Few manga endings were as much of a combined high-profile event and polarizing release as that of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Chainsaw Man. The series recently concluded its two-part manga run, starting in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump back in 2018, until its controversial finale on the Shonen Jump+ digital platform, concluding Denji’s story and setting the internet ablaze. While the reactions to Chainsaw Man’s ending are certainly inconsistent, one thing that’s undeniably positive has been its sales in the following weeks.

As reported by the New York Times best sellers list under Graphic Books and Manga, Chainsaw Man volume #20 released in North America on March 3. The manga dominated sales against even concurrent releases like Dragon Ball Super volume #24, later March 10 releases like One Piece volume #111, and continuously charting February hit Jujutsu Kaisen volume #29. Given renewed interest on multiple fronts, from the anime revitalized both by the recent movie and its continuation adapting more arcs, it’s clear that Chainsaw Man’s manga ending hasn’t killed off interest, but rather, stoked the flames of the fandom.

Shonen Jump Manga Dominates NYT April Bestsellers Despite Controversial Ending

Ranking only behind Big Jim Believes by Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants, Dog Man), Chainsaw Man took the #2 spot on the NYT April best sellers list for April 2026. Other key competitors on the list include JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run volume #6 and Gachiakuta volume #1, both evidently fueled by a combined ongoing anime and dedicated readership beforehand. Chainsaw Man ranked handily above them, despite its recent ending spanning reactions from calling it among the worst manga conclusions to date, to admitting it has layered appeal.

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Chainsaw Man’s Final Chapter Resurrects the Series’ Most Popular Hero, and the Fandom is Shook

Chainsaw Man’s final chapter has officially been released, and it sees the long-awaited return of a fan-favorite character.

Chainsaw Man’s manga sales aren’t the only evidence of its continuous popularity, either. The series currently sits atop the completed manga charts on Manga Plus, standing tall above Jujutsu Kaisen and Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo, by a notably wide margin. Given that volume #20 entails the Aging Devil Arc, in which some of the wildest moments in the series happen, including a noteworthy Statue of Liberty moment nobody quite saw coming, it’s certainly an enticing tome to pick up. But it’ll be worth following to see if Chainsaw Man’s manga sales continue to have this momentum in its final volumes, while its anime is certainly having its brighter moments.

Chainsaw Man’s Anime Future Remains Positive

Controversial endings hardly kill the reception of a popular anime; after all, Oshi no Ko remains a beautiful spectacle now well after its manga finished. Chainsaw Man’s Reze Arc movie performed very well at the box office, and now the Assassins Arc is on its way, with fans clearly excited for MAPPA’s high-fidelity treatment of Fujimoto’s manga as it gets closer to concluding Part 1 of the manga.

It effectively means years of content ahead for the manga as the online fandom clearly responds well to the series when adapted right. Audiences simply aren’t prepared for the insanity ahead, namely the Gun and Control Devils, with anime-only viewers surely in for a shock to the system. While Chainsaw Man’s ending may have been divisive, it’s clear that it never killed the franchise, but rather, fueled the ongoing fan conversation as the anime continues to flesh out Fujimoto’s wild vision.

Created by

Tatsuki Fujimoto

First Episode Air Date

October 12, 2022

Cast

Kikunosuke Toya, Tomori Kusunoki, Shôgo Sakata, Ai Fairouz, Mariya Ise, Kenjiro Tsuda, Shiori Izawa, Reina Ueda