Naruto and One Piece are two mangas that come from the same era. The first volume of One Piece was published in 1997, Naruto started in 1999. However, outside of Japan, one of the two is more successful than the other. The editors of the respective Shueisha publishing house provide answers as to why this might be the case.
Which manga is more popular abroad? For the editors of Shueisha, it is clear in an interview on denfaminicogamer from 2019 that Naruto is more popular abroad than One Piece.
- Naruto has been the most searched anime on Google for the last 25 years (via searchplayground). A global statistic has been compiled for this.
- The Naruto anime even ranks number 1 among the most popular children’s series.
- In 2019, Naruto sold a total of 153 million volumes in Japan, and 147 million in the rest of the world (via X). Thus, the worldwide sales are just shy of the Japanese ones.
- One Piece printed 390 million volumes in Japan alone in the same year, while only 70 million in the rest of the world. How many of these were sold is not revealed by the source mantan-web. However, we assume that significantly more copies were sold in Japan based on these numbers.
Kosuke Yagahi is one of the people participating in the interview. He worked a few years ago for Weekly Shonen Jump under mangaka Masashi Kishimoto as the editor of Naruto. In the interview with Kazuhiko Torishima, another Naruto editor, he answered the question of why Naruto is more popular abroad than One Piece.
Naruto now has a successor with Boruto:
The world outside Japan loves cheerful stories that are easier to understand
Why should Naruto be more popular? For Yagahi, it is clear that Naruto is easier to understand due to its action elements than One Piece. This is mainly because One Piece has more drama. His own children also have difficulty understanding drama better than action.
Matsuyama compared One Piece to old Yakuza films or a play. The manga is structured like a Kabuki, a traditional Japanese play. Naruto, on the other hand, is oriented towards Hollywood.
Additionally, people outside Japan feel more comfortable when they see an image that conveys a positive feeling. According to Torishima, Japanese people would rather prefer to read a tearful drama. This is unpopular abroad.
Many people abroad also do not understand Japanese mangas. They lack the reading comprehension that is not required in this form in Naruto.
Another important factor for the Shueisha editors is the appearance of Naruto. The ninja from Konoha has blonde hair and blue eyes, which makes it easier for people abroad to identify with him.
The successor to Naruto, Boruto, cannot build on this success. The manga is less popular than Naruto, which is due to several factors. However, a time jump has now caused Boruto to suddenly gain popularity: Naruto’s son has suddenly grown up – And his manga even surpasses One Piece and Dragon Ball
