Sometimes, a manga's sudden explosion in popularity arrives without warning for the vast majority of readers.
Japan has six major manga journals, along with countless small and mid-sized publications. Manga readers' tastes are extremely diverse, some love hot-blooded battle series, others prefer mystery, while many gravitate toward youth romance.
For a manga to be considered "popular," capturing the attention of even one-tenth of the active reader base is already an outstanding achievement.
Before this year, Hunter × Hunter was certainly popular. Its rankings climbed steadily, eventually reaching the top of Dream Comic. Even so, a huge portion of Japan's manga readers either hadn't heard of it at all, or had heard the name but felt no interest.
But now…
Walk through the anime merchandise streets of Tokyo, or any major first- or second-tier coastal city in Japan. Visit comic conventions large and small. You'll find that whenever manga comes up in conversation, Hunter × Hunter appears with astonishing frequency.
Whenever anime is discussed, One-Punch Man is impossible to avoid.
And whenever people talk about manga artists, Shirogane, that, young, diligent, relentlessly hardworking creator who has never produced a bad ending since his debut, even though his stories are often filled with regret, is the name most often mentioned by young ACG fans.
ACG commercial streets are plastered with posters of Hunter × Hunter and One-Punch Man.
And if a shelf in a merchandise store looks suspiciously empty, it's usually because One-Punch Man goods have sold out yet again.
In bookstores, the single-volume sales sections place Hunter × Hunter in the most prominent locations. After all, a manga experiencing rapid popularity growth attracts far more new readers than long-running titles whose sales have already stabilized.
Seeing Hunter × Hunter referenced once or twice in real life, through friends, posters, or street ads, might not spark much interest.
But when praise for the series keeps echoing from every direction, it becomes inevitable.
Even if you're not a regular reader of Dream Comic, curiosity alone will eventually pull you into a bookstore.
This is the explosive momentum created by overwhelming reputation.
And it's precisely why Hunter × Hunter's single-volume sales skyrocketed so dramatically in March.
That same month, the Hoshimori Group invited Rei to hold two fan-signing events, timed with the release of Hunter × Hunter Volume 5. The turnout was so massive that the original venue proved far too small to contain the crowd.
"I envy the fans in Tokyo so much, I want a Hunter × Hunter volume signed by Teacher Shirogane too!"
"Next time Volume 6 comes out, I'm flying straight to Tokyo!"
"Is anyone selling a hand-signed copy by Teacher Shirogane for 500 yen? I'll cover shipping!"
"500? You're dreaming!"
"Brother, don't come. Shirogane can't take it anymore. I lined up until four yesterday, his fingers were already red from holding the pen. Have mercy on him!"
"At this rate, it feels like Hunter × Hunter won't even need a year to break 16 million average sales per volume!"
"That's insane!"
"That's how shōnen manga work. Early on, with few chapters, popularity crawls like an insect. But once the serialization deepens and the world-building expands, popularity explodes. How far it goes depends entirely on plot quality. If the Yorknew City arc keeps this level, the average volume sales will absolutely keep climbing!"
"Can someone do the math, how much is Shirogane earning from Hunter × Hunter this year?"
"Just calculate it yourself! He's insanely prolific, at least seven or eight volumes a year. At 13 million copies per volume, tens of millions sold annually. Each volume sells for around 500 yen, with an 8% royalty… Just from tankōbon sales alone, ignoring merchandise, he's already clearing over 520 million yen!"
"Hunter × Hunter is amazing, but One-Punch Man is still top-tier. Hunter hasn't been animated yet, so it's mostly popular domestically. One-Punch Man, though, is huge overseas. I even know friends studying abroad who resell genuine One-Punch Man merchandise at a markup."
"Don't talk about how much Teacher Shirogane earns! When other people make money, I think 'lucky guy.' But with Shirogane? You can't even be jealous. It's not luck, it's pure effort and sweat."
"Heh… as someone who self-studied manga in high school, I actually cried when I learned Teacher Shirogane updates over forty pages of Hunter × Hunter every week. What's crazier is that he also worked on the music for One-Punch Man, fully handled its scripts and character designs, and now he's still finding time to create arcane…"
"Having read manga for so many years, I don't respect anyone else, only Shirogane. At eighteen, his achievements in the anime industry already surpass 99% of his peers, and the number of works he's produced in just two years exceeds the lifetime output of 99% of creators!"
"Let's not exaggerate, 99% of creators wouldn't even get four works serialized in major journals over their entire careers, let alone in two years. Only Shirogane could pull that off. And what's even funnier? His only rejected work was One-Punch Man! Just thinking about it makes me laugh. A stain on his life! His one point of similarity with ordinary manga artists, because a manga artist's life isn't complete without at least one rejection!"
"Stop it, stop it, I can't hold it in anymore, I'm laughing too hard!"
Every day, every moment, discussions about Shirogane's works generated massive online buzz. And these conversations, whether praise, jokes, or heated debate, were effectively free promotion.
Thus, March came to an end.
One-Punch Man Season Two concluded its broadcast with an undeniable 6.75% viewership rating, effortlessly retaining its crown as the highest-rated anime that premiered this season.
As for Hikaru no Go: The Final Season, its ratings remained stable throughout its run, ultimately ranking second among all anime that aired this season.
There was only one exception.
The episode depicting Sai's disappearance.
That week, countless manga readers and drama fans sat glued to their televisions. As a result, Hikaru no Go achieved a 6.43% rating, narrowly surpassing One-Punch Man's 6.39% for that same week.
But Hikaru no Go only broke the 6% mark once.
And that was enough.
Soon, April arrived.
Rei originally planned to transition seamlessly into the broadcast of One-Punch Man Season Three.
Unfortunately, Capital TV Station had other ideas.
They didn't learn anything good, but instead picked up one of the worst habits from anime broadcasting in Rei's previous life…
Recap episodes.
And they learned it perfectly.
At this point, One-Punch Man had become a flagship program for Capital TV Station. Weekly advertising slots sold to GG sponsors were worth astronomical sums, so there was no way the station would allow any airtime to go unused.
Season Three's episode count wasn't enough to fill the entire spring broadcast window from April to July. So for those extra one or two weeks, the solution was simple.
Replay content, fool the audience, and keep cashing in on sponsorship fees.
In the first week of April, a wave of enthusiastic One-Punch Man fans eagerly tuned in, fully expecting a new episode.
The moment they realized it was a recap episode, the internet exploded.
Forums, comment sections, and social platforms were flooded with rage. Capital TV Station was instantly blasted onto trending topics, cursed from top to bottom.
And the funniest part?
That torrent of outrage generated massive traffic.
Which made Capital TV Station happier than ever.