In 2024, the manga industry witnessed remarkable trends, with “ONE PIECE,” “Jujutsu Kaisen,” and “Kingdom” leading readership charts.
GEM Partners, specializing in entertainment data, conducted a comprehensive survey to identify the top 20 most-read manga of the year.
Top 20 Most Read Manga of 2024:
- ONE PIECE
- Jujutsu Kaisen
- Kingdom
- Oshi no Ko
- Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
- Detective Conan
- Parallel World Pharmacy
- SPY x FAMILY
- My Hero Academia
- Haikyuu!!
- Chainsaw Man
- God of Blackfield
- Blue Lock
- Dragon Ball (includes whole series)
- Kaiju No. 8
- Golden Kamuy
- The Fable
- Dandadan
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slim
GEM Partners’ method involved monthly surveys of approximately 100,000 individuals aged 15 to 69 across Japan. Their aim was to provide a holistic view of manga consumption across various media formats, offering valuable insights into the evolving preferences of manga enthusiasts.
“ONE PIECE” secured the top position with a reach point of 22,357, more than double that of its closest competitor. Notably, over 50% of its readership favored physical media, with 36% reading paperbacks and 26% engaging with the print version of “Weekly Shonen Jump.”
“Jujutsu Kaisen,” which concluded in 2024, ranked second with 10,540 reach points. Its readership was evenly split between digital and physical formats, each accounting for approximately 50%.
“Kingdom” claimed the third spot, coinciding with the release of its fifth anime season in January 2024 and the fourth live-action film, “Kingdom: Return of the General,” in July 2024.
The survey also highlighted the media preferences of readers. For instance, “Oshi no Ko” and “Furiren: The Parade of Frieren,” ranked fourth and fifth respectively, had a higher proportion of digital readership. Conversely, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba,” in sixth place, boasted the highest paperback readership in the top 20, at 44%.
In the digital realm, platforms like Piccoma, LINE Manga, and Kindle dominated as the most utilized services for digital books. For digital magazines and media services, Shonen Jump+, Magapoke, and Sunday Webry were particularly popular among readers.
GEM Partners provides a data service called ‘Entertainment Tracker’ that aims to compare and evaluate how content such as manga, books, games, and music is reaching users. Entertainment Tracker compiles data by group based on an index called ‘reach points,’ which is a compilation of responses to questions such as ‘I read/saw/heard this content’ every day.
These findings underscore the dynamic nature of manga readership in 2024, reflecting a blend of traditional and digital consumption patterns that continue to shape the industry’s landscape.
Read more data here: GEM Partners (source) & Gigazine