Tea

ComiPress - Manga News and Information

• 2008-09: Manga Top 100 Volumes and Top 25 Series for September 2008
  
  Manga Top 100 Volumes and Top 25 Series for September 2008
  - By Matt Blind

  The following charts may be a tad late, but I'm committed to posting in chronological order. (October and November will follow before the end of the year)

  Top 10 Manga Volumes:

  1. ↔0 (1) : Naruto 31 - Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [3047.2] ::
  2. ↑2 (4) : Naruto 30 - Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2008 [2820.9] ::
  3. ↓-1 (2) : Vampire Knight 5 - Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [2690.9] ::
  4. ↓-1 (3) : Bleach 24 - Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [2651.2] ::
  5. ↔0 (5) : Death Note 2 - Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Nov 2005 [2524.9] ::
  6. ↔0 (6) : Vampire Knight 1 - Viz Shojo Beat, Jan 2007 [2455.7] ::
  7. ↔0 (7) : Naruto 28 - Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2008 [2441.4] ::
  8. ↔0 (8) : Naruto 29 - Viz Shonen Jump, May 2008 [2388.5] ::
  9. ↔0 (9) : Fruits Basket 20 - Tokyopop, Jul 2008 [2361] ::
  10. ↑1 (11) : Death Note 6 - Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Jul 2006 [2327.3] ::

  Top 10 Manga Series:

  1. ↔0 (1) : Naruto - Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2003 [100]
  2. ↔0 (2) : Death Note - Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2005 [67.4]
  3. ↑1 (4) : Bleach - Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2004 [64.66]
  4. ↓-1 (3) : Fruits Basket - Tokyopop, Feb 2004 [60.27]
  5. ↔0 (5) : Vampire Knight - Viz Shojo Beat, Jan 2007 [53.14]
  6. ↔0 (6) : Warriors - HC/Tokyopop, Apr 2007 [35.36]
  7. ↑1 (8) : Kingdom Hearts - Tokyopop, Oct 2005 [32.3]
  8. ↓-1 (7) : Rosario+Vampire - Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Jun 2008 [28.23]
  9. ↑24 (33) : Gentlemen's Alliance† - Viz Shojo Beat, Mar 2007 [28.15]
  10. ↓-1 (9) : Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle - Del Rey, Apr 2004 [27.58]

  Yes, I think we all know that folks like Naruto. Past the two top 10s the charts get a little more interesting.

  There are some shorter series (4 to 6 volumes currently available) that are also performing quite well; the ones to watch are Vampire Knight, Rosario+Vampire, and High School Debut.

  Vampire Knight will likely overtake Fruits Basket in April when the 6th volume is finally available -- each volume is ranking quite well (consistantly within the top 50, often better) so even with a volume count that's only one third of Fruits Basket's, I predict it will move from a top 5 title to a top 3 title in the spring.

  Rosario+Vampire is trending in the same direction, but hasn't been quite as popular. There is a different dynamic in place here, though:

  While releases of Fruits basket have slowed to 3-a-year and Vampire Knight is stretching out to one release every six months, Shonen Jump is putting out a Rosario+Vampire book every other month. By this time next year there may be 10 volumes on the shelf, and each release only bumps up the combined series score.

  High School Debut is also on a 6-a-year track, and so may be complete (at 12 volumes) by the end of '09. I don't know if we could infer a 'sales bonus' for complete series (the Death Note effect) but it's possible. Also, if my opinion counts for anything, I like it -- and I'm telling you to give it a shot.

  Nuts and Bolts:

  The September Rankings presented below represent 4 weeks of data (Tues 2 Sep through Mon 29 Sep) and 79 individual site checks. (Would have been 80 but I missed the last Amazon check)

  In place of unit sales ("real" data, considered proprietary and a closely held secret of all publishers and retailers) these manga rankings use scores assigned to tiles based on how highly the volumes place on online sales sites' posted "bestseller" lists, or a search of their manga offerings sorted by popularity. The higher the placement, the higher the score, obviously.

  The sites:

  Online Bookstores: Barnes
  & Noble, Books-a-Million,
  Borders, Chapters
  of Canada, and Amazon's
  Manga Category Listing
  Other Sales Charts: Amazon's
  Hourly Bestsellers, Buy.com,
  Deepdiscount.com,
  Powell's, Tower,
  and Virgin

  Data from bookstores is weighted higher, as are the hourly bestsellers & manga category results from Amazon.

  A few changes this month from last:
  * Longer lists are better, I think we can all agree on that: I've upgraded to a Top 100 Series and Top 250 Volumes. * The weighted scores for each series have been scaled back; in place of point totals in the thousands and thousands, I've set up a formula that pegs #1 (Naruto) at 100 points, with everyone else scoring some fraction of that. (it's a straight scalar so all scores are still proportional)

  Top 25 Manga Series, expanded chart
  Series ranking and abbreviated listing of component volumes.

  key:
  rank. ↕movement (last months rank) : title - pub.info & [weighted score] ::

  1. ↔0 (1) : Naruto - Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2003 [100]
  1. ↔0 (1) : Naruto 31 - Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [3047.2] ::
  2. ↑2 (4) : Naruto 30 - Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2008 [2820.9] ::
  7. ↔0 (7) : Naruto 28 - Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2008 [2441.4] ::
  (plus 44 other listings)

  2. ↔0 (2) : Death Note - Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2005
  [67.4]
  5. ↔0 (5) : Death Note 2 - Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Nov 2005 [2524.9] ::
  10. ↑1 (11) : Death Note 6 - Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Jul 2006 [2327.3] ::
  11. ↓-1 (10) : Death Note 4 - Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Mar 2006 [2317.4] ::
  (plus 14 other listings)

  3. ↑1 (4) : Bleach - Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2004 [64.66]
  4. ↓-1 (3) : Bleach 24 - Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2008 [2651.2] ::
  33. ↓-1 (32) : Bleach 23 - Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2008 [1836.8] ::
  50. ↑1 (51) : Bleach 2 - Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2004 [1527.2] ::
  (plus 27 other listings)

  4. ↓-1 (3) : Fruits Basket - Tokyopop, Feb 2004 [60.27]
  9. ↔0 (9) : Fruits Basket 20 - Tokyopop, Jul 2008 [2361] ::
  36. ↑4 (40) : Fruits Basket 19 - Tokyopop, Mar 2008 [1760] ::
  47. ↓-4 (43) : Fruits Basket 6 - Tokyopop, Dec 2004 [1596.2] ::
  (plus 27 other listings)

  5. ↔0 (5) : Vampire Knight - Viz Shojo Beat, Jan 2007
  [53.14]
  3. ↓-1 (2) : Vampire Knight 5 - Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2008 [2690.9] ::
  6. ↔0 (6) : Vampire Knight 1 - Viz Shojo Beat, Jan 2007 [2455.7] ::
  12. ↔0 (12) : Vampire Knight 2 - Viz Shojo Beat, May 2007 [2304.5] ::
  15. ↔0 (15) : Vampire Knight 3 - Viz Shojo Beat, Oct 2007 [2250.6] ::
  45. ↑1 (46) : Vampire Knight 4 - Viz Shojo Beat, Apr 2008 [1662.1] ::
  1018. ↑29 (1047) : Vampire Knight 6 - Viz Shojo Beat, Apr 2009 [30.1] ::

  6. ↔0 (6) : Warriors - HC/Tokyopop, Apr 2007 [35.36]
  37. ↑2 (39) : Warriors 3 - HC/Tokyopop, Apr 2008 [1744.8] ::
  40. ↑2 (42) : Warriors 1 - HC/Tokyopop, Apr 2007 [1672.9] ::
  46. ↓-5 (41) : Warriors 2 - HC/Tokyopop, Dec 2007 [1614] ::
  101. ↑1 (102) : Warriors Tigerstar & Sasha 1 - HC/Tokyopop, Sep 2008 [1124.7] ::
  111. ↓-1 (110) : Warriors 4 - HC/Tokyopop, Jul 2008 [1076.2] ::
  321. ↓-12 (309) : Warriors Tigerstar & Sasha 2 - HC/Tokyopop, Dec 2008
  [412.5] ::

  7. ↑1 (8) : Kingdom Hearts - Tokyopop, Oct 2005 [32.3]
  24. ↑1 (25) : Kingdom Hearts II 2 - Tokyopop, May 2008 [2059.2] ::
  120. ↓-8 (112) : Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories vols 1-2 box set -
  Tokyopop, Oct 2007 [1009.5] ::
  137. ↑5 (142) : Kingdom Hearts vols 1-4 box set - Tokyopop, Oct 2006 [917.9] ::
  (plus 8 other listings)

  8. ↓-1 (7) : Rosario+Vampire - Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Jun
  2008 [28.23]
  42. ↑5 (47) : Rosario+Vampire 2 - Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Aug 2008 [1668] ::
  72. ↑5 (77) : Rosario+Vampire 1 - Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Jun 2008
  [1367.4] ::