Berserk manga sales summary

[Aazealh]

Not that this is anything new but I figured it might interest some people. It's all based on the announcements in Young Animal or on newly released volumes.

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Announcement date	Volumes released	Amount sold in Japan	Amount sold internationally	Total amount sold
March 29, 1999	16 volumes available	10 million volumes sold		10 million volumes sold
October 5, 1999	Volume 18 releases	11 million volumes sold		11 million volumes sold
November 5, 2000	Volume 20 releases	13.5 million volumes sold		13.5 million volumes sold
February 11, 2005	27 volumes available	20 million volumes sold		20 million volumes sold
January 13, 2006	29 volumes available	21 million volumes sold		21 million volumes sold
April 28, 2006	30 volumes available	21.5 million volumes sold		21.5 million volumes sold
June 8, 2006	30 volumes available	21.5 million volumes sold	4 million volumes sold	25.5 million volumes sold
March 28, 2008	32 volumes available	23 million volumes sold	4 million volumes sold	27 million volumes sold
June 25, 2010	34 volumes available	24 million volumes sold	7 million volumes sold	31 million volumes sold
March 28, 2013	36 volumes available	25 million volumes sold	8.5 million volumes sold	33.5 million volumes sold
July 24, 2015	37 volumes available	27 million volumes sold	8 million volumes sold	35 million volumes sold
June 9, 2017	38 volumes available			40 million volumes sold
May 20, 2021	40 volumes available			50 million volumes sold
June 2022	41 volumes available			55 million volumes sold

 

[Dar_Klink]

Awesome! Thanks Aaz! One of these days we'll beat One Piece!

 

[Johnstantine]

And on that day, aaz will be wrong about something related to berserk.

 

[SlimeBeherit]

I'd say if Berserk ever managed to do that, then Berserk took a turn for the worst.

 

[turkitage]

Thanks for this. Glad to see those numbers.

 

[Jaze1618]

Hey Aaz, maybe you can clarify here?

When I read those numbers I think 7 million internationally seems pretty low. So I have to wonder, are these just the numbers for the Japanese volumes, or are we to assume 7 million is the sum total of all international editions sold by Darkhorse, Pannini, etc?

T H A N K S !!

 

[Aazealh]

Hey Aaz, maybe you can clarify here?

When I read those numbers I think 7 million internationally seems pretty low. So I have to wonder, are these just the numbers for the Japanese volumes, or are we to assume 7 million is the sum total of all international editions sold by Darkhorse, Pannini, etc?

It includes every foreign edition as far as I know: Korean, Chinese, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Brazilian, US and so on. And while it may seem low to you, I think it's actually pretty good comparatively.

 

[Walter]

Excellent info to have, and it shows just how big an audience Miura has gathered over the years. I do wish we could see how it was broken down within each country, because I know Dark Horse sells a lot of copies here in the US.

Speaking of which, Dark Horse's website gives some indirect statistics about sales. By volume 10, they were reporting "The first seven volumes of Berserk have sold over 125,000 copies!" And by volume 14, "Over 100,000 books sold in this series in one year alone!" (Which year? Who knows!) And by Volume 31, there's a definitive number: "Over half a million copies sold!" So that's some extra info to take into account.

Also, I made a quick chart based on Aaz' data here, showing how the series has grown over the years. It's attached.

 

[Aazealh]

Speaking of which, Dark Horse's website gives some indirect statistics about sales. By volume 10, they were reporting "The first seven volumes of Berserk have sold over 125,000 copies!" And by volume 14, "Over 100,000 books sold in this series in one year alone!" (Which year? Who knows!) And by Volume 31, there's a definitive number: "Over half a million copies sold!" So that's some extra info to take into account.

Yeah that's definitely a good addition. Every member is invited to report similar announcements for any country as long as they're from a reliable (and direct) source. I'll edit the first post accordingly if we get enough information.

On a side note, I wonder what the biggest non-Japanese market is... I don't think it's the USA, but there's quite a few possibilities. Maybe I'll ask Young Animal (and not get a response).

 

[BerserkMJM]

I'd say if Berserk ever managed to do that, then Berserk took a turn for the worst.

Or the masses took a turn for the better?

 

[Xem]

On a side note, I wonder what the biggest non-Japanese market is... I don't think it's the USA, but there's quite a few possibilities.

My guess would be Italy, but I could easily be wrong.

 

[Gobolatula]

Korea, maybe, considering they got some nifty extras in volume 34. I could be wrong, but did they get a personal message from Miura?

 

[Aazealh]

Korea, maybe, considering they got some nifty extras in volume 34. I could be wrong, but did they get a personal message from Miura?

Sort of, see this post: http://www.skullknight.net/forum/index.php?topic=10795.msg180538#msg180538

As for what market is the biggest, Korea, France and Italy are strong possibilities, but without hard data it's pointless to guess. I'll inquire Hakusensha about it through their contact form, but I doubt they'll reply anything useful.

 

[Dembol]

Do you happen to know anything about individual volume sales?
The oricon charts only allow me to check 2 volumes back (unless I'm missing some key button which is possible with my limited Japanese) and they seem fairly stable, just under 300'000 units (after 3 weeks, before they fell off the bestseller ranking).

 

[Aazealh]

I don't think I ever wrote the numbers down unfortunately.

EDIT: I checked and didn't have anything useful, sorry.

 

[Aazealh]

@Walter alerted me to this interview with Dark Horse CEO Mike Richardson that has information on their Berserk sales. It's dated November 10, 2022 and shows a sizable progression from the last time they had divulged numbers.

85% of our sales are found in traditional bookstores. We’ve been told by PRH (Penguin Random House) that we consistently outsell Marvel and DC in bookstores and its bookstores that have pushed Dark Horse sales over nine figures. This is one of the reasons I despise the often-quoted Diamond publisher market numbers. Last I checked, we had sold almost five million copies of Berserk. Yes, that’s what I said, and we have a number of books that have sold seven figures. None of them are included in the Diamond market share because we don’t distribute our books through Diamond.

As a reminder, here's how the numbers evolved over time:

- In November 2022, Dark Horse's CEO mentions having sold almost 5 million copies of Berserk.
- In April 2022, they boast more than 3.5 million copies sold.
- In September 2018, Berserk is the top selling series in Dark Horse history, with nearly two million copies sold. They launch the Deluxe Edition.
- In April 2018, Dark Horse has sold over 1.5 million translated print editions of Berserk since 2003.
- In April 2017, Dark Horse celebrates over 1.2 million copies sold.
- In October 2013, Berserk has just passed the three-quarters-of-a-million mark in series sales at Dark Horse.
- In September 2009, to advertise volume 31, they indicate they've sold over half a million copies of Berserk.
- In September 2006, with the release of volume 13, they say that "over 100,000 books sold in this series in one year alone!"
- In January 2006, for the release of volume 10, Dark Horse reveals that "the first seven volumes of Berserk have sold over 125,000 copies!"
- In October 2003, Dark Horse publishes the first volume of Berserk in English. New volumes release every three months.

 

[Walter]

- In April 2022, they boast more than 3.5 million copies sold.
- In September 2018, Berserk is the top selling series in Dark Horse history, with nearly two million copies sold. They launch the Deluxe Edition.
- In April 2017, Dark Horse celebrates over 1.2 million copies sold.

That sales trajectory is pretty impressive, given the series' episodic releases were slow-going for a long time during that period. The only thing that makes sense to me is that the 2016-17 anime, as terrible as it was, gave Berserk a platform to a wider audience and helped them discover the manga. Beyond that, the Deluxe Edition probably helped their sales too. I think those came out around 2019.

 

[Aazealh]

That sales trajectory is pretty impressive, given the series' episodic releases were slow-going for a long time during that period. The only thing that makes sense to me is that the 2016-17 anime, as terrible as it was, gave Berserk a platform to a wider audience and helped them discover the manga. Beyond that, the Deluxe Edition probably helped their sales too. I think those came out around 2019.

Yeah, aside from the mindshare boost provided by the 2016 anime adaptation, I think the main factor was the release of the Deluxe Edition, which is basically the most convenient option for someone wanting to read Berserk in a bigger format and probably drew in a significant amount of customers from other countries in addition to North America and the UK.

 

[Léon-Solide]

Let me preface by saying graphic design is NOT my passion, but wanted to see how the numbers trended visually based on the sales numbers provided:


Super happy with the boost of readership. Actually, this trend seems to resemble that of the subscriber boost on the r/Berserk subreddit (https://subredditstats.com/r/berserk), where like, 2019 was when there was an increased rate of readers/people interested in Berserk.


I think Aaz you hit the nail on the head since Deluxe edition volumes started releasing in 2019 (volume 1 was released March 2019).
While the Deluxe Editions are not perfect, it was a great move of Dark Horse to publish the manga in bigger format

Now I wonder just how many more people will start picking up Berserk after Netflix starts streaming the 1997 TV anime come December? Probably won't be that big of a boost in Dark Horse release volumes, but will be more nonetheless.

 

[4M4M]

Amazing stuff, @Léon-Solide
Wish I had some data based on Spanish localised volumes, sales over the years, etc.

 

[Aazealh]

Let me preface by saying graphic design is NOT my passion, but wanted to see how the numbers trended visually based on the sales numbers provided:

Your X-axis should have every year instead of just showing data points. It doesn't correctly represent the acceleration of the sales as it is. Should be like this:

Wish I had some data based on Spanish localised volumes, sales over the years, etc.

Did you look for it? The publisher may very well have given numbers over the years too.

 

[cijhho123]

Your X-axis should have every year instead of just showing data points. It doesn't correctly represent the acceleration of the sales as it is. Should be like this:

Interesting to see how the 2012 trilogy had (almost) no effect on sales, but the 2016 anime have had a sharp increase in sales even tho it failed as an adaptaion.
I wonder if the memorial edition will bring another jump in sales

 

[Aazealh]

Interesting to see how the 2012 trilogy had (almost) no effect on sales, but the 2016 anime have had a sharp increase in sales even tho it failed as an adaptaion.
I wonder if the memorial edition will bring another jump in sales

Keep in mind there are external factors at play beyond Berserk itself. There seems to have been a huge boost in manga sales in some Western markets over the past few years. I know it happened in France, and a similar phenomenon seems to have occurred in the US in 2021, with 160% growth YoY reported by the publishing industry. In addition, news of Miura-sensei passing away likely resulted in increased sales as well.

Since we lack reliable data, it's tricky to determine what exactly contributed to that result and to what degree.

 

[Léon-Solide]

Your X-axis should have every year instead of just showing data points. It doesn't correctly represent the acceleration of the sales as it is.

Can't believe I missed that -- thanks! Couldn't help correcting it:

 

[Arles]

I have contacted Panini's Manga division in Argentina about their Berserk's sales numbers so far. Will let you know if they reply.