When we talk about renowned manga series in the otaku community many popular names come to our mind. The choices are vast as fans would say names of popular titles like Jujutsu Kaisen, One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Demon Slayer, and many more. However, Akutami-san’s and Oda-Sensei’s work remains on top of the charts, both mangas have broken numerous records in 2023.
JJK claimed the title of #1 anime as it was immensely popular among its viewers, while OP kept its viewers hooked on the series as the manga progressed into one of its final arcs. Despite immense popularity, neither of the two titles claimed the spot of the most-selling manga in 2023. Much to the surprise of the fans of both series, the spot was claimed by Muneyuki Kaneshiro’s Blue Lock, and the difference between their sales is immense.
Blue Lock Beats Jujutsu Kaisen and One Piece To Become The Most-Selling Manga of 2023
2023 was a very successful year for Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece and Gege Akutami’s Jujutsu Kaisen as both franchises accumulated enormous success and broke several records. Moreover, compared to other years, both series’ fanbases grew drastically, but one manga series managed to surpass them in terms of manga sales.
While Jujutsu Kaisen managed to grab the title of #1 anime and was named the most popular anime series of 2023 by Guinness World Records, and Oda-Sensei’s One Piece dominated the world with his gripping storyline for the search for the ultimate story.
However, ScreenTime (@screentime) shared on X that Blue Lock was the #1 Best Selling Manga of 2023 by Volume Copies Sold, with 10.5 million copies sold, JJK claimed the #2 spot with 8.5 million copies, and OP was in the #3 spot with 7.1 million copies sold.
This news was a bolt from the blue for the fans of both series because none of them expected Blue Lock to claim the #1 spot on most-selling mangas for 2023. As the news was shared on X, fans came forward to share their opinions on social media.
Blue lock going crazy was not on my 2024 bingo manga card
— GOATEDAURA (@niunkonjo) May 2, 2024
Forgive me blue lock, I wasn’t familiar with your game
— Ashy Larry (Tummy Ache Survivor) (@LarryAshy) May 2, 2024
Oh damn blue lock really got it like that huh
— ♥️Nuke🖤 (@notnuke_) May 2, 2024
That world cup changed its life https://t.co/KO7F8W0iyB pic.twitter.com/pMRmoSWfr0
— Abdi🇸🇴 (@Abditsover) May 2, 2024
Blue lock??? How https://t.co/422DJCevxp pic.twitter.com/0EeYea8Mpp
— ⭐️ (@ikeaprop) May 2, 2024
This news was a bolt from the blue for the fans of both series because none of them expected Blue Lock to claim the #1 spot on most-selling mangas for 2023. As the news was shared on X, fans came forward to share their opinions on social media.
How Did Blue Lock Become Infectiously Popular in 2023?
Muneyuki Kaneshiro’s Blue Lock is one of the most popular titles that became a popular sports series. The series is an intriguing addition to the sports genre as it showcases the intensity of The Beautiful Game by drawing inspiration from Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball series which also showcased the themes of evolution and hidden energy.
As a result the series often heightens the emotions and captures the essence of football. Although football is called “The Beautiful Game” sometimes it turns ugly because of its dual nature of winners and losers. The series features numerous epic and memorable moments, and featuring real footballers like Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo added to the popularity of the series.
Since football has an extensive impact on the world, it became a catalyst for its popularity. Moreover, in 2022 the FIFA World Cup took place in Qatar, where Japan defeated Germany and Spain, two World Cup Champion teams. Hence, many fans claimed that Japan has been running its own Project Blue Lock, but their dream run came to an end when they were knocked out of the tournament by Croatia.
Nevertheless, the series took the world by surprise as it featured a never-before-seen plot, where 300 football players undergo a strict training regiment to become the world’s greatest goal scorer and the biggest egoist who can change the game in the blink of an eye.
Blue Lock can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
