ICv2Â released their report detailing the top 20 best selling manga in the United States for the month of March 2024.
For this analysis breakdown, we'll be focusing on the Top 20 Manga for March 2024 which tracked sales data from March 3rd, 2024 through April 6th, 2024.
You can find our previous break down covering the Top 20 Manga the United States for February 2024 here.
Who is Circana Bookscan?
Circana Bookscan is a platform that collects weekly point-of-sale data on various consumer products print books from over 16,000 locations which include but not limited to: e-tailers, chains, mass merchandisers, independent bookstores, and more.
While Behind The Manga can't personally access this information, online trade magazine ICv2 publishes a report which showcases the Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels, Top 20 "Superhero" Graphic Novels, and Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels  which can be accessed here
What is This Month's Publisher Ranking?
Here's a visualization to help categorize how many titles each US Manga Publisher has ranked in the Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels for March 2024:
Publisher | Titles ranked in the Top 20 Manga |
Viz Media | 16/20 |
Dark Horse | 2/20 |
Kodansha Comics | 1/20 |
Square Enix | 1/20 |
Methodology
To calculate these numbers, we counted how many titles each publisher has in the top 20 manga graphic novels and gave it a fraction. We then converted each fraction into a decimal by dividing the numerator with it's denominator. Finally, we multiply the decimal by 100 to give us our percentage.
(For example, if Viz Media achieved 16 out of 20 total spots, it's fraction would be 16/20. We then divide 16 by 20 to get a decimal value of .80. Finally, We multiply our decimal value of .80 by 100 to give us our percentage of 80% )
How does it compare to last month?
Here's a visualization on how many titles each US Manga Publisher has ranked in the Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels for February 2024.
Publisher | Titles ranked in the Top 20 Manga |
Viz Media | 16/20 |
Dark Horse | 3/20 |
Yen Press | 1/20 |
How does it compare to last year?
Here's a visualization on how many titles each US Manga Publisher has ranked in the Top 20 Manga Graphic Novels for March 2023:
Publisher | Titles ranked in the Top 20 Manga |
Viz Media | 16/20 |
Kodansha Comics | 2/20 |
Dark Horse | 1/20 |
Yen Press | 1/20 |
The Breakdown (Publisher Ranking)
Viz Media takes the lead with sixteen titles break the top 20 for this month. Dark Horse comes in second with having two titles rank, while both Kodansha and Square Enix tie with having one title break the top 20.
What's interesting is that Viz has maintained the same number of titles break the top 20 both for last month and last year. Compared to last month, it seems like both Dark Horse and Yen Press have given up spots for both Square Enix and Kodansha to rank. This set up closely resembles the publishers who ranked last year, with Yen Press being replaced by Square Enix.
What's the Total Sales Gross for the Top 20 Manga?
Here's a chart to help visualize how much in total sales each of the top 20 manga grossed for March 2024
Methodology
To calculate these numbers, we took how many units each title sold within the given timeframe. Then we multiplied the total units by its MSRP given by the publisher. The reason we chose this method is because when conducting research for this project, we've discovered that Circana Bookscan uses this same methodology in their reporting. So to stay consistent with their reporting, we decided it would be best to replicate the same methodology. (For example: Berserk Deluxe Volume 1 made it to the top 20: it sold 14,499 units and it's MSRP is $49.99. We multiply $49.99 by 14,499 units to achieve a total gross of $724,805.01)
However, take these numbers with a grain of salt as not "every" unit was sold at MSRP as different retailers can offer the same books at different price points.
If a box set appears on the chart, each unit sold is counted as a single unit. The number of volumes within a box set is not factored into the number of units a box set sold. This is the same methodology Circana and English retailers use when calculating product sales.
The Breakdown (Total Gross Sales)
Both Berserk Deluxe volumes 1 and 2 take the top 2 spots in the charts, achieving a total gross of $1,030,443.87 (Vol 1 with $724,805 and vol 2 with $305,638.86). This is expected for Berserk since the Deluxe edition has frequently been in the top 20 usually with the first volumes. What could be speculated is that Berserk is continuing to bring in new readers wanting to try the series out.
Berserk Deluxe vol 1 tops the charts at $724,805. This is a 27% increase from February where it earned $570,385.90. Compared with volume 2 of the deluxe edition which saw a 44.7% increase from February.
My Hero Academia volume 37 is Viz's top selling volume for the month of March earning $312,783.13. My Hero is one of Viz's best sellers, with each new volume charting in the top 20 on release. After all of these years, the series still maintains its staying power.
Something interesting to note is that the One Piece spinoffs, Ace's Story manga adaptation and Shokugeki no Sanji, both made it in the top 20. In terms of total gross, they specifically placed in the 9th and 10th spots respectively.
This, along with One Piece's latest volumes and Omnibus volume 1, show that One Piece continues to build momentum in popularity not just with the manga community but also with the general audience. This reflection of sales wasn't at the levels present for the series pre-pandemic.
Another factor to consider is the Netflix live action. That brought a wider group of people into the series and got them interested in buying the physical volumes.
The Apothecary Diaries's latest volume shows up in the chart. This seems to be the first time the manga adaptation has a volume show up in the top 20 (none of the volumes showed up in 2023). This is likely contributed to the anime's popularity.
Blue Lock's latest volume shows up on the chart. As we've seen from ComicBeat's Bookscan top selling manga and graphic novel series for 2023, Blue Lock is a hit series for Kodansha. Since the boost from both the anime and the World Cup, the series has kept the momentum going, with a newly released volume always hitting the top 20.
Dragon Ball Super volume 20 was present in the previous month's chart. While having a 42.5% sales decrease compared to last month's performance, the latest volume release in the series continues to stay on the chart.
Publisher Analysis & Future Speculation
Due to the passing of Akira Toriyama, I'm curious to see if more volumes of Dragon Ball Super will start to appear on the charts, similar to what happened with Berserk after Miura's passing.
Chainsaw Man, Spy X Family, Demon Slayer, and Jujutsu Kaisen appearing on the list is no surprise. These are some of Viz's best sellers (alongside One Piece and My Hero Academia). I'd expect a surge in sales for Demon Slayer volumes (and maybe the box set) once the new season (Hashira Training Arc) begins on May 12th.
While not charting this month, I wouldn't be surprised to see a surge in sales and spots taken by Kaiju No 8 since the anime is releasing. Usually the latest volume will chart, so I'm curious to see if more of its backlog will chart once the anime ends.
Similar to what we've said in our previous articles, Berserk Deluxe Volume 1 continues to be the publisher's best selling volume. With volume 2 also in the top 3 best selling manga for the month, this is showing that more readers are moving past the first volume and checking out the second volume, or they are picking up the first 2 volumes of the deluxe edition to figure out if the series is for them.
Berserk has been considered one of the top manga series in North America for several years with multiple volumes of the Deluxe Edition showing up in the monthly top 20. It's a staple series for Dark Horse.
Blue Lock continues to be a hit series for Kodansha. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a surge in volumes showing up in the top 20 once the Episode Nagi movie releases stateside in June
The Apothecary Diaries ranking is likely due to the effects of the anime. From our records, this is the first volume to ever show up in the top 20. My guess is that fans who started reading where the anime left off caught up with the physical releases and were ready for this volume to come out. I wouldn't be surprised if the series slowly has more volumes show up on the charts in the future.
Citation
Circana Bookscan. Circana BookScan. (n.d.). https://bookscan.npd.com/
Alverson, B. (2024). Pro: March 2024 Circana Bookscan - Top 20 author, manga, superhero graphic novels with actual sales. ICv2.
The Publisher Ranking and Total Gross of each volume charts were created & Calculated by WinterVenom with data supplied by ICv2 & Circana Bookscan.