The anime”Kaiju #8“, one of the highest-rated series of the season Spring 2024 (April to June)surprised the community of fans and critics by debuts with only 445 copies sold of its Blu-ray/DVD in its first week available in Japan. Despite its popularity and acclaim, this number is considered extremely low compared to other releases from the same period.

To put these sales into perspective, other anime released in the same season recorded significantly higher numbers. For example, the seventh Blu-ray/DVD of “I am in the Frieren” sold 7,123 copiesthe room “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” achieved 5,692 copiesand the first of “Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 2 Part 2” managed to sell 3,091 copies. These numbers further highlight the modest sales of “Kaiju No.

While physical disc sales are no longer as relevant in the streaming era, where services like Netflix, Crunchyroll and Amazon Prime dominate the market, The low sales figures for “Kaiju No. 8” have raised questions among fans and the industry about why some anime series manage to sell thousands of copies while othersdespite its success on other platforms, They can barely take off in physical format.

While “Kaiju No. 8” is popular, its fan base may not be as inclined to buy physical albums. What is more, The quality of content added to this product, such as cast interviews, concept art, and deleted scenes, could be a big draw for Blu-ray/DVD buyers.. If “Kaiju No. 8” didn’t include attractive extras, it could have affected sales.

Most likely, however, competition from other simultaneous releases affected sales. The presence of strong titles in the same period can divert the attention and resources of potential buyers. Despite the growing preference for streaming, the physical record market still has its place, especially among collectors and die-hard fans.

Despite these disappointing numbers, it should be made clear that the production of a second season of “Kaiju No. 8” has already been announced., so fans shouldn't worry. In fact, the comments themselves reflect this ideology:

• «I'm glad Frieren is okay. Kaiju #8 probably made money from its production just from the streaming license (I don't know, I'm just guessing), so the low BD sales don't matter».
• «Most shonen anime titles fail to sell on Blu-ray. Kimetsu no Yaiba and Jujutsu Kaisen are the exception, not the rule. Otaku-supported series are the ones that get the biggest sales.».
• «Every time these numbers come out, people don't understand what they really mean. On the one hand, low sales don't mean that the anime has failed, since streaming is more profitable now and there are other sources of income. On the other hand, it shows how passionate anime fans are and how happy they are with it. Other Toho animes like Frieren, Apothecary Diaries, and Mushoku Tensei sold much better, although the Kaijuu No 8 manga sold better than these. It may not seem like much, but character designs had a huge impact on BD/DVD sales.».
• «Why the low sales? I heard it's not a bad anime».
• «Since the BDs are for die-hard fans due to their high price tag, it seems that the series failed to gain many passionate viewers, although it was a huge success on streaming and will be fine.».
• «The source material sucks. The extra irony is that it started to suck as soon as the anime was announced.».
• «The manga fandom plummeted last year (I don't know why, I don't read it) and it's really bad now. The anime failed to revive interest in the series.».
• «Kaiju No. 8 only has 160 fan arts on Danbooru. In contrast, Girls Band Cry has over 3.5k fan arts. GBC was also an original anime unlike Kaiju, so it didn't have a chance to gain traction before airing. These numbers provide a good measure of how popular a series is, especially among Japanese fans, since most of the art published there is by Japanese artists. That said, I will say that these numbers tend to favor anime with strong shipping potential, which is definitely a plus for GBC.».
• «Look, that irrelevant number that doesn't matter anymore, but is always mentioned when you want to praise a program or 'prove' that it really sucks.».
• «Well, well, it's Solo Leveling again. Kaiju No. 8 fans shouldn't worry about comic book sales. Comic book sales don't matter as much these days and Kaiju No. 8 has done quite well in the streaming department.».

Source: Yaraon!