Despite the ongoing global pandemic for the world of Manga 2020 and this beginning of 2021 was an extraordinary year. Thanks to works like Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen, but also the evergreen ONE PIECE, sales have risen sharply. However, that good surprise is offset by a worrying fact.

Although Covid-19 has hit the Japanese animation industry very hard, resulting in delays and cancellations, the manga industry appears to have emerged almost unscathed from the damage caused by the pandemic. According to the data recorded in 2020, indeed Sale of fuel tokens they literally shot up. For example, Viz Media confirmed that US sales were up 70% since last year. Is it because of the works of Gege Akutami and Koyoharu Gotoge or because of the effect of the motto “Stay At Home”?

However, the increase in sales would cause this a backlash. Ben Applegate, who helps curate manga for Kodansha USA, has warned fans that they would do well to purchase their favorite manga as reprints may be delayed soon.

“”When you find a manga that you want to read in a store (or online), buy it NOW“He wrote on Twitter.”The reprint situation is downright apocalyptic and you may not see this manga in stock for months. “

“Manga sales more than tripled from Q1 2020 to Q1 2021, and there isn’t enough print capacity to keep some of the medium-sized titles in stock. Reprint supplies were in crisis even before COVID. These issues are being resolved, but not fast “.

Really in the next few months A “reprint crisis” will explode? Our advice is to stock up as long as possible. Here in detail is the insane growth in the manga sector. Another serious phenomenon is piracy: the manga sector loses 40 million yen a month due to scans.

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Sweety Otaku

One of the best parts of watching anime is how many times a show can surprise you. Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. But if the Otaku know one thing, it's that anything is possible.

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