Manga in Japan = One Piece

Manga in Japan appears synonymous with One Piece in much the same way that manga overseas is a shorthand for saying “Naruto“, if the latest manga sales figures are anything to go by.

The collected Oricon Top 50 figures for manga sales through the first half of 2009 (shown below) give a complete picture of what manga series are dominating Japan of late, with the usual blockbusters of Bleach, Naruto, and (of course) One Piece dominating much of the list.

• Sales figures shown are for November 11, 2008 – May, 17 2009.

2009 First Half Manga Sales Rankings

Rank	Sales	Name
1	1,801,877	ONE PIECE 53
2	1,778,239	ONE PIECE 52
3	1,418,089	NANA 21
4	1,170,718	鋼の錬金術師 21 / Full Metal Alchemist 21
5	1,131,145	NARUTO 45
6	1,068,430	鋼の錬金術師 22 / Full Metal Alchemist 22
7	927,610	BLEACH 36
8	907,714	BLEACH 37
9	864,708	NARUTO 46
10	822,238	BLEACH 38
11	685,186	君に届け 8 / Kimi ni Todoke 8
12	677,411	聖☆おにいさん 3 / Saint☆Onii-san 3
13	619,501	黒執事 6 / Kuroshitsuji 6
14	611,100	D.Gray-man 17
15	598,192	家庭教師ヒットマンREBORN！ 23 / Katekyou Hitman REBORN! 23
16	593,589	名探偵コナン 64 / Detective Conan 64
17	589,656	PLUTO 7
18	572,946	バガボンド 29 / Vagabond 29
19	557,839	銀魂 26 / Gintama 26
20	554,920	家庭教師ヒットマンREBORN！ 24 / Katekyou Hitman REBORN! 24
21	551,829	ガラスの仮面 43 / Garasu no Kamen (Glass Mask) 43
22	545,496	銀魂 27 / Gintama 27
23	493,768	銀魂 28 / Gintama 28
24	465,760	XxxHOLIC 14
25	441,939	3月のライオン 2 / Sangatsu no Lion 2
26	402,965	もやしもん 7 / Moyashimon 7
27	394,567	バクマン。 2 / Bakuman 2
28	381,633	バクマン。 3 / Bakuman 3
29	376,340	ハヤテのごとく！ 18 / Hayate no Gotoku! 18
30	374,257	桜蘭高校ホスト部 14 / Ouran High School Host Club 14
31	373,020	ソウルイーター 14 / Soul Eater 14
32	366,651	FAIRY TAIL 14
33	365,235	聖☆おにいさん 1 / Saint☆Onii-san 1
34	363,446	高校デビュー 13 / Koukou Debut 13
35	347,574	あひるの空 23 / Ahiru no Sora
36	334,536	メイちゃんの執事 1 / Mei-chan no Shitsuji 1
37	332,697	聖☆おにいさん 2 / Saint☆Onii-san 2
38	332,338	ツバサ 25 / Tsubasa 25
39	331,985	FAIRY TAIL 13
40	327,918	NARUTO 44
41	324,396	クロスゲーム 14 / Cross Game 14
42	321,461	ツバサ 26 / Tsubasa 26
43	319,543	ハヤテのごとく！ 19 / Hayate no Gotoku! 19
44	317,381	MAJOR 70
45	317,125	WORST 22
46	316,221	あひるの空 22 / Ahiru no Sora 22
47	315,469	結界師 23 / Kekkaishi 23
48	315,150	デトロイト・メタル・シティ 7 / Detroit Metal City 7
49	313,845	蟲師 10 / Mushishi 10
50	313,214	MAJOR 69

Sales after May 17 are not included in the list, but including the figures we saw in the June 2009 Oricon charts would put the new One Piece 54 volume at the #4 spot, or possibly even into the top 3 if even more recent sales figures were available.

Another June release, Bleach 39 would also come into this list at around spot #23, making this yet another strong performance for Shonen Jump titles, which also includes One Piece and Naruto.

Gangan, Square-Enix’s own encyclopedia-thick manga magazine, comes in second to Jump with popular titles Full Metal Alchemist and Kuroshitsuji also earning respectable numbers.

Via Oricon.