The unknown has finally been resolved, the sales of physical discs of the anime adaptation of Chainsaw Man they were pathetic when you consider the immense popularity of the franchise around the world. While is true that physical sales are no longer a key factor in the decision to produce a sequel for a projectthey are still an indicator of the popularity of a project and the interest of fans in it.
Having been released on January 27 in Japan, the first Blu-ray/DVD package of the Chainsaw Man anime accumulated only 1,735 copies sold. It should be noted that this is not a special physical package, but rather a four-episode disc like any other. The Blu-ray version is priced at 7,480 yen and accumulated 1,310 copies soldwhile the dvd version is priced at 6,380 yen and it accumulated 425 copies sold.
Is the physical disk market in decline? Not really, and this is evidenced by the same weekly ranking published by oricon in Japan. Rather, the series simply wasn’t popular enough for fans to buy the physical discs.something very different from what happened with the first places in the weekly sales ranking:
- Lycoris Recoil Vol. 5 – 23,417 copies sold (21,381 Blu-ray / 2,036 DVD).
- Bocchi the Rock! Vol 2 – 17,619 copies sold (16,205 Blu-ray / 1,414 DVD).
- Love Live! Superstar!! 2nd Season Vol. 5 – 10,461 copies sold (10,461 Blu-ray).
- Idolish7 Third Beat! Vol 7 – 4,630 copies sold (3,744 Blu-ray / 886 DVD).
- Futoku no Guild Vol. 2 – 3,194 copies sold (2,751 Blu-ray / 443 DVD).
Well yes, leaving aside the obvious sales monster that is Lycoris Recoilit turns out that Bocchi the Rock! it again racked up over 17,000 copies sold now with its second Blu-ray/DVD package. And in fact, CloverWorks opted to release physical packages with only two episodes each, but even that did not stop them from having excellent sales. What went wrong with Chainsaw Man? We don’t have a clear answer, but It is evident that for the Japanese it is not a priority to acquire the physical packages of this project.
It is worth pointing out that Chainsaw Man is a project produced by the studios MAPPA, who decided not to use a group of investors and get the entire investment out of their own pockets. It is for this very reason that the production company needs to make as much money as possible from all means possible, but the physical packages were an obvious failure. Will streaming distribution and usage rights for merchandise, among other things, be enough?
Synopsis for Chainsaw Man
The story takes place in a world where Demons threaten the peace of humans, making them targets to be eliminated. Denji is a depressed young man who has sold several of his organs and works as a lumberjack and demon hunter to pay off his late father’s debt. Denji owns a dog (which is also a demon) named Pochita, who has chainsaws and which he uses to do his work.
This is explained because humans can make contracts with demons. After returning home from a job, Denji is called by a Yakuza to infiltrate a building and kill another demon. However, the plan was a trap to assassinate him as part of a Yakuza contract with the demon, gaining them more power. But Pochita comes to Denji’s aid and bonds with him, becoming a half-man, half-demon and acquiring Pochita’s chainsaws.
Font: Yaraon!
©藤本タツキ/集英社・MAPPA
The Chainsaw Man entrance is crushed by Bocchi the Rock! in sales was first published on Kudasai.
