzz that it needs. For example: Demon Soul, a video game, was meant to stay in Japan, but because of word of mouth, it got localized and it now has many new franchises within the realm of its universe. Another example is Crash Collection that is recently out. It wouldn't happen if we kept begging for any Crash game. Long behold, we got it and while it is a collection of old games, it's a start.

The Last got numbers mainly by circumstances more than "the satisfying content." Besides, the movie was crap. But that's my opinion. I still remember those reviews from France. One was ruthless than you can say Emoji Movie being considered "Poochie of Cinema" and that one was from a massive name of its publication.

[TouKen4Life3g]

It works differently with fan base material. When it's based on a popular series, they will go and see it. Movies with just purely single movies or trilogy are challenging to draw crowds in comparison. My point of comparison is the name can still make the world spin and with franchise like One Piece, it is effective.

I never say anything about comparison to its older movies, let alone Road to Ninja. Did you associate me automatically to "typical" NS fans because I don't like the Last? I don't like when people associate me to a class in an obvious discrete manner. It only shows that there's no other side. It's "you're in or out" vibe that I don't like. What if I don't like Road to Ninja? Then what? Your assumption is wrong?

Again, there's no need for me to compare to other Naruto movies. I don't compare to make one better or weak. My point has always stand that The Last sucked because I simply don't like it. Can I be in that side or is it too opinionated?

It doesn't need to be said "it's canon." But what it needed to be said is that the content is blatantly connected to it. Should I remind you that it has "699.5" ads? I only saw it because I must complete my content of Naruto, even if I don't like it. It's similar to One Piece when the movies was said to present pieces that has yet to be revealed. I won't spoil but it's truly there. So maybe I wasn't clear enough of you, but I hope I don't have to go that thorough next time.

One last thing: I did say it wasn't a financial failure. Your "better" isn't based on non-existence factorial overall quality. One could like movie 3, one could hate Boruto, one could love movie 5 the most, and so on.

Edited by TouKen4Life3g, 08 August 2017 - 11:20 PM.

[TouKen4Life3g]

To be honest, my second thru reading would have gotten me editing on that dispute. It's still come off looking like that since the name drop felt too convenient. Well, it's fine. I still stand that it could have done better in sales. The name is big. Not One Piece level, but at least 2.5 billion yen. I know it could have done better with Boruto doing well. It's just hindered from better potential of sales. That's all I can say.

[TouKen4Life3g]

One Piece did. I don't see why not.

[Bail o' Lies]

Didn't the Yokai watch movie release around the same time as the last make more money then it? In fact beat it for the entire time it was playing -also beating Boruto in rating on TV-? ...Yep 7.8 Billion yen in Japan. Also didn't yokai watch start only the year before?

Edited by Bail o' Lies, 09 August 2017 - 05:40 AM.

[Namaenash]

 

Reading the below, you don't state the numbers of what the Last sold, merely show a top list. I want to know the exact numbers, not a list of irrelevant data. So I went and researched myself:

 

Numbers such as:

 

Naruto in 2008 highest selling volume (43) 1,188,881

Naruto in 2011 highest selling volume (61) 1,281,309

Naruto in 2014 (Actually published in 2015) highest selling volume (72) 1,324,693

 

Source by the way is the same site you are using.

 

Oh look, an upward trend.

 

 

...

 

Hi there, thanks for your reply. I normally don't entertain these kind of response, but at least now we know your analytical skills and capabilities.

 

First of all, statistics 101: when you do trend analysis, you compare against same period of a product in the past. People typically use YoY comparison (Year-On-Year). I'll just leave the number here based on Oricon reports, and I'll leave the forum members to conclude themselves whether the trend goes up or down:

 

2010: 7,409,068
2011: 6,874,840
2012: 6,495,240
2013: 5,553,933
2014: 5,505,179
2015: 3,498,177 (there are fewer volume this year, since it's the final year, but even if you combine the lifetime sales of each volume, well... I'll leave it for you to conclude).
 

2016-2017(1st half): off the chart of top 10, but in any case, here's the stats for Boruto: Naruto Next Generation sales by first half 2017:

Boruto: Naruto the Movie (vol. 1?) - 757,375
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Vol.2 - 402,894
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Vol.3 - 264,155

 

Is it trending up? Is it trending down? A 3rd grade primary school student would be able to answer that. Unless if...

 

Anyways, next topic, when you compare two similar product performance, you compare against its lifetime sales, or within a bucket of the same period to get an apple-to-apple comparison. According to you, "Naruto in 2008 highest selling volume (43) 1,188,881", and "Naruto in 2014 (Actually published in 2015) highest selling volume (72) 1,324,693". Remember, no one have the lifetime statistics for each product, except WSJ themselves. Have you done each individual product lifetime comparison? Would it be fair to compare a product released let's say for 3 months against a product released for 9 months? May not be the case, but to explain my points to you. Sales for FY 2015, which includes volume 72, amounts to 3,498,177, Yet, according to you, volume 72 being the highest selling volume sold about 1,324,693 for the given period. Where does the remaining ~2.1 million goes? Hints: shelf-life.

 

If we go with your approach, you could never tally the numbers. Remember, only WSJ knows the actual figures of each volume lifetime performance. Other sites, like Oricon is the closest possible measures out there. Similarly, Oricon also never updates the case like FMA, where they initially sold FMA vol.1 for about ~150k, and later on become 2.1 million after 2nd anime episode airs. You wouldn't find it updated in their stats report. And Oricon is one of many sources available by public, so, not perfect but its the closest public can get.

 

Have you ever wondered why the numbers reported by Oricon does not tally with the claim that Naruto managed to sell ~220 million copies, --with majority in Japan. I'm not counting on US, sorry. Naruto manga sales in US is known to be modest (if you get ~15k copies a volume, it's considered very good for one Naruto volume). Go ahead and check it yourselves, there are various sites who offered reliable data. Meanwhile, One Piece sold about 416 million copies, and we know One Piece is only big in Japan (not so much elsewhere).

 

Which boils down to my next point: either you're still learning, hence you don't have the capabilities to do these basic analysis yet, or you simply pick those numbers that are aligned with your arguments just to stir things up in this site without looking at the bigger picture.

 

I'll just leave the numbers here for interpretation and let the other forum members discuss, while I enjoy my National Day break.

Edited by Namaenash, 09 August 2017 - 09:01 AM.

[Bail o' Lies]

Wait I'm trying to remember; did they name the first volume after the movie? Because the first three volumes are the rehash of the movie.

[James S Cassidy]

 

http://comicbook.com...-controversy/#1

 

Fans Aren't Happy With Boruto's Sexualized Depiction Of Sasuke’s Daughter

 

"but fans were not pleased with the makeover Sarada got. The young girl went from wearing a standard shinobi outfit to a short skit, midriff-baring top, and a pair of high-heeled boots. Disgruntled fans took their complaints to social media when the change was made, but one recent Boruto chapter has sparked yet another outcry.

 

The 13th chapter of Boruto recently dropped, and its cover artwork had fans up in arms. The picture shows Cho-Cho Akimichi posing with Sarada who looks a bit too sexy for everyone’s liking. The pre-teen is seen in a short dress which hugs tight and a pair of platform heels. With her lips pouted, Sarada is seen sans glasses - and that’s not even the worst of it. In the actual chapter, fans then see Sarada do her regular kunai training, but the task is carried out in her underwear.

 

You can check out the fan-reactions to the newest Boruto chapter below, but be warned; People aren’t being too friendly about the suggestive drawings. Some have stood up to defend Boruto for its artistic license, citing other questionable outfits worn by Ino Yamanaka. No matter where you land on the controversy, the Naruto fandom is ready to make it a point of conversation. And, by the looks of it, some fans are ready to ask Masashi Kishimoto himself to step in on the issue."

 

So we aren't the only ones complaining, most of those posts are from pro fans.

 

This whole thing reminds me of a song.


Actually, this could represent the theme song of all the females in this series.

Kishimoto might be happy right now:
"For once, they aren't kittening about me."
 

 

 

Hi there, thanks for your reply. I normally don't entertain these kind of response, but at least now we know your analytical skills and capabilities.

 

First of all, statistics 101: when you do trend analysis, you compare against same period of a product in the past. People typically use YoY comparison (Year-On-Year). I'll just leave the number here based on Oricon reports, and I'll leave the forum members to conclude themselves whether the trend goes up or down:

Would it be possible that chapters sold and put into a Shoenen Jump magazine affect these states at all or do they count them at all in that retrospect.

What I mean is, would you count sales if a person bought a magazine that had their favorite manga in it that was not Naruto and they counted that due to the fact that because a Naruto chapter was in it.

I ask because after a while you realize that people can inflate numbers due to technicalities if they want.

Anyway, thanks for the numbers and it shows that Naruto has either been going down the tubes slowly and or people just lost interest.

Also considering that...at the time...the One Piece Volume sold more than triple what the final Naruto volume ever sold speaks so many volumes as well....hehe get it?

Edited by James S Cassidy, 09 August 2017 - 05:34 PM.

[James S Cassidy]

 

No, the numbers strictly come from volumes sold, not magazines. 

Sorry, but I can't take your response as valid....even if it is the correct answer.

[James S Cassidy]

 

So you are saying: "I can't take the truth as valid, it invalidates my conspiracy theory.". 

So are you saying that "Everything I say is merely a conspiracy theory cause I, Analyzer, cannot accept the truth."

I don't know, those are your words, not mine.

Edited by James S Cassidy, 09 August 2017 - 06:36 PM.

[Konoha'sCrimsonFox]

 

2016-2017(1st half): off the chart of top 10, but in any case, here's the stats for Boruto: Naruto Next Generation sales by first half 2017:

Boruto: Naruto the Movie (vol. 1?) - 757,375
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Vol.2 - 402,894
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Vol.3 - 264,155

 

Now that just a pity to a franchise that once rival OP and surpassed them in rankings. If we had a Disney retcon like the Starwars trilogy with Tokai's Naruto: ATL. With how the way the story is being told, it will have near the same result as SW Episode 7.  If Shuiesha and Jump comics were like DC and Marvel and un-biased, they would be banking instead of plummeting in the standings as it currently is. 

[Bail o' Lies]

Much of the first ten chapter are the movie. That volume only had the first three chapters! Even the fourth volume will have at least one chapter of the movie in it. Also remember the anime will eventually start adapting the manga. If you think its bad now. How is it that animating it later on suddenly make it good?

Edited by Bail o' Lies, 10 August 2017 - 05:00 AM.

[Namaenash]

Would it be possible that chapters sold and put into a Shoenen Jump magazine affect these states at all or do they count them at all in that retrospect.

What I mean is, would you count sales if a person bought a magazine that had their favorite manga in it that was not Naruto and they counted that due to the fact that because a Naruto chapter was in it.

I ask because after a while you realize that people can inflate numbers due to technicalities if they want.

Anyway, thanks for the numbers and it shows that Naruto has either been going down the tubes slowly and or people just lost interest.

Also considering that...at the time...the One Piece Volume sold more than triple what the final Naruto volume ever sold speaks so many volumes as well....hehe get it?

 

I believe Shounen Jump Magazines had its own sales tracking, so the figures I presented was strictly based on volume sales. Someone did an analysis back then when Naruto series ended horribly and whether it has impacted WSJ sales. Well, I keep saying that correlation does not imply causation, but it doesn't really take a genius to figure out what went wrong. Check this out: http://gweatherwax.t...e-naruto-ending

 

To be fair, there are various reasons and not just because Naruto ended the way it did, but the significant drop in the next 6 months after Naruto ends really tells something. Before Naruto ends, WSJ circulation used to sell 2.6 million copies in a Quarter, quite stable with little drops each quarter. Right after Naruto ends, they dropped about ~182k copies, or about 7% drop in the next Quarter, which is considered huge, and the subsequent Quarter was not looking good either (I can't recall the exact figure, but it's trending down and it's pretty apparent that it's potentially due to Naruto ending).

 

We're talking about Japanese market here, where silent majority rules. They won't scream (well, they probably do a bit ), but if you're a content producer, you should never ever disappoint your consumer.

 

Recently, WSJ sold about 1.9 million copies a Quarter (as per latest report for Q1 2017).

http://www.j-magazin...14&period_cd=36

(look at 週刊少年ジャンプ index, which is WSJ)

 

 

Wait I'm trying to remember; did they name the first volume after the movie? Because the first three volumes are the rehash of the movie.

 

I'm not sure as well, but it was recorded that way in the chart. I don't follow Boruto manga, so, I'm not sure what happened.

[Namaenash]

We don't -need- lifetime values.

 
I stopped reading right after this line. Thanks for demonstrating your analytics capabilities and for giving us some clue about the type of people who are supportive with the way Naruto ended. Btw, can I assume you still think it's trending up?
 
Anyways, let's agree to disagree since there's no point of having discussion when the fundamental is not there. I do have my own principles when it comes to debates and I'll let the facts from real life in the long run to validate my findings.
 
There's no such thing as "my number" or "your number". We all read from the same source. It's a matter of interpretation. Facts are facts, no matter how you twist and turn; slice and dice. According to your "analysis", it looks very great for Naruto producer with the way they took their decision. You even mentioned that "Oh look, an upward trend". I believe if you were presenting to them your findings, they would've been very confident releasing "New Era Project". Of course, if you're happy with your finding and conclusion, by all means, please go ahead and have fun in La La Land. We won't stop you, no worries.
 
But then, welcome to the real life. Facts from real life is aligned with my findings: 

• Naruto started its downward spiral when NH appears at volume cover 64 in FY 2013 (decline of ~15% from FY 2012, and never went up.); 
• Naruto dug its own grave with the help of NH/SS to make another timeskip plot (i.e. the "New Era Project") launch
• "New Era Project" didn't go as planned. No one in their right mind would plan this: "Let's have a new timeskip plot for the 3rd Best Selling Manga in the history, so that we can decrease the sales by 80%".
• The latest volume of Naruto Next Generation sold roughly about 20% of Naruto volume when it was at its peak. This is aligned with Pareto Principle, in which, we can clearly see which fandom (contributing to the bottom line) was the vital few and which one was the trivial many.
• And many others interpretation that you can draw just by analyzing the numbers.

 
Let me put the numbers extracted from Oricon here for others to observe. For my fellow NS fans, feel free to put the numbers in your favorite spreadsheet program to observe and to do simple descriptive analysis.

 

Top 10 Manga Sales for 2010 - 2015

Year,Rank,Sales,Title
2010,1,32343809,One Piece
2010,2,7409068,Naruto
2010,3,6572813,Kimi ni Todoke
2010,4,5739526,Fairy Tail
2010,5,5204193,Bleach
2010,6,5165052,Fullmetal Alchemist
2010,7,3978439,Gintama
2010,8,3479219,Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
2010,9,3269379,Nurarihyon no Mago
2010,10,3246355,Nodame Cantabile
2011,1,37996373,One Piece
2011,2,6874840,Naruto
2011,3,5223712,Ao no Exorcist
2011,4,4701596,Fairy Tail
2011,5,4665634,Toriko
2011,6,4415491,Gintama
2011,7,4399938,Bakuman
2011,8,4187258,Bleach
2011,9,4109481,Kimi ni Todoke
2011,10,4056981,Gantz
2012,1,23464866,One Piece
2012,2,8070446,Kuroko no Basket
2012,3,6495240,Naruto
2012,4,5413899,Uchuu Kyoudai
2012,5,4128665,Fairy Tail
2012,6,4039715,Kimi ni Todoke
2012,7,3603710,Gin no Saji
2012,8,3439839,Hunter x Hunter
2012,9,3437182,Magi
2012,10,3211191,Bakuman
2013,1,18151599,One Piece
2013,2,15933801,Attack on Titan
2013,3,8761081,Kuroko no Basket
2013,4,7151001,Magi
2013,5,5553933,Naruto
2013,6,4858699,Silver Spoon
2013,7,4595820,Assassination Classroom
2013,8,4231475,Hunter x Hunter
2013,9,3790151,Fairy Tail
2013,10,3602630,Terra Formars
2014,1,11885957,One Piece
2014,2,11728368,Attack on Titan
2014,3,8283709,Haikyu!!
2014,4,6946203,Tokyo Ghoul
2014,5,6729349,Kuroko no Basket
2014,6,5505179,Naruto
2014,7,4681031,Ace of Diamond
2014,8,4657971,Magi
2014,9,4633246,The Seven Deadly Sins
2014,10,4622108,Assassination Classroom
2015,1,14102521,One Piece
2015,2,10304112,The Seven Deadly Sins
2015,3,8778048,Attack on Titan
2015,4,8605861,Assassination Classroom
2015,5,8569215,Kingdom
2015,6,6531508,Haikyu!!
2015,7,4321830,Shokugeki no Soma
2015,8,4188158,Terra Formars
2015,9,4058119,Prison School
2015,10,3758541,Tokyo Ghoul

 

Several observations:

 

1. Why do we show only top 10?

Mainly because of the data source limitation coming from Oricon. Remember that only publishers have the actual figures, so, this is the best we can get. It will not provide a holistic picture, but nonetheless, for simple analysis it's good enough. Top 10 is generally indicative enough to know industry's performance.

 

2. Is it true that manga industry is in decline?

In my opinion, yes and no. It depends on which segment you're looking at. In general the whole manga industry is in decline. However, the Top 10 performing series are not always declining. The decline mostly impacting the smaller series. Consider the stats below (sum of top 10 manga sales for 2010-2015), and look at the stats for 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015.

2010 - 76,407,853 

2011 - 80,631,304 

2012 - 65,304,753 

2013 - 76,630,190 

2014 - 69,673,121 

2015 - 73,217,913 

 

3. What happened in 2012 and 2014?

Well, life is bigger than just manga sales. So, sometimes you need to consider external factor when you do your analysis, especially when you see anomalies. If my memory serves me correctly, Japan had recession in 2012 and 2014. Not just media industry impacted, but almost all industries in Japan shrunk during that period. A simple check at Japan Cabinet Office indeed supports our findings. Recession is a huge topic by itself, but generally, you'd see people spending less in these periods. So, less manga being sold, seems like correlate with the recession in these periods.

 

4. Why do we see variation in each Rank Category? One series can be in the top 10, suddenly next they disappear...
That's how fragile the manga industry is. When author produce a good story, people will flock into it and buy it. When the story quality reduced, people will start leaving the series. As simple as that. Therefore authors are always under pressured. That's why it's important to know which one is the vital few customer segment (i.e. fandom), and which one is the trivial many. The vital few are the ones financing the series. Sometimes, the release of anime TV series may also boost the manga sales. Take for instance Attack on Titan. Although the manga was released in March 2010, it never appeared in top 10 yearly manga sales. Only when the anime TV series started its broadcast in April 2013, it took rank #2 in FY 2013 with sales of 15,933,801. Likewise with Fullmetal Alchemist. Another factor is the manga series' distribution power. 

 

Okay, coffee time is over, time to go back to numbers related to my work. lol.

[Bail o' Lies]

This isn't as accurate as Namenash's info but I've been getting on youtube Boruto video clips recommended to me. This week I got one from this weeks episode that had around 50,000 views. The thing is at the start of Boruto I used to get ones recommended to me that had at least over 200,000 views. Now granted that may not mean their a decline in people interest, but that still people that are watching for free on youtube instead of places like cruchyroll. Meaning those 50,000 views still add nothing to the companies that make it.