Forum - View topic

NEWS: Top-Selling Manga in Japan by Volume: 2012 (First Half)

Has Glass Mask been running non stop since the 70s? Or was there a break of several years before resuming again? Or do chapters come out very sporadically? How is it only up to 48 volumes, is my question.

bahamut623 wrote:

Has Glass Mask been running non stop since the 70s? Or was there a break of several years before resuming again? Or do chapters come out very sporadically? How is it only up to 48 volumes, is my question.

It ran from 1976 to 1998 and then took a break until 2008. (and I think there's a little more mess to it than that, with a big chunk of the earlier run not being collected in the books, and a volume in 2004 that was never serialized...) Anyway, it's running regularly now in a monthly magazine.

Shoujo manga series don't hit the same kind of high numbers as shounen (possibly because most shoujo magazines are monthly, with a few twice-a-monthly). I think Patalliro! (1979-present) is the highest-numbering shoujo at 88 volumes (plus enough spinoff series to push it over 100). Ouke no Monshou began the same year as Glass Mask and didn't take any significant breaks that I know of (until this year, maybe?) but stuck to a 1-2 book/year schedule and has 56 volumes.

More info than you ever asked for, sorry. I find this stuff interesting... ^^;