Naruto Dominates Bookstore Graphic Novel Sales
Number One for Two Weeks in a Row
Naruto Volume 4, published by Viz LLC, dominated the BookScan chart of graphic novel sales in bookstores for the second week in a row. With sales of over 5,000 copies for the week ending August 10, Naruto nearly doubled the sales of its closest competitor (Fruits Basket #4 from Tokyopop). The strong performance of the Naruto manga demonstrates why the long-running Naruto anime series remains the most tantalizing anime property yet to be licensed for North America.
Another Viz release, Bleach, demonstrated increasing strength with its second volume moving up to the third spot, where it was followed closely by Tokyopop's DN Angel, Gravitation, Princess Ai (by Courtney Love and DJ Milky) and Fruits Basket #3 (FB was the only title with two volumes in the top ten). The top-selling American graphic novel collection was Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man Vol.10, which came in at number 16.