Japanese manga series Demon Slayer has sold 200 million copies worldwide
The fourth and latest animated film Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle opens in Singapore cinemas on Aug 14.
TOKYO - Popular Japanese manga Demon Slayer has sold over 200 million copies across all 23 volumes worldwide, its publisher said on July 17, a feat achieved by only a handful of titles under its wing.
The number of copies in global circulation of the hit series by Japanese manga artist Koyoharu Gotoge has hit 220 million, including digital editions, according to publishing company Shueisha Inc.
The series, which was serialised in the manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump from 2016 to 2020, tells the story of Tanjiro Kamado, an adolescent boy who battles human-eating demons while searching for a cure for his sister, who has turned into a demon.
An animated film based on the series, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Mugen Train, released in 2020, became the first movie in Japan to top 40 billion yen (S$346 million) in box office revenue.
The fourth film adaptation, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle, will open in cinemas across Japan on July 18, and in Singapore on Aug 14. KYODO NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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Straits Times
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Straits Times
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Straits Times
11 hours ago
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Find out what's new on ST website and app. Namewee is boycotted on the mainland for his 'anti-China stance', after his songs mocked the country's leader and nationalistic netizens. HONG KONG – If a picture speaks a thousand words, a removed picture shouts out even more. Controversial Malaysian rapper Namewee on July 21 took down photos he had earlier posted on Facebook of himself with actor Eric Tsang and singer Kenny Bee. This came after the two veteran Hong Kong celebrities issued formal apologies for their appearance alongside the rapper, for which they caught flak from Chinese netizens. Namewee is boycotted on the mainland for his 'anti-China stance', after his songs mocked the country's leader and nationalistic netizens. In a fresh Facebook post on the same day the pictures were taken down, Namewee shared his latest song, Letter of Apology . 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A description – in Chinese – of the song on his official YouTube channel reads: 'After (issuing) the letter of apology, you will be propelled to fame and riches, arriving at the zenith of your lifetime… Only after writing my letter of apology, will I achieve prosperity! ' The song satirises the self-criticism and self-censorship demanded by China's hypersensitive, ultranationalistic keyboard warriors from those public figures who inadvertently offend the lucrative mainland market they cater to. Its lyrics also hint at the sense of self that some celebrities sacrifice to stay on the right side of their Chinese audiences, with one stanza stating: 'Can you accept/ That I can now only voicelessly await my fate/ No more need to wonder/ If I can still call this life my own.' Taiwan-based Hong Kong political commentator Sang Pu said he found Namewee's self-censorship of the photos and his subsequent post sharing his music video a 'brilliant' move. 'Namewee's deletion of the pictures caused them to be more widely circulated,' Mr Sang told The Straits Times. 'The photos resulted in the apologies from Eric Tsang and Kenny Bee, which then allowed Namewee to publicly juxtapose the two artistes' letters of repentance against the scenario depicted in his song.' 'From this, we can see how sharp-witted and humorous Namewee is,' he added. Muar-born Namewee, 42, also known as Wee Meng Chee or Huang Mingzhi, made his name producing songs that poke fun at sensitive political issues . He has been blacklisted in China since 2021, after the release of his ballad single Fragile, which contains barbed references to President Xi Jinping and issues including the country's tight censorship . In 2023, Namewee revealed that he was banned from performing in Hong Kong as well. Tsang's July 21 apology on Weibo, while not directly naming Namewee, expressed regret over the 'unintentional mistake' of having taken a photo with 'a certain person' whose background he had been 'unaware of'. 'As a Chinese citizen, I've always been committed to safeguarding our country's dignity and national sentiment,' Tsang wrote in Chinese. 'If I had known (his background), I would never have had any contact with him.' Bee issued an almost-identical apology on his own Weibo account. Tsang, 72, who has been in the show business since the 1980s, is general manager of Hong Kong's biggest television broadcaster TVB, which is expanding significantly in mainland China. Bee, also 72, was lead vocalist of Hong Kong 1970s pop group The Wynners and has in recent years taken on several minor acting gigs produced in mainland China. The two artistes' grovelling apologies are just the latest illustration of the pressures that celebrities can face even when they are not major players in the mainland market. But their eagerness to clarify the matter could also be linked in part to the additional spectre of a national security law over Hong Kong society. Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 after mass anti-government protests in 2019 and early 2020. Hong Kong subsequently introduced its own such legislation in 2024. The emphasis on national security in the city since then has resulted in its people increasingly policing their opinions made in public. Under Hong Kong law, sedition can also cover anything that incites 'hatred, contempt, dissatisfaction or disaffection' with the authorities. 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