Japan's Yearly Manga and Light Novel Rankings for 2020

by Snow
Nov 29, 2020 5:00 PM | 95 Comments

Here are the manga and light novel sales rankings for the fiscal year of 2020 (November 18, 2019 to November 22, 2020).

Manga Sales by Series

*1.　82,345,447　Kimetsu no Yaiba
*2.　*8,251,058　Kingdom
*3.　*7,709,667　One Piece
*4.　*7,212,099　Haikyuu
*5.　*6,702,736　Jujutsu Kaisen
*6.　*6,368,445　Yakusoku no Neverland
*7.　*6,145,591　5-toubun no Hanayome
*8.　*6,003,589　Boku no Hero Academia
*9.　*4,541,589　Spy x Family
10.　*4,306,012　Shingeki no Kyojin

Manga Sales by Volume
*1.　4,393,137　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.18
*2.　4,243,312　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.19
*3.　3,703,309　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.1
*4.　3,645,580　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.8
*5.　3,636,822　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.7
*6.　3,622,257　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.9
*7.　3,616,800　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.11
*8.　3,613,001　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.2
*9.　3,609,676　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.10
10.　3,606,418　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.12

11.　3,588,193　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.14
12.　3,584,243　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.3
13.　3,580,286　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.13
14.　3,554,931　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.15
15.　3,551,955　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.4
16.　3,546,800　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.6
17.　3,546,548　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.5
18.　3,510,596　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.16
19.　3,469,660　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.17
20.　3,105,812　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.22

21.　2,759,462　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.20
22.　2,654,558　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.21
23.　2,054,642　One Piece Vol.95
24.　1,898,453　One Piece Vol.96
25.　1,806,133　One Piece Vol.97
26.　1,637,005　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.20 Special Edition
27.　1,629,582　Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.21 Special Edition
28.　1,063,724　Spy x Family Vol.3
29.　1,021,684　Shingeki no Kyojin Vol.30
30.　*,977,058　Spy x Family Vol.4

Light Novel Sales by Series
*1.　2,752,593　Kimetsu no Yaiba Novels
*2.　*,732,314　Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu
*3.　*,606,700　Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken
*4.　*,564,235　Sword Art Online
*5.　*,527,950　Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

Light Novel Sales by Volumes
*1.　923,139　Kimetsu no Yaiba: Shiawase no Hana
*2.　913,388　Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kataha no Chou
*3.　607,347　Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kaze no Michishirube
*4.　228,628　Overlord Vol.14
*5.　197,397　Kimetsu no Yaiba Movie: Mugen Ressha-hen Novelization
**.　191,693　Sword Art Online Vol.23
**.　183,775　Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Vol.14
**.　182,827　Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon Vol.1

Light Novels Separated by Specific Ranking

Source: Oricon

← Japan's Yearly Manga and Light Novel Rankings for 2020 (First Half)

20 of 95 Comments Recent Comments

Holy crap. I know Kimetsu no Yaiba was blowing up, but not this much! It's also wild that Kingdom actually out sold One Piece too.

Jan 6, 2021 11:24 AM by Rogo17

Everyone talking about Demon Slayer's sales figures which are well deserved but so little talk about how Kingdom, which has been sitting under One Piece for years, finally surpassing OP. As a long time Kingdom fan, I'm excited for the next years!

Dec 9, 2020 10:11 AM by Jelsonic

What the actual fuck?

Dec 9, 2020 8:10 AM by grandy_UiD

It was to be expected that Kimetsu no yaiba would lead all this 2020

Dec 6, 2020 2:08 PM by PervertedKnight

grats on the kametsu no Yaiba mangaka.... 83m copy sale is not a big joke... I dont know about the anime since I didnt see so of course I'd not know how good the manga is..... It's just that... I feel like I'll never like the story of series that's I feel like not for me anymore.

ohhh well. I guess I should try and preserve it when I'm about to die?

Dec 4, 2020 3:45 PM by _Ako_

Amazingly, KNY beats everything in manga and light novels (except in anime, because they're many anime who can beat KNY, such as FMAB, gintama, HXH 2011, steins gate, etc and also in top anime who have many fans, such as naruto, FMAB, SAO, NGNL, etc)

Dec 3, 2020 1:41 AM by reny1966nanin

Samt_ said:

Kuma said:

ah yes, people buy manga because animation.

And where did I say that? I was replying to a guy who was talking about missing the anime. Not this whole manga sales argument you're having here.

But I may as well join in now, if the anime didn't have the Ufotable-level animation that made both the anime and manga explode in popularity, those manga sales wouldn't be as high as they are.

The anime blowing up is what made a shit ton of people pay attention to the manga, thus the massive boost in sales.

damn, gorochu faster than me. anyway... to add to this in the same season, fire force has better animation than KnY, and made by prolific studio as well (same studio as JOJO ffs). but it didn't explode. in fact the second one to have amazing sales perform are 5 toubun, but nobody talk about how badly animated it is?

people love KnY more than animation, hence why they buy manga. it has shown in the poll and data. but people refuse to acknowledge their favorite series has less mass appeal than KnY thus pointing at sparkle animation baffling me.

KnY is not even my personal most liked series of that year (that title goes to kaguya-sama), but seeing this level of denial just amuse me.

Dec 2, 2020 4:22 PM by Kuma

*4.　228,628　Overlord Vol.14

Kimetsu aside, I am glad Overlord manages to continue to have it's newest volume the top selling on the year.

Dec 2, 2020 1:35 PM by BStrifeSword114

Taste is subjective but damn KnY feels so damn overrated, just me?

Dec 2, 2020 12:47 PM by Kap92

Samt_ said:

Kuma said:

ah yes, people buy manga because animation.

What you mean by blowing up? Kimetsu no Yaiba anime sales doesn't reach Attack on Titan,Haikyuu anime sales but Kimetsu no Yaiba manga still outperforming Attack on Titan,Haikyuu manga during the first two years of their post anime. Surely it because of the manga and not anime. I feel that too many people has over exaggerated impact of ufotable without checking the statistics to back their claim.
http://www.someanithing.com/series-data-quick-view

Kimetsu no Yaiba anime sales = 20,278
Shingeki no Kyojin anime sales = 52,078
Haikyuu anime sales = 25,470

How is KnY anime blowing up when it sales is lower than AoT and Haikyuu? Do you guys even check fact and statistics before making unproven claim or you just use your anecdotal evidence which is not reliable.

Dec 2, 2020 9:28 AM by Papa_Scorch

It's actually surprising to see how popular Kingdom is in Japan

Dec 2, 2020 9:05 AM by spectrojan

Kuma said:

Samt_ said:

You didn't miss much, just a below-average shounen with good visuals and a few minutes of sakuga.

ah yes, people buy manga because animation.

Dec 2, 2020 8:07 AM by Adatius

Scordolo said:

Gorochu said:
Saying Kimetsu no Yaiba is successful because of ufotable is the same as saying Hunter X Hunter is successful because of Madhouse. Kimetsu no Yaiba is not even ufotable's best selling anime. ufotable only make Kimetsu no Yaiba existence known more to the rest of the mainstream audience but the ability to make fans love and spend much money on it goes down to come from the potential of the manga. We could put other decent studios to animate Kimetsu no Yaiba but it will still receive the same success as it is.

Lmao you're saying Kimetsu no yaiba is not Ufotable's best selling anime?The movie is the 3rd most selling in Japan.Look it up again.
Hunter x Hunter's manga was already successful before it even got an anime while it is not the case with Demon slayer.Demon slayer's manga was unknown but when it's anime was airing the manga blew up.

Kimetsu no Yaiba anime sold at 20278 per volume.
Fate/Zero anime sold at 52285 per volume.
http://www.someanithing.com/series-data-quick-view
Fate Zero outsell Kimetsu no Yaiba.

So yeah, Kimetsu no Yaiba is not ufotable biggest sales. Kimetsu no Yaiba already has more than 1 million sales before the anime came out. Just because Kimetsu no Yaiba is not well known in the west that does not mean it's not well known in Japan before the anime came out. Do you have Hunter X Hunter sales statistics prior the 1999 anime to prove your point that Hunter x Hunter manga was already successful before it even got an anime? Hunter x Hunter manga was almost unknown prior to the 2011 anime.

-EDIT-
1998 Japan's Manga Sales

Series Sales
Sales spectrum: 1 December 1997 - 30 November 1998

*1.　719,850　Meitantei Conan
*2.　647,789　Rurouni Kenshin
*3.　625,322　GTO
*4.　475,542　Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo
*5.　366,417　H2
*6.　350,338　Hoshin Engi
*7.　311,345　Initial D
*8.　305,681　Hana yori Dango
*9.　268,484　One Piece
10.　246,258　Rekka no Honoo
11.　204,120　Kochira Katsushikaku Kameari Kouenmae Hashutsujo
12.　203,187　I's
13.　198,314　Oishinbo
14.　198,357　Hajime no Ippo
15.　191,843　Monster
16.　190,354　GS Mikami Gokuraku Daisakusen!!
17.　186,047　Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori
18.　184,047　3x3 Eyes
19.　154,016　Jaja Uma Grooming Up!
20.　149,615　Basara

Source: Oricon back issues via Justnet
Modified by Ana, Apr 30, 2015 8:42 AM

https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1373782#msg39315196

1999 Japan's Manga Sales

Series Sales
Sales spectrum: 7 December 1998 - 29 November 1999

*1.　564,058　Meitantei Conan
*2.　416,663　Rurouni Kenshin
*3.　371,950　One Piece
*4.　332,929　H2
*5.　325,627　GTO
*6.　301,027　Hana yori Dango
*7.　287,615　Hoshin Engi
*8.　284,099　Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo (inclusive of the short stories volume)
*9.　204,641　Oishinbo
10.　204,581　Hajime no Ippo

Source: Oricon back issues

https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1378429#msg39560431

No Hunter X Hunter manga. Hunter X Hunter manga is not successful before the anime came out.

Dec 1, 2020 10:55 PM by Papa_Scorch

Dec 1, 2020 6:29 PM by Scordolo

Spy x Family better get an anime adaptation soon.It'll blow up.

Dec 1, 2020 6:26 PM by Scordolo

Xenocrisi said:

PraiseTheSun123 said:

Except that most of the success of the series is not because of the quality of the series by itself. It was basically ufotable that made KnY this popular.

And so what? It literally did what it was supposed to do— to advertise the manga. What’s your point here? I don’t get what you’re trying to say

This so much. It's crazy how many people forget that the point of adaptations is to advertise the sorce material, and treat the anime doing it's job like it's a bad thing.

Dec 1, 2020 4:39 PM by TsukuyomiREKT

Samt_ said:

MaceChan said:
Oof, I actually thought Demon Slayer‘s sales were a typo for a sec. Talk about being popular. Yet, here I am, never even seen an episode of the show. Completely went over my head. Sometimes I feel so disconnected from the anime fandom

You didn't miss much, just a below-average shounen with good visuals and a few minutes of sakuga.

ah yes, people buy manga because animation.

Hamazura said:
why don't you people keep making monthly manga and BD DVD sales anymore? don't tell me this is just because shitmetsu no trashba is selling like hell.

nah, those information actually simply paywalled. so reporting them without license them was actually act of piracy. which is not on good term with MAL try being "legal". no surprise it started when they starting to promote legal service in 2015. understandable, but still kinda sad. they still reporting things that available for free to public tho, like this one. however, there are actually top 100 if you purchase them.

Dec 1, 2020 3:42 PM by Kuma

why don't you people keep making monthly manga and BD DVD sales anymore? don't tell me this is just because shitmetsu no trashba is selling like hell.

Dec 1, 2020 1:18 PM by Hamazura

Damn, KnY just smashed it! Good for them! Also, lot of good titles on this list. Happy to see Spy x Family on it!

Dec 1, 2020 9:05 AM by WampaStompa

An anime job is to advertise a product, in this case the manga. However advertisement can only help you get so far, if the product isn't good then no amount of advertising gonna make it explode like that, If advertising really the only reason KnY than Samurai 8 would have been a smash hit. And saying KnY wasn't a hit before the anime is false. Just because something not well know in the West doesn't mean it not a hit in it own country. By that logic stuffs like Doraemon and Dr.Slump weren't a hit too because they aren't well-know in the West. KnY already a respectable hit on Jump before the anime even been announced, not gang buster like right now but on pair with something like BC.

Dec 1, 2020 6:29 AM by ExaltedChampion

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Related Database Entries

Manga:	Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kingdom, One Piece, Haikyuu!!, Jujutsu Kaisen, Yakusoku no Neverland, 5-toubun no Hanayome, Boku no Hero Academia, Spy x Family, Shingeki no Kyojin, Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu, Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken, Sword Art Online, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Shiawase no Hana, Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kataha no Chou, Overlord, Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.