Dragon Ball Has Officially Been Surpassed By A New Shonen Manga

Dragon Ball is a monumental series that has completely reshaped the anime and manga industry as fans know it. Dragon Ball is Akira Toriyama’s greatest creation, and it remains iconic to this day. It goes without saying that Dragon Ball is easily one of the most recognizable anime series worldwide, as well as one of the most successful stories ever, with its manga being among the top 5 best-selling of all time.

While its sales are great, Dragon Ball was recently surpassed by a new-gen manga, and that’s Demon Slayer. With half the volumes of Dragon Ball, Demon Slayer has outsold its domestic numbers and become the second best-selling Weekly Shonen Jump manga ever.

Dragon Ball Is The Father of Shonen, But It’s Falling Behind Demon Slayer

Demon Slayer Has Surpassed Dragon Ball In The Domestic Market

Anime fans all over the world often refer to Dragon Ball as the father of Shonen, and the reason why is obvious. Without Dragon Ball, many of the biggest shonen series today wouldn’t exist or would be drastically different. As such, Dragon Ball has cemented itself as one of manga’s biggest series, and one that will be remembered for decades to come.

“It Would Be Meaningless To Fight You Now; You’re Too Scared And Ashamed. Live With The Shock. Keep It Bottled Up Inside Of You. Goodbye, Frieza, May You Live The Rest Of Your Life In Peace.”

“I Am The Hope Of The Universe. I Am The Answer To All Living Things That Cry Out For Peace.”

While Dragon Ball will always have its own place in history, it was recently surpassed in sales. Dragon Ball has an estimated 160 million domestic sales in Japan and was, for quite some time, Weekly Shonen Jump’s second best-selling manga, right after One Piece. This title was recently snatched by a recent anime hit, Demon Slayer. Demon Slayer is now Weekly Shonen Jump’s second best-selling manga, beating Dragon Ball by 4 million, and that number is only going to grow. The craziest part is that Demon Slayer achieved these numbers with only 23 volumes. Meanwhile, Dragon Ball had almost double the volumes, at 42.

In order to soothe the spirits of those it killed, and to make sure it claims no further victims, I will swing my blade down and lop off the head of any demon without mercy! But I will not belittle those who regret their actions and suffer over the things they did as demons. Because demons were once human. Because they were like me.

Demon Slayer Won In The Domestic Market, But Dragon Ball Is Far Ahead Internationally

Demon Slayer Has 220 Million Sales Globally
Dragon Ball Has Over 260 Million

Demon Slayer has won over the domestic market, but it’s yet to surpass the Dragon Ball series internationally, and it’s likely that it never will. Internationally, Dragon Ball has sold over 260 million copies in circulation. Meanwhile, Demon Slayer’s record is around 220 million. Demon Slayer is still getting a lot of backlog sales thanks to its movie trilogy, but it’s unclear if that’s enough to close a 40 million gap. For now, at least, Dragon Ball’s international spot isn’t in danger.

You misunderstand, Tanjiro I only despise the weak. I only spit on weaklings. Yes. Weaklings make me sick. It is the law of nature that they be weeded out.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle is out in theaters now. Fans who don’t want to wait for the movies to drop can check out the manga on Manga Plus. Meanwhile, the series currently has 4 anime seasons. These anime seasons can all be found on Crunchyroll. The remaining part of the series will, however, be animated into movies, which fans will have to wait to watch at their theatrical release, depending on their country.