Blu-ray and DVD sales
in Japan have revealed a surprise for fans of the popular anime “ Solo Leveling “.
Despite its enormous popularity worldwide, official Oricon data shows
surprisingly low sales for the first Blu-ray and DVD volume of the series .
According to Oricon data for the period from March 25 to March 31, 2024, the
popular anime “ Girls Und Panzer Final Chapter Part 4 ” topped
the list, with 32,614 copies sold. In second place was “ Gushing over
Magical Girls Vol. 1 ” with 8,114 copies, followed by “ Yohane
the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror [Limited Edition] Vol. 7 ” with
3,380 copies.
On the
other hand, “Solo Leveling” failed to achieve a prominent position in sales,
and no concrete figures were even published. The lowest-ranked Blu-ray/DVD volume, “ Mashle:
Divine Visionary Selection Exam Arc Vol. 1 ,” indicated that “ Solo
Leveling Vol. 1 ” (released March 27) must have sold fewer
than 634 units in its first week. “Solo Leveling”’s low sales figures
came on top of those of other popular anime, such as “ Undead Unluck ”
and “ Shangri-La Frontier .”
Although
fans often consider Blu-ray/DVD sales as a sign of whether an anime will
receive future seasons, both “Shangri-La Frontier” and “Solo Leveling” have
already announced second seasons. “Undead
Unluck” has also confirmed that it will make a big announcement on August 1,
2024, and many suspect it will be a sequel.
Although
it's unclear why “Solo Leveling” hasn't been as successful in Japan, comments
from Crunchyroll CEO Rahul Purini suggest this was always a possibility. In an interview with The Verge,
he highlighted that “sometimes certain stories may not be something that our
partners can create and produce primarily for the Japanese audience.” He later
cited this franchise as a series worth Crunchyroll investing in given its
broader audience.
Internationally,
“Solo Leveling” has been much more successful. On MyAnimeList, the largest anime
database in the world, which also has 95% of users outside Japan, “Solo
Leveling” was among the highest-rated series of the season. Additionally,
it had a surprisingly low abandonment rate among viewers who had started the
series. The poor sales of “Solo Leveling” in Japan may be disconcerting
to some, but they demonstrate that the success of an anime can vary
significantly depending on the region and the audience it targets.
Source: Oricon News
