Gintama manga sales: total copies, volume milestones, and context
Hideaki Sorachi's gag-and-action series is one of Shueisha's longer-running hits, but its sales are spread across a 15-year magazine run and multiple publishers.
Published: 2026-08-19. Updated: 2026-08-19.
Short answer: Gintama has sold more than 55 million tankobon volumes, according to Warner Bros. Japan and SciFi Japan. The manga ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump from December 2003 to September 2018, then moved to Jump Giga and finally to the Gintama app, concluding in June 2019 with 77 collected volumes.
How many copies has Gintama sold?
Warner Bros. Japan promotional materials cited by SciFi Japan state that the collected editions of Gintama have sold more than 55 million volumes. Attack of the Fanboy reports that the series reached that level by 2018.
The total is a cumulative circulation figure for the tankobon editions, not an annual sales tally. It covers the entire run from the first volume through the 77th and final volume.
Because Gintama is primarily a comedy with extended parody and dramatic arcs, its sales profile differs from battle-focused series that spike around major fights or tournament conclusions.
Publication history and volume count
Gintama was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from December 2003 to September 2018. MyAnimeList notes that it then moved to Jump Giga from December 2018 to February 2019, and finished on the Gintama app from May to June 2019.
The series was collected into 77 tankobon volumes. That long run means its per-volume average is lower than shorter blockbuster series, even though the total circulation is substantial.
The manga's unusual migration across three publishing platforms reflects its strong but niche audience; most Weekly Shonen Jump series either conclude in the magazine or are canceled rather than shifting to app-only finales.
Gintama serialization timeline and collected-volume count.| Period | Magazine or platform | Notes |
|---|
| Dec 2003 to Sep 2018 | Weekly Shonen Jump | Main serialization |
| Dec 2018 to Feb 2019 | Jump Giga | Interim run |
| May to Jun 2019 | Gintama app | Final chapters |
| Total tankobon volumes | 77 | Per MyAnimeList |
Early volume milestones
ComiPress reported in March 2007 that volume one of Gintama had sold over one million copies. Shueisha attributed part of that jump to the announcement of the anime adaptation.
That early milestone matters because it shows the series had already found a large audience before its long run and multiple spin-offs expanded the franchise.
What the 55 million figure does not show
Shueisha has not published a year-by-year sales breakdown for Gintama in English, and Oricon yearly rankings from the 2000s and 2010s are fragmented in public archives. The 55 million figure therefore tells us the series' total scale, not its annual trajectory.
Because the run spans 77 volumes, the per-volume average is roughly 700,000 copies. That is a solid figure for a long-running gag series, but it is lower than the per-volume averages of shorter, event-driven hits.
Readers comparing Gintama to shorter hits should keep this structural difference in mind. A 20-volume series with 20 million copies in circulation has the same total but a much higher per-volume average.
Circulation vs. yearly rank: The 55 million total is cumulative circulation across all volumes. Oricon yearly rankings measure sales during a single tracking year. A series can have a high cumulative total without ever topping a single yearly chart.
Franchise adaptations and long-tail sales
Gintama spawned a 367-episode anime run, multiple films including Gintama: The Final, and live-action adaptations. These likely helped sustain manga sales across the later volumes.
The film Gintama: The Final was promoted as the 'true end' of the franchise and opened in January 2021, suggesting the manga's circulation total was still being marketed actively after the manga itself had ended.
SciFi Japan's coverage of The Final notes that the movie adapts the concluding story arc of the manga, a detail that underscores how the later volumes' sales were tied to the promise of a definitive ending.
Frequently asked questions
How many copies of Gintama have been sold?
More than 55 million tankobon volumes have been sold, according to Warner Bros. Japan materials cited by SciFi Japan.
How many volumes of Gintama are there?
The manga was collected into 77 tankobon volumes.
When did Gintama reach 55 million copies?
Attack of the Fanboy reports the series had sold over 55 million copies by 2018.
Did Gintama ever reach number one on Oricon's yearly manga chart?
Public English-language Oricon archives do not list Gintama at number one for any full year. Its strength was cumulative sales over a long serialization rather than a single dominant year.