All-Time Manga Influence Ranking
— 15 Works Measured by Genre Creation × the Chain of Influence on Later Artists

Where the Conventional Wisdom Breaks

① The conventional wisdom says Dragon Ball has the greatest influence of all — here it lands at #2. Nothing else touches it on influence on later creators (10) or international reach (10), but the criteria split it apart as the genre's "perfecter and popularizer" rather than its inventor. Switch to the commercial-scale lens and it moves back to #1 (check the lens above).
② Yoshiharu Tsuge's commercially obscure "Nejishiki" lands at #10. A 16-page short story published in Garo, with essentially zero mainstream circulation, scores a perfect 10 on both genre creation and formal innovation — tied with the #1 spot. The fact that art-comics researchers worldwide still cite it is the strongest rebuttal available to the "circulation equals influence" assumption.
③ The conventional wisdom says One Piece has the world's greatest influence — here it lands at #6. It holds the Guinness World Record for circulation, yet its genre-creation (7) and formal-innovation (7) scores are only mid-range. The gap comes down to its role as the perfecter of an existing genre rather than its inventor.
④ Two shojo works (The Poe Clan at #5, The Rose of Versailles at #9) and one Garo-lineage work (Nejishiki at #10) make the Top 10. Measuring on axes that reach beyond any one magazine relativizes the assumption that "Shonen Jump titles are the center of manga's influence."

How the View Changes With the Weights (Sub-Views)

Caveats & Limitations

Related

Sources

1. The start of serialization of 『鉄腕アトム』 (April 1952 issue of 『少年』) — Tezuka Osamu official site, 『鉄腕アトム』 https://tezukaosamu.net/jp/manga/291.html
2. The first TV anime adaptation of 『鉄腕アトム』 (January 1, 1963 – December 31, 1966, Fuji Television network; Japan's first full-fledged 30-minute-per-episode continuing TV anime) — Wikipedia, 『鉄腕アトム (アニメ第1作)』 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%89%84%E8%85%95%E3%82%A2%E3%83%88%E3%83%A0_(%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A1%E7%AC%AC1%E4%BD%9C)
3. The influence Tezuka had on artists of the Tokiwa-so generation — ※The previous version stated that "every artist of the Tokiwa-so generation has named it as an influence," but we could not locate individual records of each artist's statement and could not substantiate the universal claim, so the wording was softened (an editorial decision by this article).
4. Worldwide cumulative circulation of 『ドラゴンボール』 at 260 million copies (as of March 2024) — Nikkei (Nihon Keizai Shimbun), 『鳥山明さんの「ドラゴンボール」世界で累計2億6000万部』 https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUC0866B0Y4A300C2000000/ ／※We could not locate a press release from Shueisha itself, so this figure is cited as reported by the press.
5. The influence of 『AKIRA』's expressive technique on later works — Vice, 『How "Akira" Has Influenced All Your Favourite TV, Film and Music』 https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-akira-has-influenced-modern-culture/
6. The influence of 『AKIRA』 on filmmakers abroad — CBR, 『How Akira Influenced an Entire Dystopian Sci-Fi Genre』 https://www.cbr.com/akira-dystopian-sci-fi-western-pop-culture-influence/ ／※The previous version cited "BBC Culture, 2019" as the source, but we could not identify the article in question, so it has been replaced with a source we could confirm access to.
7. 『AKIRA』 winning the 8th Kodansha Manga Award, General category (1984) — Wikipedia, 『AKIRA (漫画)』 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKIRA_(%E6%BC%AB%E7%94%BB) ／※The previous version stated "won the Kodansha Manga Award in 1988," but 1988 was the release year of the anime film; the manga's award was the 8th, in 1984, so this has been corrected.
8. Hirohiko Araki's participation in the Louvre Museum's special exhibition (January 22 – April 13, 2009, "Le Louvre invite la bande dessinée") — Anime News Network, 『Jojo's Araki Creates Manga for France's Louvre Museum』 https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-01-22/jojo-araki-creates-manga-for-france-louvre-museum ／※The previous version stated "2013," but 2013 was a Gucci collaboration; the special exhibition took place in 2009, so this has been corrected.
9. The 2020 Eisner Award nomination for the English translation of 『ポーの一族』 (did not win) and Moto Hagio's 2022 induction into the Eisner Award Hall of Fame — Okinawa Times, 『萩尾望都さん 米殿堂入り「ポーの一族」漫画賞の「アイズナー賞」』 https://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/articles/-/996673 ／ English Wikipedia, 『Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia』 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisner_Award_for_Best_U.S._Edition_of_International_Material%E2%80%94Asia ／※The previous version stated "won the Eisner Award in 2021," but the work was nominated in that category in 2020 without winning (that year's winner included Taiyo Matsumoto's 『ルーヴルの猫』, among others); the Hall of Fame induction was a 2022 honor given to the author personally, so this has been corrected.
10. The serialization of 『風と木の詩』 (1976, 『週刊少女コミック』), its winning the 25th Shogakukan Manga Award, and commentary by Shuji Terayama and others — Wikipedia, 『風と木の詩』 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A2%A8%E3%81%A8%E6%9C%A8%E3%81%AE%E8%A9%A9
11. 『ONE PIECE』's Guinness World Record ("Most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author," 416,566,000 copies, as of July 2022) — Guinness World Records, 『Most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author』 https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/118397-most-copies-published-by-a-single-author-for-the-same-comic-book-series
12. The basketball-playing population in Japan during 『SLAM DUNK』's serialization (Japan Basketball Association registered membership: 810,560 in 1990 → 1,008,822 in 1996) — note, 『漫画「スラムダンク」が与えた社会現象やバスケ界のムーブメント』 https://note.com/big1995kata/n/n6df94b346585 ／※We could not locate the original Japan Basketball Association statistics; this figure follows the number cited by a secondary source.
13. The box office of the film 『THE FIRST SLAM DUNK』 in mainland China (2023) — China Radio International (CRI), 『映画「スラムダンク」が中国本土で上映終了 興行収入130億円超』 https://japanese.cri.cn/2023/08/28/ARTIPiW0W4AHYjGqKHR0QwEq230828.shtml
14. Restrictions on 『DEATH NOTE』 in various countries (in 2005, possession was reportedly banned at a school in Shenyang, China, with the restriction said to have spread to other cities) — TechNadu, 『Why Is Death Note Banned In Some Countries?』 https://www.technadu.com/why-is-death-note-banned-in-some-countries/325642/ ／※We could not locate primary news reports or official announcements from each country's authorities; this is limited to a summary compiled by an English-language secondary source.
15. The Takarazuka Revue's staging of 『ベルサイユのばら』 (repeatedly staged since its 1974 premiere) — Takarazuka Revue official site, 『ベルサイユのばら』 https://kageki.hankyu.co.jp/versailles/
16. The award history of 『ベルサイユのばら』 — ※The previous version stated "won the Kodansha Manga Award in 1975," but the Kodansha Manga Award held its first ceremony in 1977 and did not exist in 1975; moreover, the work was serialized in Shueisha's 『週刊マーガレット』, and we could not confirm any record of Riyoko Ikeda or the work receiving that award. The mention of this award has been removed (an editorial decision by this article).
17. The character of 『月刊漫画ガロ』 (founded in 1964 to serialize Sanpei Shirato's 『カムイ伝』, which it ran through 1971) — Wikipedia, 『カムイ伝』 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AB%E3%83%A0%E3%82%A4%E4%BC%9D
18. 『ねじ式』 (a 23-page short story published in June 1968 in a special "Yoshiharu Tsuge" issue of 『月刊漫画ガロ』) — Wikipedia, 『ねじ式』 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%AD%E3%81%98%E5%BC%8F ／※The previous version stated "16 pages," but this has been corrected because the work runs 23 pages, from page 3 to page 25 of the issue.
19. The start of serialization of 『うる星やつら』 (issue 39, 1978, of 『週刊少年サンデー』) — Wikipedia, 『うる星やつら』 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%86%E3%82%8B%E6%98%9F%E3%82%84%E3%81%A4%E3%82%89
20. Worldwide circulation of 『NARUTO』 exceeding 250 million copies — NARUTO official site, 『NARUTOとは』 https://naruto-official.com/about ／※We could not locate a primary Shueisha press release specifying the date of announcement. Wikipedia states this figure as of May 2019.
21. The serialization of 『火の鳥』 (from the "Dawn" chapter in 『漫画少年』, 1954, to the "Sun" chapter in 『野性時代』, 1988) — Tezuka Osamu official site, 『火の鳥（シリーズ）』 https://tezukaosamu.net/jp/manga/656.html
22. The statement that Osamu Tezuka called 『火の鳥』 his defining work — ※The previous version stated that "Tezuka himself called it 'the defining work of my life,'" but we could not locate a primary citation of the statement (the publication and date), so the wording was softened to "a work he regarded as his life's work" (an editorial decision by this article).
23. The serialization of 『マジンガーZ』 (issue 42, 1972, through issue 35, 1973, of 『週刊少年ジャンプ』) and its establishing the archetype of the piloted giant robot (the earlier 『鉄人28号』 used remote control) — Wikipedia, 『マジンガーZ』 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%B8%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AC%E3%83%BCZ
24. 『HUNTER×HUNTER』's influence on later works — ※The previous version stated that "there are records of later artists acknowledging their ability design as 'post-HxH,'" but we could not locate the statement or report in question, so the wording was softened to a qualitative expression (an editorial decision by this article).
25. The serialization of 『デビルマン』 (issue 25, 1972, through issue 27, 1973, of 『週刊少年マガジン』) and Hideaki Anno speaking in interviews about its influence on 『エヴァンゲリオン』 — Wikipedia, 『デビルマン』 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%87%E3%83%93%E3%83%AB%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3
26. The start of serialization of 『ゲゲゲの鬼太郎』 (began serialization in 1965 in 『週刊少年マガジン』 under the title 『墓場の鬼太郎』, retitled in 1967) and the NHK morning drama 『ゲゲゲの女房』 (2010) — Wikipedia, 『ゲゲゲの鬼太郎』 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B2%E3%82%B2%E3%82%B2%E3%81%AE%E9%AC%BC%E5%A4%AA%E9%83%8E ／ Wikipedia, 『ゲゲゲの女房』 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B2%E3%82%B2%E3%82%B2%E3%81%AE%E5%A5%B3%E6%88%BF
27. The serialization of 『MONSTER』 (『ビッグコミックオリジナル』, December 1994 – December 2001) and its awards (Grand Prize, 3rd Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, 1999; 46th Shogakukan Manga Award, Youth/General category, 2000) — Shogakukan, 『MONSTER 完全版 デジタルVer. 1』 https://shogakukan-comic.jp/book?isbn=9784091836519 ／ Wikipedia, 『MONSTER (漫画)』 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/MONSTER_(%E6%BC%AB%E7%94%BB) ／※The previous version stated "serialized in Young Magazine," but Young Magazine is a different Kodansha publication; this was a mix-up of the serializing magazine and has been corrected.
28. The serialization of 『漂流教室』 (1972–1974, 『週刊少年サンデー』) and the 20th Shogakukan Manga Award (1975) — Wikipedia, 『漂流教室』 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%BC%82%E6%B5%81%E6%95%99%E5%AE%A4
29. The serialization of 『あしたのジョー』 (『週刊少年マガジン』, 1968–1973) and its being a collaboration with Asao Takamori (a pen name of Ikki Kajiwara) as writer and Tetsuya Chiba as artist — Tetsuya Chiba official site, 『あしたのジョー』 https://chibatetsuya-ebooks.com/works/576.html ／ Wikipedia, 『あしたのジョー』 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%82%E3%81%97%E3%81%9F%E3%81%AE%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%BC ／※The previous version listed the candidate name as "Ikki Kajiwara, 『あしたのジョー』," omitting the artist's credit, and this has been corrected.
30. The final-episode monologue of 『あしたのジョー』 — Pixiv Encyclopedia, 『燃え尽きたぜ…真っ白にな…』 https://dic.pixiv.net/a/%E7%87%83%E3%81%88%E5%B0%BD%E3%81%8D%E3%81%9F%E3%81%9C%E2%80%A6%E7%9C%9F%E3%81%A3%E7%99%BD%E3%81%AB%E3%81%AA%E2%80%A6 ／※The previous version had the word order reversed as "burned out, pure white," and this has been corrected. This is quoted from an explainer page that includes a citation of the original panel; we could not reach the collected-volume itself.
31. Start of serialization of HUNTER×HUNTER (Weekly Shonen Jump, 1998 issue 14; March 16, 1998) — Wikipedia『HUNTER×HUNTER』 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/HUNTER%C3%97HUNTER