"Demon Slayer", "Act-age" ... Who will be the next king of the manga?

• The shônen, primarily intended for boys (but not only), is a pillar of the manga, with representatives like Dragon Ball , Naruto and of course One Piece .
• Demon Slayer created the surprise by exceeding One Piece in number of sales, the title has just ended in Japan
• Other works prove the revival and the richness of the genre, with for example Act-age , launched Thursday at Ki-oon editions

For over twenty years, One Piece has reigned supreme over the manga in general, and the shônen in particular. As it approaches 1,000 chapters, and perhaps its end, and it seemed invincible, the title of Eiichiro Oda was shaken, and not just a little, by another manga. Indeed, the best-selling manga of 2019 was not One Piece , and its 10 million copies, but Demon Slayer with two additional millions, according to the famous top Oricon. That's not all, in the first half of 2020, it sold 45 million (!) Of Demon Slayer , it's more than the 4.8 million of One Piece over the same period, and especially more than the record sales over one year, 38 million in 2011 still for One Piece .

so I started One Piece on February 7 and I finished June 3, and it was an incredible adventure jss vrm going through all the possible emotions. everything was incredible from start to finish, and I can't wait to see the rest, thanks to Oda for sharing this and dedicating her life to it❤️ pic.twitter.com/TtrlsfesST

Except that here, Demon Slayer has just ended in Japan, and therefore leaves the question open: who to dethrone One Piece  ? D -Act-age launched this Thursday in France is the series qui-monte-qui-monte? Spy x Family  ? Or the sure values My Hero Academia or Attack on Titan  ? The contenders are numerous, and the Shônen offer richer than ever.

The success of "Demon Slayer", unheard of!

For the specialist journalist (ATOM, Bodoï , Bubble) and member of the selection committee of Angoulême Rémi Inghilterra, the Demon Slayer phenomenon is a real surprise: “In February 2019, when the series already has ten volumes, the print is at 3.5 million copies, which is very correct. A year later, we are at 60 million, or 20 times more, it's unheard of! " What happened ? The manga had the right to an animated adaptation, very successful, which boosted sales. "The ramp-up took place little by little, and exploded at the end of the anime, with already cult scenes and high quality animation," comments the journalist. Moreover, sales are not drying up and continue to climb despite the end of the animated series, with three million sales per week! The anime - broadcast everywhere (on Wakanim in France) - does not therefore explain by itself the madness Demon Slayer , a global madness with a large community on social networks, support from Youtubeurs and influencers… and a little 'irrational.

Today ends the manga Demon Slayer in Japan with its 205th chapter. Congratulations to Koyoharu Gotoge for this incredible series, whose adaptation into anime is far from over! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/HWViewCzMl

A return to the old school manga  ?

Published by Panini in France, Demon Slayer was first released under the title Les Rôdeurs de la nuit in relative anonymity in 2017, before being relaunched under its international title at the end of 2019 with more visibility and success. Eight volumes are available. For Iftékarul Talukdar, editor at Coyote Mag , the manga of Koyoharu Gotoge also marks a return to the good old shônen, with eccentric heroes, Japanese folklore, the famous nekketsu, in opposition to the more "American" titles, superheroic, like My Hero Academia or One-Punch Man . "Among the new series launched in the Weekly Shônen Jump , many smell of old school  ". This is the case of Jujutsu Kaisen , a very classic manga with another story of demon, which is the second best start for its French publisher Ki-oon, after My Hero Academia , and which will experience an animated adaptation next fall. What bring it into the top 10 Oricon?

"The One Piece model , and its 100 volumes, no longer exists"

Among the best sellers and contenders for the throne, we find the romantic comedy The Quintessential Quintuplets , the horrifying tale The Promised Neverland , the volleyball manga Haikyu !! , the inescapable Attack on Titans … that series just finished, or about to end! And often titles of the leading publisher Shueisha (the Quintuplets and the Titans are with the competitor Kodansha), whose prepublication magazine Weekly Shônen Jump is a good thermometer of the state of the market. However, the shônen evolves in terms of themes but also of mentality.

"The Promised Neverland" will end with its chapter 181 which will be pre-published in Shonen Jump 28. The series will count 20 volumes in total. pic.twitter.com/uhkUWxqJ7J

"If Shueisha agreed to arrest Demon Slayer in full glory, with around twenty volumes, it would have been unimaginable before," explains our two specialists in one voice. We remember an Akira Toriyama squeezed like a lemon, forced to draw Dragon Ball to the line, before throwing in the towel and never taking up the pen. "Shueisha has changed the way he builds and accompanies his hits," explains Iftékarul Talukdar. The model of One Piece and its soon 100 volumes no longer exists. And Eiichira Oda should never be caught up with his 400 million copies printed. “The publisher lets niche series like Hinomaru Sumo live , launches crazy titles like Chainsaw Man , by the author of Fire Punch . "But when a series does not find its audience at all, the cleaver always falls, like Samourai 8 , the new manga scripted by the author of Naruto , stopped after five small volumes

The big day has arrived ... volumes 1 and 2 of Act-age are available now in bookstores !!

Intriguing and powerful, like his fascinating heroine, the latest addition to the Shonen Jump has not finished making headlines! ⭐️ # Actage pic.twitter.com/6pnYHp0vgz

Designers and heroines

Another proof of this renewal, Act-age , available at Ki-oon since Thursday, a manga on the competitive environment of the show, with a heroine, far from the standards of the genre. As Rémi Inghilterra reminds us, we find at the head of this original work a duo, the scriptwriter Tatsuya Matsuki and the designer Shiro Usazaki, barely 20 years old. On closer inspection , women are part of this revolution and this wealth, and behind the manga Demon Slayer , The Promised Neverland , Beastars , like so many heirs of Rumiko Takahashi, the queen of shônen.

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List of the manga mentioned, and the number of volumes published in France:

One Piece , by Eiichiro Oda, 94 volumes (Glénat)

Demon Slayer , by Koyoharu Gotoge, 8 volumes (Panini)

Act-age , by Tatsuya Matsuki and Shiro Usazaki, 2 volumes (Ki-oon)

My Hero Academia , by Kohei Horikoshi, 23 volumes (Ki-oon)

Attack on Titan , by Hajime Isayama, 30 volumes (Pika)

One-Punch Man , by Yusuke Murata, 20 volumes (Kurokawa)

Jujutsu Kaisen, by Gege Akutami, 3 volumes (Ki-oon)

The Quintessential Quintuplets , by Negi Haruba, 3 volumes (Pika)

The Promised Neverland , by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu, 14 volumes (Kazé)

Haikyu !! - Aces of volleyball, by Haruichi Furudate, 36 volumes (Kazé)

Hinomaru Sumo, from Kawada, 18 volumes (Glénat)

Chainsaw Man , by Tatsuki Fujimoto, 2 volumes (Kazé)

Samourai 8 , by Masahi Kishimito and Akira Okubo, 3 volumes (Kana)

Beastars , from Paru Itagaki, 10 volumes (Ki-oon)

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