The manga industry is one that just keeps getting bigger with every year, and there are naturally some manga that end up becoming best-sellers. While anime tends to be the field that gets the most attention, manga is just as big of an industry, if not bigger. Naturally, many of the most popular anime wouldn’t exist if they didn’t have a manga to be adapted from, and that creates a symbiotic relationship where the success of a manga helps make its anime more successful which, in turn, helps make the manga even more successful.
Many of the best-selling manga have the benefit of being around for decades and accumulating massive amounts of sales accordingly, but in some cases, a relatively new manga was able to resonate with people so well that it would sell an unbelievable amount in a short amount of time.
Whatever the case, it’s not unheard of for a manga to sell hundreds of millions of copies during its run, and that’s led to a select few ranking among the most successful of all time. These rankings are based on volumes sold, not on the chapters published in weekly or monthly magazines.
10 Crayon Shin-Chan (1990)
Approximate Sales: 148 Million
Release Year | 1990 |
Number Of Volumes | 50 |
Where To Read It | Unavailable |
The first notable best-selling manga of all time is Yoshito Usui and UY Team’s Crayon Shin-chan. For over 30 years, Shin-chan has struck a chord with people for how effortlessly it switches between childish comedy and raunchy humor, something especially emphasized by the anime’s English dub, and at the time of writing, Crayon Shin-chan has sold approximately 148 million copies worldwide to be the tenth best-selling manga of all time. The series might not be as well-known in the West as many manga both above and below it in sales, but Crayon Shin-chan’s success can’t be denied, and it’s easily one of the biggest anime franchises of all time.
9 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba (2016)
Approximate Sales: 150 Million
Release Year | 2016 |
Number Of Volumes | 23 |
Where To Read It | Manga Plus, Viz |
The next best-selling manga to discuss, and the newest one out of all the top 10, is Koyoharu Gotouge’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. The massive success of Demon Slayer’s anime, especially its movie, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, caused the manga’s sales to skyrocket at a truly unprecedented level, and with approximately 150 million copies sold worldwide, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba stands out as the ninth best-selling manga of all time. The manga ended in 2020, but with the anime still going strong, it wouldn’t be surprising if its success was enough to make its sales rise even higher over the years.
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8 KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops (1976)
Approximate Sales: 157.2 Million
Release Year | 1976 |
Number Of Volumes | 201 |
Where To Read It | Unavailable |
One manga that’s very unsurprisingly one of the best-selling manga of all time is Osamu Akimoto’s KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops. With a 40-year run, KochiKame was the second longest-running manga of all time after Takao Saito’s Golgo 13, and thanks to its incredibly long serialization, KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops has managed to sell approximately 157.2 million copies worldwide, making it the eighth best-selling manga of all time. KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops is another manga many people outside of Japan are unlikely to be familiar with, but its comedic, satirical stylings have still allowed it to mark a notable place for itself in the history of manga, regardless.
7 Slam Dunk (1990)
Approximate Sales: 170 Million
Release Year | 1990 |
Number Of Volumes | 31 |
Where To Read It | Unavailable |
While many of the best-selling manga are based on action or comedy, one that goes against that trend is Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk. The legendary basketball manga has long been a staple of the sports genre, and with approximately 170 million copies sold worldwide, Slam Dunk stands out as the seventh best-selling manga of all time. Just in 2023, Slam Dunk sold 4.9 million copies to be the sixth best-selling manga of 2023, and the fact that it could do so decades after it ended is nothing but a pure testament to how much success and goodwill it has garnered over the years.
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10 Best Selling Manga Of 2023
Just in time to send off one of the best years in the manga industry, Oricon has released the ranking of highest selling manga of 2023.
6 Naruto (1999)
Approximate Sales: 250 Million
Release Year | 1999 |
Number Of Volumes | 72 |
Where To Read It | Manga Plus, Viz |
With how big of a success the anime and manga have been, it’s unsurprising that Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto would be one of the best-selling manga of all time. As one of the “Big Three” of shonen manga, Naruto was one of the biggest series of the 2000s and 2010s, and with approximately 250 million copies sold worldwide, Naruto holds the honor of being the sixth best-selling manga of all time. Naruto might have ended in 2014, but with it having sequel stories in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations and Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, the franchise is still as strong as ever.
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5 Doraemon (1969)
Approximate Sales: 250 Million
Release Year | 1969 |
Number Of Volumes | 45 |
Where To Read It | Unavailable |
Another best-selling manga that owes its success at least partially to its age is Fujiko F. Fujio’s Doraemon. Having been around since 1969, Doraemon is one of the oldest manga franchises around, and with approximately 250 million copies sold worldwide, Doraemon is definitively the fifth best-selling manga of all time. While the original manga ended in 1996 due to the death of the writer half of the duo, Hiroshi Fujimoto, Doraemon has long since maintained relevancy with its various anime series and movies, and that’s led to it being one of the biggest and most iconic anime franchises of all time.
4 Detective Conan (1994)
Approximate Sales: 270 Million
Release Year | 1994 |
Number Of Volumes | 104 |
Where To Read It | Viz |
Another best-selling manga that managed to become a staple of anime culture is Gosho Aoyama’s Case Closed, better known as Detective Conan. Detective Conan’s use of suspense and murder mystery, both episodically and in a serialized narrative, have made it an iconic part of Weekly Shonen Sunday’s lineup, and with approximately 270 million copies sold worldwide, Detective Conan stands out as the fourth best-selling manga of all time. Similar to One Piece, Detective Conan is a long-running manga where it’s hard to tell when it can be expected to end, but regardless, that longevity has allowed it to become one of the biggest anime franchises of all time.
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3 Golgo 13 (1968)
Approximate Sales: 300 Million
Release Year | 1968 |
Number Of Volumes | 209 |
Where To Read It | Viz |
Another best-selling manga that is not well known outside of Japan is Takao Saito and Saito Production’s Golgo 13. Having been serialized on and off since 1968 both before and after Takao Saito’s death in 2021, Golgo 13 holds the world record for the highest number of volumes for a manga at 209, and with approximately 300 million copies sold worldwide, Golgo 13 is the third best-selling manga of all time. Golgo 13 has allegedly been heading toward a conclusion since 2015, and by the time it finally gets there, it’ll undoubtedly have become an even bigger success than it already is.
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2 Dragon Ball (1984)
Approximate Sales: 300 Million
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Release Year | 1984 |
Number Of Volumes | 42 |
Where To Read It | Manga Plus, Viz |
Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball is easily one of the biggest anime franchises of all time, and the original manga is appropriately one of the best-selling manga of all time. Dragon Ball was one the most successful manga to ever be published in Weekly Shonen Jump, and with approximately 300 million copies sold worldwide, Dragon Ball stands out as the second best-selling manga of all time. With Dragon Ball Super and the upcoming Dragon Ball DAIMA, Dragon Ball is the liveliest it’s been in decades, and its success as a franchise is likely to only increase as the years go on.
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1 One Piece (1997)
Approximate Sales: Over 500 Million
Release Year | 1997 |
Number Of Volumes | 107 |
Where To Read It | Manga Plus, Viz |
The manga that stands out as the most successful is, unsurprisingly, Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece. One Piece has risen to become the biggest anime franchise of all time over the past 26 years and the most successful of the “Big Three” of shonen manga, and with over 500 million copies sold worldwide, One Piece definitively stands out as the number one best-selling manga of all time. One Piece recently entered its final saga, and by the time the series finally comes to a close, it will undoubtedly find even more success and further establish itself as one of the best-selling manga of all time.
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Sources: MangaCodex, HITC, Anime News Network, Comicbook.com.
