Manga and Manhwa Dominate the NYT September Bestseller List

The latest New York Times monthly Graphic Books and Manga bestseller list, released in early September, was once again dominated by manga and manhwa.

Leading the pack was the 13th volume of Solo Leveling, the Korean webcomic by Chugong and DUBU, which claimed the number one spot. Right behind it, the 27th volume of Gege Akutami’s Jujutsu Kaisen took number three.

Jujutsu Kaisen has been a remarkably consistent presence on the chart, having also placed near the top of the previous month’s list with an earlier volume.

That August list showed the breadth of the category too, with classics like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run and a recent One Piece volume charting alongside the newer hits.

The New York Times introduced this dedicated list back in October 2019, and it has since become a reliable measure of how strongly the medium sells in the broader book market.

My take: Month after month, these charts tell the same happy story: manga and manhwa are simply mainstream now. Seeing both share the top of the list feels completely normal these days, which is wonderful.