Anime series Mashle has proved to be one of 2024’s most popular anime series, topping the anime and comic merchandise sales charts on BEENOS Inc’s Cross-Border EC × Ranking Announcement 2024. The announcement summarizes e-commerce sales trends on the global proxy purchasing service Buyee from January to September 2024.
Among the anime series that debuted in 2023, Mashle achieved the highest growth rate in purchases between 2023 and 2024, with a remarkable year-over-year increase of 950%. The series is closely followed by Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End at 800%, narrowly beating The Apothecary Diaries’ 765% growth rate.
Anime and comic merchandise is also the top-ranking product category on Buyee in terms of growth rate, which is largely attributed to the growing popularity of Japanese anime worldwide, particularly in Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and North America. Teenagers of both genders also emerged as the fastest-growing user segment across all regions.
Other interesting statistics from the announcement include manga and comics topping Buyee’s Books and Magazines category, driven by varying preferences across regions. Chart-topper Dragon Ball was most popular amongst Spanish users, followed by Haikyuu!! (most popular amongst Taiwanese users) and One Piece (most popular amongst American users).
In the Toys and Hobbies sector, plastic models and figures came first, largely propelled by the enduring popularity of Gunpla and Zoids. Second place was secured by dolls and character figures, mainly due to to the presence of collectors’ brands such as Licca-chan Dolls and Dollfie Dream; while the third place slot went to “hero play and fighting” toys, driven by iconic franchises like Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.
The Trading Card category ranked as the most purchased product category in the North America and Southeast Asia regions, with the Pokémon Trading Card Game securing the top position. Interestingly, instead of bulk or pack purchases, buyers showed a preference for targeting specific individual cards. This was followed by trading cards of K-pop artists, with some notable examples being Stray Kids, aespa, and Enhypen.
In the J-pop category, Ado ranked as the most popular artist, followed by Vocaloid Hatsune Miku and Japanese girl group Nogizaka46. A surprising number of buyers also indicated an interest in more analog forms of media over the usual CDs, with vinyl records and cassete tapes making up roughly 22% of purchases.
Did any of these results surprise you? Let us know in the comments!
