Oct 19, 2013
It looks like the Attack on Titan craze is still permeating in the Western otaku air. Weeks after the end of the anime series, fan demand for Attack on Titan has not declined one bit. As a matter of fact, manga sales are still on the rise.
One big proof of this is the manga’s steady rise up the manga best-seller’s list at the New York Times. Volume 1 has been in the ranks for a record 18 weeks already, and has already taken the top spot for the week of October 6-12, 2013. To note, it rose 3 ranks up from rank 4 in the previous week of September 29-October 5.
In a not-so-surprising twist, other volumes of Attack on Titan have made it to the October 6-12 top ten rankings as well.
Volume 2 follows suit at rank 2, volume 7 at rank 4, volume 3 at rank 5, and volume 5 at rank 9!
This actually surprised the creator, Isayama Hajime, as he did not really expect this much reception from western fans to be this extreme. Kodansha USA previously declared at New York Comic-con that volume 1 has sold over 500,000 copies already. Considering that the manga business is a very niche market in the US, they’ve considered this to be a staggering amount. Take note too that the price of manga in the US is considerably more expensive than in Japan, and the book sizes are relatively smaller than its Asian counterparts. Reprints have already been issued, and yet the demand is still high.
Don’t expect a decline in sales for Attack on Titan any time soon. The manga will continue publishing every month, just as planned. Just the same, the top rankings and sales will keep on coming.
