Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End has proven to be a major hit series, not only in Japan, but also worldwide, including France. Aside from Japan, it could very well be said that France is the biggest manga consumer in the world, ahead of even bigger countries like the U.S. For a few years, held a major record for one of the biggest French manga publishers: Ki-oon. From 2022 to 2026, Frieren was the biggest manga launched by this publisher.
However, this record has just been broken by a new hit series for Weekly Shonen Jump. This manga is Ichi the Witch. Ichi the Witch keeps growing in popularity and it has delivered smashing numbers in France. The series has massive potential that is only going to grow when it gets an anime adaptation.
Frieren Was Ki-oon’s Biggest Manga Launch In History
The Biggest Manga Debut Between 2022 and 2026
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End has become a fan-favorite series. The Frieren manga debuted in Japan in 2020, and now, 6 years later, the series is massively popular. It must be said that Frieren was popular even before its anime debut. After all, in 2022, a year before it would get its anime adaptation, it became Ki-oon’s biggest manga debut with 10,103 in sales in its first week. For those who don’t know, Ki-oon is one of France’s biggest publishers, and this was a great number for a debut series.
Frieren has only grown in sales since it went on to receive an anime adaptation, with both Season 1 and the ongoing Season 2 being absolutely phenomenal. Undoubtedly, this melancholic elf story has become a global hit. Frieren’s popularity is not slowing down, and while it consolidates itself as one of the biggest new-gen manga hits, some other manga are also on the rise. Frieren’s sales record in France has officially been shattered by another new gen shonen, Ichi the Witch.
Frieren’s Sales Record Has Been Beaten By Ichi The Witch
Frieren held its sales record of being the biggest manga debut for Ki-oon for four whole years. This was definitely impressive for such a series, but with the growing popularity of manga, it’s not easy to keep such a record forever. Now, Frieren has had its record beaten by a new hit series for the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump, Ichi the Witch. While Frieren had amassed 10,103 copies in circulation in its first week, Ichi The Witch has managed to beat it with 10,104 copies in just 4 days.
This is definitely huge for the Ichi The Witch series. After all, as fans remember, Ichi the Witch has yet to get an anime adaptation. Despite that, it has proven itself to be an incredibly popular series in France. France has definitely been loving this magical witch manga, and it will definitely be on the rise worldwide. What’s even more impressive is that Ichi the Witch managed to beat a record Frieren set during COVID times. Frieren was definitely helped by the circumstances back then, but it still failed against Ichi. It will be interesting to see how Ichi the Witch fares in overall sales compared to the likes of Frieren, especially as more volumes finally get published in French.
Ichi The Witch Proves Its On The Rise In France
Ichi the Witch has just proven just how big a hit it is in France by surpassing manga giants like Frieren. But, this series still has a long way to go. At the moment, the Ichi the Witch manga only has 70 chapters in total. But eventually, in a year or so, it should have enough chapters to be able to get an anime adaptation. At the very least, an anime should be announced.
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With an anime adaptation, Ichi the Witch is going to blow up. It’s undeniable that Ichi the Witch has massive potential, and even Weekly Shounen Jump has noticed that and has since been putting it at the forefront of the magazine as a possible new pillar, especially with the conclusion of other big series like My Hero Academia and Jujutsu Kaisen.
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A proper Ichi the Witch anime series could take the series to new heights and make it reach the same level as Freiren. The two series feature a lovable cast of characters with an interesting magic system. If Ichi the Witch gets an anime adaptation anywhere as good as Frieren, it’s guaranteed to become a viral sensation globally.
Source: X (Formerly Twitter)
- Release Date
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September 29, 2023
- Network
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Nippon TV, YTV, FBS, Chukyo TV, RNB, FCT, STV, KNB, HTV, YBS, RAB, TVI, YBC, UMK TV Miyazaki, TSB, MMT, TeNY, RNC, NIB, KKT, KTK, NKT, ABS, JRT, Daiichi-TV, FBC, RKC, KYT, KRY
- Directors
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Kento Matsui, Kota Mori, Takahiro Natori, Morio Asaka, Lim Ka-hee, Taku Kimura, Ken Ando, Hirotaka Mori, Ayaka Tsuji
- Writers
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Tomohiro Suzuki
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Atsumi Tanezaki
Frieren (voice)
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Kana Ichinose
Fern (voice)