December brings a new pattern to the top 20 Adult graphic novels in the book channel, based on NPD BookScan data for December 2021 (11/28/21-1/1/22) provided to ICv2.
As in previous months, the chart is dominated by manga, with the exception of the paperback and hardcover editions of Lore Olympus, the popular webtoon that topped the chart last month (see “November 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels“).
What’s different in December is that almost half the chart is taken up by two series: five volumes of Jujutsu Kaisen and four volumes of Chainsaw Man. One possible reason is that both series had new volumes come out in December, which sometimes gets readers buying earlier volumes to catch up. Another is anime: The Chainsaw Man anime is coming later this year, and a new trailer was released in Japan during Jump Festa, so interest is ramping up. The Jujutsu Kaisen anime has already been released and streams on Crunchyroll.
It’s also worth noting what’s not on the chart: For the first time in literally years, there is not a single volume of My Hero Academia in the top 20. There was a time when that series alone took up almost half the slots. One reason for the absence may be that the gap between volumes has widened: Volume 29 came out in September, and Volume 30 won’t be out till March.
Most likely it will be back before then. The presence of the first volumes of Death Note and Tokyo Ghoul, two former blockbusters, demonstrates that once a series catches on with readers, it never really goes away.
There were four December debuts on the chart, all from VIZ Media: Volume 8 of Chainsaw Man, Volume 13 of Jujutsu Kaisen, Junji Ito’s short story collection Deserter, and Volume 1 of Kaiju No. 8.
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NPD BookScan Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels – December 2021 (11/28/21 – 1/1/22) |
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Rank |
Title |
Author |
Publisher |
|
1 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 8 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
2 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 13 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
3 |
DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA VOL. 2 |
KOYOHARU GOTOUGE |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
4 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 1 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
5 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN 0 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
6 |
LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE HC |
RACHEL SMYTHE |
DEL REY |
|
7 |
LORE OLYMPUS: VOLUME ONE |
RACHEL SMYTHE |
DEL REY |
|
8 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 1 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
9 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 2 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
10 |
ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 34 |
HAJIME ISAYAMA |
KODANSHA COMICS |
|
11 |
TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 1 |
AIDAIRO |
YEN PRESS |
|
12 |
ATTACK ON TITAN VOL. 1 |
HAJIME ISAYAMA |
KODANSHA COMICS |
|
13 |
CHAINSAW MAN VOL. 3 |
TATSUKI FUJIMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
14 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 2 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
15 |
DEATH NOTE BLACK EDITION VOL. 1 |
TSUGUMI OHBA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
16 |
TOKYO GHOUL VOL. 1 |
SUI ISHIDA |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
17 |
DESERTER: JUNJI ITO STORY COLLECTION |
JUNJI ITO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
18 |
JUJUTSU KAISEN VOL. 3 |
GEGE AKUTAMI |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
19 |
KAIJU NO. 8 VOL. 1 |
NAOYA MATSUMOTO |
VIZ MEDIA |
|
20 |
TOILET-BOUND HANAKO-KUN VOL. 2 |
AIDAIRO |
YEN PRESS |
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Source: The NPD Group/BookScan |
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For charts of December 2021 graphic novel sales from NPD BookScan:
December 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels
December 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels
For the charts with the actual sales numbers from NPD BookScan, see these articles on the ICv2 Pro site:
December 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
December 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Author, Manga, and Superhero Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
December 2021 NPD BookScan – Top 20 Kids Graphic Novels with Actual Sales
NPD BookScan collects weekly point-of-sale data on print books from over 16,000 locations including e-tailers, chains, mass merchandisers, independent bookstores, and more. NPD BookScan covers approximately 85% of the U.S. trade print book market. The ranks on this chart are based on piece sales. Some publishers classify titles that are primarily text, or art books, as graphic novels; we’ve removed those titles from the ranking above.
For past BookScan Top 20 Graphic Novel lists, see the “BookScan Top 20 GN Index.”
Source: ICV2
