The manga industry in Japan is completely massive, and it has picked up traction all world wide over the past decade as anime and manga are beginning to turn into mainstream. With that being said, while anime viewership has all the time captivated many, manga sales are often what truly showcase the success of a series. Every month, latest numbers of probably the most sold manga in Japan are released, and with 2026’s first month now well over, the outcomes are officially out, because of Oricon.
Much to the surprise of many, the best-selling manga for January 2026 is not One Piece. As an alternative, one other series took the primary spot. This series is the legendary long-running Seinen often known as Kingdom, which is a competitor for Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece. Kingdom starts off the 12 months strong, and it could carry on dominating the charts moving forward as well.
Japan’s No. 1 Most Sold Manga For January Is Kingdom
A Legendary Long-Running Seinen Series
Every month, Oricon releases the best-performing manga series of the month. Fans were definitely excited to see which manga series got here out on top for January 2026, as it will go on to set the tone for the remainder of the 12 months. Surprising to some, January 2026’s best-performing manga series was none aside from Kingdom. Kingdom is an iconic series that first began its serialization in Weekly Young Jump all the best way back in 2006.
This incredible politically heavy series based in ancient China has been in a position to keep fans hooked for a long time now, something that will not be easy to realize. Kingdom is all the time considered one of the best-selling manga series yearly, and that’s despite its many disadvantages.
Why Kingdom Topping January Sales Chart Is Huge
One among Kingdom’s biggest disadvantages is the indisputable fact that it has yet to be fully serialized outside of Japan. Indeed, despite its large success in Japan, no English publisher has fully picked it up yet for quite just a few reasons, considered one of which is how long this manga series already is. Serializing it might be a frightening task, and a few publishers consider it will not appeal to overseas readers.
Kingdom’s second major drawback is its anime adaptation. Kingdom has a subpar anime adaptation, and its first few seasons, that are a very powerful, were quite bad. Kingdom definitely doesn’t experience amazing anime releases that popularize its manga like series corresponding to Jujutsu Kaisen or Frieren do. Despite all of that, Kingdom remains to be dominating, which fits to point out just how exciting its true story is. In January 2026, it achieved 466k copies in circulation. Largely, that is because of its latest volume release on January 19, 2026.
Frieren, Jujutsu Kaisen, Blue Lock, and Chainsaw Man Make It Into The Top 5
The Remainder of the Top 10 Features Other Exciting Series Similar to Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo
While Kingdom was on top, the remaining top 20 were also revealed, and the highest five specifically featured among the most fun Shonen series of the previous couple of years. The Second most sold manga after Kingdom was Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, with 437k in sales — a really close figure to the primary spot. It’s unsurprising to see Frieren this high, on condition that Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End season 2 is currently airing and it’s a significant hit each in Japan and overseas, on top of getting a recent volume release. The number 3 best-selling manga in the intervening time is Jujutsu Kaisen. Jujutsu Kaisen resulted in 2024, yet it keeps on being considered one of the best-selling manga. Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 can also be airing at once, which boosted sales. This month, it did 362k in numbers.
At Number 4 is Blue Lock, an ongoing Weekly Shonen Jump hit. Blue Lock doesn’t have an amazing anime adaptation, but it surely has still proven to be probably the most popular series in the intervening time. Finally, Chainsaw Man took number 5. Chainsaw Man part 2 is currently serializing and the main success of the Reze Arc movie has definitely boosted its sales over the previous couple of months. The remaining of the highest 10 includes exciting series, including newer successes like Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo, Kagurabachi, and Dandadan, amongst many other beloved series.
One Piece Doesn’t Make The Top 20 In January 2026
- The newest One Piece volume was released all the best way back in December 2025
- The brand new March volume should help the series pick up
With Oricon’s release of the Top 20 best-performing manga of January 2026, fans were shocked to see Japan’s best-selling manga of all time not being included on this list. Often, One Piece is all the time considered one of the top-selling series. In spite of everything, the manga remains to be ongoing, and at once, its Elbaf arc is particularly popular among the many fans.
One Piece’s sales are definitely not at their peak in the intervening time, and there are just a few reasons for that. Firstly, One Piece has not had a brand new volume release shortly. The newest volume release was One Piece Vol. 113, which got here out in December 2025. Two months should not be enough for a series like One Piece to fade from the highest 20, but it surely explains the drop. One other major issue with the One Piece series in the intervening time is its TV anime being on a hiatus. This break began on December 28, 2025, and affected the general popularity of the series.
One Piece’s numbers are definitely low in the intervening time, however the series goes to get a significant boost next month, in March 2026. One Piece’s next volume is fast approaching and is scheduled to drop on March 4, 2026. With the discharge of One Piece Volume 114, the manga will certainly reach the highest once more. So as to add to that, the One Piece anime also returns two months from now, in April 2026. That is one other factor that ought to massively boost manga sales, especially for the present ongoing Elbaf arc.
When things get tough, remember the journey of the ocean! Fly that over the land of Wano! Screwing with our friend means screwing with us! — Monkey D. Luffy
All that said, fans also need to concentrate on the indisputable fact that there may be a general decline in sales for the One Piece series. One Piece sales have slowly been dropping since its peak, which was the Summit War Saga. The Summit War was One Piece’s height, sales-wise, and it never quite achieved those sorts of numbers again. The Final Saga has seen a steeper drop in sales, regardless that Elbaf has helped it pick up a bit. One Piece may not reach peak numbers until the Final War officially begins.
One Piece is obtainable to read on MagaPlus and Shonen Jump, through Viz Media.