| Rank/ # of copies sold/ Title / Published year 1 30,000,000 Guin Saga ( 1979 ) note: 144 volumes 2 20,000,000 Slayers ( 1990 ) 3 15,000,000 Legend of the Galactic Heroes ( 1982 ) 4 12,000,000 Majutsushi Orphen ( 1994 ) 5 10,000,000 Fortune Quest ( 1989 ) 5 10,000,000 Record of Lodoss War ( 1988 ) 5 10,000,000 Vampire Hunter D ( 1983 ) 8 8,000,000 Souryuuden ( 1987 ) 9 7,200,000 Nante Suteki ni Japanesque ( 1981 ) 10 7,000,000 Full Metal Panic! ( 1998 ) 10 7,000,000 Juuni Kokuki ( 1991 ) 12 6,000,000 Shakugan no Shana ( 2002 ) 12 6,000,000 Kino's Journey ( 2000 ) 12 6,000,000 Hono-o no Shinkirou ( 1990 ) 15 5,800,000 The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ( 2003 ) 15 5,500,000 Kyou Kara Maou! ( 2002 ) 17 5,200,000 Maria-sama ga Miteru ( 1998 ) 18 4,600,000 Saiunkoku Monogatari ( 2003 ) 19 4,400,000 Toaru Majutsu no Index ( 2004 ) 20 4,200,000 Highschool Aurabuster ( 1989 ) 20 4,200,000 Kaze no Tairiku ( 1988 ) 22 4,000,000 Boogiepop ( 1998 ) 22 4,000,000 Takumi-kun ( 1993 ) 24 3,500,000 Zero no Tsukaima ( 2004 ) 24 3,500,000 The Sky Crawlers ( 2001 ) 24 3,500,000 Shounen Onmyouji ( 2002 ) 27 3,200,000 Koukaku no Regios ( 2006 ) 28 3,000,000 Tenchi Muyo! ( 1997 ) 29 2,600,000 Spice and Wolf ( 2006 ) 30 2,500,000 Maburaho ( 2002 ) 30 2,500,000 Allision&Lillia ( 2002 ) 30 2,500,000 Hayou no Tsurugi ( 1989 ) 33 2,450,000 Toradora! ( 2006 ) 34 2,000,000 Seikai no Senki ( 1996 ) 34 2,000,000 Magical Soldier Louie ( 1998 ) 34 2,000,000 The Third ( 1999 ) 34 2,000,000 Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu ( 2002 ) 34 2,000,000 Rental Magica ( 2004 ) 39 1,800,000 Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica ( 2006 ) 40 1,600,000 Inukami! ( 2003 ) 41 1,500,000 Trinity Blood ( 2000 ) 41 1,500,000 Tales series ( 2000 ) 43 1,400,000 Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora ( 2006 ) 44 1,300,000 Shinigami no Ballad ( 2003 ) 44 1,300,000 Owari no Chronicle ( 2003 ) 46 1,200,000 Hakushaku to Yousei ( 2004 ) 47 1,100,000 Toshokan Sensou ( 2006 ) 48 1,000,000 Kaze no Stigma ( 2002 ) 48 1,000,000 Goshuushousama, Ninomiya-kun ( 2004 ) 48 1,000,000 Scrapped Princess ( 1999 ) 48 1,000,000 Magician's Academy ( 2003 ) 48 1,000,000 Kyouran Kazoku Nikki ( 2005 ) 48 1,000,000 Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan ( 2003 ) 48 1,000,000 Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo! ( 2003 ) 48 1,000,000 Mushiuta ( 2003 ) 48 1,000,000 Magun Wakusei ( 1987 ) 48 1,000,000 Gunparade March ( 2000 ) 48 1,000,000 Baka to Tesuto to Shokanju ( 2007 ) 48 1,000,000 Bungaku Shoujo ( 2006 ) 48 1,000,000 Asura Cryin' ( 2005 ) 48 1,000,000 Seitokai no Ichizon ( 2008 ) 62 955,000 Seirei no Moribito ( 1996 ) 63 900,000 Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu ( 2004 ) 64 850,000 Baccano! ( 2003 ) 65 800,000 Baito de Wizard ( 2002 ) 65 800,000 Kanokon ( 2005 ) 67 720,000 Katana Gatari ( 2007 ) 68 700,000 Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu ( 2001 ) 68 700,000 Kara no Kyoukai ( 2004 ) 70 650,000 Wagaya no Oinari-sama ( 2004 ) 71 600,000 Kure-nai ( 2005 ) 71 600,000 Sakura Wars ( 1999 ) 73 570,000 Seiken no Blacksmith ( 2007 ) 74 500,000 Tactical Judgement ( 2003 ) 74 500,000 D Crackers ( 2000 ) 74 500,000 Strait Jacket ( 2000 ) 74 500,000 Ki-ri ( 2003 ) 74 500,000 Kamisama Kazoku ( 2003 ) 79 400,000 Seitokai no Ichizon ( 2008 ) 79 400,000 Yoshinaga-san'chi no Gargoyle ( 2003 ) 79 400,000 Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wakeganai ( 2008 ) 82 300,000 ROOM NO.1301 ( 2003 ) 82 300,000 Yukikaze ( 1984 ) 84 250,000 Bakemonogatari ( 2006 ) 84 250,000 DDD ( 2007 ) 86 200,000 Gakkou no Kaidan ( 2006 ) 68 200,000 L Change the World ( 2007 ) 86 200,000 Karin ( 2003 ) 89 100,000 Black Lagoon ( 2008 ) Source: Light Novel Wiki Source: Light Novel Numbers History of Updates |
dtshykJun 25, 2009 5:32 PM
| hmm...so the highest ranked post 2000 is Shakuga no Shana...interesting. Surprised to see Maria-sama ga Miteru not that high considering like 30 volumes are out. |
 |
| Considering it's Yuri story (not targeting at the general readers), Maria-sama ga Miteru is doing good, I think. I worry that they have already animated most of the popular light novels. The speed of the consumption is too fast. |
| damn, if only there weren't just 5 volumes of Guin Saga available in English. I guess I'll just have to wait for the anime to air in Spring '09. |
    |
Avarice said: damn, if only there weren't just 5 volumes of Guin Saga available in English. I guess I'll just have to wait for the anime to air in Spring '09. Don't worry. Guin Saga has a world record of the longest novel series written by one author. Few people grasp what's going on with the series. Even the author Kurimoto Kaoru herself doesn't know how the ending is gonna be like. |
| Does anyone have an updated version of this list? |
| :3 |
| @alpha_shadow - People stopped paying as much attention to print run/circulation figures (which is what this is) once we started getting decent cover of actual sales figures. The data is still out there for the individual series* but I'm not aware of anyone collating it any more so it would take a lot of effort to put a list together. *although bear in mind that figures for copies in print are not available for the vast majority of series and almost invariably out of date for those there are figures for. |
kuuderes_shadowMar 17, 2016 1:58 AM
| There is no such thing as shit taste. Only idiots who think everyone should have the same taste as they do. |
| I'm afraid those numbers (which like kuuderes_shadow said above are print figures) have very little to do with actual sales figure. Although, in some case, it seems to show how much a company lost with some titles. Take baccano for example. That makes an average of around 50k printed by volume. But when you see the actual sales by volumes, it seems to have a hard time to even go above... 5-7k IIRC ? That's a freaking huge difference :x. |
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