1277% Increase in Shipments Compared to Jeonju from 11th to 13th
Men in Their 30s and 40s Account for About 80% of Buyers
Surge Likely Due to Sudden Death News
The sales of the famous manga 'Dragon Ball' volumes surged by 1277% after the author's passing.
According to Seoul Media Comics on the 13th, the shipment volume of the Dragon Ball series from the 11th to the 13th increased by 1277% compared to the previous week. Seoul Media Comics is a company spun off from the comic division of Seoul Munhwasa, which first introduced Dragon Ball to Korea. They are still publishing the Dragon Ball series.
The surge in sales appears to have occurred following the news of the passing of Dragon Ball's author, Akira Toriyama. On the 8th, the Japanese manga weekly 'Shonen Jump' announced, "Author Akira passed away on the 1st due to acute subdural hemorrhage."
The recent consumers purchasing 'Dragon Ball' volumes are mainly men in their 30s and 40s. Yes24 analyzed buyers of 'Dragon Ball' and Toriyama's other popular work 'Dr. Slump' from the 8th to the 10th and found that men in their 40s accounted for 43.7% of all buyers, followed by men in their 30s at 38.0%. Considering that Dragon Ball was serialized from 1984 to 1995, these are people who encountered Dragon Ball during their childhood and adolescence.
'Dragon Ball' is a manga depicting the adventures of the protagonist Son Goku as he gathers seven Dragon Balls that grant any wish. It has been translated into over 20 languages and gained great popularity overseas. A total of 260 million copies have been sold worldwide as volumes. In Japan, 160 million copies were sold, and in Korea, over 20 million copies were sold.
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