The public had long been aware of the Demon Slayer anime's impact on the original manga's sales. Yet, when the Oricon Chart's annual rankings were released, revealing that Demon Slayer had sold over 80 million copies in a single year, the public was still left stunned.
The second-place manga on the chart, Kingdom, had annual sales of only 8 million copies—less than one-tenth of Demon Slayer's total.
Comparing the sales figures to those before the anime's release, many netizens couldn't help but comment:
"The anime's boost to the original manga is just too insane."
"Not to belittle the manga artist, but she really should kowtow to Lin Zhiyan in gratitude."
"Last year's total sales were 12 million copies. This year, they've skyrocketed to 80 million. This kind of sales boost is truly unrivaled."
"From now on, won't other manga artists and publishing houses have to follow suit and hand over their anime adaptation rights to LSP?"
"Heh, that's only if LSP is willing to take them. Don't be fooled by Lin Zhiyan himself securing the adaptation rights this time. In reality, they don't even want the adaptation rights to most works. They'd even drop an IP like Attack on Titan without a second thought."
"At the end of the day, it's all because Lin Zhiyan and his company are so powerful. Their animation company is strong, and their game company is equally formidable. The industry rumor that collaborating with him and his LSP guarantees success isn't just hype."
When Demon Slayer: Mugen Train surpassed 20 billion yen at the box office, the animation was elevated to a national phenomenon. Now, with the manga's annual sales of over 80 million copies announced, the public can only describe 2020 as the "Year of Demon Slayer."
It wasn't just a massive hit; it was so dominant that all other works were completely overshadowed. Demon Slayer stood high above the rest, with other titles' influence not even reaching its knees.
And that was just the animation's box office and the manga's sales. In reality, the light novels adapted from the Demon Slayer manga also saw a surge in sales, driven by the animation's terrifying momentum. While not as extreme, they also claimed the annual sales championship, breaking the record set by Sword Art Online several years ago.
In music, the theme song for Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, "Homura," topped the Billboard Japan Hot 100 for two or three consecutive weeks and even won the Grand Prize at the Japan Record Awards.
Buses, trams, subways, bookstores, every street corner... Promotional posters for Demon Slayer were everywhere in the physical world. Turning on the TV, you'd constantly see reports about it. Going online, you'd be bombarded with news updates. Even the casual conversations people had after meals often revolved around Demon Slayer.
Animation and film magazines were tirelessly digging up stories related to the series. Someone even went as far as asking Hayao Miyazaki for his thoughts on Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, the film poised to surpass Spirited Away at the box office.
At the time of that question, it hadn't yet broken the record. But there was no need to wait until 2021.
On December 10th, on its 56th day of release, the theatrical film's box office surged from over 20 billion yen to over 30 billion yen.
By December 20th, before Christmas even arrived, the film surpassed Spirited Away's cumulative box office of 31.68 billion yen.
This was Spirited Away's cumulative box office. Although Spirited Away had already earned over 30 billion yen upon its release in 2001, it hadn't actually surpassed 31 billion yen by the time it left theaters. It took over a decade of occasional re-releases to finally reach a cumulative total of 31.68 billion yen in 2020.
Even so, this record was shattered by Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, an animated film that had only been in theaters for sixty-six days.
After nineteen long years, a new box office record had finally emerged. Naturally, the major media outlets covered it with a barrage of reports, churning out special features one after another:
"In Just 66 Days, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train Shatters Spirited Away's Box Office Myth. The Strongest Animated Film in History is Born."
"The 19-Year-Old Box Office Record Finally Broken. Demon Slayer: Mugen Train Writes a New Box Office Myth."
"The All-Time Box Office Record—How Could Such an Absurd Goal Be Achieved? Animation Producer Lin Zhiyan is Simply Unstoppable."
"Spirited Away's Box Office Myth Destroyed. Demon Slayer: Mugen Train Takes the Throne. Lin Zhiyan Continues the Legend of Animation Production!"
"The Record Your Name Couldn't Break Has Finally Been Shattered by Demon Slayer."
In fact, if Spirited Away hadn't been so formidable, this record wouldn't be worth such extensive coverage. But the problem is that the box office record Spirited Away set was itself absurdly strong. In this context, the fact that Demon Slayer's theatrical film broke this record in just sixty-six days makes it seem even stronger, even more absurd.
Siluke
Naturally, the media couldn't resist scrambling to report it.
The public was also keenly interested, with many people discussing the matter both online and offline:
"Over 30 billion in 66 days, breaking Spirited Away's record... that's truly incredible, too strong."
"It's only been a little over two months. It'll be in theaters for at least another four or five months. A 40 billion box office will be a breeze."
"Back then, when Lin Zhiyan said he would make an animation with disc sales exceeding EVA and a box office surpassing Spirited Away, I thought he was simply dreaming. I really never expected he could actually achieve it."
"The target audience is just too broad. Everyone from four years old and up, regardless of gender, is an audience for this theatrical film. I even saw people in their fifties and sixties watching this animation with great relish. It's conceivable that Spirited Away really can't compare in this regard. However, LSP's production level is indeed very strong as well."
"Lin Zhiyan has achieved one of his two goals. Now all that's left is to surpass EVA in Blu-ray sales. I used to think it was completely impossible, but now I'm starting to doubt myself. Could he actually achieve the remaining goal as well?"
"It's hard to say for sure now. If he can even surpass Spirited Away at the box office, I feel like I could accept even the most outrageous things happening."
"After the Mugen Train Arc is finished, the next thing should be the TV second season, right? Based on the manga's plot, the next one seems to be the Entertainment District Arc? Could the second season's Blu-ray sales explode then, directly crushing EVA and taking the throne for the highest average sales per volume?"
"The second season taking the top spot for average Blu-ray sales per volume? How is that possible? EVA has an average sales volume of 200,000. The majority of Demon Slayer's audience consists of elementary school students and their parents. Those people might buy movie tickets and manga, but they basically won't buy Blu-rays. On the other hand, Uma Musume 2 in January next year might have a chance."