Media information web site ICv2 reported on Monday that U.S. manga gross sales have greater than doubled in retailers tracked by NPD BookScan in 2021. NPD-tracked accounts listed 24.4 million models of manga bought in 2021, which is about 15 million extra models bought – a progress price of 160% – over the earlier yr. ICv2 gives a disclaimer that there’s a classification concern involving the My Hero Academia manga (pictured proper), and it’s attainable that the precise variety of manga models bought was bigger for each years.

Viz Media‘s vp of publishing gross sales Kevin Hamric instructed ICv2 in an interview printed on Monday that the corporate is experiencing extra gross sales to this point this yr than it did in the identical timeframe in 2021. Nevertheless, the expansion price is slower in comparison with final yr. He added that manga accounted for 25% of the general progress of the guide business within the U.S. final yr. Retail bookstores comparable to Books a Million and Barnes and Noble are dedicating extra space to manga. Hamric acknowledged that he’s anticipating provide chain points to proceed for the corporate for the remainder of this calendar yr, a minimum of.

ICv2 beforehand reported that North American gross sales of print manga reached an all-time excessive in 2020, in line with its print manga gross sales evaluation based mostly on info from NPD Bookscan, Diamond Comedian Distributors, Comedian Hub, and different sources. The North American manga market was slightly below US$250 million in 2020. The general North American comedian market reached a brand new excessive of US$1.28 billion in 2020.

Backlist manga and boxsets factored strongly into the yr’s gross sales, and ICv2 attributed that demand to elevated anime streaming throughout the COVID-19 scenario, resulting in elevated manga purchases. This new peak handed the earlier report, which was set in 2007. Following that yr, a steep decline occurred between 2008-2012 as a consequence of a number of elements together with a worldwide monetary disaster, chapter of the Borders bookstore, a decline in anime on North American tv, and a smaller backlist of beforehand unaired anime in North America.

ICv2 reported in April 2021 that NPD Bookscan’s report for the primary quarter of 2021 confirmed a 29% improve in general print guide gross sales the USA, the best quantity of print guide gross sales in a primary quarter since NPD Bookscan started monitoring guide gross sales in 2004. Specifically, the report confirmed a big progress within the class of graphic novels (up 4 million from first quarter 2020), with manga accounting for 80% of progress in that class.

Hamric (pictured left) beforehand acknowledged in an interview with ICv2 that Viz Media noticed a 70% progress within the U.S. marketplace for 2020, in step with a 43% improve in general manga gross sales in the USA in 2020, regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hamric adopted up with ICv2 relating to his remark from a earlier interview that gross sales of first manga volumes and boxsets elevated throughout the pandemic, saying that the corporate has bought out and needed to reprint all of its field units, notably these manga which have anime variations. He cited Haikyu!! and Jujutsu Kaisen as notable examples, including that the latter is seeing the identical “trajectory” because the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga.

Yen Press Writer and Managing Director Kurt Hassler additionally acknowledged in an interview with ICv2 in March that 2020 was a report yr for Yen Press.

Supply: ICv2 (hyperlink 2, Milton Griepp)