General e-book store “BookLive” announces ranking of popular manga for men in their 40s and older Image
URL: BookLive Inc. Press Release: October 28, 2025 General e-book store BookLive announces ranking of popular manga among men aged 40 and over Top 10: “Kingdom,” Top 2: “A Retired Old Man Adventurer Becomes the Strongest Guild Master After Being Rehired,” Also Revealing the Ranking of Popular Manga with “Old Man” in the Title BookLive, a comprehensive e-book store operated by BookLive Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Tadashi Awano), a group company of TOPPAN Holdings Co., Ltd., has distributed over 1 million manga and books to date, with over 10,000 titles available for free at all times. Using the extensive data from the platform, which is used by 15 million people, the company will be releasing a ranking of popular manga for men aged 40 and over to coincide with “Good Old Man Day” on November 3rd. ■ The number of manga works with the word “ojisan” (old man) in the title has increased by approximately 3.5 times in five years.
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/22823/562/22823-562-c2526e12a957670ce9ce56faf181e33e-852×600.png *Period: Calculated from January 1, 2025 to September 16, 2025 When BookLive ranked the titles purchased by men over 40, two works featuring older men as protagonists were ranked in the top 10: “A Retired Old Adventurer Becomes the Strongest Guild Master Through Rehiring” in second place and “A Country Old Man Becomes a Sword Saint: I Was Just a Country Swordsman, But My Successful Apprentices Won’t Let Me Go” in eighth place. In particular, “A Retired Old Adventurer Becomes the Strongest Guild Master Through Rehiring,” which ranked second, is the only one of the top 10 titles that hasn’t been adapted into an anime, demonstrating its popularity. ■Ranking of popular works with “ojisan” (old man) or “ossan” (uncles) in the title, all of the top 10 are “other world”-related manga! Image
URL: https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/22823/562/22823-562-3edd94f070ecd2b6042a9e8b200bb27e-1086×693.jpg *Period: Calculated from January 1, 2025 to September 16, 2025 Also on BookLive, we surveyed the number of purchases by men in their 40s and older for works with the word “ojisan” (old man) in the title. The results showed that all of the top 10 works were related to “other worlds.” ■Comments from a manga specialist who reads 2,000 manga books a year
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/22823/562/22823-562-8e0750893af878c2df3eebd8a71f0cd2-344×457.jpg “BookLive” comprehensive e-book store – Bookseller Suzuki The ranking of popular manga for men aged 40 and over reflects their generation, with “SLAM DUNK” ranking highly compared to the rankings for all generations. However, it’s notable that two manga with older male protagonists are included. Furthermore, the top rankings of popular works with “ojisan” (old man) or “ossan” (old man) in the title are all works related to “another world,” suggesting a strong affinity between “ojisan” (old man) and “another world.” Men in their 40s and older may identify with the characters and enjoy fictional worldviews that are completely different from their everyday lives.
Isekai-related works can be broadly divided into “reincarnation” and “originally living in another world” genres, but while some stories involve rising to power, others focus on heartwarming everyday life. Compared to the general “reincarnation in another world” genre, there aren’t many stories that focus on rising to power. Many stories incorporate the heartbreak of older men, making them even more relatable due to their melancholy. The reversal stories of sad older men overcoming adversity and growing, as well as their heartwarming, warm lives in another world, give hope and courage to the “older man” generation. ■Introducing classic, tried-and-true manga for “old men”
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/22823/562/22823-562-dad4dd5a9e73e1b2385668f2fa8fcef4-1140×1600.jpg “A Retired Old Adventurer Becomes the Strongest Guild Master After Rehiring” https://booklive.jp/product/index/title_id/10010434/vol_no/001 kimimaro / Masashi Takashima | Live Comics Many years have passed since the Black Magical Dragon was sealed away. At the Silver Moon Fox Guild, where the great calamity has passed and life has returned to normal, Donovan, an old B-class adventurer who complains, “It’s so hard to carry heavy weapons,” has been advised to retire. He honestly decides to retire, but his outrageous behavior raises the question, “Did Donovan actually fight the Black Magical Dragon?” A classic, yet new, otherworldly battle fantasy begins!!
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/22823/562/22823-562-f3a73405efa8b93338c6f92de8f22894-1440×2048.jpg “A Countryside Old Man Becomes a Sword Saint ~I Was Just a Countryside Sword Master, But My Successful Students Won’t Let Me Go~”
https://booklive.jp/product/index/title_id/1068724/vol_no/001 Kazuki Kado / Shigeru Sagazaki / Tetsuhiro Nabeshima | Akita Shoten “I’ve recommended Professor Beryl as a special instructor for the Order of Knights.” Beryl Gardenant runs a modest sword-fighting dojo in a remote village. Then, his former student, Allusia, who has risen to the position of young commander of the kingdom’s knights, visits him and decides to travel to the royal capital as a special instructor for the knights. Reunited with his accomplished students, what will Beryl’s fate be? The definitive manga version of the old man’s rise to power fantasy!
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/22823/562/22823-562-92d9a80c8a9bcbd00f7f3f2c4e6e1454-1799×2560.jpg “Uncle from another world”
https://booklive.jp/product/index/title_id/566668/vol_no/001 Almost dead | KADOKAWA A man wakes up from a 17-year coma to discover he has returned from another world… A new, other-worldly and cross-cultural comedy told by an uncle who begins living together with his nephew, Takafumi!
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/22823/562/22823-562-ac0214ce22bf3e45177edc40a5bacfb8-1600×2248.jpg “Villain’s daughter reincarnated uncle”
https://booklive.jp/product/index/title_id/20029516/vol_no/001 Shonen Gahosha｜Michiro Kamiyama Tondenbayashi Kenzaburo, a 52-year-old earnest civil servant, is involved in a traffic accident. He suddenly finds himself in a world resembling a school-based otome game… and reincarnated as Grace, the daughter of the Marquis of Auvergne, the most arrogant girl on campus!? A highly anticipated new work that placed 4th in the comics category at the 2020 Jiman Manga Awards! BookLive, the comprehensive e-book store, aims to “keep a manga room in your heart.” ” with the concept of “enriching your life.” We will continue to provide services that allow you to encounter books that enrich your life and enjoy them to your heart’s content. About BookLive, the comprehensive e-book store BookLive, which launched its service in 2011, is one of Japan’s largest comprehensive e-book stores, offering a wide selection of over 1 million books. We offer a one-stop shop for all your reading needs, from manga to light novels, literary works, paperbacks, business books, practical books, and even photo books, and we strive to make reading easy by providing a reading app. We also offer a wide range of great value services that are easy on the wallet, even if you read a lot. We prioritize reader
convenience and provide a service that can be easily enjoyed anytime, anywhere. ●Comprehensive e-book store “BookLive” https://booklive.jp/ ●Official
【About BookLive Co., Ltd.】 BookLive’s corporate philosophy is “We create fun by creating new value.” Through the operation of our e-book store and manga app, we provide content and create IP that enriches readers’ hearts. As technology evolves, we aim to enhance the value of creators and content, and our new vision is to “leap forward to becoming a global digital entertainment company.” We will continue to leverage the strengths of the BookLive Group and collaborate with various companies to build an ecosystem that continues to produce even higher quality content. URL: https://www.booklive.co.jp/ Company names, service names, and product names mentioned in the text are registered trademarks or trademarks of the respective companies.