House of the Dragon Meets Gladiator in Japan’s No. 1 Manga This September

Kingdom has done it again. Japan’s manga charts have crowned a historical war epic, and its latest victory feels tailor-made for anyone who loves the political venom of House of the Dragon and the brutal spectacle of Gladiator. Yasuhisa Hara’s Kingdom plunges readers into China’s Warring States period, where ambitious rulers, military commanders, and soldiers fight over a future that could reshape an entire nation.

Now, Kingdom Vol. 80 has proved that this nearly two-decade-old saga still has plenty of firepower. The volume has remained at No. 1 on Oricon’s weekly manga chart for a second consecutive week (via Oricon JP), turning its latest sales performance into another impressive milestone for the franchise.

Here are the Oricon weekly chart rankings for the tracking week ending September 7, 2026:

Kingdom Vol. 80 Dominates Japan’s Manga Charts for a Second Straight Week

Shin from Kingdom. [Credit: Pierrot]

Kingdom Vol. 80 held onto the top spot in the latest Oricon weekly manga ranking, selling an estimated 85,164 physical copies in Japan during its second week. That follows an enormous opening week of 280,215 copies, bringing the volume’s estimated cumulative sales to 365,379 copies after two weeks on the chart.

The result is particularly notable because Vol. 80 continued to lead despite its weekly sales falling 69.6% from its debut. It still finished 22,809 copies ahead of Made in Abyss Vol. 15, which debuted at No. 2 with 62,355 copies. In other words, this wasn’t simply a case of Kingdom winning because no major challenger showed up. A fresh volume from another popular series entered at No. 2, and Kingdom still held the crown.

That staying power is fitting for a series that has been charging across the pages of Weekly Young Jump since January 2006. Created by Yasuhisa Hara, Kingdom was inspired by Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) and follows the fictionalized journey of Xin, a war orphan who dreams of becoming a great general, alongside the young King Ying Zheng, who seeks to unify China. Vol. 80’s performance therefore isn’t just another weekly chart result. It is another reminder that readers remain invested in a saga that has now crossed the 120-million-copy circulation milestone (via Oricon JP).

Kingdom Is Japan’s Answer to House of the Dragon and Gladiator‘s Brutal Battles

Calling Kingdom a historical battle manga undersells what makes it so addictive. The series treats warfare as a collision of ambition, strategy, loyalty, and sheer human brutality. That’s where the House of the Dragon comparison starts to make sense. Like HBO’s fantasy drama, Kingdom is fascinated by rulers fighting over political power, shifting alliances, betrayals, and the dangerous question of who gets to control a kingdom. But instead of dragons deciding the battlefield, Hara sends armies, generals, and military strategies crashing into one another.

Then comes the Gladiator side of the equation. Kingdom delivers enormous battlefield clashes filled with desperate charges, personal rivalries, bloodshed, and larger-than-life warriors. Victory isn’t merely about defeating the person standing in front of you; one failed maneuver can send thousands to their deaths and change the political balance of an entire nation.

The anime has helped bring that spectacle to an even wider audience. It began in 2013 and has since expanded into a long-running adaptation, with the sixth season beginning in October 2025 and covering the escalating conflict between Qin and Zhao. The franchise’s legacy is already formidable. Hara won the 17th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Grand Prize, while Kingdom surpassed 110 million copies in circulation in 2024 and later crossed 120 million.

Nearly 20 years after its debut, Kingdom clearly hasn’t run out of battles to fight or readers willing to watch them unfold. And with Vol. 80 ruling Japan’s manga chart for another week, the war epic is still marching forward.

What do you think makes Kingdom so addictive after all these years? Tell us in the comments!

Kingdom manga chapters are available via VIZ Media.