Anime DVD/BD Sales in Japan

138 Responses to “2000-Present, Average Sales of 10,000 or More”

1. Yaoi-Senpai says:

   March 11, 2017 at 10:23 AM

   @Something do you know how much money do people get? Like how much the original creator get from his/her anime nad how much do the people who worked in an anime gets?

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   • something says:

     March 11, 2017 at 2:06 PM

     The number that’s been cited for DVD/BD is 55% of MSRP going back to the production committee after retailer cut and associated costs. That would be divided among all committee members who, per the contract, are supposed to benefit from disc sales. This will primarily be the video publisher/distributor, though some money is also set aside for some of the core staff members like director, series composer, original creator. All of this may vary from show to show though.

     As for average salaries of different positions within the anime production side of things, I know there’s sources out there but not sure how good they are. This chart has been cited a few times, and it comes from an interview of 750 people in the industry. Nobody who is part of the day-to-day grind of making anime is getting rich on it. The wages for the “lowliest” jobs like inbetweeners aren’t even living wages, they almost have to have a side job to get by if those numbers are accurate. That or be content living in poverty. I don’t have them at my fingertips but there are plenty of horror stories out there about how badly paid animators in general are.

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     • Yaoi-Senpai says:

       March 11, 2017 at 4:34 PM

       Oh so that means the highest paid is the Original creator or the directors?
       Amd last question, do you know how much the seiyuu is getting paid?
       I’m sorry for asking tons of questions xD

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       • something says:

         March 11, 2017 at 5:22 PM

         Highest paid individual? Yeah that’s probably the director/creator. I mean, barring any really big contracts with a musician for OP/ED or whatever, I guess.

         No idea how much seiyuu make, but I bet it’s way too little. At least until you become super popular, and even then you’re probably making more money from work you do as a singer or model or whatever than from voice acting alone.

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         • Yaoi-Senpai says:

           March 11, 2017 at 6:45 PM

           I see, thank you so much for answering my questions. I hope my seiyuus are getting enough money, it will be bad if they are like Korean idols with tons of fans and no money.

           I know that mangaka get tons of money, atleast my favorite BL mangaka are getting their money.

           Again thanks and sorry for disturbing.

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           • something says:

             March 11, 2017 at 8:54 PM

             Well, mangaka of very popular series, sure. Your average mangaka is probably barely above the poverty line.

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             • Yaoi-Senpai says:

               March 12, 2017 at 12:21 PM

               AVERAGE = ABOVE THE POVERTY LINE? That’s so shame, I wish I can support them as much as I can >_<
               I feel bad for the mangaka that are below the average.

               Reply
2. Yaoi-Senpai says:

   April 8, 2017 at 5:56 PM

   What will be the average of YOI if the rest of the volume sold 50k copies?

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   • something says:

     April 8, 2017 at 9:38 PM

     If v4-6 each sold 50k, it’d be a bit under 58k.

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3. Good Friday and Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica (2011) | Moonlight Mixtape says:

   April 15, 2017 at 8:02 PM

   […] Shoujo Madoka★Magica–I thought the timing was appropriate. Given that it’s the second highest grossing anime series–and now I understand why–Madoka has been thoroughly discussed since its release 6 […]

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4. Yaoi-Senpai says:

   April 24, 2017 at 7:22 PM

   Why Uta no Prince-sama Maji Love Legend Star is not in the list??

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   • something says:

     April 24, 2017 at 7:27 PM

     Oh, was waiting for some of the non-ticket volumes to come out first. But since there’s two out already, yeah I can add it now.

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5. derpinat0r says:

   May 12, 2017 at 10:30 AM

   you forgot to add haikyuu s3 since it hit 10k

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   • something says:

     May 12, 2017 at 12:01 PM

     Ah thanks, I’ll add that one tonight.

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6. Yaoi-Senpai says:

   May 16, 2017 at 8:01 AM

   My post is deleted? O_O

   Yesterday I posted here. I was asking why YOI is below nise even tho the avg is higher.

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   • something says:

     May 16, 2017 at 8:10 AM

     See this comment. I had to rollback the database a bit, so a couple comments were lost. Though that reminds me I had to fix this post again (tho it’s still data from two weeks ago, will do the usual update of everything this weekend).

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   • Whocares says:

     May 16, 2017 at 10:05 AM

     Even mine got deleted. xd

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     • something says:

       May 16, 2017 at 12:12 PM

       It was just because of the rollback.

       To re-answer the question you posed though, I’m not sure why you would prefer to see a 2010-Present list rather than a 2000-Present list. The former is just less complete data.

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7. Yaoi-Senpai says:

   May 22, 2017 at 2:15 PM

   Utapri S3 & S4 is adapted from which VN? Do anyone know? I checked in VNDB but I can see only S1 and S2. Even the Wikipedia of Utapri can’t find me. So is it Original?

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   • something says:

     May 22, 2017 at 4:19 PM

     The only time you’d see a different source material listed between entries in the same franchise would be if one entry very specifically adapted a particular piece of media. The Fate series is the best example of this: Fate/Stay night is adapted from the original visual novel, but Fate/Zero is explicitly an adaptation of the (print) novel, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya is explicitly an adaptation of the spinoff manga, and I think one of the mobage is getting a TV series too?

     Idolmaster works too. The original series is based on a console game, Cinderella Girls is based on a mobage (as will be Side M and the probably inevitable Million Live), and if I understand correctly, Cinderella Girl Gekijou is based on a manga.

     Because anime can pick and choose what elements and how much of its source material it adapts, I don’t distinguish source material for a franchise on a per-season basis unless it’s like the examples above. Every season of Utapri will therefore be listed as having the original VN as the source material, since the Utapri *series* has that as a source material. This will hold so long as they’re direct sequels of each other. If it gets a spinoff specifically adapted from a particular piece of media (like, say, a manga), then you’d see a different source for that entry.

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     • Yaoi-Senpai says:

       May 22, 2017 at 4:46 PM

       Oh now I got it, thanks.

       Reply
8. David says:

   June 15, 2017 at 11:51 PM

   Interesting stuff. What I don’t seem to understand though is how anime like death note and bleach did so poorly in their respective sales. I mean Bleach is one of the best selling manga of all time yet somehow it gets beat out by k-on and yuri on ice. I understand that a lot of bleaches sales are by season but even so, I just don’t get how manga that have never sold a single million dollar manga volume can beat out all time greats with such ease lol.. Why exactly do you think this is the case?

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   • something says:

     June 16, 2017 at 12:57 PM

     Those big shounen action manga generally target kids and teenagers, who typically can’t afford, and aren’t very interested in, physical discs. Bleach actually sold shockingly well for a long-running shounen manga adaptation, at least in the first few seasons. Even after that, it was above average. Check this post for other long-running series: http://www.someanithing.com/2581. You can see that Bleach actually sold much better on disc than shows like One Piece or Naruto.

     And Death Note’s sales definitely aren’t poor! Anything on the 10k list should be considered a very significant hit.

     What’s important to understand about disc sales is that they primarily target a niche slice of the larger anime/manga fandom. After all, 20,000 average units per volume is incredibly good for an anime. For a manga, that’s just plain old obscurity. The market size is so different.

     And anime discs are largely aimed at adults with jobs who can afford to drop ¥6000 on two episodes. Even though mainstream kids’ shows are cheaper per episode, they’re also extremely long and thus a heck of an investment to try to follow. Bleach was 88 volumes, Naruto is over 150 with Shippuuden, One Piece is topping 200. There are plenty of other series I don’t track in the Long-Running post because they don’t rank regularly enough to be worth it, but dozens of volumes isn’t uncommon.

     So to get disc sales (outside of mainstream movies), you need to tap into some aspect of the “otaku” (or I guess let’s just say “enthusiast” or “collector”) market. Kuroko no Basuke sold a ton of BDs despite being a shounen manga adaptation because it and other sports manga adaptations like Haikyuu or Oofuri grew very popular among adult women. Gintama has managed the same, though it doesn’t sell at its old levels anymore.

     Almost no big mainstream manga adaptation relies on, or expects, disc sales. If they get them that’s a nice bonus, but it’s not the goal, at least not initially. Absolutely nobody behind One Piece is worried about its “mediocre” disc sales, that’s for sure!

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9. Yaoi-Senpai says:

   July 30, 2017 at 12:22 PM

   @something what is “sales ¥1mil (1st rls only)” and how do you get them?

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   • something says:

     July 30, 2017 at 7:19 PM

     You just multiply the discs sold by the cost of the discs.

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     • Whocares says:

       August 18, 2017 at 7:38 PM

       What does “sales ¥1mil (1st rls only)” even mean?

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       • something says:

         August 18, 2017 at 7:50 PM

         Sales revenue in units of ¥1 million yen, for the first release of the show.

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         • Whocares says:

           August 19, 2017 at 10:50 AM

           Thanks! What about “¥/ep * ¥1mil”?

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           • something says:

             August 19, 2017 at 1:57 PM

             Just divides the other number by the number of episodes, so that shows with more episodes don’t have an unfair advantage.

             Reply
10. Kirino-chan says:

    August 17, 2017 at 8:38 AM

    Fun Fact about BD sales:
    In the Chinese anime society, there is a term called “名作之壁” (the wall of masterpiece). Every anime to be considered as a masterpiece should at least be able to beat Infinite Stratos (according to the list, it is 37,113).
    Actually it is just a joke because nobody really know how IS managed to be this commercially successful.

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    • something says:

      August 17, 2017 at 11:33 AM

      IS seems like a great example of shows just, somehow, managing to get really lucky and tap into a fandom zeitgeist and just click in a way that defies any explanation. And we also see just how quickly that can change as well… see Shingeki for the most stark example, or even IS’s own big sequel drop.

      Reply
11. derpinat0r says:

    August 20, 2017 at 7:28 AM

    > 2017/08/19: New Entry – Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!

    where’s the entry lol?

    Reply
    • something says:

      August 20, 2017 at 10:43 AM

      Fixed, must have updated the table before adding it.

      Reply
12. AholePony says:

    August 21, 2017 at 3:21 PM

    So we had that miserable count of 9 10k+ in 2016, nearing the 3/4 mark, how do you see 2017 shaping up something? I know we’ve seemed to have a number of 8k+ near-misses that could get some help in the yearlies next year? Maybe?

    Reply
    • something says:

      August 21, 2017 at 4:28 PM

      With Symphogear looking like a bust for 10k and the bizarre reality where even Fate/Zpocrypha is in doubt, 2017 is looking worse off than expected.

      3 already there:
      • Granblue
      • Deremas Gekijou
      • Konosuba s2

      Not yet released but guaranteed:
      • Osomatsu-san s2
      • LL Sunshine s2
      • Owarimonogatari s2 (I decided to count it, but it is a half-length series)

      So we’re looking at 6 in the absolute worst most apocalyptic case.

      Not yet released, but are from comfortably 10k+ franchises:
      • Fate/Apocrypha
      • Deremas Gekijou s2 (assuming another event ticket)
      • Katsugeki Tourabu

      That’d be 9… but:
      Apocrypha is down to a 11,931 estimate without the high price penalty, and only 6,910 with it. Split the difference and that’s sub-10k… and there’s two boxes to deal with.
      Deremas, even its non-ticket s1 volumes passed 10k but no ticket for s2 + a modest drop could put it below.
      Katsugeki Tourabu’s big v1wk2 sales hugely increased its chances, and if the event ticket is 20k it’s got 10k on lockdown.

      Conceivably some chance:
      • Symphogear s4
      • Saekano s2
      • Imas Side M
      • Hoozuki no Reitetsu s2
      • Kekkai Sensen s2
      • Tsuki ga Kirei

      Here’s the unknowns.
      Hoozuki and Kekkaisen would need a good hold from their first seasons, and this has not been a good year.
      Symphogear needs a huge event ticket boost because right now it’s tracking way below 10k.
      Saekano looked like it might pull a Konosuba after v1wk1, but its small wk2 implies it’s more front-loaded, and now I’m less sure about it. v1 didn’t cross 10k by enough to make a 10k average feel comfortable at all.
      Imas Side M is a wild card, I have no idea how it’ll be received or not. But it’s a successful mobage and we know these shows *can* sell, so we’ll see.
      Tsuki ga Kirei is a half-price one-shot box, and was estimated over 10k at one point, but that’s gone down a lot after it finished airing. Bit of a long shot, but if it manages a decent wk1, lifetime could take it over since it’s cheap and only has one volume.

      And of course there could be some surprises.

      So we could be looking at 15, or even more. But we could also be looking at 9… or 8… or 7… or 6 if we didn’t count Owari. I can’t see it actually being that bad, buuuut who knows. We’ve already seen how this year can disappoint.

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      • AholePony says:

        August 21, 2017 at 5:00 PM

        There’s also Kemono friends :-P (I kid). I’m not feeling the current Symphogear season so wouldn’t be surprised if it falls short, the series feels lost right now. Apocrypha is odd because it dove right in and if you aren’t a hardcore fate fan (I’m not) you feel a little lost, even if you can get what’s essentially going on. So those two for me seem understandable why they might be underperforming. The others, well it’s probably foolish to expect a better year with the overall decline in physical media ever present I guess.

        Hoozuki no Reitetsu is an interesting pick, it sure has it’s fans so it’s not impossible. I gotta think Side M can do it if the team behind it plays their cards right.

        All in all I cant really complain, this year has been way better than the past 2 as far as moe and iyashikei goes as far as quantity is concerned. Next season is looking promising as well for those genres.

        Reply
        • something says:

          August 21, 2017 at 6:02 PM

          Hoozuki is only there because it somewhat surprisingly did 10k last time. Whether it held onto its fans, well…

          Reply