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How come most early legendary classics that dominated manga don't rank high as all time bestsellers?




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Samuknight



Joined: 25 Mar 2015
Posts: 35
PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:31 pm Reply with quote
When I peak at the bestselling manga of all times list on wikipedia, I am surprised many classics seen as pioneering or even revolutionizing the entire manga industry don't make a big dent sales wise such as Ashita No Joe-forget that some of the titles and we associate as the most important classics and mangakas as the most important artists who made the greatest impact in anime history are not in the list at all such as Captain Harlock and Shotaro Ishinomori (esp this one!)!

I have to ask why is this? The only legendary author and specific work that whose sales actually matched the their supposed reputation is Tezuka (who had a two whopping works in the top 15 list with both of them selling over 100 million copies, one of them Blackjack even outselling Bleach and his other work Astroboy narrowly missing the 10th place spot to Bleach!) and Doraemon (which in addition to selling over 100 million copies is also the only Kodomoko demograph work in the list). If we count unfinished works, Golgo 13.

I mean forget the 100 million copies seller, considering how much Ikeda and Ashita No Joe are believed to have been the equivalent of DBZ and Sailor Moon of their time period the 70s, I'm so surprised they only sold over 10 million despite dominating the manga industry during their publication. And of course I'm not counting how much of the pioneer legends such as Go Nagai never had a single work make it to Wikipedia's list. Hell I'm pretty surprised Clamp's only listed work is Tsubasa Reservoir Chornicles (one of their most recent ones) since I remember back in the 90s about how big Clamp's reputation was!

Can anyone explain why the supposed legends famed and revered in in the otaku subculture such as Cyborg 009 and Ikeda do not match their hype in sales esp they claims of how they dominated the industry during their time?

And how come Tezuka the only author with multiple works selling hundreds of millions and Golgo 13 along with Doraemon the only old classics (not counting Tezuka's stuff) that individually made it to the top 15 list from before the pre-Dragon Ball era? I was so surprised that what dominates the top 15 bestseller of all time list were are mosty stuff from the 80s and followed by 90s major hitters and a few 2000s era works.

What is the reason for this? I'm especially surprised with Golgo 13 was the only long running series before from the 70s and earlier to reach over 100 million sold. Is the rep of the classic innovators such as Go Nagai and Hana No Ko Lunlun really very overrated in its impact? How come Tezuka along with Doraemon and Golgo 13 the only pre-Dragon Ball classics thats famous outside of Japan to actually match their supposed impact and fame in sales?
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AkumaChef



Joined: 10 Jan 2019
Posts: 821
PostPosted: Tue Feb 04, 2020 9:39 am Reply with quote
>What is the reason for this?
Simple: Population growth. You see the exact same thing with best-selling books or movies. Older titles may have be hugely popular at the time of their release (in terms of % of the market), but the market size wasn't as big. Every year brings more people on the planet and thus more people reading manga, watching movies, etc. A title which gets X% of readers to buy it today will sell many many more copies than a title which got the same % of readers to buy it a decade ago. The Manga industry was a lot smaller back in the 60's and 70's when a lot of these classic titles were being made.
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