More than 2.5 million copies of the English-language edition of Hajime Isayama's "Attack on Titan" comic book series are now in print, according to Kodansha USA Publishing LLC.
The publisher announced the news July 4 during a panel for its Kodansha Comics imprint held as part of Anime Expo (AX) 2015--the largest anime convention in North America. AX was held July 2-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The 2.5 million figure for the post-apocalyptic manga series, which currently includes 15 volumes in English, may be small in comparison to the 40 million in Japan. But given the fact that the U.S. comic market is less than one-fifth the size of Japan's, the figure is impressive.
The first volume of "Attack on Titan" recently reached its 100th week on The New York Times manga bestseller list. It means the volume, which has been selling in the United States for almost two years, is gaining new readership weekly.
The manga series is about young people fighting a hopeless battle against human-devouring titans. It remains very popular in Japan.
The animated series has been adapted for TV and film, with a two-part live-action feature scheduled to hit cinemas this summer. An art exhibition dedicated to the manga was also held in Tokyo and elsewhere.
Kodansha Comics is set to release more English versions of manga titles.
It was also announced during the panel that Akiko Higashimura's "Princess Jellyfish," Okushou's "Real Account" and Hoshino Taguchi's "Magatsuki" will be launched.
In addition, Kodansha Comics said that an animated TV series adaptation of Hitoshi Iwaaki's "Parasyte" will hit the airwaves in the United States. "Parasyte-the maxim-" will air on the Toonami block of Adult Swim, a timeshare cable television network that shares channel space with the Cartoon Network.
The airing of the animated series on the channel that has a huge audience will likely boot sales of the horror manga.