Manga and anime that're big in Japan

[Queen Michael]

Ever notice how there's some anime and manga that are institutions in Japan but virtually unknown here in the West? Like how Sazae-san might be the most viewed anime of all time in Japan but most Western otaku have never heard of it or the comic strip it's based on. And how about Gegege no Kitaro? Not very famous here either.

Anyone know any other manga and anime that are huge in Japan but obscure here?

 

[Relish in Chaos]

I think, before they released the anime adaptation, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure was only really known in the West through the "MUDA MUDA~" meme. However, in Japan, the manga's currently on its eighth series/part, with multiple references to its glam style etc. in other manga and anime. Part of the reason why it's not as popular in the West may be because only Part 3 has been released in the West, possibly due to copyright issues with how many Stands (the main supernatural power from Part 3 onwards) are named after bands and their songs.

 

[Auberon]

And probably some niche from the 90s OVAs.

Compared to Jump, Astro Boy and like may be obscure - mostly because they're from the 80s and didn't get good start.

 

[HardkorSB]

The one that comes to mind is Urusei Yatsura.
It had 195 episodes and 9 movies.
It was really popular in Japan in the 80's and you can still see some of it's ideas copied to this day but outside of Japanese people, I am the only person I know who knows what it is.

Then there are the sport anime series like Prince of Tennis, Hajime no Ippo or Eyeshield 21.

There's also this anime called Sazae-san that started in 1969 and is still being made today (it holds the Guinness world record for the longest running anime series in history).

 

[Queen Michael]

The one that comes to mind is Urusei Yatsura.
It had 195 episodes and 9 movies.
It was really popular in Japan in the 80's and you can still see some of it's ideas copied to this day but outside of Japanese people, I am the only person I know who knows what it is.

Then there are the sport anime series like Prince of Tennis, Hajime no Ippo or Eyeshield 21.

There's also this anime called Sazae-san that started in 1969 and is still being made today (it holds the Guinness world record for the longest running anime series in history).

I already mentioned Sazae-san, you big silly!

And concerning Urusei Yatsura, I love it. I collected all the books when they were still in print. I wish they'd publish more.

 

[Fr0stbyt395]

Youkai Watch, a Pokemon-like RPG from level-5, has an anime, incredibly popular toys, and is now getting a second game.

 

[Dr. Cakey]

Well, here are viewership numbers for June 9-15 (taken from this article [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-06-23/japan-animation-tv-ranking-june-9-15/.75831] on ANN).

Sazae-san (14%)
Chibi Maruko-chan (9.6%)
Crayon Shin-chan (9.5%)
Doraemon (8.7%)
Detective Conan (8.7%)
One Piece (7.4%)
Dragon Ball Kai (5.6%)
Youkai Watch (5.2%)
Pokemon XY (5%)
The File of Young Kindaichi Returns (4.8%)

You can also look at disk sales numbers, which are a little fuzzy because you have to factor in whether or not Blu-ray/DVD/Laserdisc (depending on the era) sales were being counted at the time. These are couple months out of date, but I don't think these top numbers are budging very much right now. Note that these sales numbers are the average for all volumes sold, not the total number of volumes. For example, if the first volume of something sold 200 units, and the second sold 100, the number provided would be 150. Sales of discs measure the popularity of late-night anime, AKA most of the anime we watch.

1. The World of Golden Eggs (2005): 139,252 units average. World of Golden Eggs is a weird short about...eggs.
2. Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995): 111,559 units average. I think most of us are familiar with this.
3. The World of Golden Eggs 2 (2006): 100,458 units average. I guess the Japanese like their eggs.
4. Bakemonogatari (2009): 78,671 units average. Bakemonogatari is the best-selling full-length anime of the 21st century.
5. Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011): 71,056 units average. The inspiring true story of how the studio that made the best-selling anime of the 21st century...also made the second-best-selling anime of the 21st century. Only they made way more money on this one cuz they own more of the rights to it.
6. Gundam SEED Destiny (2004): 68,732 units average. You know that Gundam nobody liked, that had that second season people liked even less? Yeah, that's this.
7. Usavich (2006): 61,633 units average. I don't even know about this one, except it's a short.
8. Nisemonogatari (2012): 60,580 units average. Studio Shaft, rakin' in dat cash.
9. Gundam SEED (2002): 58,589 units average. How does a second season even outsell a first season? How does that even happen?
10. Nekomonogatari BLACK (2013): 56,938 units average. Okay, Shaft, now you're just fucking with us.
11. Attack on Titan (2013): 53,877 units average. The inspiring story about a man who couldn't draw, deciding to draw anyway, thus spawning the anime that defined a generation.
12. Usavich 2 (2007): 53,230 units average. It won't go awaaaaaaay...
13. Fate/Zero (2011): 52,133 units average. The inspiring story of the worst story ever written, getting a prequel which was really fantastic...because it was written by a completely different person. And then it got animated.
14. Usavich 3 (2008): 52,016 units average. I just...I don't even have anything to say anymore.
15. Macross Frontier (2008): 46,147 units average. Ah, Macross. That one anime about...space...or something...yeah I know nothing about Macross.
16. Fate/Zero 2 (2012): 45,804 units average. Split-cour anime: an innovation for a modern era.
17. Code Geass (2006): 45,367 units average. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
18. Monogatari Series Second Season (2013): 45,005 units average. Monogatari Series Second Season, the third season of the Monogatari Series. 3.5th? Whatever.
19. Usavich 4 (2011): 44,544 units average. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
20. K-On! (2009): 43,884 units average. The inspiring story of a studio taking a not-very-good manga and completely rewriting it however they wanted to make a better anime. Which people outside of Japan don't like anyway. But still. It made a lot of money.

 

[Queen Michael]

4. Bakemonogatari (2009): 78,671 units average. Bakemonogatari is the best-selling full-length anime of the 21st century.

And still they won't release the original light novels stateside.

20. K-On! (2009): 43,884 units average. The inspiring story of a studio taking a not-very-good manga...

I do believe you mean "better-than-average manga," you silly person.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Judging from the level of merchandise I'd say Evangelion is pretty big in Japan.

Oh not really manga or anime but the Dragon Quest games are definitely big in Japan, kind of like Final Fantasy in occident. I read somewhere that... never mind, quoting from Wikipedia.

Dragon Quest has become a cultural phenomenon in Japan. According to Ryutaro Ichimura and Yuji Horii, Dragon Quest has become popular enough that it is used as a common topic for conversation in Japan, and is considered by the Japanese gaming industry as Japan's national game. William Cassidy of GameSpy claims that "the common wisdom is that if you ask someone from Japan to draw 'Slime,' he'll draw the onion-like shape of the weak enemies from the game. There is an urban myth that the release of Dragon Quest III caused a law to be passed in Japan banning the sale of Dragon Quest games or video games in general except on certain days such as weekends or national holidays. When III was released in Japan, over 300 schoolchildren were arrested for truancy while waiting in stores for the game to be released. The rumor claims there was a measurable dip in productivity when a Dragon Quest game was released and although muggings of Dragon Quest titles became so widespread there were hearings in the Japanese Diet, no law was ever passed. However, the Japanese release of every Dragon Quest title continued to be on a Saturday until the release of Dragon Quest X, which was released on Thursday, August 2, 2012. Nevertheless, each new Dragon Quest launch is widely anticipated

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Judging from the level of merchandise I'd say Evangelion is pretty big in Japan.

Oh not really manga or anime but the Dragon Quest games are definitely big in Japan, kind of like Final Fantasy in occident. I read somewhere that... never mind, quoting from Wikipedia.

Dragon Quest has become a cultural phenomenon in Japan. According to Ryutaro Ichimura and Yuji Horii, Dragon Quest has become popular enough that it is used as a common topic for conversation in Japan, and is considered by the Japanese gaming industry as Japan's national game. William Cassidy of GameSpy claims that "the common wisdom is that if you ask someone from Japan to draw 'Slime,' he'll draw the onion-like shape of the weak enemies from the game. There is an urban myth that the release of Dragon Quest III caused a law to be passed in Japan banning the sale of Dragon Quest games or video games in general except on certain days such as weekends or national holidays. When III was released in Japan, over 300 schoolchildren were arrested for truancy while waiting in stores for the game to be released. The rumor claims there was a measurable dip in productivity when a Dragon Quest game was released and although muggings of Dragon Quest titles became so widespread there were hearings in the Japanese Diet, no law was ever passed. However, the Japanese release of every Dragon Quest title continued to be on a Saturday until the release of Dragon Quest X, which was released on Thursday, August 2, 2012. Nevertheless, each new Dragon Quest launch is widely anticipated

I think Dragon quest recently got a guneiss world record for "longest running JRPG series". It certainly seems the series has a long running history

OT, Thinking about it, Persona 4 has had the following in Japan: two spin-off manga involving Youske and Naoto, a manga adaptation of the original, two fighting games, an upcoming rhythm game, an anime of the original version, an upcoming adaptation of P4 golden, A 3DS game with the P3 cast, and probably other stuff I missed. Yeah, that one game seems to be really popular

Also, I can't get hard numbers on sales but the Toaru Majutsu/Kagaku series has had 22 novels, currently, 10 sequel novels, three mangas (one a straight adaptation of the light novels, the Toaru Kagaku no Railgun manga and a Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator manga (yes, the guy is that popular among the fanbase)), a movie, and a vita fighter (heard not very good). What the hell, I'm a fan of the series but it is still insane the amount of stuff made for it (doesn't help that the continuity of the series is so interwoven and inane that it actually requires a wiki to help sort it all out)

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Spoiler: hidden for space

Well, here are viewership numbers for June 9-15 (taken from this article [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-06-23/japan-animation-tv-ranking-june-9-15/.75831] on ANN).

Sazae-san (14%)
Chibi Maruko-chan (9.6%)
Crayon Shin-chan (9.5%)
Doraemon (8.7%)
Detective Conan (8.7%)
One Piece (7.4%)
Dragon Ball Kai (5.6%)
Youkai Watch (5.2%)
Pokemon XY (5%)
The File of Young Kindaichi Returns (4.8%)

You can also look at disk sales numbers, which are a little fuzzy because you have to factor in whether or not Blu-ray/DVD/Laserdisc (depending on the era) sales were being counted at the time. These are couple months out of date, but I don't think these top numbers are budging very much right now. Note that these sales numbers are the average for all volumes sold, not the total number of volumes. For example, if the first volume of something sold 200 units, and the second sold 100, the number provided would be 150. Sales of discs measure the popularity of late-night anime, AKA most of the anime we watch.

1. The World of Golden Eggs (2005): 139,252 units average. World of Golden Eggs is a weird short about...eggs.
2. Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995): 111,559 units average. I think most of us are familiar with this.
3. The World of Golden Eggs 2 (2006): 100,458 units average. I guess the Japanese like their eggs.
4. Bakemonogatari (2009): 78,671 units average. Bakemonogatari is the best-selling full-length anime of the 21st century.
5. Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011): 71,056 units average. The inspiring true story of how the studio that made the best-selling anime of the 21st century...also made the second-best-selling anime of the 21st century. Only they made way more money on this one cuz they own more of the rights to it.
6. Gundam SEED Destiny (2004): 68,732 units average. You know that Gundam nobody liked, that had that second season people liked even less? Yeah, that's this.
7. Usavich (2006): 61,633 units average. I don't even know about this one, except it's a short.
8. Nisemonogatari (2012): 60,580 units average. Studio Shaft, rakin' in dat cash.
9. Gundam SEED (2002): 58,589 units average. How does a second season even outsell a first season? How does that even happen?
10. Nekomonogatari BLACK (2013): 56,938 units average. Okay, Shaft, now you're just fucking with us.
11. Attack on Titan (2013): 53,877 units average. The inspiring story about a man who couldn't draw, deciding to draw anyway, thus spawning the anime that defined a generation.
12. Usavich 2 (2007): 53,230 units average. It won't go awaaaaaaay...
13. Fate/Zero (2011): 52,133 units average. The inspiring story of the worst story ever written, getting a prequel which was really fantastic...because it was written by a completely different person. And then it got animated.
14. Usavich 3 (2008): 52,016 units average. I just...I don't even have anything to say anymore.
15. Macross Frontier (2008): 46,147 units average. Ah, Macross. That one anime about...space...or something...yeah I know nothing about Macross.
16. Fate/Zero 2 (2012): 45,804 units average. Split-cour anime: an innovation for a modern era.
17. Code Geass (2006): 45,367 units average. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
18. Monogatari Series Second Season (2013): 45,005 units average. Monogatari Series Second Season, the third season of the Monogatari Series. 3.5th? Whatever.
19. Usavich 4 (2011): 44,544 units average. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
20. K-On! (2009): 43,884 units average. The inspiring story of a studio taking a not-very-good manga and completely rewriting it however they wanted to make a better anime. Which people outside of Japan don't like anyway. But still. It made a lot of money.

Oh boy, do I have a few things to comment on here, going down the list
6) and 9), yes, Seed and Seed Destiny are highly contested. However, Lacus and Kira are still well liked (supposedly, Kira even beat Char in the 30th anniversary popularity poll) and Destiny was popular for two years in Japan (info taken from TvTropes here [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AmericansHateTingle] so be free to post information to the contrary) Me, Seed was a legitimately good show but Destiny did drop the ball near the second half (I am not going to go further because I really don't want a flame war here)

13) Just a correction Fate/zero is the prequel, not the original (that would be Fate/ stay night). Also, how is the story horrible exactly? Don't have much knowledge of that universe. Also
you are really not going to like the fact that they are making another Fate/stay night anime.

15) From what little I know of Macross, Macross is a transforming Mecha show considered highly influential in the creation of the real mecha genre. It solidified several tropes of the genre and is well regarded as a classic. Other than that, I have no idea

 

[Fat Hippo]

13. Fate/Zero (2011): 52,133 units average. The inspiring story of the worst story ever written, getting a prequel which was really fantastic...because it was written by a completely different person. And then it got animated.

To be fair, the Fate/Stay Night anime wasn't very well done, we can only hope the remake it is getting this fall will be better. If they manage to make Shirou less of a shithead, they deserve all the awards and monies. Fate/Zero is fantastic though, as you said.

 

[LobsterFeng]

How has One Piece not been mentioned? One Piece is huge in Japan. Like huge huge. Like, when my brother was in Japan for 2 years, all everyone ever wanted to talk to him about was One Piece. He said a casual conversation someone would usually asked if he's seen/read the newest One Piece. Compared to how big it is in the west it's kind of sad really because One Piece is awesome.

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

It's cause licencing companies like Funimation and Viz have to pay huge amounts of money to bring series over here to the US and even more money if they dub it.. they're only willing to take risks with anime/manga they're sure will sell a lot here in the US.. some of the stuff like Gundam,Gin Tama, Hunter X Hunter,Yu Yu Hakusho, Initial D, Doramon, Bobobo-bobobobo just might not be as profitable in the US so companies aren't willing licence it or at least not much of it... some stuff like Neon Genesis Evangelion is only sort of popular here in the US, but is mega popular in Japan.. they recently opened a store that exclusively sells Neon Genesis Evangelion merchandise.. that would never be opened in here in the US..

Then again.. even some series that are popular here like Bleach, Naruto and Dragon Ball only see a fraction of the related light novels, sound tracks, figures, videogames, posters and other merchandise actually released here.

 

[Palademon]

1. The World of Golden Eggs (2005): 139,252 units average. World of Golden Eggs is a weird short about...eggs.
2. Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995): 111,559 units average. I think most of us are familiar with this.
3. The World of Golden Eggs 2 (2006): 100,458 units average. I guess the Japanese like their eggs.
4. Bakemonogatari (2009): 78,671 units average. Bakemonogatari is the best-selling full-length anime of the 21st century.
5. Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011): 71,056 units average. The inspiring true story of how the studio that made the best-selling anime of the 21st century...also made the second-best-selling anime of the 21st century. Only they made way more money on this one cuz they own more of the rights to it.
6. Gundam SEED Destiny (2004): 68,732 units average. You know that Gundam nobody liked, that had that second season people liked even less? Yeah, that's this.
7. Usavich (2006): 61,633 units average. I don't even know about this one, except it's a short.
8. Nisemonogatari (2012): 60,580 units average. Studio Shaft, rakin' in dat cash.
9. Gundam SEED (2002): 58,589 units average. How does a second season even outsell a first season? How does that even happen?
10. Nekomonogatari BLACK (2013): 56,938 units average. Okay, Shaft, now you're just fucking with us.
11. Attack on Titan (2013): 53,877 units average. The inspiring story about a man who couldn't draw, deciding to draw anyway, thus spawning the anime that defined a generation.
12. Usavich 2 (2007): 53,230 units average. It won't go awaaaaaaay...
13. Fate/Zero (2011): 52,133 units average. The inspiring story of the worst story ever written, getting a prequel which was really fantastic...because it was written by a completely different person. And then it got animated.
14. Usavich 3 (2008): 52,016 units average. I just...I don't even have anything to say anymore.
15. Macross Frontier (2008): 46,147 units average. Ah, Macross. That one anime about...space...or something...yeah I know nothing about Macross.
16. Fate/Zero 2 (2012): 45,804 units average. Split-cour anime: an innovation for a modern era.
17. Code Geass (2006): 45,367 units average. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
18. Monogatari Series Second Season (2013): 45,005 units average. Monogatari Series Second Season, the third season of the Monogatari Series. 3.5th? Whatever.
19. Usavich 4 (2011): 44,544 units average. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
20. K-On! (2009): 43,884 units average. The inspiring story of a studio taking a not-very-good manga and completely rewriting it however they wanted to make a better anime. Which people outside of Japan don't like anyway. But still. It made a lot of money.

You. I like you.

13. Fate/Zero (2011): 52,133 units average. The inspiring story of the worst story ever written, getting a prequel which was really fantastic...because it was written by a completely different person. And then it got animated.

To be fair, the Fate/Stay Night anime wasn't very well done, we can only hope the remake it is getting this fall will be better. If they manage to make Shirou less of a shithead, they deserve all the awards and monies. Fate/Zero is fantastic though, as you said.

The sad thing is even if they make Fate/Stay Night the best possible, it still won't be as good as Fate/Zero. For example, Fate/Zero is the story of masters fighting over goals. Fate/Stay Night is the story of watching Shirou. Shirou can be good, but even then it's still just watching a well-made shonen, because it's entirely about the success or failure of one character.

 

[Theminimanx]

13. Fate/Zero (2011): 52,133 units average. The inspiring story of the worst story ever written, getting a prequel which was really fantastic...because it was written by a completely different person. And then it got animated.

To be fair, the Fate/Stay Night anime wasn't very well done, we can only hope the remake it is getting this fall will be better. If they manage to make Shirou less of a shithead, they deserve all the awards and monies. Fate/Zero is fantastic though, as you said.

The sad thing is even if they make Fate/Stay Night the best possible, it still won't be as good as Fate/Zero. For example, Fate/Zero is the story of masters fighting over goals. Fate/Stay Night is the story of watching Shirou. Shirou can be good, but even then it's still just watching a well-made shonen, because it's entirely about the success or failure of one character.

Or at least, until halfway through the series, after which the show focuses almost completely on Kiritsugu. And even before that some masters barely got any screentime (Kariya and Kayneth being prime examples). Which is a real shame, because 14 interesting characters, sometimes from legends even, fighting in a battle royale sounded really interesting. Unfortunately only 6 of them are really fleshed out. Not to mention how Gilgamesh breaks the entire competition on his own.

 

[Fat Hippo]

13. Fate/Zero (2011): 52,133 units average. The inspiring story of the worst story ever written, getting a prequel which was really fantastic...because it was written by a completely different person. And then it got animated.

To be fair, the Fate/Stay Night anime wasn't very well done, we can only hope the remake it is getting this fall will be better. If they manage to make Shirou less of a shithead, they deserve all the awards and monies. Fate/Zero is fantastic though, as you said.

The sad thing is even if they make Fate/Stay Night the best possible, it still won't be as good as Fate/Zero. For example, Fate/Zero is the story of masters fighting over goals. Fate/Stay Night is the story of watching Shirou. Shirou can be good, but even then it's still just watching a well-made shonen, because it's entirely about the success or failure of one character.

Or at least, until halfway through the series, after which the show focuses almost completely on Kiritsugu. And even before that some masters barely got any screentime (Kariya and Kayneth being prime examples). Which is a real shame, because 14 interesting characters, sometimes from legends even, fighting in a battle royale sounded really interesting. Unfortunately only 6 of them are really fleshed out. Not to mention how Gilgamesh breaks the entire competition on his own.

In terms of being a battle royale, it's never very well set up, as Gilgamesh is basically unkillable by anyone except Saber, and only if she uses her OP Ultimate. So hey all you poor assassins and lancers out there, might as well just pack up now, you were boned from the start.

 

[Auberon]

As if the King doesn't have multiple artifacts to just reflect it back. I don't recall if Merodach or Gram have the same swing, but as Broskander showed - if you get Gilgamesh to take you seriously, it means being worthy of single most powerful NP.

 

[Queen Michael]

How has One Piece not been mentioned? One Piece is huge in Japan.

Well, I did ask for stuff the Japanese love that's obscure here in the West. One Piece isn't exactly obscure.

 

[Riot3000]

I think someone mentioned but JoJo Bizarre Adventure is crazy huge in Japan. I mean after reading or watching JoJo every other anime will have or become on big JoJo reference. I mean Kill la Kill had numerous references from Makos outfit to their own MUDA MUDA scene. And Clamp even made doujinshi to it and I would be surprised if other mangka have done the same.