Solo Leveling Blu-Ray Vol. 2 Sales Bomb In Japan Despite Global Success
Recent reports that have come out pointed out that Solo Leveling Blu-ray volume 2 has bombed miserable in Japan despite its overseas popularity. One week after the release of the Blu-Ray, it has failed to appear on any sales rankings in Japan, falling significantly below expectations.
Solo Leveling Blu-ray vol. 1 had also failed to make it to any sales charts.
While Blu-ray/DVD sales are not the sole indicator of success, they remain a significant measure of a show’s popularity in Japan, reflecting the number of fans willing to invest in merchandise. Despite the anime enjoying immense international popularity and confirming a sequel, its reception in Japan seems to have fallen short of expectations.
Fans have expressed mixed reactions to the news, with some highlighting the anime’s impressive international popularity and its rise to the sixth position among the most-watched anime on Crunchyroll, surpassing even Attack On Titan on the platform.
However, others have also pointed out the lack of visibility for Solo Leveling merchandise in Japan compared to that of other anime.
With two out of three producers being foreign companies, i.e., Crunchyroll from America and DnC Webtoon from Korea, some argue that the anime was primarily aimed at a global audience. This hypothesis is supported by various aspects of the anime, including the use of English in system interfaces, songs, and store billboards, catering to the preferences of international viewers.
Solo Leveling anime, produced by A-1 Pictures, aired from Jan 7 to March 31, 2024, on Tokyo MX and other networks. Crunchyroll is streaming the series in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, CIS, and India. The first episodes were screened from December 2023 in Tokyo, Seoul, Los Angeles, India, and Europe.
The opening theme song is “Level”, performed by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]: Tomorrow X Together, while the ending theme song is “Request”, performed by Krage.
Crunchyroll licensed the series outside China, Japan, and South Korea. Medialink licensed the series in Southeast Asia and Oceania (except Australia and New Zealand).
Solo Leveling is a South Korean web novel written by Chugong. It was serialized in Kakao’s digital comic and fiction platform KakaoPage beginning on July 25, 2016, and was later published by D&C Media under their Papyrus label since November 4, 2016. The novel has been licensed in English by Yen Press.
A webtoon adaptation of Solo Leveling was first serialized in KakaoPage on March 4, 2018; it was illustrated by Jang Sung-rak (Dubu). The webtoon’s first season concluded on March 19, 2020, and its second season was released from August 2020 to December 2021. Its individual chapters have been collected and published by D&C Media in nine volumes as of August 2023.
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