One Piece remains number one according to Shuheisha 2019 sales ranking

One Piece nails it again as it hits number one spot in Shuheisha’s 2019 sales ranking. The announcement was posted on Yahoo Japan on November 25. Eiichiro Oda’s phenomenal manga sold out an estimated 12.7 million copies from November 19, 2018 to November 17, 2019.

Shuheisha revealed on Monday that Koyoharu Gotouge’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is the company’s second highest-selling manga. It managed to sell 10.8 million copies in the same period, and ranks second to Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece.

This news settles fans’ heated discussions on the sales ranking of the two highest-grossing mangas of the year.

Kimetsu no Yaiba’s Rise to Glory

Gotouge’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba launched back in February 2016 in weekly Shonen Jump. The English version of the manga is published by Viz Media, both in print and digitally. The anime adaptation of the manga was released on April 6, 2019, and continued until September 28.

Season two is not yet officially announced, but the manga continues to release new chapters.

Viewers got interested in the storyline of the series. Because of this, more people started buying the manga. Some One Piece fans claim that it is the only reason Kimetsu no Yaiba almost beat One Piece in ranking.

Kimetsu no Yaiba Synopsis

The story is about a feud between demons and Demon Slayers since ancient times. Demon Slayer corp is an organization unrecognized by the government. It only has several hundred members who are assigned missions depending on demon appearances.

The members of the corp are determined by a final selection. It is an event where apprentices of demon slayers have to survive overnight in a demon-infested area.

Tanjiro, the main protagonist, became a demon slayer after his family was slaughtered by demons. His mission is to find the demon who turned his only surviving sister into a demon.

Romance Dawn: One Piece humble beginnings

As a young artist, Oda always wanted to draw a pirate manga series. His first attempt in doing so led to the creation of Romance Dawn. It consists of two manga versions that Oda created before One Piece but set in a similar world. Both versions were published in Shuheisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump issue.

The first volume is 50 pages in length and was first published on August 4, 1996. It was published in Shonen Jump Summer Special, a special issue dedicated to the work of new artists. It was later animated as part of a special OVA commemorating Shonen Jump’s 40th anniversary.

The second version of Romance Dawn is 45 pages long. It was originally published in the 41st issue of the Weekly Shonen Jump on September 20, 1996. It was later reprinted with a page of author commentary in Eiichiro Oda’s early-work compilation, Wanted.

It was recently adapted to anime as episode 907. It aired on October 20, 2019 in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the animated series.

One Piece Achievements

It is not the first time that One Piece ranked number one in sales. In fact, this year is One Piece’s 13th year maintaining the first rank as the highest selling manga of Shonen Jump. One Piece also holds the record of best selling manga of all time.

As of September 2019, One Piece is recorded to have sold 454 million copies worldwide.

Other than being the top or best selling manga, One Piece also received other awards. Perhaps the most prominent is the Guinness Book of World Records. One Piece sets record for most printed comic series by one single author ever.

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Image credits:Viz Media/ Funimation/ Onepiece.fandom

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