“A Natural Phenomenon”: Dr. Stone Creator Opens Up on the Global Success of Manga

While anime has steadily been making its way into the mainstream for quite some time, the last couple of years have especially seen the medium explode in popularity. Side by side, manga readership is also beginning to grow, as evidenced by the recent revolutionization of platforms such as Manga Plus and Viz Media, and many more. One such series that has found its own niche in the West is Dr. Stone, whose artist, Boichi, recently shared his own opinions on manga’s newfound global success.

Boichi, the artist of Dr. Stone and author of several of his own series like Sun-Ken Rock and The Marshall King, recently attended Napoli Comic Con 2025, where he sat down for a press cafe published by Lo Spazio Bianco. In the interview, Boichi was notably asked about his opinion on the spread of anime and manga in the West. Boichi’s response generally painted the success of manga as a given, notably calling it “a natural phenomenon.” Boichi’s response reads, “In my opinion, as a cartoonist, the success of manga abroad is a natural phenomenon.” His reason for saying so was simple — the sheer variety that manga has to offer, with a little something for everyone, including Western audiences.

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Dr. Stone Artist Boichi Attributes Manga’s Popularity to Variety

Having been in the Japanese manga industry since 2004, Boichi has seen the medium grow for well over two decades and hits the nail right on the head when describing the reasons for manga’s appeal even in the West. As Boichi further explains in the interview: “But in what sense is it a natural phenomenon? The main goal of manga is to entertain: it is fun and presents an immense variety of genres. This great variety can attract an ever-increasing audience, and even foreign readers can choose and range between the various genres.”

Given the overwhelming popularity of shonen, especially shonen battle manga, it’s often easy to forget that the medium has much more to offer, particularly in the shojo, josei, and seinen genres, which are largely overlooked. There’s definitely a little something for everyone, and despite originating from Japan, the stories that manga tell can be enjoyed by virtually anyone. In the interview, Boichi echoes this very sentiment, even using BL as an example, saying, “For example, in the magazine I showed you before, there is also a BL story; why couldn’t it be popular in Europe too? Depending on your preferences, you can choose which comic to read.”

Overall, as Boichi says, with so much to choose from, the coming years will no doubt see Japanese manga grow even more in popularity. That is, of course, only if manga publishers continue working on making the medium more accessible around the world. Sadly, there is still a lot to be desired in this particular area, as shojo and josei manga, and even beloved seinen manga like Berserk, are still not nearly as accessible digitally, though hopefully this changes with time.

Source: Lo Spazio Bianco.