The best-selling anime franchise in Japan proves which series is the true king of Shonen (and why it needs a new season)

Although series like Blue Lock have been all the rage lately, one franchise in particular continues to be Japan’s perennial favorite and Oricon’s recent rankings are proof of that. Oricon’s weekly rankings have revealed the current best-selling anime franchise in Japan and the results may shock fans as the series dominating the charts is none other than Haruichi Furudate. Haikyu!!

According to Oricon Weekly Overall Series Rankings in the second week of November, Haikyu!! is currently the best-selling franchise in Japan, really beating One Piece, Blue Lock, and Dan-Dan in terms of global sales. Haikyu total sales during this one-week period alone were estimated at 863.2 million yen or 5.66 million dollars, surpassing even the shōnen titan One piece for a landslide of 490.4 million yen, to be exact. These profits come primarily from Blu-ray sales of Haikyu!! The battle of trash which was released in Japan on October 30, 2024.

Haikyu!! Remains Japan’s favorite Shonen franchise

The franchise continues to be equally popular despite its long absence

Since its launch in 2012, Haikyu!! It was an instant success in Japan, so much so that the series is known to have influenced the very popularity of the sport it portrays. Of Haikyu opening theme being performed at the Olympics to several volleyball athletes citing the franchise as inspiration, Haikyu The influential status in Japan is quite apparent and even the long absence of its anime hasn’t affected its popularity.

Although its fourth season aired in 2020, Haikyu continues to be a highly successful franchise both in Japan and internationally and the performance of Dumpster battle the film only proves that interest in the series did not diminish one bit during this period. In truth, The battle of trash grossed 2.23 billion yen in its opening week alone in Japan and even won 100.4 million dollars worldwidemaking its Blu-ray sales quite surprising in retrospect.

Haikyu’s success!! proves that it needs a renovation

Haikyu!! Anime still has a lot to adapt to

Despite being the undisputed king of sports anime in the modern era, Haikyu!! has inexplicably not yet been renewed for a full new season since 2020. Even the latest film was first announced in August 2022 and only reached fans two full years later, making the wait too long for one of the most exciting installments in all Haikyu!!

Hopefully, The battle of trashThe success of will encourage the series’ producers to renew the series for a fifth season sooner or later, as Haikyu the manga still has a lot to adapt. In fact, the the anime still has the opportunity to fill in the gaps in the manga with some interesting original content, especially the exciting matches that weren’t shown in the Tokyo Nationals Arc.

Haikyu!! is available on Crunchyroll and Netflix.

Source: Oricon