As much as people focus on the growing popularity of anime, the rise of manga is just as impressive, if not more so. The increase in streaming options has also led to more simulpubs and faster physical releases for manga, and with how easy it’s become for fans to read manga, it’s currently the biggest it’s been in decades.
Not only does manga regularly outsell comics in the West, but many manga, in general, regularly sell millions of books every year and have gone on to become some of the best-selling works in fiction. Any manga to achieve that status is nothing short of legendary, and that’s especially impressive for the titles at the absolute top.
Yoshito Usui and UY Team’s Crayon Shin-chan is a slice-of-life manga about the adventures of Shinnosuke “Shin” Nohara and his friends and family. While the art style gives the impression of a family-friendly story, Crayon Shin-chan is infamously raunchy, with most stories revolving around some sort of sex-based humor and Shin himself having a proclivity for raunchy jokes and double-entendres.
Despite the vulgarity of its premise, Crayon Shin-chan has been an iconic anime franchise for over 30 years now, even having a long-running anime that was made even raunchier for its English dub. At the time of writing, Crayon Shin-chan has sold over 148 million books worldwide, and at this rate, it’s only going to get bigger.
Osamu Akimoto’s KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops follows the adventures of Kankichi “Ryo” Ryotsu, a childish police officer who spends more time goofing off than doing actual police work. The series is famous for its satire of not just manga, but Japanese culture as a whole, and not unlike The Simpsons, it’s even featured a multitude of cameos from real-life celebrities.
With 40 years of serialization, KochiKame is an iconic staple of anime in Japan, and it even has one of the highest volume counts for a manga at 201 volumes. Sure enough, that’s also led to an amazing sales figure of 157.2 million books worldwide, and there’s no better showing of its enduring legacy.
Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk stars Hanamichi Sakuragi, a delinquent who claims to be a genius basketball player to impress his new crush, despite never even touching a ball. After joining his school’s team, though, not only does there end up being some truth to Sakuragi’s claims, but Sakuragi finds himself slowly growing to love the game all on his own.
With its gorgeous artwork and heartfelt writing that embodies everything great about sports stories, Slam Dunk is a truly iconic sports manga, and it’s currently the eighth-best-selling manga with over 185 million books sold. Back in the ’90s, Slam Dunk was the only series that could match Dragon Ball’s popularity, and decades later, it’s easy to see why.
In Koyoharu Gotouge’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, after Tanjiro Kamado’s family is killed by demons and his sister, Nezuko, is turned into a demon herself, Tanjiro joins the Demon Slayer Corps so he can not only find a way to turn Nezuko back to normal, but to help them rid the world of demons once and for all.
With its great writing and action and an anime adaptation with incredible animation and direction, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has quickly risen to become the biggest anime franchise of the past decade. It was recently announced that Demon Slayer has sold 220 million books worldwide, and with the Infinity Castle trilogy still ongoing, that’s bound to get even higher.
Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto stars Naruto Uzumaki, an aspiring ninja ostracized by his village for being the vessel to the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Naruto seeks to become the next Hokage and earn everyone’s respect, and his quest to do so puts him at the center of one major conflict after another until it falls on him to save the entire world.
Naruto was a staple of the 2000s for its creative action and heartfelt writing, and sure enough, Naruto is currently the sixth-best-selling manga of all time with over 250 million books sold worldwide. Naruto’s sequel, Boruto, might not be living up to that legacy, but it’s safe to say that Naruto will remain an icon for years to come.
Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball tells the story of Son Goku, a boy with a monkey tail who goes on adventures with his friends, often in search of the titular wish-granting Dragon Balls. While Dragon Ball began as a martial arts fantasy story, the series slowly evolved into a massive sci-fi epic, with the action similarly jumping up in massive scale.
As the series that inspired nearly every modern anime, Dragon Ball remains one of the biggest anime franchises in history after 40 years, and it’s currently the fifth-best-selling manga of all time with over 260 million books sold. A few manga may have outsold Dragon Ball, but that does nothing to detract from how iconic a series it is.
Gosho Aoyama’s Case Closed, better known as Detective Conan, stars Shinichi Kudo, a teen detective turned into a child by the mysterious Black Organization. Now living as Conan Edogawa, Shinichi must uncover the truth of the Black Organization to both take them down and get his life back, all while solving any other crime he runs into along the way.
Detective Conan’s clever writing and slow-burning mystery have made it a staple of manga for decades, and it’s even older than One Piece, with far fewer signs of ending. Going right along with that, Detective Conan is currently the fourth-best-selling manga of all time with over 270 million books sold, and there’s no telling how much higher it will go.
Takao Saito and Saito Production’s Golgo 13 stars Golgo 13, a professional hitman whose true identity is a secret, yet he seems to have always had a part in major historical events. The series is entirely episodic, as Golgo 13 undertakes one job after another, with only a small handful of supporting characters making repeat appearances in his adventures.
With 218 volumes and a serialization dating back to 1968, Golgo 13 is the longest-running manga of all time and boasts an incredible sales figure of over 300 million volumes worldwide. Few manga in Japan are as iconic as Golgo 13, and with it showing no signs of ending, it’s only going to get bigger in the years to come.
Fujiko F. Fujio’s Doraemon stars Nobita Nobi, a boy who grows up to be such a loser that it hurts his descendants’ lives and pushes his great-great-grandson to send the eponymous robotic cat Doraemon to the past to improve Nobita’s life, although Doraemon’s bizarre abilities tend to cause more problems than necessary.
Doraemon has been a staple of anime for almost 60 years now, and it’s to the point that Doraemon, himself, is something of a mascot for Japan as a whole. Going right along with that, Doraemon is tied with Golgo 13 at over 300 million books sold worldwide, and there’s no better showing of how iconic a series it’s become.
In Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece, the world has entered a Great Age of Piracy following the death of Gold Roger and the hunt for his legendary treasure, the One Piece. That, of course, includes Monkey D. Luffy, and even with a rubber body, Luffy will gather a crew to travel through the Grand Line and become King of the Pirates.
One Piece’s fun writing, clever action, and incredible worldbuilding have made it the biggest anime franchise in history, and sure enough, it’s the best-selling manga of all time with over 516.6 million books sold worldwide. There’s never been a manga on the same level as One Piece, and with it entering its final saga, it can only get bigger.
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