It may seem like a sweet deal, but let’s make one thing clear – making manga is not an easy job. From the industry’s infamously long hours to the skill it takes to make a good manga, manga creators are forced to hustle hard. Over the decades, the manga industry has ebbed and flowed, but the global stage has now turned its eye to manga. This means the industry’s top creators are eating well, and some new data is going viral for sussing out the industry’s top earners.
The update came in two waves as Yen Press visited New York Comic Con this fall, and it was there the publisher broke down how a manga creator’s pay is made. As it turns out, manga artists get paid in waves. To start, they are paid an average of $88 USD per page, but that number is flexible depending on experience. While some newcomers may make less money, manga pros can make more than double that rate depending on their work. This manuscript fee is pretty standard across the industry, but what sets manga creators apart in terms of wealth is sales.
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One Piece’s Eiichiro Oda Leads the List of Wealthiest Mangaka
According to the data shared by Kadokawa and Yen Press, the average royalty for manga creators is 10% of each volume sold. This means a $4 USD volume in Japan brings $0.40 to its creator. To scale this, if one million copies of a manga volume is sold, the manga creator will earn nearly $327,000 USD. So with that figure in mind, netizen mangaxrepublic did the math to see which best-selling manga creators were making the most bank from their sales.
In first place, it is no surprise that Eiichiro Oda slid home. The creator of One Piece has at least 515 million copies in circulation, so by royalty pay alone, Oda has earned $206 million USD to date. This figure does not account for special royalty deals or Oda’s other cuts in merchandising, anime licensing, movie production, and more. So when it comes to manga, Oda really is the GOAT.
As the list goes on, the co-creators of Doraemon tie with Takao Saito, the creator of Golga 13, when it comes to royalty pay. The group has earned at least $120 million USD from sales alone. The top five then wraps with two very familiar figures: Akira Toriyama and Gosho Aoyama. At $118 million, Toriyama has a number of series backing his royalties; Dragon Ball contributes the most with 260 million copies sold, but other titles like Dr. Slump and Sand Land have helped. And for Aoyama, Detective Conan and Yaiba have made the artist a rich man.
If you want to read this rest of the royalty rundown, no sweat. You can read the list below:
- Eiichiro Oda
- Fujiko F. Fujio (Duo)
- Takao Saito
- Akira Toriyama
- Gosho Aoyama
- Takehiko Inoue
- Masashi Kishimoto
- Rumiko Takahashi
- Mitsuru Adachi
- Osamu Tezuka
Manga Creators Make Most of Their Money Outside of Publishing
Looking at this data, you can see that manga’s top-sellers are making solid bank with royalties, but their wealth goes far beyond those figures. For guys like Oda, well – it is safe to say money is no object to them. The net worth of manga’s top creators are massive, and those numbers are only getting bigger as anime becomes more popular globally.
In Oda’s case, his royalties not only make him a top earner in the manga community, but his other projects have inflated his net worth. Estimated to be worth $200+ million USD, Oda is incredibly involved with the licensing of One Piece. From Netflix’s live-action adaptation to Universal Studios events and clothing collections, all of these crossover brings Oda more money.
When it comes to net worth, oftentimes manga royalties do not dictate who has more bank behind them. Rumiko Takahashi is said to be worth upwards of $70 million USD even though her manga royalties aren’t cutting edge. Her award-winning reputation and top-rated anime adaptations have earned her serious money. This same truth goes for guys like Hajime Isayama (Attack on Titan) and Tite Kubo (Bleach). As creators, manga sales are vital for success, but the manga industry is just the start. Artists can earn a lot of money through licensing, and newcomers like Kagurabachi‘s Takeru Hokazono are finding that out firsthand now.
What do you make of this latest manga breakdown? Give me a shout at @meganwpeters with your take! You can also let us know what you think over on X (Twitter) and Instagram.