Demon Slayer Just Entered the Realm of Legendary Manga This Year
Five years after the story ended, Demon Slayer smashes records to become the seventh best-selling manga in history.
On July 17, 2025, it was reported that Kimetsu no Yaiba: Demon Slayer has reached over 220 million copies sold, making it the 6th best-selling manga series of all time.
From this number, 164 million copies were sold in Japan while 56 million were sold internationally.
The last update was from February 21, 2021, capping Demon Slayer’s sales at 150 million sales.
Even before this update, Demon Slayer has surpassed the likes of Bleach, one of the Shonen Jump “Big Three” but now, Demon Slayer inches closer to the numbers reached by Dragon Ball and Naruto.
When the anime started on April 6, 2019, the manga, which began in 2016, sold only 3.5 million copies but by the end of the anime on September 28, 2019, sales would quadruple as over 12 million copies are sold.
Amidst the hype for the Mugen Slayer movie and the release of Volume 18, by December 4, 2019, the manga would more than double in sales within just 2 months, reaching 25 million copies sold.
By February 4, 2020 with the release of Volume 19, the manga sold 40 million copies.
On October 2, 2020, with the release of the Mugen Train film, the manga had hit the 100 million copy milestone.
With the release of the final volume 2 months later, the manga would end up selling 120 million copies.
This shows how the anime has bolstered the popularity of the Demon Slayer manga to the mainstream level as more customers, including those who have only recently gotten into anime, got their hands on manga volumes.
About Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a manga written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge that was serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from February 2016 to May 2020, with its chapters collected in 23 tankōbon volumes.
However by September 2019 when Season 1 had neared its conclusion, the manga sold 10 million copies and the numbers would continue to balloon while cementing a strong cultural impact worldwide.
On April 6, 2019, the manga would be adapted into an anime by studio Ufotable, directed by Haruo Sotozaki and produced by Hikaru Kondo, starting off with Season 1 that ended its 26-episode run September 28, 2019.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train premiered in Japan on October 16, 2020 and would become the first movie of the franchise, having earned $507.1 million, making it the highest grossing anime film from Japan of all time.
Recap and compilation films would follow, also earning well in the box office.
Season 2 would adapt the Mugen Train movie for 7 episodes from October 10, 2021 to November 28, 2021 and the Entertainment District Arc from December 5, 2021 to February 13, 2022 for 11 episodes.
A third season, covering the “Swordsman Village” story arc, aired from April 9 to June 18, 2023, lasting 11 episodes.
A fourth season, covering the “Hashira Training” story arc, aired from May 12 to June 30, 2024, lasting 8 episodes.
As such, the entire Demon Slayer anime TV series has 63 episodes in total, adapting the first 139 chapters.
Demon Slayer is the story of Tanjiro Kamado and his quest to restore his sister Nezuko after she has been turned into a demon by Muzan while slaughtering the entire Kamado family.
Source: Twitter
“Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba” Manga Circulation Evolution:
-April 6, 2019: 3.5 Million
(Anime Starts)-Sep 2019: 12 Million
-Dec 4, 2019: 25 Million
-Feb 4, 2020: 40 Million
-Oct 2, 2020: 100 Million
-Dec 4, 2020: 120 Million
(Release Final Volume)-Feb 21, 2021: 150… pic.twitter.com/q2BTTD53jB
— Manga Mogura RE (Anime & Manga News) (@MangaMoguraRE) July 17, 2025
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