News
Bleach Manga Crosses 2.7 Million Copies in Print in U.S., My Hero Academia Manga Crosses 10 Million
posted on by Adriana Hazra
Entertainment news magazine Variety reported on April 6 that Tite Kubo's Bleach manga has 2.7 million copies in print in the United States. Kōhei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia manga has over 10 million copies in print with its first volume having crossed 1.2 million copies in the United States. (Note: While Variety stated these numbers are "sales" numbers, Viz Media confirmed with ANN these numbers are "copies in print.")
Viz Media will publish a 20th Anniversary Edition of the first volume of Bleach on August 2. The company will also launch a 20-volume box set of the My Hero Academia manga series on October 18. The release will feature a 48-page booklet with bonus illustrations and double-sided poster.
Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine published a new 73-page chapter of Bleach in August 2021.
Kubo launched Bleach in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2001, and ended it in August 2016. Viz Media published the manga in North America digitally in English as Shueisha published new chapters in Japan. Viz Media also published the manga in print.
The manga is inspiring a new anime adaptation that will premiere in October 2022. The anime will cover the "Thousand Year Blood War" arc, the final arc of the manga, that comprises volumes 55-74.
Shueisha announced on January 30 that Kōhei Horikoshi's My Hero Academia manga now has 65 million copies in circulation worldwide. The number includes copies in print and digital copies, but is not a sales statistic. The manga has a cumulative circulation of 45 million in Japan (including digital copies as well as copies in print sold and unsold).
Horikoshi launched the manga series in Weekly Shonen Jump in July 2014. Viz Media publishes the manga in English digitally and in print in North America. Shueisha's MANGA Plus service also publishes the manga in English digitally. The manga entered its "final act" in March 2021.
The fifth season of the anime adaptation of My Hero Academia premiered in Japan in March 2021, and aired for 25 episodes. The sixth season will premiere in fall 2022.
Sources: Variety (Patrick Frater), Email correspondence
