The twenty-third and final volume of Natsuki Takaya's Fruits Basket manga series was published in Japan on March 19th and according to The Anime News Network, more than 18 million copies of the various volumes of Fruits Basket manga have been sold in Japan since it debuted in 1999.  Last December Tokyopop reported that more than 2 million volumes of Fruits Basket have been sold in North America (see 'Two Million Fruits Baskets'), and the recently released Fruits Basket Vol. 16 reached #15 on the USA Today Bestselling Books Top 150, the highest position ever achieved by a manga (see 'Fruits Basket Hits New High').  With seven more volumes of the series yet to be released here in North America, the Tokyopop Fruits Basket tally is likely to rise considerably.

Fruits Basket is clearly the most popular shojo manga in North America as it was in Japan until the appearance in 2002 of Ai Yazawa's Nana, which has become a phenomenal hit in Japan with over 34 million volumes sold.  Though Nana, which is published by Viz Media, has done well here in the States, it is still far from eclipsing Fruits Basket.