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Rocket Bomber - rankings analysis

Rocket Bomber - rankings analysis

Breakout: Manhwa [from the 8 Aug charts]

filed under , 12 August 2010, 04:05 by

Once one introduces a ‘sort code’ into the database, it seems obvious to use it for more than just a single special class; a manhwa chart not only seemed like a natural evolution, the procedure for sorting out global manga and yaoi titles from the rest turned up information on manhwa almost without me trying.

Once again, ‘new’ titles as listed below are just volumes not previously ranked (at least going back to 13 June) and Corrections and Additions are invited — drop your OCD-fuelled nitpicks in the comments below.

##

Manhwa Volumes
from the Consolidated Online Sales Rankings
for the week ending 8 August 2010

71. ↓-12 (59) : Angel Diary 12 – Yen Press, Jul 2010 [123.3] ::
177. ↓-40 (137) : Jack Frost 3 – Yen Press, Jul 2010 [61.6] ::
315. ↑153 (468) : Bride of the Water God 6 – Dark Horse, Aug 2010 [29.7] ::
354. ↑195 (549) : U Don’t Know Me – Netcomics, May 2009 [23.5] ::
355. ↑33 (388) : Pig Bride 5 – Yen Press, Jul 2010 [23.5] ::
580. ↓-141 (439) : Apple (anthology) 4 – Udon, May 2010 [8.0] ::
685. ↓-38 (647) : Roureville 2 – Netcomics, Sep 2007 [4.8] ::
696. ↓-2 (694) : Boy Princess 8 – Netcomics, Aug 2007 [4.6] ::
711. ↑97 (808) : Priest 15 – Tokyopop, Oct 2006 [4.3] ::
715. ↓-36 (679) : One Thousand & One Nights 3 – Yen Press, Oct 2010 [4.2] ::
751. ↓-118 (633) : Boy Princess 9 – Netcomics, Oct 2007 [3.8] ::
863. ↑new (0) : Dokebi Bride 7 – Netcomics, Apr 2009 [2.4] ::
903. ↓-83 (820) : King of Hell 2 – Tokyopop, Aug 2003 [2.0] ::
906. ↑new (0) : King of Hell 5 – Tokyopop, Feb 2004 [2.0] ::
910. ↑new (0) : King of Hell 6 – Tokyopop, May 2004 [1.9] ::
914. ↑new (0) : King of Hell 8 – Tokyopop, Dec 2004 [1.9] ::
919. ↑new (0) : King of Hell 7 – Tokyopop, Oct 2004 [1.8] ::
991. ↑18 (1009) : Bride of the Water God 5 – Dark Horse, Feb 2010 [1.2] ::
1039. ↑79 (1118) : Bride of the Water God 4 – Dark Horse, Sep 2009 [0.8] ::
1102. ↓-266 (836) : Boy Princess 7 – Netcomics, Jun 2007 [0.3] ::
1126. ↓-56 (1070) : Goong 6 – Yen Press, Sep 2009 [0.2] ::
1165. ↓-405 (760) : Laon 1 – Yen Press, Jan 2010 [0.2] ::
1236. ↓-242 (994) : Laon 2 – Yen Press, May 2010 [0.1] ::
1253. ↑5 (1258) : Threads of Time 1 – Tokyopop, Aug 2004 [0.1] ::
1254. ↓-220 (1034) : Bird Kiss 2 – Tokyopop, Nov 2006 [0.1] ::
1276. ↑new (0) : Priest 3 – Tokyopop, Nov 2002 [0.1] ::
1291. ↑ (last ranked 18 Jul 10) : Bride of the Water God 1 – Dark Horse, Oct 2007 [0.1] ::
1375. ↓-11 (1364) : Jack Frost 1 – Yen Press, May 2009 [0.1] ::
1399. ↑ (last ranked 20 Jun 10) : Pig Bride 4 – Yen Press, Apr 2010 [0.1] ::



Breakout: Boys Love/Yaoi [from the 8 Aug charts]

filed under , 12 August 2010, 03:49 by

More Than You Asked For:

please note the ‘new’ titles are not always new; just ‘new’ to the most recent iteration of my charts (reset on 13 July 2010).

Rankings — e.g. 106. ↑5 (111) — below correspond to how the title ranked in the most recent Manga 500

That said, since I have full access to the database [it’s my database, after all] there’s no need to stop at 500 and we can see how the BL titles are doing until the sidewalk ends.

Corrections and Additions are invited — I cribbed a bit from lore and also leaned heavily on Wikipedia but I’m sure I’m missing something, or mis-classified at least one title: Drop your OCD-fuelled nitpicks in the comments below.

##

Boys Love/Yaoi Volumes
from the Consolidated Online Sales Rankings
for the week ending 8 August 2010

106. ↑5 (111) : Incubus Master (Kindle Edition) 1 – Yaoi Press, Jan 2010 [93.6] ::
139. ↑93 (232) : Junjo Romantica 12 – Tokyopop Blu, Aug 2010 [76.4] ::
196. ↑28 (224) : Caged Slave (novel) – DMP Juné, May 2008 [55.2] ::
214. ↑43 (257) : Finder Series 1 Target in the View Finder – DMP Juné, Sep 2010 [49.5] ::
237. ↑203 (440) : Voice or Noise 3 – Tokyopop Blu, Aug 2010 [44.6] ::
250. ↑24 (274) : Incubus Master Captured (Kindle Edition) 1 – Yaoi Press, Jun 2010 [40.8] ::
256. ↓-2 (254) : Junjo Romantica 1 – Tokyopop Blu, Oct 2006 [39.4] ::
274. ↑5 (279) : Cute Devil – Tokyopop Blu, Apr 2010 [36.8] ::
288. ↑17 (305) : Junjo Romantica 3 – Tokyopop Blu, May 2007 [33.7] ::
302. ↑280 (582) : Incubus Master Captured (Kindle Edition) 2 – Yaoi Press, Jun 2010 [31.4] ::
311. ↑8 (319) : Millennium Prime Minister 4 – DMP DokiDoki, Apr 2010 [30.2] ::
331. ↑937 (1268) : Wolf God 1 – DMP DokiDoki, Aug 2010 [25.9] ::
341. ↑31 (372) : The Tyrant Falls in Love 1 – DMP Juné, Aug 2010 [24.6] ::
349. ↓-27 (322) : Junjo Romantica 2 – Tokyopop Blu, Jan 2007 [23.9] ::
350. ↑13 (363) : Vassalord 4 – Tokyopop, Nov 2010 [23.6] ::
364. ↑62 (426) : Gakuen Heaven 2 – Tokyopop Blu, Jun 2009 [22.6] ::
376. ↔0 (376) : Kiss Blue 2 – DMP Juné, Nov 2010 [21.4] ::
377. ↑67 (444) : Scarlet – Tokyopop Blu, Aug 2010 [21.1] ::
385. ↓-50 (335) : I Want to Bite (novel) – DMP DokiDoki, Jul 2010 [20.4] ::
432. ↓-11 (421) : Mysterious Love – DMP Juné, Sep 2010 [16.9] ::
439. ↑100 (539) : When the Heavens Smile – DMP Juné, Jul 2010 [16.4] ::
446. ↑new (0) : Pet on Duty Bonus Story: Pet in Love (Kindle Edition) – Animate/Libre, Aug 2010 [15.5] ::
454. ↓-2 (452) : Hey! Class President 3 – 801 Media, Aug 2010 [15.0] ::
458. ↑47 (505) : Midnight Bloom – DMP DokiDoki, Jul 2010 [14.6] ::
492. ↓-254 (238) : Ze 5 – 801 Media, May 2010 [11.8] ::
507. ↑18 (525) : Yaoi Candy (Kindle Edition) – Yaoi Press, Apr 2010 [11.0] ::
508. ↓-42 (466) : Stay Close to Me – DMP Juné, Sep 2010 [11.0] ::
511. ↓-41 (470) : Cool/Uncool – DMP DokiDoki, Sep 2010 [10.8] ::
526. ↓-144 (382) : Winter Demon Zero (Kindle Edition) – Yaoi Press, Apr 2010 [10.2] ::
544. ↔0 (544) : Junjo Romantica 4 – Tokyopop Blu, Oct 2007 [9.5] ::
545. ↑new (0) : Incubus Master Captured (Kindle Edition) 3 – Yaoi Press, Aug 2010 [9.4] ::
569. ↑73 (642) : Our Kingdom Arabian Nights – DMP Juné, Nov 2009 [8.5] ::
572. ↑57 (629) : Incubus Master (Kindle Edition) 2 – Yaoi Press, Jan 2010 [8.4] ::
593. ↑1 (594) : Under Grand Hotel 1 – 801 Media, Jul 2010 [7.6] ::
603. ↓-206 (397) : Calling – Tokyopop Blu, Jun 2010 [7.2] ::
608. ↑46 (654) : Junjo Romantica 11 – Tokyopop Blu, Dec 2009 [7.1] ::
672. ↑new (0) : Ruff Love – Aurora Deux, Aug 2008 [5.0] ::
679. ↓-67 (612) : Dog Style 2 – Media Blasters, Jun 2008 [4.9] ::
688. ↑ (last ranked 18 Jul 10) : Love Pistols 5 – Tokyopop Blu, May 2008 [4.8] ::
716. ↓-3 (713) : Cancellation of Darkness (Kindle Edition) – Yaoi Press, Jul 2010 [4.2] ::
717. ↓-2 (715) : Gentle Cage (novel) – DMP Juné, Jul 2008 [4.2] ::
744. ↓-104 (640) : Yaoi Hentai (anthology) 3 – Yaoi Press, Feb 2007 [3.9] ::
752. ↑ (last ranked 18 Jul 10) : Happy Yaoi Yum Yum 1 – Yaoi Press, Jul 2009 [3.8] ::
768. ↓-138 (630) : Spicy But Sweet – Aurora Deux, May 2009 [3.5] ::
770. ↓-2 (768) : Demon Flowers 5 – Tokyopop, Apr 2009 [3.5] ::
781. ↓-258 (523) : LOL Theater (Kindle Edition) – Animate/Libre, Jul 2010 [3.4] ::
806. ↑new (0) : Love Pistols 3 – Tokyopop Blu, Nov 2007 [3.0] ::
822. ↓-3 (819) : Caged Slave (novel) (Kindle Edition) – DMP Juné, Jun 2009 [2.8] ::
833. ↓-278 (555) : Incubus Master (Kindle Edition) 8 – Yaoi Press, Mar 2010 [2.6] ::
834. ↑new (0) : Love Pistols 4 – Tokyopop Blu, Feb 2008 [2.6] ::
860. ↑170 (1030) : Finder Series 2 Cage in the View Finder – DMP Juné, Nov 2010 [2.4] ::
861. ↑308 (1169) : Body Language (novel) – DMP Juné, Jan 2008 [2.4] ::
871. ↓-135 (736) : Madness 2 – Tokyopop Blu, Jun 2010 [2.3] ::
874. ↑new (0) : Love Pistols 2 – Tokyopop Blu, Aug 2007 [2.3] ::
878. ↑251 (1129) : Junjo Romantica 10 – Tokyopop Blu, Jul 2009 [2.3] ::
902. ↓-90 (812) : Yellow Omnibus 2 – DMP Juné, May 2010 [2.0] ::
907. ↓-410 (497) : Moonlit Promises – DMP Juné, Apr 2010 [2.0] ::
929. ↓-67 (862) : Junjo Romantica 5 – Tokyopop Blu, Feb 2008 [1.7] ::
931. ↓-359 (572) : Maiden Rose 1 – DMP Juné, May 2010 [1.7] ::
952. ↑ (last ranked 18 Jul 10) : Yaoi (anthology) 1 – Yaoi Press, Mar 2007 [1.5] ::
955. ↑1 (956) : Black Sun – 801 Media, Nov 2008 [1.5] ::
957. ↑ (last ranked 27 Jun 10) : All You Need Is Love (novel) 1 – DMP Juné, Jan 2010 [1.4] ::
976. ↓-304 (672) : Ai no Kusabi (novel) 1 – DMP Juné, Nov 2007 [1.3] ::
985. ↑6 (991) : Cause of My Teacher – Tokyopop Blu, Mar 2009 [1.3] ::
988. ↑new (0) : Yellow 2 – DMP Juné, Oct 2005 [1.2] ::
1011. ↑128 (1139) : Demon Flowers 1 – Tokyopop, Sep 2007 [1.0] ::
1037. ↑new (0) : Scandalous Seiryo University 4 – Media Blasters, Mar 2009 [0.8] ::
1093. ↑40 (1133) : Junjo Romantica 8 – Tokyopop Blu, Jan 2009 [0.4] ::
1099. ↓-281 (818) : Yokan: Premonition 2 – DMP Juné, Dec 2010 [0.3] ::
1111. ↑57 (1168) : Loveless 1 – Tokyopop, Feb 2006 [0.3] ::
1121. ↑ (last ranked 11 Jul 10) : Loveless 4 – Tokyopop, Feb 2007 [0.3] ::
1133. ↑152 (1285) : Little Butterfly Omnibus – DMP Juné, Feb 2010 [0.2] ::
1158. ↓-468 (690) : Incubus Master (Kindle Edition) 3 – Yaoi Press, Jan 2010 [0.2] ::
1177. ↑211 (1388) : Junjo Romantica 9 – Tokyopop Blu, Apr 2009 [0.2] ::
1190. ↓-5 (1185) : Junjo Romantica 6 – Tokyopop Blu, Jun 2008 [0.2] ::
1197. ↓-60 (1137) : Junjo Romantica 7 – Tokyopop Blu, Sep 2008 [0.2] ::
1272. ↓-119 (1153) : Love Pistols 1 – Tokyopop Blu, May 2007 [0.1] ::
1299. ↓-564 (735) : Happy Yaoi Yum Yum (Kindle Edition) 1 – Yaoi Press, Apr 2010 [0.1] ::
1313. ↑3 (1316) : Saihoshi: Redemption (Kindle Edition) 1 – Yaoi Press, Feb 2010 [0.1] ::
1315. ↓-137 (1178) : Yaoi Hentai (anthology) (Kindle Edition) 1 – Yaoi Press, Jun 2010 [0.1] ::
1317. ↓-556 (761) : Incubus Master (Kindle Edition) 4 – Yaoi Press, Jan 2010 [0.1] ::
1323. ↑new (0) : Sleeping with Money (novel) – DMP Juné, Jun 2008 [0.1] ::
1335. ↑new (0) : Only the Ring Finger Knows (novel) 1 – DMP Juné, Mar 2006 [0.1] ::
1341. ↓-7 (1334) : The Tyrant Falls in Love 2 – DMP Juné, Jan 2011 [0.1] ::
1344. ↓-174 (1170) : You Will Fall in Love 2 You Will Drown in Love – Tokyopop Blu, Apr 2009 [0.1] ::
1359. ↑ (last ranked 25 Jul 10) : Maniac Shorts Shot – 801 Media, Jan 2010 [0.1] ::
1361. ↓-11 (1350) : Breath 5 – Yaoi Generation, Apr 2010 [0.1] ::
1377. ↓-10 (1367) : Loveless 2 – Tokyopop, Jun 2006 [0.1] ::
1383. ↑new (0) : Only the Ring Finger Knows (novel) 2 – DMP Juné, Jul 2006 [0.1] ::
1390. ↑new (0) : Pet on Duty – Boysenberry Books, Nov 2007 [0.1] ::



Breakout: Viz Signature/Sig Ikki et al.

filed under , 10 August 2010, 23:38 by

Viz has introduced several new brand names recently; there’s the Haikusoru fiction imprint, a new Shonen Sunday jacket dress that shows up to morning roll-call with a massive backlist (Inuyasha, Yakitate, and Case Closed are just for starters) (& definitely see also), the Sig Ikki website that is (I think?) technically just a part of Viz Signature but the publication details are perhaps secondary to the web push.

[and of course Shonen Jump & Shojo Beat, the venerable Ghibli Library, the license-to-print-money VizKids pokemon titles, and an English backlist that goes back to 2001. In some areas, I don’t even know what I’m missing when it comes to Viz, though I do know that someday I will own all of Eagle no matter what it costs.]

##

So. No surprise, Viz publishes a lot of comics.

Of interest this week, and by request [thanks, Ed] (you certainly can follow me on twitter as well but I make no guarantees) we’re looking in depth at Sig, Sig Ikki, and a handful of titles — Pluto, 20th Century Boys, Vagabond, and maybe a couple others — mostly because I can.

[You don’t get this from BookScan, ICv2, or the New York Times. just sayin’]

##

20th Century Boys

— you’ll note that not every volume ranks each and every week; the ‘new’ volume, #9, has the most consistent rankings over the 8 weeks for which I have comparable data — though preorders (note the rankings for vol 11) start 3 months in advance and are strongest following the first listing of the title on online sales sites.

Someone is reading it, past that I can’t draw more detailed conclusions.

18 Jul 1010. ↑new (0) : 20th Century Boys 2 – Viz Signature, Apr 2009 [1.1] ::
25 Jul 789. ↑221 (1010) : 20th Century Boys 2 – Viz Signature, Apr 2009 [3.2] ::
01 Aug 887. ↓-98 (789) : 20th Century Boys 2 – Viz Signature, Apr 2009 [2.0] ::

25 Jul 903. ↑new (0) : 20th Century Boys 3 – Viz Signature, Jun 2009 [2.0] ::
01 Aug 898. ↑5 (903) : 20th Century Boys 3 – Viz Signature, Jun 2009 [2.0] ::

27 Jun 953. ↑new (0) : 20th Century Boys 4 – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [1.4] ::
04 Jul 952. ↑1 (953) : 20th Century Boys 4 – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [1.4] ::
25 Jul 920. ↑ (last ranked 4 Jul 10) : 20th Century Boys 4 – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [1.9] ::
25 Jul 953. ↑new (0) : 20th Century Boys 4 – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [1.4] ::
01 Aug 905. ↑15 (920) : 20th Century Boys 4 – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [1.9] ::

25 Jul 924. ↑new (0) : 20th Century Boys 6 – Viz Signature, Dec 2009 [1.8] ::
01 Aug 913. ↑11 (924) : 20th Century Boys 6 – Viz Signature, Dec 2009 [1.8] ::

27 Jun 908. ↑new (0) : 20th Century Boys 7 – Viz Signature, Feb 2010 [1.8] ::
04 Jul 906. ↑2 (908) : 20th Century Boys 7 – Viz Signature, Feb 2010 [1.8] ::
25 Jul 908. ↑new (0) : 20th Century Boys 7 – Viz Signature, Feb 2010 [1.8] ::

20 Jun 170. ↓-4 (166) : 20th Century Boys 8 – Viz Signature, May 2010 [74.6] ::
27 Jun 215. ↓-45 (170) : 20th Century Boys 8 – Viz Signature, May 2010 [60.5] ::
04 Jul 292. ↓-77 (215) : 20th Century Boys 8 – Viz Signature, May 2010 [42.8] ::
11 Jul 464. ↓-172 (292) : 20th Century Boys 8 – Viz Signature, May 2010 [20.5] ::
18 Jul 1172. ↓-708 (464) : 20th Century Boys 8 – Viz Signature, May 2010 [0.2] ::
25 Jul 215. ↓-45 (170) : 20th Century Boys 8 – Viz Signature, May 2010 [60.5] ::

20 Jun 205. ↓-4 (201) : 20th Century Boys 9 – Viz Signature, Jun 2010 [61.0] ::
27 Jun 86. ↑119 (205) : 20th Century Boys 9 – Viz Signature, Jun 2010 [118.3] ::
04 Jul 103. ↓-17 (86) : 20th Century Boys 9 – Viz Signature, Jun 2010 [107.6] ::
11 Jul 164. ↓-61 (103) : 20th Century Boys 9 – Viz Signature, Jun 2010 [79.0] ::
18 Jul 261. ↓-97 (164) : 20th Century Boys 9 – Viz Signature, Jun 2010 [48.1] ::
25 Jul 336. ↓-75 (261) : 20th Century Boys 9 – Viz Signature, Jun 2010 [26.9] ::
25 Jul 86. ↑119 (205) : 20th Century Boys 9 – Viz Signature, Jun 2010 [118.3] ::
01 Aug 429. ↓-93 (336) : 20th Century Boys 9 – Viz Signature, Jun 2010 [17.1] ::
08 Aug 537. ↓-108 (429) : 20th Century Boys 9 – Viz Signature, Jun 2010 [9.7] ::

08 Aug 832. ↑new (0) : 20th Century Boys 10 – Viz Signature, Aug 2010 [2.6] ::

04 Jul 842. ↑new (0) : 20th Century Boys 11 – Viz Signature, Oct 2010 [2.6] ::
11 Jul 835. ↑7 (842) : 20th Century Boys 11 – Viz Signature, Oct 2010 [2.6] ::
18 Jul 1356. ↓-521 (835) : 20th Century Boys 11 – Viz Signature, Oct 2010 [0.1] ::

The ‘current’ volume for the time period considered, vol. 9, not only is a Top 500 title but manages an occasional Top 100 appearance; similarly, vol. 8 is also still in demand. Alas, the total lack of [tracked] sales of volume 1 points toward this being a fan-favorite only; not enough new readers were picking up the series in June or July.

##

Pluto

20 Jun 558. ↑7 (565) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 1 – Viz Signature, Feb 2009 [12.1] ::
27 Jun 527. ↑31 (558) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 1 – Viz Signature, Feb 2009 [15.7] ::
04 Jul 475. ↑52 (527) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 1 – Viz Signature, Feb 2009 [20.9] ::
11 Jul 592. ↓-117 (475) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 1 – Viz Signature, Feb 2009 [10.3] ::
18 Jul 1085. ↓-493 (592) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 1 – Viz Signature, Feb 2009 [0.5] ::
25 Jul 1037. ↑48 (1085) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 1 – Viz Signature, Feb 2009 [0.9] ::
01 Aug 1393. ↓-356 (1037) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 1 – Viz Signature, Feb 2009 [0.1] ::
08 Aug 1398. ↓-5 (1393) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 1 – Viz Signature, Feb 2009 [0.1] ::

20 Jun 672. ↓-3 (669) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 2 – Viz Signature, Mar 2009 [6.0] ::
27 Jun 695. ↓-23 (672) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 2 – Viz Signature, Mar 2009 [5.7] ::
04 Jul 1327. ↓-632 (695) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 2 – Viz Signature, Mar 2009 [0.1] ::
18 Jul 1091. ↑ (last ranked 4 Jul 10) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 2 – Viz Signature, Mar 2009 [0.4] ::
25 Jul 1042. ↑49 (1091) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 2 – Viz Signature, Mar 2009 [0.9] ::

20 Jun 728. ↓-7 (721) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 3 – Viz Signature, May 2009 [4.0] ::
27 Jun 925. ↓-197 (728) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 3 – Viz Signature, May 2009 [1.7] ::
18 Jul 1104. ↑ (last ranked 27 Jun 10) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 3 – Viz Signature, May 2009 [0.4] ::
25 Jul 1046. ↑58 (1104) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 3 – Viz Signature, May 2009 [0.9] ::

20 Jun 842. ↓-47 (795) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 4 – Viz Signature, Jul 2009 [2.0] ::
27 Jun 880. ↓-38 (842) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 4 – Viz Signature, Jul 2009 [2.0] ::

20 Jun 824. ↓-50 (774) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 5 – Viz Signature, Sep 2009 [2.2] ::
27 Jun 856. ↓-32 (824) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 5 – Viz Signature, Sep 2009 [2.2] ::
01 Aug 1025. ↑ (last ranked 27 Jun 10) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 5 – Viz Signature, Sep 2009 [1.0] ::
08 Aug 856. ↑169 (1025) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 5 – Viz Signature, Sep 2009 [2.4] ::

20 Jun 806. ↓-49 (757) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 6 – Viz Signature, Nov 2009 [2.4] ::
27 Jun 839. ↓-33 (806) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 6 – Viz Signature, Nov 2009 [2.4] ::
01 Aug 1037. ↑ (last ranked 27 Jun 10) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 6 – Viz Signature, Nov 2009 [0.9] ::
08 Aug 866. ↑171 (1037) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 6 – Viz Signature, Nov 2009 [2.4] ::

20 Jun 850. ↑45 (895) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 7 – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [2.0] ::
27 Jun 621. ↑229 (850) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 7 – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [9.9] ::
04 Jul 555. ↑66 (621) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 7 – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [13.9] ::
11 Jul 638. ↓-83 (555) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 7 – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [7.9] ::
18 Jul 894. ↓-256 (638) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 7 – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [2.2] ::
25 Jul 1197. ↓-303 (894) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 7 – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [0.2] ::
01 Aug 1004. ↑193 (1197) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 7 – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [1.1] ::
08 Aug 855. ↑149 (1004) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 7 – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [2.4] ::

20 Jun 349. ↑5 (354) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 8 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [32.5] ::
27 Jun 521. ↓-172 (349) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 8 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [16.0] ::
04 Jul 566. ↓-45 (521) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 8 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [13.0] ::
11 Jul 423. ↑143 (566) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 8 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [25.0] ::
18 Jul 462. ↓-39 (423) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 8 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [21.2] ::
25 Jul 867. ↓-405 (462) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 8 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [2.3] ::
01 Aug 1011. ↓-144 (867) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 8 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [1.1] ::
08 Aug 872. ↑139 (1011) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 8 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [2.3] ::

Taking in the larger data set, we can see Pluto doing fairly well, actually. For the 8 weeks presented above, volumes 1, 7, and 8 are all solidly represented, with some decent movement on the backlist.

“Yes,” [you might be thinking to yourself,] “but what does a ranking in the 600s or 800s or 1000s even mean? It’s not a top ten, obviously.”

I’ll state it bluntly: if it shows up in my spreadsheet that means books are being sold online – it’s what I set out to track, it’s what I pull up from source charts weekly. So, yeah, #1011 seems like weak sauce; but out of 10,000 available volumes, even #1011 in a ranking means it outsells 90% of all other manga. And we likely only need to sell 5000 manga total [over it’s in-print life] to ‘break even’ — you can do your own math but at $10 a copy and the publishers’ take of 40% that’s $20K to just about cover printing & localization costs (printing @ let’s-call-it-$3-a-book with that leftover $5k for the translator, editorial, my convention travel costs, bar tabs, and legal expenses to defend against sexual harrasment suits) (that is to say, we’re still losing money)

—and I humbly invite correction, if you have actual publishing costs just laying around and cared to share—

But the midlist or slow-moving-backlist is actually a decent place to be for most publishers.

##

Vagabond is the closest Viz Signature has to a “bestseller”

04 Jul 830. ↑new (0) : Vagabond 1 – Viz Signature, May 2002 [2.7] ::
11 Jul 802. ↑28 (830) : Vagabond 1 – Viz Signature, May 2002 [3.0] ::
18 Jul 1108. ↓-306 (802) : Vagabond 1 – Viz Signature, May 2002 [0.3] ::
01 Aug 885. ↑ (last ranked 18 Jul 10) : Vagabond 1 – Viz Signature, May 2002 [2.1] ::
08 Aug 899. ↓-14 (885) : Vagabond 1 – Viz Signature, May 2002 [2.1] ::

11 Jul 942. ↑new (0) : Vagabond 3 – Viz Signature, Sep 2002 [1.7] ::
18 Jul 950. ↓-8 (942) : Vagabond 3 – Viz Signature, Sep 2002 [1.7] ::

04 Jul 843. ↑new (0) : Vagabond 5 – Viz Signature, Apr 2003 [2.6] ::
11 Jul 843. ↔0 (843) : Vagabond 5 – Viz Signature, Apr 2003 [2.6] ::

04 Jul 874. ↑new (0) : Vagabond 6 – Viz Signature, Jun 2003 [2.2] ::
11 Jul 886. ↓-12 (874) : Vagabond 6 – Viz Signature, Jun 2003 [2.2] ::

04 Jul 948. ↑new (0) : Vagabond 8 – Viz Signature, Jan 2004 [1.5] ::
11 Jul 956. ↓-8 (948) : Vagabond 8 – Viz Signature, Jan 2004 [1.5] ::
25 Jul 1089. ↑ (last ranked 11 Jul 10) : Vagabond 8 – Viz Signature, Jan 2004 [0.6] ::
01 Aug 1082. ↑7 (1089) : Vagabond 8 – Viz Signature, Jan 2004 [0.6] ::
08 Aug 867. ↑215 (1082) : Vagabond 8 – Viz Signature, Jan 2004 [2.4] ::

04 Jul 965. ↑new (0) : Vagabond 14 – Viz Signature, Jul 2004 [1.3] ::
11 Jul 972. ↓-7 (965) : Vagabond 14 – Viz Signature, Jul 2004 [1.3] ::

27 Jun 1017. ↑new (0) : Vagabond 20 – Viz Signature, Mar 2005 [0.8] ::
04 Jul 1029. ↓-12 (1017) : Vagabond 20 – Viz Signature, Mar 2005 [0.8] ::
11 Jul 1050. ↓-21 (1029) : Vagabond 20 – Viz Signature, Mar 2005 [0.7] ::
18 Jul 1060. ↓-10 (1050) : Vagabond 20 – Viz Signature, Mar 2005 [0.7] ::

04 Jul 1199. ↑new (0) : Vagabond 22 – Viz Signature, Aug 2006 [0.1] ::
11 Jul 1208. ↓-9 (1199) : Vagabond 22 – Viz Signature, Aug 2006 [0.1] ::

20 Jun 1152. ↓-97 (1055) : Vagabond 23 – Viz Signature, Oct 2006 [0.1] ::
27 Jun 1205. ↓-53 (1152) : Vagabond 23 – Viz Signature, Oct 2006 [0.1] ::
04 Jul 914. ↑291 (1205) : Vagabond 23 – Viz Signature, Oct 2006 [1.8] ::
11 Jul 887. ↑27 (914) : Vagabond 23 – Viz Signature, Oct 2006 [2.2] ::
18 Jul 1088. ↓-201 (887) : Vagabond 23 – Viz Signature, Oct 2006 [0.4] ::

20 Jun 1083. ↓-104 (979) : Vagabond 24 – Viz Signature, Dec 2006 [0.1] ::
27 Jun 864. ↑219 (1083) : Vagabond 24 – Viz Signature, Dec 2006 [2.2] ::
04 Jul 743. ↑121 (864) : Vagabond 24 – Viz Signature, Dec 2006 [4.3] ::
11 Jul 753. ↓-10 (743) : Vagabond 24 – Viz Signature, Dec 2006 [3.8] ::
18 Jul 932. ↓-179 (753) : Vagabond 24 – Viz Signature, Dec 2006 [1.8] ::
25 Jul 1057. ↓-125 (932) : Vagabond 24 – Viz Signature, Dec 2006 [0.8] ::
01 Aug 878. ↑179 (1057) : Vagabond 24 – Viz Signature, Dec 2006 [2.2] ::
08 Aug 889. ↓-11 (878) : Vagabond 24 – Viz Signature, Dec 2006 [2.2] ::

04 Jul 1010. ↑new (0) : Vagabond 25 – Viz Signature, Feb 2007 [1.0] ::
11 Jul 1010. ↔0 (1010) : Vagabond 25 – Viz Signature, Feb 2007 [1.0] ::

04 Jul 1262. ↑new (0) : Vagabond 28 – Viz Signature, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::
11 Jul 1253. ↑9 (1262) : Vagabond 28 – Viz Signature, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::

04 Jul 1176. ↑new (0) : Vagabond 29 – Viz Signature, May 2009 [0.1] ::
11 Jul 1182. ↓-6 (1176) : Vagabond 29 – Viz Signature, May 2009 [0.1] ::

04 Jul 1212. ↑new (0) : Vagabond 31 – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [0.1] ::
11 Jul 1215. ↓-3 (1212) : Vagabond 31 – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [0.1] ::
08 Aug 1218. ↑ (last ranked 11 Jul 10) : Vagabond 31 – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [0.1] ::

25 Jul 971. ↑new (0) : Vagabond 32 – Viz Signature, Aug 2010 [1.4] ::
01 Aug 963. ↑8 (971) : Vagabond 32 – Viz Signature, Aug 2010 [1.4] ::

08 Aug 1018. ↑ (last ranked 13 Jun 10) : Vagabond The Art of Vagabond: Sumi – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [0.9] ::
27 Jun 1141. ↑new (0) : Vagabond The Art of Vagabond: Water – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
04 Jul 1133. ↑8 (1141) : Vagabond The Art of Vagabond: Water – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [0.2] ::
11 Jul 1289. ↓-156 (1133) : Vagabond The Art of Vagabond: Water – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
01 Aug 832. ↑ (last ranked 11 Jul 10) : Vagabond The Art of Vagabond: Water – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [2.6] ::
08 Aug 724. ↑108 (832) : Vagabond The Art of Vagabond: Water – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [4.2] ::

20 Jun 1090. ↑39 (1129) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 1 – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [0.1] ::
27 Jun 508. ↑582 (1090) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 1 – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [17.4] ::
04 Jul 405. ↑103 (508) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 1 – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [27.4] ::
11 Jul 595. ↓-190 (405) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 1 – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [10.2] ::
18 Jul 1137. ↓-542 (595) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 1 – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [0.2] ::
25 Jul 1093. ↑44 (1137) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 1 – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [0.6] ::
01 Aug 1188. ↓-95 (1093) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 1 – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [0.2] ::
08 Aug 844. ↑344 (1188) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 1 – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [2.5] ::

11 Jul 693. ↑new (0) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 2 – Viz Signature, Dec 2008 [5.6] ::
18 Jul 689. ↑4 (693) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 2 – Viz Signature, Dec 2008 [5.6] ::
08 Aug 772. ↑ (last ranked 18 Jul 10) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 2 – Viz Signature, Dec 2008 [3.5] ::
11 Jul 1255. ↑new (0) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 3 – Viz Signature, Mar 2009 [0.1] ::
18 Jul 1259. ↓-4 (1255) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 3 – Viz Signature, Mar 2009 [0.1] ::
08 Aug 943. ↑ (last ranked 18 Jul 10) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 3 – Viz Signature, Mar 2009 [1.6] ::

20 Jun 136. ↑4 (140) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 7 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [87.5] ::
27 Jun 288. ↓-152 (136) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 7 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [42.5] ::

27 Jun 291. ↑new (0) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 8 – Viz Signature, Jul 2010 [42.0] ::
04 Jul 151. ↑140 (291) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 8 – Viz Signature, Jul 2010 [82.5] ::
11 Jul 163. ↓-12 (151) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 8 – Viz Signature, Jul 2010 [79.9] ::
18 Jul 127. ↑36 (163) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 8 – Viz Signature, Jul 2010 [98.1] ::
25 Jul 66. ↑61 (127) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 8 – Viz Signature, Jul 2010 [128.7] ::
01 Aug 60. ↑6 (66) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 8 – Viz Signature, Jul 2010 [135.1] ::
08 Aug 75. ↓-15 (60) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 8 – Viz Signature, Jul 2010 [119.6] ::

11 Jul 899. ↑new (0) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 9 – Viz Signature, Oct 2010 [2.1] ::
18 Jul 775. ↑124 (899) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 9 – Viz Signature, Oct 2010 [3.6] ::
25 Jul 895. ↓-120 (775) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 9 – Viz Signature, Oct 2010 [2.1] ::
01 Aug 1071. ↓-176 (895) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 9 – Viz Signature, Oct 2010 [0.7] ::
08 Aug 973. ↑98 (1071) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 9 – Viz Signature, Oct 2010 [1.3] ::

18 Jul 1121. ↑new (0) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 10 – Viz Signature, Jan 2011 [0.3] ::
25 Jul 910. ↑211 (1121) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 10 – Viz Signature, Jan 2011 [1.9] ::
01 Aug 1005. ↓-95 (910) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 10 – Viz Signature, Jan 2011 [1.1] ::

That was a longer block, let me parse it for you:

Note how the VizBig Collections are selling, particularly the ‘new’ one, VizBig vol. 8: it’s a top 100 title right now. Also, preorders for the later collections (VizBig 9, 10) started last month, likely as soon as they were listed on online sales sites.

Folks are buying this one.

It’s not Naruto or Vampire Knight, but there is some movement on this one, with one type of customer. It’s driven by the value-priced compilations, but that’s better than nothing. [and fans are also still “buying in”, big, with VizBig vol. 1]

##

solanin

20 Jun 1224. ↑13 (1237) : solanin – Viz Signature, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::
27 Jun 897. ↑327 (1224) : solanin – Viz Signature, Oct 2008 [1.9] ::
04 Jul 787. ↑110 (897) : solanin – Viz Signature, Oct 2008 [3.3] ::
11 Jul 952. ↓-165 (787) : solanin – Viz Signature, Oct 2008 [1.5] ::
18 Jul 1342. ↓-390 (952) : solanin – Viz Signature, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::
25 Jul 1163. ↑179 (1342) : solanin – Viz Signature, Oct 2008 [0.2] ::
01 Aug 1154. ↑9 (1163) : solanin – Viz Signature, Oct 2008 [0.2] ::
08 Aug 1286. ↓-132 (1154) : solanin – Viz Signature, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::

##

Rin-Ne

11 Jul 1342. ↑new (0) : Rin-Ne 2 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jan 2010 [0.1] ::
18 Jul 1364. ↓-22 (1342) : Rin-Ne 2 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jan 2010 [0.1] ::

20 Jun 248. ↓-1 (247) : Rin-Ne 3 – Viz Shonen Sunday, May 2010 [53.1] ::
27 Jun 430. ↓-182 (248) : Rin-Ne 3 – Viz Shonen Sunday, May 2010 [25.0] ::
04 Jul 496. ↓-66 (430) : Rin-Ne 3 – Viz Shonen Sunday, May 2010 [19.6] ::
11 Jul 572. ↓-76 (496) : Rin-Ne 3 – Viz Shonen Sunday, May 2010 [12.2] ::
18 Jul 1181. ↓-609 (572) : Rin-Ne 3 – Viz Shonen Sunday, May 2010 [0.2] ::
25 Jul 1162. ↑19 (1181) : Rin-Ne 3 – Viz Shonen Sunday, May 2010 [0.2] ::
01 Aug 1227. ↓-65 (1162) : Rin-Ne 3 – Viz Shonen Sunday, May 2010 [0.1] ::
08 Aug 1322. ↓-95 (1227) : Rin-Ne 3 – Viz Shonen Sunday, May 2010 [0.1] ::

The online-plus-print-edition seems to be working, but (at least for the two months tracked) doesn’t seem to encourage a whole lot of people to jump in by buying vol. 1. At least, this title doesn’t have a backlist yet; we’ll see how long it runs.

##

Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix

just because

11 Jul 1038. ↑new (0) : Phoenix 3 – Viz Signature, Nov 2003 [0.9] ::
18 Jul 1040. ↓-2 (1038) : Phoenix 3 – Viz Signature, Nov 2003 [0.9] ::

27 Jun 807. ↑new (0) : Phoenix 4 – Viz Signature, May 2004 [3.0] ::
04 Jul 813. ↓-6 (807) : Phoenix 4 – Viz Signature, May 2004 [3.0] ::
25 Jul 807. ↑new (0) : Phoenix 4 – Viz Signature, May 2004 [3.0] ::

27 Jun 1207. ↑new (0) : Phoenix 5 – Viz Signature, Oct 2004 [0.1] ::
04 Jul 1257. ↓-50 (1207) : Phoenix 5 – Viz Signature, Oct 2004 [0.1] ::
11 Jul 1301. ↓-44 (1257) : Phoenix 5 – Viz Signature, Oct 2004 [0.1] ::
18 Jul 1307. ↓-6 (1301) : Phoenix 5 – Viz Signature, Oct 2004 [0.1] ::
25 Jul 1207. ↑new (0) : Phoenix 5 – Viz Signature, Oct 2004 [0.1] ::
01 Aug 1256. ↑1 (1257) : Phoenix 5 – Viz Signature, Oct 2004 [0.1] ::

20 Jun 1013. ↓-67 (946) : Phoenix 6 – Viz Signature, Mar 2006 [0.3] ::

20 Jun 1095. ↓-106 (989) : Phoenix 7 – Viz Signature, Jun 2006 [0.1] ::

20 Jun 1124. ↓-97 (1027) : Phoenix 8 – Viz Signature, Sep 2006 [0.1] ::

20 Jun 1147. ↓-100 (1047) : Phoenix 9 – Viz Signature, Dec 2006 [0.1] ::

20 Jun 1170. ↓-64 (1106) : Phoenix 10 – Viz Signature, Feb 2007 [0.1] ::
04 Jul 971. ↑ (last ranked 20 Jun 10) : Phoenix 10 – Viz Signature, Feb 2007 [1.3] ::
11 Jul 982. ↓-11 (971) : Phoenix 10 – Viz Signature, Feb 2007 [1.3] ::

20 Jun 830. ↓-50 (780) : Phoenix 12 – Viz Signature, Mar 2008 [2.2] ::

way down on my charts; needs new Deluxe Editions & a major marketing push. Viz? Got that? Kthxbye.

##

Ooku: The Inner Chambers

20 Jun 687. ↑33 (720) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 1 – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [5.4] ::
27 Jun 837. ↓-150 (687) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 1 – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [2.4] ::
04 Jul 742. ↑95 (837) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 1 – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [4.3] ::
11 Jul 902. ↓-160 (742) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 1 – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [2.0] ::
25 Jul 1298. ↑ (last ranked 11 Jul 10) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 1 – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [0.1] ::
01 Aug 1175. ↑123 (1298) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 1 – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [0.2] ::
08 Aug 1155. ↑20 (1175) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 1 – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [0.2] ::

20 Jun 369. ↑15 (384) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 3 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [29.8] ::
27 Jun 673. ↓-304 (369) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 3 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [6.8] ::
04 Jul 1126. ↓-453 (673) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 3 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [0.2] ::
11 Jul 1222. ↓-96 (1126) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 3 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [0.1] ::
18 Jul 1336. ↓-114 (1222) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 3 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [0.1] ::
25 Jul 1176. ↑160 (1336) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 3 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [0.2] ::
01 Aug 875. ↑301 (1176) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 3 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [2.2] ::
08 Aug 817. ↑58 (875) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 3 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [2.9] ::

01 Aug 1326. ↑new (0) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 4 – Viz Signature, Aug 2010 [0.1] ::
08 Aug 448. ↑878 (1326) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 4 – Viz Signature, Aug 2010 [15.5] ::

Not much action on pre-orders, but a decent movement on books once they come out.

And bloggers talking about how good it is likely doesn’t hurt.

##

Oishinbo

News Flash: Oishinbo is selling.

20 Jun 103. ↑10 (113) : Oishinbo 1 Japanese Cuisine – Viz Signature, Jan 2009 [107.5] ::
27 Jun 131. ↓-28 (103) : Oishinbo 1 Japanese Cuisine – Viz Signature, Jan 2009 [91.1] ::
04 Jul 160. ↓-29 (131) : Oishinbo 1 Japanese Cuisine – Viz Signature, Jan 2009 [78.5] ::
11 Jul 184. ↓-24 (160) : Oishinbo 1 Japanese Cuisine – Viz Signature, Jan 2009 [69.4] ::
18 Jul 236. ↓-52 (184) : Oishinbo 1 Japanese Cuisine – Viz Signature, Jan 2009 [55.3] ::
25 Jul 203. ↑33 (236) : Oishinbo 1 Japanese Cuisine – Viz Signature, Jan 2009 [54.1] ::
01 Aug 235. ↓-32 (203) : Oishinbo 1 Japanese Cuisine – Viz Signature, Jan 2009 [45.0] ::
08 Aug 362. ↓-127 (235) : Oishinbo 1 Japanese Cuisine – Viz Signature, Jan 2009 [22.6] ::

20 Jun 313. ↑4 (317) : Oishinbo 2 Sake – Viz Signature, Mar 2009 [38.1] ::
27 Jun 360. ↓-47 (313) : Oishinbo 2 Sake – Viz Signature, Mar 2009 [31.3] ::
04 Jul 350. ↑10 (360) : Oishinbo 2 Sake – Viz Signature, Mar 2009 [33.0] ::
11 Jul 511. ↓-161 (350) : Oishinbo 2 Sake – Viz Signature, Mar 2009 [16.3] ::
18 Jul 1264. ↓-753 (511) : Oishinbo 2 Sake – Viz Signature, Mar 2009 [0.1] ::

20 Jun 142. ↑12 (154) : Oishinbo 3 Ramen & Gyoza – Viz Signature, May 2009 [85.8] ::
27 Jun 169. ↓-27 (142) : Oishinbo 3 Ramen & Gyoza – Viz Signature, May 2009 [73.2] ::
04 Jul 218. ↓-49 (169) : Oishinbo 3 Ramen & Gyoza – Viz Signature, May 2009 [58.6] ::
11 Jul 389. ↓-171 (218) : Oishinbo 3 Ramen & Gyoza – Viz Signature, May 2009 [29.1] ::
18 Jul 772. ↓-383 (389) : Oishinbo 3 Ramen & Gyoza – Viz Signature, May 2009 [3.6] ::
25 Jul 737. ↑35 (772) : Oishinbo 3 Ramen & Gyoza – Viz Signature, May 2009 [3.8] ::
01 Aug 685. ↑52 (737) : Oishinbo 3 Ramen & Gyoza – Viz Signature, May 2009 [4.9] ::
08 Aug 794. ↓-109 (685) : Oishinbo 3 Ramen & Gyoza – Viz Signature, May 2009 [3.2] ::

20 Jun 234. ↑12 (246) : Oishinbo 4 Fish, Sushi, & Sashimi – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [56.0] ::
27 Jun 214. ↑20 (234) : Oishinbo 4 Fish, Sushi, & Sashimi – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [60.6] ::
04 Jul 189. ↑25 (214) : Oishinbo 4 Fish, Sushi, & Sashimi – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [66.5] ::
11 Jul 309. ↓-120 (189) : Oishinbo 4 Fish, Sushi, & Sashimi – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [40.9] ::
18 Jul 488. ↓-179 (309) : Oishinbo 4 Fish, Sushi, & Sashimi – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [19.0] ::
25 Jul 599. ↓-111 (488) : Oishinbo 4 Fish, Sushi, & Sashimi – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [7.6] ::
01 Aug 1318. ↓-719 (599) : Oishinbo 4 Fish, Sushi, & Sashimi – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [0.1] ::
08 Aug 1345. ↓-27 (1318) : Oishinbo 4 Fish, Sushi, & Sashimi – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [0.1] ::

20 Jun 418. ↑35 (453) : Oishinbo 5 Vegetables – Viz Signature, Sep 2009 [25.3] ::
27 Jun 322. ↑96 (418) : Oishinbo 5 Vegetables – Viz Signature, Sep 2009 [37.0] ::
04 Jul 293. ↑29 (322) : Oishinbo 5 Vegetables – Viz Signature, Sep 2009 [42.5] ::
11 Jul 453. ↓-160 (293) : Oishinbo 5 Vegetables – Viz Signature, Sep 2009 [21.8] ::
18 Jul 536. ↓-83 (453) : Oishinbo 5 Vegetables – Viz Signature, Sep 2009 [15.2] ::
25 Jul 518. ↑18 (536) : Oishinbo 5 Vegetables – Viz Signature, Sep 2009 [11.6] ::
01 Aug 1028. ↓-510 (518) : Oishinbo 5 Vegetables – Viz Signature, Sep 2009 [1.0] ::
08 Aug 1362. ↓-334 (1028) : Oishinbo 5 Vegetables – Viz Signature, Sep 2009 [0.1] ::

20 Jun 300. ↑24 (324) : Oishinbo 6 The Joy of Rice – Viz Signature, Nov 2009 [40.2] ::
27 Jun 457. ↓-157 (300) : Oishinbo 6 The Joy of Rice – Viz Signature, Nov 2009 [23.1] ::
04 Jul 1043. ↓-586 (457) : Oishinbo 6 The Joy of Rice – Viz Signature, Nov 2009 [0.7] ::
11 Jul 1328. ↓-285 (1043) : Oishinbo 6 The Joy of Rice – Viz Signature, Nov 2009 [0.1] ::
18 Jul 1161. ↑167 (1328) : Oishinbo 6 The Joy of Rice – Viz Signature, Nov 2009 [0.2] ::
25 Jul 1175. ↓-14 (1161) : Oishinbo 6 The Joy of Rice – Viz Signature, Nov 2009 [0.2] ::
01 Aug 1349. ↓-174 (1175) : Oishinbo 6 The Joy of Rice – Viz Signature, Nov 2009 [0.1] ::
08 Aug 1164. ↑185 (1349) : Oishinbo 6 The Joy of Rice – Viz Signature, Nov 2009 [0.2] ::

20 Jun 274. ↑4 (278) : Oishinbo 7 Izakaya: Pub Food – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [46.8] ::
27 Jun 259. ↑15 (274) : Oishinbo 7 Izakaya: Pub Food – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [49.2] ::
04 Jul 279. ↓-20 (259) : Oishinbo 7 Izakaya: Pub Food – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [45.6] ::
11 Jul 411. ↓-132 (279) : Oishinbo 7 Izakaya: Pub Food – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [26.7] ::
18 Jul 483. ↓-72 (411) : Oishinbo 7 Izakaya: Pub Food – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [19.4] ::
25 Jul 357. ↑126 (483) : Oishinbo 7 Izakaya: Pub Food – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [25.0] ::
01 Aug 432. ↓-75 (357) : Oishinbo 7 Izakaya: Pub Food – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [17.1] ::
08 Aug 677. ↓-245 (432) : Oishinbo 7 Izakaya: Pub Food – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [5.0] ::

In terms of units sold, maybe Vagabond is the leader here, but Oishinbo has been an [maybe anticipated, but still] unbelievable success for the Signature line. Nothing here is Naruto — but what is, honestly? — Oishinbo is a solid midlist title and numerous fans are literally [given the cooking theme] salivating for more.

##

here’s the most recent [8 Aug] rankings for the non-Beat-Jump-Viz. Not complete, and as logged extensively above these titles move quite a bit from week to week, but here’s a full reckoning:

72. ↓-32 (40) : Inuyasha 50 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jul 2010 [122.7] ::
75. ↓-15 (60) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 8 – Viz Signature, Jul 2010 [119.6] ::
164. ↓-103 (61) : Case Closed 35 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jul 2010 [67.7] ::
236. ↑759 (995) : Inuyasha 51 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Aug 2010 [45.1] ::
243. ↑755 (998) : Biomega 3 – Viz Signature, Aug 2010 [43.4] ::
278. ↓-64 (214) : Afterschool Charisma 1 – Viz Sig IkkI, Jun 2010 [35.9] ::
348. ↓-98 (250) : Biomega 1 – Viz Signature, Feb 2010 [24.0] ::
353. ↑5 (358) : Inuyasha 45 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Feb 2010 [23.5] ::
362. ↓-127 (235) : Oishinbo 1 Japanese Cuisine – Viz Signature, Jan 2009 [22.6] ::
395. ↓-5 (390) : Naoki Urasawa’s Monster 6 – Viz Signature, Dec 2006 [19.5] ::
447. ↓-104 (343) : Biomega 2 – Viz Signature, May 2010 [15.5] ::
448. ↑878 (1326) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 4 – Viz Signature, Aug 2010 [15.5] ::
465. ↓-86 (379) : Inuyasha 48 – Viz Shonen Sunday, May 2010 [14.4] ::
529. ↓-72 (457) : Inuyasha 49 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jun 2010 [10.1] ::
536. ↓-23 (513) : Inuyasha 47 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Apr 2010 [9.7] ::
537. ↓-108 (429) : 20th Century Boys 9 – Viz Signature, Jun 2010 [9.7] ::
555. ↓-45 (510) : Yakitate!! Japan 23 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jul 2010 [9.0] ::
581. ↓-78 (503) : Arata the Legend 2 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jun 2010 [8.0] ::
622. ↑1 (623) : Inuyasha 46 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Mar 2010 [6.6] ::
677. ↓-245 (432) : Oishinbo 7 Izakaya: Pub Food – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [5.0] ::
683. ↓-165 (518) : Hyde & Closer 1 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jul 2010 [4.9] ::
700. ↓-19 (681) : Inuyasha VizBig Edition 4 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Aug 2010 [4.5] ::
704. ↑66 (770) : Uzumaki 3 – Viz Signature, Feb 2008 [4.5] ::
724. ↑108 (832) : Vagabond The Art of Vagabond: Water – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [4.2] ::
733. ↑ (last ranked 25 Jul 10) : Case Closed 25 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Sep 2008 [4.1] ::
759. ↓-218 (541) : Arata the Legend 1 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Mar 2010 [3.7] ::
772. ↑ (last ranked 18 Jul 10) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 2 – Viz Signature, Dec 2008 [3.5] ::
794. ↓-109 (685) : Oishinbo 3 Ramen & Gyoza – Viz Signature, May 2009 [3.2] ::
799. ↑322 (1121) : Uzumaki 1 – Viz Signature, Oct 2007 [3.2] ::
817. ↑58 (875) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 3 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [2.9] ::
823. ↓-2 (821) : Inuyasha 32 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jan 2008 [2.8] ::
832. ↑new (0) : 20th Century Boys 10 – Viz Signature, Aug 2010 [2.6] ::
844. ↑344 (1188) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 1 – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [2.5] ::
852. ↓-3 (849) : Inuyasha 20 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Dec 2004 [2.5] ::
855. ↑149 (1004) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 7 – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [2.4] ::
856. ↑169 (1025) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 5 – Viz Signature, Sep 2009 [2.4] ::
858. ↓-28 (830) : Naoki Urasawa’s Monster 3 – Viz Signature, Jun 2006 [2.4] ::
866. ↑171 (1037) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 6 – Viz Signature, Nov 2009 [2.4] ::
867. ↑215 (1082) : Vagabond 8 – Viz Signature, Jan 2004 [2.4] ::
872. ↑139 (1011) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 8 – Viz Signature, Apr 2010 [2.3] ::
889. ↓-11 (878) : Vagabond 24 – Viz Signature, Dec 2006 [2.2] ::
899. ↓-14 (885) : Vagabond 1 – Viz Signature, May 2002 [2.1] ::
933. ↑8 (941) : Inuyasha 33 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Apr 2008 [1.7] ::
941. ↓-1 (940) : Maoh Juvenile Remix 1 – Viz Shonen Sunday, May 2010 [1.6] ::
943. ↑ (last ranked 18 Jul 10) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 3 – Viz Signature, Mar 2009 [1.6] ::
971. ↑6 (977) : Inuyasha 44 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jan 2010 [1.3] ::
973. ↑98 (1071) : Vagabond VizBig Edition 9 – Viz Signature, Oct 2010 [1.3] ::
992. ↑7 (999) : Yakitate!! Japan 21 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jan 2010 [1.2] ::
1018. ↑ (last ranked 13 Jun 10) : Vagabond The Art of Vagabond: Sumi – Viz Signature, Sep 2008 [0.9] ::
1044. ↑ (last ranked 4 Jul 10) : Children of the Sea 1 – Viz Sig IkkI, Jul 2009 [0.7] ::
1051. ↑23 (1074) : Yakitate!! Japan 22 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Apr 2010 [0.7] ::
1054. ↑new (0) : Inuyasha 52 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Sep 2010 [0.7] ::
1074. ↑23 (1097) : Inuyasha 14 – Viz Shonen Sunday, May 2003 [0.5] ::
1092. ↑6 (1098) : Inuyasha VizBig Edition 1 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Nov 2009 [0.4] ::
1097. ↑125 (1222) : Inuyasha 56 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jan 2011 [0.4] ::
1100. ↑ (last ranked 18 Jul 10) : Inuyasha VizBig Edition 5 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Nov 2010 [0.3] ::
1155. ↑20 (1175) : Ooku: The Inner Chambers 1 – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [0.2] ::
1164. ↑185 (1349) : Oishinbo 6 The Joy of Rice – Viz Signature, Nov 2009 [0.2] ::
1181. ↑148 (1329) : Kekkaishi 1 – Viz Shonen Sunday, May 2005 [0.2] ::
1211. ↓-3 (1208) : Inuyasha 7 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Dec 2003 [0.1] ::
1218. ↑ (last ranked 11 Jul 10) : Vagabond 31 – Viz Signature, Jan 2010 [0.1] ::
1223. ↑ (last ranked 25 Jul 10) : Inuyasha VizBig Edition 3 – Viz Shonen Sunday, May 2010 [0.1] ::
1234. ↑ (last ranked 25 Jul 10) : Inuyasha VizBig Edition 2 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Feb 2010 [0.1] ::
1252. ↑new (0) : Inuyasha 38 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jul 2009 [0.1] ::
1277. ↑13 (1290) : Inuyasha 27 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Oct 2006 [0.1] ::
1286. ↓-132 (1154) : solanin – Viz Signature, Oct 2008 [0.1] ::
1322. ↓-95 (1227) : Rin-Ne 3 – Viz Shonen Sunday, May 2010 [0.1] ::
1326. ↓-143 (1183) : Case Closed 10 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Mar 2006 [0.1] ::
1345. ↓-27 (1318) : Oishinbo 4 Fish, Sushi, & Sashimi – Viz Signature, Aug 2009 [0.1] ::
1362. ↓-334 (1028) : Oishinbo 5 Vegetables – Viz Signature, Sep 2009 [0.1] ::
1375. ↑new (0) : Inuyasha 5 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Oct 2003 [0.1] ::
1398. ↓-5 (1393) : Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka 1 – Viz Signature, Feb 2009 [0.1] ::

##

[Ed, ask for clarifications in the comments (or on twitter) and I’ll break it down further for you.]



Breakout: One Piece

filed under , 30 July 2010, 22:28 by

Oooo… a comment! Comments are [almost] always rewarded.

soysauce commented on the recent rankings :

“I was expecting one piece to be in the top 5 at least.”

Well, sauce (I can call you sauce, right?) Let’s All Take A Closer Look at One Piece

##

Going back six weeks, we can see One Piece doing quite well:

[series ranking]
20 June 4. ↔0 (4) : One Piece – Viz Shonen Jump [607.9] ::
27 June 4. ↔0 (4) : One Piece – Viz Shonen Jump [568.9] ::
4 July 8. ↓-4 (4) : One Piece – Viz Shonen Jump [459.6] ::
11 July 8. ↔0 (8) : One Piece – Viz Shonen Jump [484.7] ::
18 July 7. ↑1 (8) : One Piece – Viz Shonen Jump [503.9] ::
25 July 12. ↓-5 (7) : One Piece – Viz Shonen Jump [415.9] ::

What explains the drop? Well, there is the way the series score is calculated, first:

Previously when figuring out the top 50 series I took the top ranked volume of a given series as a base, then added one tenth of the scores for all remaining volumes in the series. The thinking behind that method was to account for a popular series like Naruto (with 33 ranked books) without creating an unsurmountable barrier to other series that might have one or two equally highly ranked volumes — but only 4-5 volumes total

The trouble with this method is that a highly ranked one-shot (that not-quite-manga vampire/lycanthrope/romance abomination Dark Hunger, for example) is going to beat any number of other, perhaps more qualified series because of its high score and a quirk of the math.

The fix in place this week is to use the combined score of the top two books in a series as the base series score (and then add 1/10 of the rest, as before) which doesn’t change anything really when comparing series (as long as they have at least two books in them) but automatically puts any one-shot or single volume at a disadvantage.

This is, in my opinion, a good thing. And since it’s my chart, that’s what we’re going to see from now on.

[that’s from 2 years ago, and I haven’t changed the formula since.]

So performance of individual volumes can make a big difference, and even with 50+ volumes ranking (though some are way down the list) the primary factor is the relative ranking of the top 2 volumes.

It’s not a complete picture, but let me go through the spreadsheet and break out the rankings of select One Piece books to give you an idea of where it was, where it is, and where the series is going.

Obviously, there is Viz’s speed-up, 5 volumes a month over six months, starting in January [with a new story arc] with volume 24; the last batch (49-53) landed on 1 June. There is the new volume (54) which released 6 July — and also the (rather nice) 3-volume value omnibuses that collected volumes 1-12. Sales of these have been more modest, but still solidly in the midlist; let’s look at not just the first of those, but also volume 13, which will give us an idea of how many folks are ‘graduating’ from the cheap intro to the series into collecting single volumes.

The Blitz:

20 June
24. ↑1 (25) : One Piece 51 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [215.1] ::
25. ↓-1 (24) : One Piece 53 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [214.4] ::
28. ↑7 (35) : One Piece 50 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [199.4] ::
36. ↑4 (40) : One Piece 52 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [186.2] ::
38. ↑6 (44) : One Piece 49 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [183.8] ::

27 June
21. ↑4 (25) : One Piece 53 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [213.3] ::
30. ↓-6 (24) : One Piece 51 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [199.2] ::
35. ↓-7 (28) : One Piece 50 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [182.3] ::
45. ↓-7 (38) : One Piece 49 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [162.9] ::
46. ↓-10 (36) : One Piece 52 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [162.6] ::

4 July
43. ↓-22 (21) : One Piece 53 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [163.1] ::
48. ↓-13 (35) : One Piece 50 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [158.4] ::
57. ↓-12 (45) : One Piece 49 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [146.3] ::
62. ↓-32 (30) : One Piece 51 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [141.5] ::
69. ↓-23 (46) : One Piece 52 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [136.7] ::

11 July
80. ↓-32 (48) : One Piece 50 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [125.5] ::
96. ↓-53 (43) : One Piece 53 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [113.4] ::
115. ↓-53 (62) : One Piece 51 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [103.9] ::
119. ↓-62 (57) : One Piece 49 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [101.8] ::
124. ↓-55 (69) : One Piece 52 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [99.8] ::

18 July
142. ↓-46 (96) : One Piece 53 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [87.4] ::
158. ↓-78 (80) : One Piece 50 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [81.6] ::
182. ↓-58 (124) : One Piece 52 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [73.0] ::
183. ↓-68 (115) : One Piece 51 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [73.0] ::
299. ↓-180 (119) : One Piece 49 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [39.8] ::

25 July
144. ↓-2 (142) : One Piece 53 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [77.5] ::
185. ↓-3 (182) : One Piece 52 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [58.7] ::
194. ↓-11 (183) : One Piece 51 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [56.6] ::
219. ↓-61 (158) : One Piece 50 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [49.9] ::
456. ↓-157 (299) : One Piece 49 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [16.0] ::

Strong sales throughout June softened over the course of July; and I think we can see why I use the arrows [assuming your browser is displaying the characters correctly] plus the number of ranks gained-or-lost each week. When I do a pull like this of a single series, or volume, its a handy easily-read visual cue.

The Latest:

20 June [One Piece 54 not yet ranked]
27 June 639. ↑new (0) : One Piece 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2010 [8.8] ::
4 July 161. ↑478 (639) : One Piece 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2010 [77.8] ::
11 July 18. ↑143 (161) : One Piece 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2010 [226.5] ::
18 July 9. ↑9 (18) : One Piece 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2010 [300.9] ::
25 July 12. ↓-3 (9) : One Piece 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2010 [251.6] ::

Reminder: the official street date for 54 was Tuesday, 6 July. So, not much pre-ordering going on but as soon as it actually hit shelves we were lining up to buy: it went from #161 into the top 20, and will likely still be a top 25 title for another couple of weeks.

Starting Points:

20 June 357. ↑4 (361) : One Piece 1 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2003 [31.2] ::
27 June 290. ↑67 (357) : One Piece 1 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2003 [42.2] ::
4 July 263. ↑27 (290) : One Piece 1 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2003 [49.0] ::
11 July 298. ↓-35 (263) : One Piece 1 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2003 [42.6] ::
18 July 249. ↑49 (298) : One Piece 1 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2003 [51.4] ::
25 July 191. ↑58 (249) : One Piece 1 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2003 [57.2] ::

Net gain over 6 weeks of 26 points and 170 ranks — For a 7 year old book

20 June 423. ↓-2 (421) : One Piece vols 1-3 collection – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2009 [24.8] ::
27 June 314. ↑109 (423) : One Piece vols 1-3 collection – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2009 [38.0] ::
4 July 316. ↓-2 (314) : One Piece vols 1-3 collection – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2009 [38.9] ::
11 July 425. ↓-109 (316) : One Piece vols 1-3 collection – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2009 [24.9] ::
18 July 436. ↓-11 (425) : One Piece vols 1-3 collection – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2009 [24.2] ::
25 July 408. ↑28 (436) : One Piece vols 1-3 collection – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2009 [20.1] ::

Net movement here might as well be flat, though there was a spike two weeks before 54 came out. General rule: a new release moves the backlist

Jumping On Points:

20 June 182. ↔0 (182) : One Piece 24 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2010 [71.7] ::
27 June 172. ↑10 (182) : One Piece 24 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2010 [71.4] ::
4 July 203. ↓-31 (172) : One Piece 24 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2010 [62.8] ::
11 July 242. ↓-39 (203) : One Piece 24 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2010 [54.0] ::
18 July 190. ↑52 (242) : One Piece 24 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2010 [71.1] ::
25 July 160. ↑30 (190) : One Piece 24 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2010 [68.7] ::

20 June 385. ↑1 (386) : One Piece 13 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2007 [28.6] ::
27 June 450. ↓-65 (385) : One Piece 13 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2007 [23.5] ::
4 July 345. ↑105 (450) : One Piece 13 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2007 [33.5] ::
11 July 204. ↑141 (345) : One Piece 13 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2007 [63.1] ::
18 July 187. ↑17 (204) : One Piece 13 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2007 [71.6] ::
25 July 264. ↓-77 (187) : One Piece 13 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2007 [38.7] ::

One Piece vol 1 was ranking in the high 200s, the vols.1-3 omnibus in the 300s to 400s, but the speed-up jumping-on point, volume 24—six months after release—is hovering around 200 and the “I just gotta have it” resumption volume after the 4 value collections—vol 13—seems to match the sales of the first omnibus easily, and out-ranking it 4 weeks out of 6.

##

Since the series ranking is a composite score, even a top 10 single volume might not be enough to vault your favourite into the “top 5”.

But I don’t compile rankings to find a top 10 — OK, fine, I post the top 10 lists because that’s what garners hits and I love my readers; I’d love for there to be more of you — but for me the point of the exercise is the midlist and the long tail.

Starting points, jumping in, new releases, and the 30-volume product dump that was Viz’s ‘speed-up’: Lots and lots of books, and all selling online [I should note here: my rankings are based on online sales, discovered by loading up sites and looking at their ‘bestsellers’; there is no secret knowledge, just publicly available info and a massive investment of time].

In actual fact all but 4 volumes of One Piece rank, just not in the top 50 or top 500:

Here’s all of One Piece from 25 July:
12. ↓-3 (9) : One Piece 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2010 [251.6] ::
144. ↓-2 (142) : One Piece 53 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [77.5] ::
160. ↑30 (190) : One Piece 24 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2010 [68.7] ::
185. ↓-3 (182) : One Piece 52 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [58.7] ::
191. ↑58 (249) : One Piece 1 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2003 [57.2] ::
194. ↓-11 (183) : One Piece 51 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [56.6] ::
216. ↑6 (222) : One Piece 25 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2010 [50.6] ::
219. ↓-61 (158) : One Piece 50 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [49.9] ::
252. ↑102 (354) : One Piece 44 – Viz Shonen Jump, May 2010 [41.7] ::
264. ↓-77 (187) : One Piece 13 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2007 [38.7] ::
274. ↑110 (384) : One Piece 42 – Viz Shonen Jump, Apr 2010 [36.5] ::
284. ↑162 (446) : One Piece 43 – Viz Shonen Jump, Apr 2010 [34.2] ::
323. ↓-44 (279) : One Piece 11 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2006 [28.6] ::
347. ↓-46 (301) : One Piece 46 – Viz Shonen Jump, May 2010 [25.9] ::
355. ↑9 (364) : One Piece 40 – Viz Shonen Jump, Apr 2010 [25.0] ::
370. ↑75 (445) : One Piece 41 – Viz Shonen Jump, Apr 2010 [24.1] ::
373. ↑85 (458) : One Piece 37 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2010 [23.2] ::
408. ↑28 (436) : One Piece vols 1-3 collection – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2009 [20.1] ::
424. ↑56 (480) : One Piece 45 – Viz Shonen Jump, May 2010 [19.1] ::
432. ↑113 (545) : One Piece 23 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2009 [18.2] ::
440. ↑58 (498) : One Piece 48 – Viz Shonen Jump, May 2010 [17.5] ::
452. ↓-51 (401) : One Piece 47 – Viz Shonen Jump, May 2010 [16.3] ::
456. ↓-157 (299) : One Piece 49 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2010 [16.0] ::
502. ↓-10 (492) : One Piece 26 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2010 [12.5] ::
509. ↔0 (509) : One Piece 2 – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2003 [12.0] ::
533. ↑14 (547) : One Piece 34 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2010 [10.7] ::
542. ↓-52 (490) : One Piece 27 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2010 [10.1] ::
558. ↑6 (564) : One Piece vols 4-6 collection – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2010 [9.6] ::
567. ↓-91 (476) : One Piece 29 – Viz Shonen Jump, Feb 2010 [9.1] ::
595. ↓-148 (447) : One Piece 30 – Viz Shonen Jump, Feb 2010 [7.8] ::
623. ↓-47 (576) : One Piece 35 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2010 [6.4] ::
624. ↑45 (669) : One Piece 28 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2010 [6.4] ::
633. ↓-155 (478) : One Piece 14 – Viz Shonen Jump, Apr 2007 [6.1] ::
635. ↓-66 (569) : One Piece vols 10-12 collection – Viz Shonen Jump, May 2010 [6.0] ::
644. ↓-180 (464) : One Piece vols 7-9 collection – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2010 [5.7] ::
679. ↓-34 (645) : One Piece 39 – Viz Shonen Jump, Apr 2010 [4.9] ::
682. ↓-11 (671) : One Piece 3 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2004 [4.8] ::
699. ↑78 (777) : One Piece 36 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2010 [4.4] ::
722. ↓-226 (496) : One Piece 10 – Viz Shonen Jump, Apr 2006 [4.0] ::
723. ↓-82 (641) : One Piece 31 – Viz Shonen Jump, Feb 2010 [4.0] ::
760. ↓-125 (635) : One Piece 38 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2010 [3.5] ::
780. ↑149 (929) : One Piece 5 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2004 [3.3] ::
826. ↓-126 (700) : One Piece 16 – Viz Shonen Jump, Nov 2007 [2.8] ::
884. ↓-102 (782) : One Piece 15 – Viz Shonen Jump, Aug 2007 [2.1] ::
905. ↑71 (976) : One Piece 9 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jan 2006 [1.9] ::
1051. ↓-21 (1030) : One Piece 8 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2005 [0.8] ::
1075. ↓-89 (986) : One Piece 33 – Viz Shonen Jump, Feb 2010 [0.7] ::
1090. ↓-537 (553) : One Piece 32 – Viz Shonen Jump, Feb 2010 [0.6] ::
1104. ↓-385 (719) : One Piece 22 – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2009 [0.5] ::
1138. ↓-170 (968) : One Piece 4 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2004 [0.3] ::
1200. ↓-291 (909) : One Piece 21 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2009 [0.2] ::
1247. ↑14 (1261) : One Piece 18 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2008 [0.1] ::
1338. ↑21 (1359) : One Piece 17 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2008 [0.1] ::
1382. ↓-204 (1178) : One Piece 12 – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2006 [0.1] ::

“Missing” are volumes 6, 7, 19, & 20 — though these just fall outside my data collection methods, it’s not like no one is buying them.

Your take-away:

  • One Piece was a top 5 series, back in June when it had five new volumes and was basking in the tail-end of Viz’s six month long marketing promo. It was in the top 10 right up until last week.
  • 54++ volumes still add up: One Piece is a top 25 property and is going to stay there for years to come.
  • Fans aren’t obsessively pre-ordering One Piece: they wait for the books to come out. One Piece is popular, but doesn’t have the same hungry fans as say, Hetalia, Berserk, or some of the OEL titles
  • You may only read the top 10, but I post a top 500 volumes and top 50 series each week, and I track the weekly movement of 1200+ individual manga.
  • I have a lot of data, and a lot of ways to sort the data; I’m just waiting for somebody to pay me for this.
  • …but so long as I have to work another job to make the rent, these charts aren’t going to be all they could be. It’s a fun hobby, but ‘hobby’ is where it stays. I’m happy to run a “breakout” chart & analysis like this for one of My Dear Readers, especially one who takes the time to comment [thank you, soysauce] but it takes time.
  • you should all be grateful that I like math and have an odd hobby.



I'd just like to point out:

filed under , 19 July 2010, 17:41 by

Even though the most recent NYT manga bestsellers seem brand new because they posted 3 days ago, in fact their charts as posted are the same vintage as mine, posted yesterday.

Don’t confuse ‘newly posted’ with ‘new’.

Oh, and I’m still waiting for the Times to both name their sources and explain their methods. If you click on those two links you’ll see my posts spelling out my methodology used to develop the charts… but the Times still reports “bestsellers” as Fact when in fact they themselves report the system can be gamed.

Just sayin’.

enjoy your NYT charts.



About the Charts

filed under , 19 July 2010, 16:31 by

“Bestsellers” — For an author and publisher, the New York Times Bestseller imprimatur is money in the bank. They proudly emblazon said status on the cover of the book, and the lucky wordsmith will forever bear the sobrequet of “New York Times Bestselling Author”.

In the publishing world, this is a big deal.

Other papers-of-record (The USA Today list, for example, which is not only longer but more inclusive and — on it’s face, at least — much more democratic) and even major retailers also maintain bestseller lists, but they’ll never be able to conjure the same magic as the New York Times. Something about old New York’s status as a publishing centre, and the 70 years that the NYT has published their charts, are what make their bestsellers ‘the’ bestsellers, but even Wikipedia can point you to older charts, and the controversy surrounding the term, and the different ways the term ‘bestselling’ is used depending on context, region, and even things like the format of the book and the venue in which it is sold.

##

Some reading and references for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestseller#The_making_of_a_bestseller
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32336521/ns/business-us_business/page/2/ “Secrets of the Amazon best-seller list”
http://image.examiner.com/x-49044-Book-Publishing-Examiner~y2010m5d18-The-Bestseller-List

Via Google Books, an excerpt from the New York Times Book Review on manipulation of the charts in 2000. Or you can read about how it was done in 1995. Or you can read about it on the Freakonomics blog, hosted by the New York Times.

(And I should note it was a recent post by Seth Godin, Payola, that prompted me to do this additional research.)

It’s all hokum and snake oil. Hell, any wonk with a blog and too much free time on his hands can compile a chart. [*ahem*]

##

Hi, my name is Matt. This is RocketBomber.com, and this is where I post a bestseller chart for manga.

I attepted a reckoning of all graphic novels last year (2009) and managed to keep it up for a couple of months, but in order to continue that I’d have to quit my job and do nothing but data entry, number-crunching, and database maintenance for a full 40-50 hours each week.

So I’m going back to my roots [2007] and concentrating on manga, which really helps as it’s a fairly well defined subset of the larger problem, and also full of books I like (which keeps me engaged in an otherwise dull activity)

So what’s manga? Well, “I know it when I see it” and also most online retailers already use the category so with few exceptions, I just click a link. There are some books which many retailers lump in with the manga (and Amazon’s sorting scheme or search hueristics are just plain silly sometimes) so I often skip some books, currently including but not limited to Usagi Yojimbo, Scott Pilgrim, Avatar comics, Twilight comics, and the Odd Thomas graphic novels from Dean Koontz & Queenie Chan — Some of these are great books, just not manga.

The core of the charts is made up of data from three sites: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders.

Once a week, I visit each site to check their Graphic Novel categories, and I sort the search results by ‘bestselling’. The links above will pull up exactly that.

I then click through, page after page, and type the titles into a spreadsheet in the order that they are ranked on the sales site. [this is the hard part]

And once I have a full list, I assign points to the books depending on how highly they rank. Add up the points each title earns (and add on similar data from a half-dozen second-tier sales sites) to get a composite score, and there’s your ranking.

In concept, it’s that simple. If you’d like to go in depth into the process click here

##

Right now I use nine source sites

The bestsellers from each site are scored, compiled, and ranked in a Top 500, and the data is also used (occasionally with a smidge of extra math) to compile a Top 50 Series chart and rankings for new releases and preorders.

##

boilerplate © and CC:

Manga estimated online sales rankings compiled by Matt Blind for the benefit of the Manga Fan, Creator, and Publishing Communities and posted in the rankings category at RocketBomber.com. Derived from publicly available information; if you feel your intellectual property has been infringed upon then I’d advise you to chill, consult your lawyers again, maybe grow a thicker skin, and then also recognise that you’re getting a free, weekly link directly to your lovely offerings [right at the top of each archived chart, in case you missed it] on a blog that specifically caters to fans of the medium. Maybe you should be sending me money, or free manga, as opposed to getting your boxers/panties in a bunch over imaginary copyrights.

All data as posted released back for your re-use under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike license (be free, little numbers, go frolic and prosper) with merely a humble request that you link to this blog rather than steal, and that any derivative works include an attribution and also remain free to all.

##

If you have questions, corrections, or concerns that should be addressed in the body of this post, please send an email to matt [at] rocketbomber [dot] com. Questions, corrections or concerns placed in the comments below will be addressed in a more casual manner after I’ve downed a few beers and am feeling saucy.



About the Math

filed under , 19 July 2010, 16:12 by

The Core of the Charts is made up of data from three sites: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders.

Once a week, I visit each site to check their Manga categories, and I sort the search results by ‘bestselling’. [The links above will pull up exactly that.]

I then click through, page after page, and type the titles into a spreadsheet in the order that they are ranked on the sales site. [this is the hard part]

And once I have a full list, I assign points to the books depending on how highly they rank. Add up the points each title earns (and add on similar data from a half dozen second-tier sales sites) to get a composite score, and there’s your ranking.

In concept, it’s that simple.

##

not all sources are treated equally:

Class 5

Overstock.com & Buy.com

These two sources have one (annoying) thing in common: their book listings have a Comics/Graphic Novel Category, but do not break the listings down any further than that. So, while a researcher knowlegeable in manga and related books can certainly go through dozens of pages to find manga mixed in here and there, it’s almost not worth the effort. [and yet, I make that effort…] The current iteration of buy.com has another limiter: their bestseller list for ‘graphic novels’ only goes out 10 pages (20 per page) — when I can’t find enough manga mixed into the GNs to fill out a top 100, I have to stop.

Given these limitations, I’ve discounted these two sources — such that a book that garnering #1 honours only merits 5 points, and I only look up a [maximum] 100 titles from each.

Distro:

[yeah, those poor little numbers seem all but lost in the bottom corner — that’s because all charts in this post were made to the same scale, so very soon you’ll see that yes, in fact the numbers here are kinda insignificant]

Class 4

Hastings.com, Powells.com, and DeepDiscount.com

These are still small fry, relatively speaking, and so I only consider and score a top 100 to match the Amazon spot checks (and the two Class 5 sites) — but they each have a usable manga category listing [*angelic chord, with sunbeam*] and so we’re able to stretch a search just a bit further into the backlist:

For each of these three sites I log and score 100 titles, plus 30 more. The extras at the end are only scored at one-tenth of a point each (minus another really miniscule fraction as we go down the list, to aid in breaking ties) — but, given the quality of the source data the #1 ranked title gets 10 points.

The flat line hugging the bottom of the graph at the right are the ‘extras’ — not quite zero, as each extra is scored at one-tenth point. —It’s not enough to move an individual title more than one spot up or down in the rankings (if that) but it does add up for the series ranking, and this +30% a great way delve deeper into the mid- and backlist.

Class 3

Books-a-Million

Not quite in a class by itself [I’m currently re-evaluating Chapters of Canada for inclusion in these charts] but still not-ready-for-prime-time and also just a regional bookstore (and marginal online) player — that said, I like the Books-a-Million site, it gives me results I can use, and also reflects a portion of the business that isn’t covered by the Amazon/B&N oligarchic hegemony.

I double up on BAM, looking into a top 200 (and out an additonal 33%, another 70 or so titles scored at just one-tenth of a point) and the scores are also doubled [#1=20 points] though there is a slightly different distro:

Class 2

Amazon Hourly Bestsellers

Amazon doesn’t just get counted twice, I actually check in to Amazon five times a week. The first four are quick checks: The 100 Manga Bestsellers for a given [mostly random] hour on each of four consecutive days — typically Thursday-Sunday each week, though it can shift depending on my work schedule.

Theoretically: For each of Amazon’s Hourly lists, #1 should get 10 points, with a now familiar slide down from there.

Since Amazon doesn’t know any actual books from its asshole elbow and relies on user tags, half-assed keyword searches, and guesswork advanced hueristics to determine category placement and search results, often I have to discard 15-25% of Amazon’s posted list because it’s just not manga. Sometimes it’s not even comics, let alone manga related.

So a chart would look like this:

except the Hourly Bestsellers are a top 100 — no more, no less — so any skipped titles affect our imputs: the area shaded in green on the chart above represents the 25% [max] of each list that wasn’t manga and so can’t be scored. Actually, it’s 4 charts, so let’s multiply that out

And suddenly we’re looking at up to 4 points dropped. Big deal, right? 4 whole points?
Actually, that can be the difference between #10 and #11 — between making the chart everyone reads and just missing it, to end up as background data.

What’s a math geek to do?

Well, in this case, I overcome Amazon’s deficiencies by running the Hourly Bestsellers [as scored above] through their own mini-spreadsheet to get a transitional ranking, usually ending up with 150-190 titles (though I’ve made allowances for up to 250 unique listings using this method) and scored like this:

with a #1 equal to 30 points (there are 4 source charts rolled into this one) and an all-new, much improved points distribution that approximates what would have been the sum of four top 100 charts [though discounted at the top by 10 points, because Amazon pissed me off, making me do extra work]

Class 1

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders.

Again, these are the biggest sites, my best sources, and [well, Borders gets a pass…] the only online retailers of books doing Hundreds of Millions of dollars in biz. It’s the big time; this is main show.

Amazon was counted above (4 times!) with their hourly bestsellers, but I also load up their manga category listings once a week for a deeper look into how the wanna-be-monopolist is doing with manga sales. Along side, I load up B&N and Borders listings for the same books, and together, these 3 sources make up half the books (52% by number plus or minus 1%)(plus or minus because the total number of books can vary due to insufficient data from sources) but 80% of the total points (81.675% as weighted – for those math freaks who really must know).

I pull a top 300, each, from The Big Three — +33%, another 100 titles at one-tenth point each, to track the head of the long tail — and the results are also given greater weight, given the greater sales volume of these sites. #1 scores a full 60 points, & the following distribution looks something like this:

##

Assuming all sites were not only comparable, but interchangable — with the same titles in the same order on each ‘bestseller’ list — then given the points & weighting as assigned above, the chart would look something like this each week:

[itsonlyamodel]

[/itsonlyamodel]
[please note the extra zero added onto the y-axis; now we’re talking hundreds of points, not dozens.]

Of course, the differences are the point of the exercise.

instead of the same 400 titles every week, the spreadsheet tracks many, many more — and the actual distribution looks like this

[from the charts as posted, week ending 11 July 2010]

you might have to scroll right for a bit to catch all that.

So, even with very crude constructs to shape it, once the real world data is shoe-horned into my spreadsheet we get results that seem to match much more complicated models of the retail market. If anything, I assign too much weight to the midlist titles (say, from #30 on down to #500 or so) but this ‘error’ or distortion is fine by me, as it helps differentiate and sort a lot of same-same-y seeming titles past Naruto, Bleach, and Maximum Ride.

##

For me [at the moment] this is just a fun hobby. (Yes, math is fun.) (…back off)

So if you’re about to send me an email objecting to this point or that about my method and why I’m wrong, wrong, wrong please consider:

  • I do this part time.
  • I do it for free.
  • I’m at the mercy of my sources. Don’t complain to me: take it to Amazon.
  • My charts are not meant to be authoritative or even correct. I compile comparative rankings of manga titles and series based on online sources (as discovered, and publicly available) and while I hope to approximate actual sales numbers, I don’t have access to that data and never will. These aren’t even estimates, as I only know that “title A beat title B” for a given week, and only if the sales sites I reference are being honest with their reporting. I’m doing the best with what I have, folks.
  • That said, this twice-removed approach brings up some really interesting starting points for discussion, analysis, and debate.

##

Additional inquires about the charts can be emailed to me: the contact info is lying around somewhere and genuine questions will be answered with genuine responses.

This is the latest iteration of a long experimental process; additional info on methods and procedures can be found here[v2] and here[v1]



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Yes, all the links are broken.

On June 1, 2015 (after 6 years and 11 months) I needed to relaunch/restart this blog, or at least rekindle my interest in maintaining and updating it.

Rather than delete and discard the whole thing, I instead moved the blog -- database, cms, files, archives, and all -- to this subdomain. When you encounter broken links (and you will encounter broken links) just change the URL in the address bar from www.rocketbomber.com to archive.rocketbomber.com.

I know this is inconvenient, and for that I apologise. In addition to breaking tens of thousands of links, this also adversely affects the blog visibility on search engines -- but that, I'm willing to live with. Between the Wayback Machine at Archive.org and my own half-hearted preservation efforts (which you are currently reading) I feel nothing has been lost, though you may have to dig a bit harder for it.

As always, thank you for reading. Writing version 1.0 of Rocket Bomber was a blast. For those that would like to follow me on the 2.0 - I'll see you back on the main site.

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