Blue Lock Manga Dominates Charts, Surpassing One Piece and Jujutsu Kaisen as Best Seller in 2023

In 2023, the Blue Lock manga surpassed One Piece and Jujutsu Kaisen as the top-selling series. Muneyuki Kaneshiro's manga has undoubtedly achieved a significant milestone, given the massive commercial and cultural influence of both franchises. The 2022 anime adaptation also played a major role in this achievement. Since its debut in 2018, this series has consistently resonated with audiences by celebrating individualism and emphasizing the importance of thinking outside the box and prioritizing personal goals. This has set it apart as a unique sports manga.

Blue Lock overtakes Jujutsu Kaisen and One Piece as the highest-selling manga in 2023

According to Oricon, a Japanese platform dedicated to tracking manga sales, Blue Lock has outsold even popular series like One Piece and Jujutsu Kaisen, which are typically considered the most popular series at the moment. It's important to note that these numbers represent overall manga copies sold, not specific volumes. From that perspective, the other two series have sold more individual volumes than Kaneshiro's manga.

The manga has exceeded 30 million copies sold since its publication in 2018. The anime adaptation by Eight Bit is credited with contributing to the series' success, introducing the story to a wider audience. Notably, Blue Lock is the first Kodansha series to top the yearly rankings. Its focus on football, the world's most popular sport, may have also contributed to its commercial success, appealing to a broader audience beyond manga enthusiasts.

The appeal and premise of the series

Barou, Isagi, Nagi, and Chigiri (Image via Eight Bit).

The success of Blue Lock can be attributed to its unique premise in the world of sports stories. The protagonist, Yoichi Isagi, is a struggling teenage striker who is given the opportunity to compete in the high-stakes Blue Lock project. In this cutthroat competition, young strikers in Japan vie for a spot on the Under-20 national team, knowing that failure means the end of their football careers.

Ego, a key figure in the project, encourages selfishness and self-prioritization, believing that it is the path to becoming a top striker. As the story unfolds, Isagi faces numerous challenges and adversaries, developing an impressive ability to read the game and adapt in the face of formidable opponents who possess natural talent. The series is filled with unexpected twists and turns, making it a compelling and gripping sports narrative.

Editor's P/S

Blue Lock has been one of my favorite manga series since I first started reading it a few years ago. The story is incredibly engaging, and the characters are all very well-developed. I love the way the series explores the different ways that people can achieve their goals, and I think it's a very inspiring message for anyone who reads it.

I'm not surprised that Blue Lock has become so popular, and I'm really excited to see what the future holds for the series. I think it has the potential to be one of the greatest sports manga of all time, and I can't wait to see how the story continues.