The weekly ranking for manga sales in the US were posted on ANN today. If you think people in the US buy manga, think again, because these number are sad.
BookScan Manga Ranking for May 28 - June 3
(Note: These numbers reflect sales at certain brick and mortar bookstores. They do not take into account online sales or sales at non-bookstores. I have no idea how much the total market BookScan actually takes into account.)
Let's do a quick comparison between the US and Japan. The latest volume of Bleach sold 507 copies in its first week of release in the US, while the latest volume of Bleach in Japan sold 269751 copies in its first of release. And let's not forgot the craziness of "One Piece". The most recent volume sold 2,275,453 copies in its first week of release. Sadly enough, even the best selling manga series in the US haven't broken 20,000 copies for the entire year! Yep! That's just how anemic manga sales are in the US. If you assumed that it didn't matter whether you bought manga because someone else is buying the manga, look around at your friends and ask yourself which of them is buying manga on your behalf.
BookScan Manga Ranking for May 28 - June 3
(Note: These numbers reflect sales at certain brick and mortar bookstores. They do not take into account online sales or sales at non-bookstores. I have no idea how much the total market BookScan actually takes into account.)
Let's do a quick comparison between the US and Japan. The latest volume of Bleach sold 507 copies in its first week of release in the US, while the latest volume of Bleach in Japan sold 269751 copies in its first of release. And let's not forgot the craziness of "One Piece". The most recent volume sold 2,275,453 copies in its first week of release. Sadly enough, even the best selling manga series in the US haven't broken 20,000 copies for the entire year! Yep! That's just how anemic manga sales are in the US. If you assumed that it didn't matter whether you bought manga because someone else is buying the manga, look around at your friends and ask yourself which of them is buying manga on your behalf.
