Japan’s Official #1 Manga This Month Is Basically ‘Demon Slayer’ Meets ‘John Wick’

A sword flashes, a black goldfish tears across the page, and suddenly Kagurabachi has another reason to make noise. Takeru Hokazono’s Weekly Shonen Jump series has claimed the No. 1 spot on the latest ORICON weekly manga ranking, with Volume 12 selling an estimated 50,941 physical copies in Japan during the August 31–September 6, 2026 tracking period. It edged out Dandadan Volume 25, which sold 43,453 copies, while Kingdom Volume 80 fell to third.

That distinction matters: this is a weekly volume-sales ranking, not a declaration that Kagurabachi is Japan’s overall best-selling manga. Still, for a series that only began serialization in September 2023, another No. 1 debut is a pretty sharp flex.

Kagurabachi’s Latest Volume Is Taking Japan by Storm at #1

A manga panel of Chihiro Rokuhira holding a sword from the manga series Kagurabachi. [Credit: Shueisha]

ORICON‘s latest chart puts Kagurabachi Volume 12 at the summit with 50,941 estimated sales, 7,488 copies ahead of Dandadan Volume 25. Seven of the Top 10 were new releases, and Shueisha occupied eight of those positions, making the chart unusually crowded with fresh competition.

The result is another concrete marker of how far Hokazono’s series has traveled. Kagurabachi began in Weekly Shonen Jump in September 2023 as Hokazono’s first serialized manga. Its first chapter also ranked No. 1 worldwide in views on MANGA Plus during its debut week, before the series won the Comics Division of the Next Manga Awards 2024.

The manga did hit a brief speed bump earlier this year. Kagurabachi went on hiatus beginning with Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 31, released June 29, after the editorial team and Hokazono decided he needed time to rest so the series could continue at a stable pace. The manga had also taken a separate break in May after Hokazono fell ill.

Thankfully, this was no permanent vanishing act. The series resumed after roughly one month, returning in Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 35 on July 27 with its latest chapter. In other words, Chihiro’s sword was sheathed temporarily, not retired. The commercial growth has followed. ORICON reported in July that Kagurabachi had surpassed 4 million copies in circulation, while the manga’s upcoming television anime is scheduled for April 2027.

Kagurabachi Blends Demon Slayer’s Swordplay With John Wick’s Brutality

The comparison in the headline sounds like internet matchmaking at first: Demon Slayer meets John Wick. Yet the visual logic is surprisingly clean. Kagurabachi follows Chihiro Rokuhira, the son of legendary swordsmith Kunishige. After sorcerers known as the Hishaku murder his father and steal six enchanted blades, Chihiro takes up Enten, the seventh and final blade Kunishige created, and begins a bloody quest for revenge.

This is where the Demon Slayer comparison clicks. Like Koyoharu Gotouge’s series, Kagurabachi makes swordsmanship the visual language of its supernatural battles. But Hokazono gives that language a distinctly harsher edge. And a small terminology correction matters: Kuro is not the name of Chihiro’s enchanted blade; Enten is. Kuro is one of Enten’s signature abilities, manifested through a black goldfish. It unleashes a sweeping ranged slash, while Aka can absorb attacks and Nishiki dramatically boosts Chihiro’s physical capabilities for high-speed combat.

That last part is where John Wick enters the conversation. Chihiro’s fights emphasize speed, precision, ruthless efficiency, and sudden bursts of violence rather than leisurely trading of blows. The choreography often feels designed around momentum: draw, strike, reposition, finish. Additionally, in 2024, Takuro Imamura, the editor of Kagurabachi, revealed during the 5th MangaPlus anniversary interview that Takeru Hokazono “seems to be” a fan of John Wick films, alongside Tarantino movies (via MangaPlus). In fact, Hokazono wanted to write a revenge story often featured in those western flicks.

Undoubtedly, Kagurabachi‘s comparison with Demon Slayer and John Wick captures Hokazono’s manga’s particular cocktail: supernatural swordplay with the cold, kinetic brutality of an action-thriller. And with Volume 12 now sitting at No. 1 on ORICON’s weekly chart, that cocktail is clearly finding plenty of readers in Japan.

Do you think Kagurabachi deserves the Demon Slayer meets John Wick comparison? Tell us what you think in the comments!

Kagurabachi manga chapters are available on VIZ Media and Shueisha’s Manga PLUS app.