About MangaCodex

What this project is

MangaCodex is an independent, non-commercial archive dedicated to documenting the history of Japanese manga, light novels, and anime through publicly reported sales data, circulation figures, rankings, and the relationships between franchises, authors, and publishers.

It exists because this information is scattered across dozens of sources — weekly Oricon charts, defunct fan-maintained spreadsheets, publisher press releases, magazine circulation reports, fragmented wikis — and much of it is at risk of disappearing. Some of the data preserved here comes from sites that no longer update (SomeAnithing stopped in March 2023) or from print sources that were never digitized in any structured way.

The goal is not to compete with the original sources. It is to make this material findable, cross-referenceable, and useful for fans, researchers, journalists, and anyone curious about how a series, an author, or an entire medium has performed over time.

Why it's free, and stays free

MangaCodex is a personal project. It has no advertising, no paywall, no premium tier, no affiliate links, and no commercial relationship with any publisher, retailer, or data provider. There is no business model behind it and none is planned. Hosting and domain costs are paid out of pocket.

If that ever changes — if the project ever needs to accept donations to keep running, for example — it will be announced openly on this page first.

Sources

The data displayed on MangaCodex has been compiled and cross-referenced from a number of publicly available sources, including but not limited to:

  • Oricon — weekly, monthly, and yearly manga sales rankings
  • SomeAnithing.com — historical Japanese animation home video sales (archive of a site that ceased updating in 2023)
  • Baka-Updates Manga — bibliographic metadata
  • MyAnimeList (MAL) — bibliographic metadata and franchise relations
  • RanobeDB — light novel bibliographic metadata
  • Oricon LN yearly charts and various publisher-reported circulation figures
  • Publisher and magazine press releases and historical announcements

All factual data (sales figures, dates, names, ISBNs, etc.) belongs in the public record. The compilation work — the schema, the cross-referencing, the relational structure, the written commentary, and the presentation — is original to this project.

Wherever feasible, sources are cited on the relevant pages so that readers can trace any figure back to its origin.

Nature of the data — documentary use

The information republished here is presented for archival, documentary, research, and educational purposes. It consists of factual data points (units sold, publication dates, rankings) which, under both Japanese copyright law and European Union law, do not in themselves constitute protected works.

Where the data originates from a structured database that may itself be protected as a compilation, MangaCodex has made reasonable efforts to:

  • Restructure the information within its own original schema rather than reproducing the source's organization;
  • Limit extraction to what is necessary for archival and analytical purposes;
  • Credit the original source;
  • Not present the data in a manner that could substitute for, or commercially compete with, the original.

Preservation as a core purpose. A meaningful portion of the historical figures preserved on MangaCodex — particularly older weekly, monthly, and yearly chart data — corresponds to information that may no longer be readily accessible to the general public, whether because the original site that hosted it has gone offline, because the data was originally published in print or in fragmented online posts, or because it has otherwise drifted out of easy reach over time. Regardless of the current availability of any given figure at its original source, this project's intent is documentary: to gather, structure, and preserve this material so that it remains findable and useful for fans, researchers, journalists, and future readers.

This project does not republish any underlying copyrighted creative work — no manga panels, no anime stills, no light novel text, no song lyrics, no album art, no copyrighted illustrations. Cover thumbnails, where present, are used under standard editorial and identification practice at low resolution.

Takedown policy

If you are a rights holder (or a representative of one) and you believe that specific content on MangaCodex infringes your rights, or if you have a legitimate concern about how your data is being used, you can request its review, modification, or removal.

Please send your request to: contact@mangacodex.com

To allow a fast and accurate response, please include:

  1. Your name and your relationship to the rights you are asserting (rights holder, authorized representative, etc.).
  2. The specific URL(s) on mangacodex.com containing the content in question.
  3. A clear description of the content and the basis of your claim.
  4. Contact information where we can reach you for follow-up.
  5. A statement that the information in your notice is accurate and made in good faith.

Requests are reviewed individually and in good faith. Legitimate, well-formed requests are typically actioned within 14 days of receipt. We may, depending on the nature of the request:

  • Remove the content;
  • Modify or anonymize the content;
  • Restrict access to the content;
  • Reply explaining why we believe the content is lawfully published, and propose an alternative resolution.

Submitting a takedown request is free and does not require legal proceedings. MangaCodex would rather resolve concerns through direct dialogue than through formal channels.

Limitations and disclaimers

  • Accuracy. Data is compiled from third-party sources and may contain transcription errors, gaps, or inconsistencies. Figures shown here should not be treated as official certifications. For authoritative numbers, please consult the original sources directly.
  • No affiliation. MangaCodex is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or connected to Oricon Inc., MyAnimeList, Baka-Updates, RanobeDB, SomeAnithing, or any publisher, studio, or rights holder mentioned on this site.
  • No commercial use of this site's data. While the underlying facts are part of the public record, the compiled database, schema, written commentary, and cross-referencing work on MangaCodex are the result of substantial personal investment and are protected under Article 7 of Directive 96/9/EC (sui generis database right) and equivalent provisions of Spanish intellectual property law (Real Decreto Legislativo 1/1996, arts. 133–137). Systematic extraction or re-utilization of a substantial part of this database for commercial purposes is not authorized.
  • Jurisdiction. This project is operated from Spain by an individual. It is published in accordance with Spanish and European Union law.

Contact

For takedown requests, corrections, source contributions, or any other inquiry:

contact@mangacodex.com

Last updated: 2026-05-21