It is impossible to deny that Chainsaw Man It became one of the most relevant anime of the year 2022 in the whole world, mainly due to the war that was generated between the groups of fans of other series with which it competed for attention. However, even months after the series reached its conclusion, fans are still wondering, was Chainsaw Man a successful anime?
There are many ways to measure the success of an anime, be it its consumption on streaming platforms, accumulated sales in merchandising, or even the number of awards the production receives. On the question of streaming, it is difficult to have real numbers, considering the fact that media such as GEM Partners They base their results on weekly polls, and it’s impossible to poll everyone. In addition, earnings via streaming are not measured in how many people watch the series, but in how many platforms distribute it.
The awards are also totally subjective, considering the fact that they are based on votes made by the major media towards the fans and, again, it is impossible to have a sample that represents the majority of anime consumers worldwide.. Not even Anime Trending, the most popular medium dedicated exclusively to this, could say that it has a “representative percentage” of all anime fans worldwide.
Not to mention other much smaller media such as Anime Corneror prizes awarded by platforms such as crunchyrollwhich make incomprehensible exceptions such as the fact of not considering the series of Autumn (October-December) in an annual vote. In the end, some believe that physical sales numbers represent the true “success rate” for an anime.
However, even this is open to discussion, considering that the sales numbers are based on what was presented by oricon, which apparently does not include all the existing stores in Japan, so there can always be a percentage of error in the estimate of copies sold. And it is that this conversation of physical sales and the comparison with Bocchi the Rock! they came back now that both series have released their new Blu-ray/DVD packs:
- Chainsaw Man Vol. 2 it accumulated 1,479 copies sold in its first week of release in Japan.
- Bocchi the Rock! Vol 3 it accumulated 19,391 copies sold in its first week of release in Japan.
Even leaving out Bocchi the Rock!the Chainsaw Demon franchise had fewer recorded sales than the first Blu-ray/DVD package, which totaled 1,735 copies sold. That is, between launches, there was a decrease of 14.75 percent. The numbers are pretty stark, but the debate continues. Was Chainsaw Man a success or a failure?
Popular YouTube channels like the series “Anime Mythbusters” of The Canipa Effect have tried to resolve this unknown, assuring that Blu-ray/DVD sales are no longer an important factor in determining whether an anime project was successful or not. They also refer to the MAPPA OFFICIAL STORE does not report its numbers to Oricon, and that this is where most of the record sales could have come from. However, this remains a mere assumption since MAPPA refuses to disclose his numbers, and the fact that if he applies for Chainsaw Manthen it also applies to any other series.
In the end, although it is true that Chainsaw Man had dismal confirmed sales with its Blu-ray/DVD packs, too it is true that one-time payments for broadcasting rights that the production committee (in this case made up solely of MAPPA and Shueisha) received from all streaming platforms interested in broadcasting the series worldwide. So was Chainsaw Man a hit or a flop? While fans continue to debate, in the end only the managers at MAPPA really know, and they are unlikely to reveal it.
Fountain: Youtube
Post Fans are still debating whether or not Chainsaw Man was published first on Kudasai.
