'Boruto' is Killing The Anime Ratings Game

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations may have gotten off to a slower start as the sequel found itself trying to carve out a new name for itself and stand out from its predecessor, Naruto: Shippuden.

Fans agree that the last year of the series has been the best (especially now that the series has reached the Chunin Exams arc covered in Boruto: Naruto the Movie), and that upward slope has been fully reflected in how high the ratings for the series are in Japan.

Top 5 anime for TV Tokyo in terms of sales and profit for the year ending March 2018 (March 2017 to March 2018).

Boruto is in the top 5 despite not having dvd sales outside japan. And it also beat series that have higher ratings. This is great!

Source: https://t.co/YkRTkgFY3r pic.twitter.com/6iXtPuQyl8

— Spiraling Sphere (@SpiralingSphere) May 22, 2018

As spotted by @SpiralingSphere, TV Tokyo released their Top 5 anime "in terms of sales and profit" between March 2017 and March 2018 and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations finds itself right in both of those lists. In sales, the series finished third, and in profits, the series came in fifth. This is especially notable given how the series is how these numbers are only from Japan as the anime has yet to sell any official DVD or Blu-ray releases in other territories.

Because of Boruto's popularity, Naruto is still one of the top selling and gross profit anime franchise in Japan as fans of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations who weren't familiar with Masashi Kishimoto's original series began seeking it out. Beating incredibly popular franchises like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokemon, and Gintama, this just goes to show the strength of Naruto's popularity as a franchise.

That popularity is only expected to grow over the next year as Boruto: Naruto Next Generations has already made the jump to a new time slot in which it airs at the same time as Naruto: Shippuden once did, and this also comes during the most anticipated arc of the series with the Chunin Exams.

For those unfamiliar with Boruto's predecessor Naruto, it has quite a storied history. Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto, the series ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump for 700 chapters. The story follows Naruto, a young ninja with a sealed demon within him that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is set several years after the events of the original Naruto story and featuring the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.