Anime & Manga News

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

by Snow
May 28, 2020 3:00 AM | 80 Comments
Here are the manga and light novel sales rankings for the first half of the fiscal year of 2020 (November 18, 2019 to May 17, 2020).

Manga Sales by Series
*1. 45,297,633 Kimetsu no Yaiba
*2. *4,885,538 One Piece
*3. *4,240,192 5-toubun no Hanayome
*4. *3,512,571 Kingdom
*5. *3,339,656 Boku no Hero Academia

Manga Sales by Volume
*1. 3,035,555 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.18
*2. 2,829,174 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.19
*3. 2,267,744 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.1
*4. 2,237,092 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.12
*5. 2,234,515 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.11
*6. 2,233,412 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.14
*7. 2,223,961 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.13
*8. 2,223,867 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.7
*9. 2,218,826 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.8
10. 2,216,999 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.9

11. 2,211,701 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.2
12. 2,209,598 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.10
13. 2,194,060 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.15
14. 2,192,013 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.3
15. 2,175,936 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.4
16. 2,167,490 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.5
17. 2,166,372 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.6
18. 2,155,356 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.16
19. 2,113,520 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.17
20. 1,955,897 One Piece Vol.95

21. 1,688,363 One Piece Vol.96
22. 1,086,350 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.20
23. *,911,246 Shingeki no Kyojin Vol.30
24. *,904,092 Kimetsu no Yaiba Vol.20 Special Edition
25. *,811,819 Kingdom Vol.56


Light Novel Sales by Series
*1. 1,199,863 Kimetsu no Yaiba Novels
*2. *,377,493 Sword Art Online
*3. *,327,191 Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken
*4. *,317,749 Kusuriya no Hitorigoto
*5. *,264,875 Overlord
*6. *,264,458 Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu
*7. *,256,704 Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.
*8. *,223,657 Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!
*9. *,173,391 Seishun Buta Yarou Series
10. *,150,689 Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e

Light Novel Sales by Volumes
*1. 601,101 Kimetsu no Yaiba: Kataha no Chou
*2. 598,762 Kimetsu no Yaiba: Shiawase no Hana
*3. 207,298 Overlord Vol.14
*4. 172,604 Sword Art Online Vol.23
*5. 170,974 Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. Vol.14
*6. 121,268 Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken Vol.16
*7. 108,521 Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e Vol.12
*8. *86,959 Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Vol.31
*9. *81,994 Sword Art Online Vol.24
10. *79,137 Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! Vol.17 

Light Novels Separated by Specific Ranking


Source: Oricon

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20 of 80 Comments Recent Comments

Jesus Christ, the jump from Top 2 to Top 1 is insane. How come Kingdom is so popular in Japan yet no one's talking about it outside? Are Japan's and the International's taste polar opposites? Cause even the Top 1 anime (Tiger and Bunny) in Japan is barely talked about in the international community.

Sep 12, 2020 8:13 AM by SomeGuyWithHair

Zefyris said:
Kuma said:

same with slime, the manga adaptation exploded. first mentioned in kono manga sugoi award (not win but highly ranked), then win Tsugi ni Kuru manga few month after it. it's strong upward stream after it.

But we're talking about a LN, not a manga, and Slime LN has been doing good for a very long time (+ got an anime to help it, whereas Kusuriya did not)

LN is the same, tho only on kono LN ga sugoi iirc. but the manga adaptation of kusuriya definitely exploded.

Jun 3, 2020 3:42 AM by Kuma

Kuma said:

same with slime, the manga adaptation exploded. first mentioned in kono manga sugoi award (not win but highly ranked), then win Tsugi ni Kuru manga few month after it. it's strong upward stream after it.

But we're talking about a LN, not a manga, and Slime LN has been doing good for a very long time (+ got an anime to help it, whereas Kusuriya did not)

Jun 3, 2020 2:37 AM by Zefyris

Koldmotro said:

Because according to Wikipedia, Toaru novels reached 30M sales in 2018 which is very rare for a novel series.


The novels haven't sold that much. The franchise as a whole has sold that much, including manga adaptations and spinoffs. It's also a worldwide figure.

Jun 2, 2020 11:44 PM by kuuderes_shadow

kuuderes_shadow said:
biswa290701 said:

Btw, just like you didn't ask when the big 3 will end when going strong, just like that you don't ask when SAO and Toaru will end. Lol. They are pretty much the driving forces behind the industry. I'm genuinely surprised that Toaru isn't in these lists for past 3 years.


Index hasn't warranted mention in terms of "driving forces behind the industry" in many, many years now. If it ever was.

As an aside, I've always found it bizarre that Index is always the series that keeps getting mentioned in that sort of context - yes, it's a long runner, but there are others that have been around longer. Yes, it was one of the best selling series about 7 or 8 years ago, but it was never more than one of, and it hasn't even been that in a long time now. Plenty of more successful series have ended in that time.

And I very much doubt Kamachi would stop writing if he finished Index, so it wouldn't even mean losing a prominent author...


Because according to Wikipedia, Toaru novels reached 30M sales in 2018 which is very rare for a novel series.

But yeah all the awards the series won was like 7-9 years ago and despite the fact that there is still an active fandom and the goods still sells quite a lot, the novels sells aren't so good anymore.

Jun 2, 2020 4:24 PM by Koldmotro

biswa290701 said:

Btw, just like you didn't ask when the big 3 will end when going strong, just like that you don't ask when SAO and Toaru will end. Lol. They are pretty much the driving forces behind the industry. I'm genuinely surprised that Toaru isn't in these lists for past 3 years.


Index hasn't warranted mention in terms of "driving forces behind the industry" in many, many years now. If it ever was.

As an aside, I've always found it bizarre that Index is always the series that keeps getting mentioned in that sort of context - yes, it's a long runner, but there are others that have been around longer. Yes, it was one of the best selling series about 7 or 8 years ago, but it was never more than one of, and it hasn't even been that in a long time now. Plenty of more successful series have ended in that time.

And I very much doubt Kamachi would stop writing if he finished Index, so it wouldn't even mean losing a prominent author...

May 31, 2020 6:17 AM by kuuderes_shadow

Ramkec said:
OPbros..........

How do we recover this is insane, at least KnY is over.


Yeah, not really. There's still a movie and second season, so the hype is going to continue for a while

May 31, 2020 5:10 AM by Koshi_Inaba

Lelouch_Darsi said:
Koshi_Inaba said:


Stop being salty, you jackass


Ok, KnY fanboy, no need to be salty about someone's reasonable opinion.


Ok, op fanboy, no need to be salty about someone's reasonable opinion.

Btw, being disappointed because the japanese has a different taste than your own is NOT a reasonable opinion, it's moronic at best

May 31, 2020 5:09 AM by Koshi_Inaba

Koshi_Inaba said:
Daniel_Naumov said:

Oh how disappointed I am in the most esteemed Japanese race... Thank you for this information.
Daniel_Naumov said:

Oh how disappointed I am in the most esteemed Japanese race... Thank you for this information.


Stop being salty, you jackass


Ok, KnY fanboy, no need to be salty about someone's reasonable opinion.

May 31, 2020 3:09 AM by Lelouch_Darsi

OPbros..........

How do we recover this is insane, at least KnY is over.

May 29, 2020 10:16 PM by Ramkec

Detective1412 said:
No, no I wont take that KnY bait. Gonna commenting the other instead,

Top LN sales list is just like the other years, nothing new. Ok there's a new one, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, never heard it before.

oh wait SAO still continue? lmao Glad to see Overlord V14 there cuz yeah that's definitely hyped.

Oregairu last volume, as expected. Also it's good that last volume of KonoSuba is on top 10 tho.

Slime is still strong with its both manga and LN sales, if KnY not included, pretty sure Slime manga is gonna be on top 10, just like the other years.

Also damn, really need to catching up YouJitsu, already V12 huh.

Mahouka is also in the last stage of story, so yeah it's all good.
I think SAO going strong and hyped too. Overlord latest volume is hyped but anime is trash.

May 29, 2020 2:51 PM by chriskor022

Detective1412 said:
biswa290701 said:

Yeah I'm liking the LN list. Oregairu and Overlord ending probably boosted the sales.

Btw, just like you didn't ask when the big 3 will end when going strong, just like that you don't ask when SAO and Toaru will end. Lol. They are pretty much the driving forces behind the industry. I'm genuinely surprised that Toaru isn't in these lists for past 3 years.

Oregairu and *KonoSuba.
Overlord will end in V17 iirc.

lol yea, been reading it till first volume of alicization, but it seems not my things so I don't really care about it.

Pretty sure Toaru NT already ended last year(?) We waiting for part 3 that coming this year.

Oh volume 17 of overlord didn't release yet? I've basically read only till volume 10 so I didn't know. Btw, I don't read toaru, I'm only an anime-only. Reading it is a pretty daunting task. Lol.

But yeah I do read SAO and I'm updated with it. Probably you'll like this one. It's the highest rated SAO media but I still think it's underrated. Lol
https://myanimelist.net/manga/43921/Sword_Art_Online__Progressive?q=Sword%20art%20

May 29, 2020 1:36 PM by Biswa_29

demon slayer dominating the charts

May 29, 2020 12:23 PM by caprisan

biswa290701 said:

Yeah I'm liking the LN list. Oregairu and Overlord ending probably boosted the sales.

Btw, just like you didn't ask when the big 3 will end when going strong, just like that you don't ask when SAO and Toaru will end. Lol. They are pretty much the driving forces behind the industry. I'm genuinely surprised that Toaru isn't in these lists for past 3 years.

Oregairu and *KonoSuba.
Overlord will end in V17 iirc.

lol yea, been reading it till first volume of alicization, but it seems not my things so I don't really care about it.

Pretty sure Toaru NT already ended last year(?) We waiting for part 3 that coming this year.

May 29, 2020 7:39 AM by Detective1412

Detective1412 said:
No, no I wont take that KnY bait. Gonna commenting the other instead,

Top LN sales list is just like the other years, nothing new. Ok there's a new one, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, never heard it before.

oh wait SAO still continue? lmao Glad to see Overlord V14 there cuz yeah that's definitely hyped.

Oregairu last volume, as expected. Also it's good that last volume of KonoSuba is on top 10 tho.

Slime is still strong with its both manga and LN sales, if KnY not included, pretty sure Slime manga is gonna be on top 10, just like the other years.

Also damn, really need to catching up YouJitsu, already V12 huh.

Mahouka is also in the last stage of story, so yeah it's all good.

Yeah I'm liking the LN list. Oregairu and Overlord ending probably boosted the sales.

Btw, just like you didn't ask when the big 3 will end when going strong, just like that you don't ask when SAO and Toaru will end. Lol. They are pretty much the driving forces behind the industry. I'm genuinely surprised that Toaru isn't in these lists for past 3 years.

May 29, 2020 7:17 AM by Biswa_29

No, no I wont take that KnY bait. Gonna commenting the other instead,

Top LN sales list is just like the other years, nothing new. Ok there's a new one, Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, never heard it before.

oh wait SAO still continue? lmao Glad to see Overlord V14 there cuz yeah that's definitely hyped.

Oregairu last volume, as expected. Also it's good that last volume of KonoSuba is on top 10 tho.

Slime is still strong with its both manga and LN sales, if KnY not included, pretty sure Slime manga is gonna be on top 10, just like the other years.

Also damn, really need to catching up YouJitsu, already V12 huh.

Mahouka is also in the last stage of story, so yeah it's all good.

May 29, 2020 6:52 AM by Detective1412

mootjee said:
Overrated anime! KnY should be grateful to Ufotoable. Only reason.
glittered turd is still turd. do good anime help? yes, but not a solely factor. 5 toubun is successful while fire force is a flop should show how much good animation can only help, but that's it. even ufotable can't save tales of zestria and god eater.

Zefyris said:
kuuderes_shadow said:


It's long been a member of the increasingly small club of series that consistently get 30k+ sales per volume before dropping out the weekly rankings without any anime or live action adaptation. However since February last year it has somehow developed a spectacularly strong long tail, and it has only dropped off the weekly series rankings once since then (on w/c 23rd December 2019)

In other word, since the end of that one year hiatus and the vol 8 being published. I wonder what happened between those two volumes for it to gain such irregularly long trail.


same with slime, the manga adaptation exploded. first mentioned in kono manga sugoi award (not win but highly ranked), then win Tsugi ni Kuru manga few month after it. it's strong upward stream after it.

youseiki said:

Simplest reason why I don't bother going in this place, just look at the comments, it's freaking 800, with at least 60,000 views. But to be fair, this place isn't bias unlike that site.


one of reason i didn't like upvote system, it create hive mind mentality.

May 29, 2020 6:22 AM by Kuma


Simplest reason why I don't bother going in this place, just look at the comments, it's freaking 800, with at least 60,000 views. But to be fair, this place isn't bias unlike that site.

May 29, 2020 5:57 AM by youseiki

kuuderes_shadow said:
Zefyris said:
... wait a minute kusuriya no hitorigoto 's LN is a 300,000 in 6 months? Woot? I've been reading it but I never knew that was this popular Oo. It's above even Overlord? How did that happen? ;O


It's long been a member of the increasingly small club of series that consistently get 30k+ sales per volume before dropping out the weekly rankings without any anime or live action adaptation. However since February last year it has somehow developed a spectacularly strong long tail, and it has only dropped off the weekly series rankings once since then (on w/c 23rd December 2019)

In other word, since the end of that one year hiatus and the vol 8 being published. I wonder what happened between those two volumes for it to gain such irregularly long trail.

May 29, 2020 3:04 AM by Zefyris

Overrated anime! KnY should be grateful to Ufotoable. Only reason.

May 29, 2020 2:59 AM by mootjee

It’s time to ditch the text file.
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