TOKYO: “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba,” a blockbuster manga series, dominated the first to 22nd spots in the comic sales rankings in Japan in 2020, according to data released by Oricon Inc. on Sunday.

This was the first such breakthrough since Oricon, a provider of music and other pop culture information, started to compile comic book sales rankings in 2008.

The 18th volume of Demon Slayer ranked top, with estimated sales of about 4,393,000 copies, followed by the 19th volume, with 4,243,000 copies, and the first volume, with 3,703,000 copies. In the 22nd place was the 21st volume of the series, with sales of some 2,655,000 copies.

Demon Slayer, created by Koyoharu Gotoge, appeared in major Japanese publisher Shueisha Inc.’s Shukan Shonen Jump weekly magazine between February 2016 and May this year. The first to 22nd volumes are now on sale, and the 23rd and final volume of the series will be released on Friday. The final issue will come with unpublished illustrations related to the manga.

The series is about the fight against demons by Tanjiro Kamado, a boy in Japan’s Taisho era in the early 1900s, and his colleagues. Tanjiro aims to return Nezuko, a younger sister, to a human state after she is turned into a demon when other members of his family are killed by a demon.

JIJI Press