Jujutsu Kaisen Tops List of Most Lucrative Japanese Franchises in 2021

When it comes to anime and manga, there is a lot of competition where sales are concerned. Even the most popular of series can struggle to make the big bucks if their competitors are on a good streak. This is why newer series go out on a limb to hype fans, and it seems the strategy has worked for Jujutsu Kaisen!

Not long ago, a report from Japan debuted the top-selling media in Japan, and some huge franchises made the cut. In the first half of 2021, it seems Jujutsu Kaisen crushed with its earnings, but second place did its best to creep into first to no avail.

Jujutsu Kaisen earned an estimated 14.8 billion yen or roughly 133 million USD. It edged out the competition as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba earned a solid 14.2 billion yen to grab second place. These two titles are leagues ahead when it comes to cash flow as third place normalizes with Tokyo Revengers. The hit manga, who debuted its first season this year, earned nearly 3.6 billion yen in 2021 to date.

The rest of the top ten is filled with familiar franchises as you’d guess. Attack on Titan hit up fourth place before Haikyuu took fifth. One Piece landed in sixth, Uma Musume Pretty Derby hit up seventh, Love Live! went to eighth, Takizawa Kubuki drew ninth, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime rounded out tenth.

Of course, the top 30 franchises include even more hits. Black Clover landed in 12th while Chainsaw Man revved to 13th and My Hero Academia took on 16th place. Other franchises like The Promised Neverland, the Fate series, Detective Conan, Mobile Suit Gundam, and more would up nabbing spots on this coveted list. So if you stan any of these franchises, you can rest easy know they are in the green!

What do you make of this latest ranking? Are you surprised by this list of best-selling franchises…? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.