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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Franchise to Have Over 25 Million Copies in Circulation
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The 18th compiled book volume of Koyoharu Gotouge's Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga will ship on December 4 with a first printing of 1 million copies. With this volume's release, the overall franchise — not just manga but also other publications, as well as digital releases — will have more than 25 million copies in circulation.
To mark the milestone, Shueisha will launch a promotional campaign on December 1, and 18 character posters will be on display at Tokyo's Shibuya shopping area and major train and subway stations in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka. In addition, people who purchase the franchise's publications at major bookstores throughout Japan will receive original cards with the same visuals. A Twitter campaign that will automatically generate image replies will also run from December 1 to December 31.
Other manga from Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine to have volumes with first printings of 1 million copies or more include One Piece, Kuroko's Basketball, and Assassination Classroom.
Shueisha revealed on Monday that the series is the company's second highest-selling manga in 2019, second only to Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba sold 10.8 million manga volumes in the period from November 19, 2018 to November 17, 2019. Meanwhile, One Piece sold 12.7 million manga volumes during the same time period. Shueisha did not specify if these numbers include digital sales.
Gotouge launched Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba in Weekly Shonen Jump in February 2016. Viz Media is publishing the manga in English digitally and in print.
The manga inspired a television anime that premiered on April 6, and aired its 26th and final episode on Saturday. Aniplex of America has licensed the series and is streaming the show on Hulu, Crunchyroll, and FunimationNow. Adult Swim's Toonami programming block premiered the television anime on October 12. The anime will receive a sequel anime film.
Sources: Comic Natalie, The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
