Japan’s 10 Best Manga Series of 2025, Ranked

Japan recently announced its top ten manga series for 2025, and fans are eager to see the results. With new series launching and others ending in 2025, it was a particularly noteworthy year for manga.

This year saw huge success for popular manga like One Piece and Jujutsu Kaisen. Several new series, including The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity, also became top hits. The best-selling manga of 2025 were incredibly popular, selling between 2 and over 4 million copies each.

10. The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity

Despite not yet gaining widespread international recognition, The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity has become a major hit in Japan, particularly as a romance manga series.

The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity tells the story of Rintaro Tsumugi, a student at a school for troubled kids. His school is located near an elite all-girls academy, and he unexpectedly forms a sweet connection with a girl named Kaoruko, despite their very different lives.

I was really captivated by the romance in The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity, and it seems like a lot of other people were too! It ended up being a big hit, ranking in the top 10 for Japanese manga with over 2.038 million copies sold.

9. My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia was a standout series in 2025. While the final season of the anime gained a lot of viewers, the manga is also incredibly well-regarded and shouldn’t be overlooked.

Even though the My Hero Academia manga finished its run in 2024, it remains incredibly popular in Japan. In 2025, it’s still among the top-selling manga series, ranking 9th place with around 2.097 million copies sold – a fantastic achievement for Deku’s hero-focused story.

8. The Apothecary Diaries

Currently a huge hit in Japan, The Apothecary Diaries has gained massive popularity, largely due to its excellent anime adaptation. The story centers around Maomao, who finds herself solving mysteries within the Chinese imperial palace. A key draw for fans is the developing romantic relationship between Maomao and Jinshi, the empire’s secret heir.

The manga adaptation of The Apothecary Diaries has become incredibly popular, selling over 2.25 million copies and ranking among the top 8 bestsellers. With Season 3 and a new movie planned, sales are expected to continue rising, potentially reaching even greater heights in 2026.

7. Sakamoto Days

Sakamoto Days has long been a hit manga in Weekly Shonen Jump. Now, the story has been adapted into an anime, following Sakamoto—a former assassin—as he deals with fresh challenges after years of retirement.

While the Sakamoto Days anime wasn’t one of the strongest shows this season, it did a great job of boosting the manga’s popularity. This year, Sakamoto Days sold an impressive 2.344 million copies, making it the 7th best-selling manga. Unfortunately, the series is coming to an end soon, and this may be the last year it ranks among the top 10 best-selling manga.

6. Blue Box

Blue Box is a very popular new manga series, and it’s become even more successful thanks to its anime adaptation that started in 2024. Unlike many other hit manga that center on fighting, Blue Box focuses on the everyday lives of high school athletes.

This manga is a bit slower-paced and includes romantic themes, which is part of its charm. It’s become quite popular, ranking as the 6th best-selling manga of the year with over 2.385 million copies sold.

5. Kingdom

Kingdom is a hugely popular and long-running manga series in Japan, consistently ranking among the best-selling. Despite its success, it’s unfortunate that an official English version isn’t available for international fans.

In 2025, the manga series Kingdom was the fifth best-selling in Japan, with 2.49 million copies sold.

4. Blue Lock

Blue Lock has consistently been a hugely popular manga series in Japan. It reached the top spot in 2023 and has remained a top 5 title ever since. Currently, it’s the most popular sports manga, known for its gripping and exciting storyline that keeps readers hooked.

This year, Blue Lock has 3.01 million copies in circulation, making it the fourth best-selling manga of 2025. Interestingly, it’s achieved this level of success despite its anime adaptation not being particularly well-received. Many fans speculate that sales would be even higher if the anime quality matched that of popular series like Dandadan or Jujutsu Kaisen.

3. Dandadan

For some time now, Dandadan has become one of the most popular new manga series. It’s a story about the supernatural and aliens that flew under the radar for a while, but the recent anime adaptation has brought it to a much wider audience. 2024 marked the year it really took off in popularity.

I’m absolutely thrilled with how well Dandadan is doing! It’s consistently a top seller in Japan, and this year it really blew up, selling around 3.517 million copies – that puts it in the top 3 best-selling manga overall! I have a feeling it’s going to stay popular for a long time, especially with even more anime on the horizon. It’s just fantastic!

2. Jujutsu Kaisen

It was surprising to see Jujutsu Kaisen performing so well in manga sales for 2025, especially since the series finished in 2024. The series sold an incredible 3.921 million copies this year. However, the final two volumes were released in late December 2024, which explains the strong sales numbers.

Despite nearly regaining the top spot in Japan, Jujutsu Kaisen lost out to an even more popular manga this year. The series, which focuses on sorcerers and curses, continues to be a huge hit with fans.

1. One Piece

For years, One Piece was the most popular manga in Japan. While it was overtaken by Demon Slayer, and later by series like Jujutsu Kaisen and Blue Lock, One Piece has now returned to the number one position for the first time since 2018.

One Piece fans have a lot to celebrate, as the recent story arc focusing on the Land of Giants has been incredibly popular. After a slight slowdown, sales are back on the rise, and One Piece is once again the best-selling manga series. Sales figures show around 4.211 million copies sold by the end of 2025. With no major competing series on the horizon for 2026, One Piece is likely to stay at the top for several years.

2026-01-04 00:35