Kodansha USA has over 2.5 million copies of the English language edition of Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan manga series in print.  Fifteen volumes of the Attack on Titan manga have been published here in North America where the property remains the #1 manga franchise in bookstores and comic book shops according to ICv2’s authoritative survey of manga sales (see “Top 10 Manga Franchises—Spring 2015”). Volume #1 of Attack on Titan has remained on the “New York Times Manga Bestseller List” for 100 straight weeks, an indication that new fans are continually discovering the franchise.

The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported Kodansha USA’s AoT sales, which had been announced at Anime Expo, and which the newspaper points out, pale a bit in comparison with the 40 million volumes that Attack on Titan has sold in Japan where it “remains very popular.”  However the paper notes that the performance of AoT in the North American market has to be put in context since “the U.S. comic market is less than one fifth the size of Japan’s.”

The Attack on Titan manga has spawned a popular anime adaptation as well as a two-part live-action movie that is due in Japan this summer (see the latest trailer for the film here).   The franchise has also spawned a licensed board game (see “First Attack on Titan Game Pictures”), and Kodansha is publishing Aot Special Editions that will include special add-ons like playing cards or an unreleased anime episode (see “Special Edition Attack on Titan Manga Packages”).