2018 was quite the year for Gessan!
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san had its anime adaptation and continues to sell like hotcakes, including a spin-off set in the future that sells nearly 1-to-1 with the main series that runs concurrently, a feat that's nearly unheard of. The romcom scene remains strong in the one, with
Misoshiru de Kanpai! thankfully selling decently well and
Kongouji-san wa Mendoukusai appearing to be doing decently as well.
Mix continues to bring a strong sports presence to the magazine, and slice-of-life remains strong with
Houkago Saikoro Club receiving an anime adaptation in 2018. Although it recently ended, there is also an anime in the works for long-time series
Dorohedoro, so maybe Shogakukan should share this anime-awarding philosophy with its weekly counterpart. But right at the end of 2018, an additional 2 popular series concluded, so there's some big shoes to fill for the remaining series and future serializations. Only 6 series premiered during 2018, but 9 series concluded in 2018 (many of which were older).
On to the stats! Unsurprisingly,
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san had the most color pages this year with 6 in total. This surpassed the 2nd place series
Misoshiru de Kanpai!, which only had 4 color pages. Perfect attendance was earned by 13 series this year:
Aoi Honoo,
Asagiro - Asagi Ookami,
Mix,
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san,
Houkago Saikoro Club,
Misoshiru de Kanpai!,
Kaiou Dante,
Master Grape,
Katakoi Scream,
Koi ni Koisuru Yukari-chan,
Kongouji-san wa Mendoukusai,
Haru no Mushoku, and
Zomviguarna. The lowest standard deviation (lower = position in the TOC changes less each issue; higher = position in TOC changes more each issue) goes to
Kongouji-san wa Mendoukusai in a positive way and
Seikan Bridge in a negative way.
As for prospects for 2019, I'd say more pushing of their flagship stuff for sure: Takagi + its spinoffs and Mix. Honestly, there are still more potential spinoffs I could think of for the Takagi franchise, and I can picture them milking it for all it's worth (and me loving every bit of it!). With the surprise announcement of a Houkago anime, I think that
Misoshiru de Kanpai! should be next in line for an anime adaptation. It's sales are pretty good and it's getting decently popular, plus it could ride the fluffy romcom wave that Takagi has forged for the magazine. There are a few low-ranking series that I could see wrapping up this year to make room for more serializations; namely Zomviguarna, Haru no Mushuku, and Yuusha no Musume. None of these series seem all that bad to me, but it seems like they're failing to connect with Japanese readers. The author of Hitoribocchi is reportedly already coming back with something new, so that may be able to fill the void the popular series has left. I hope Gessan keeps following down the path of romcoms since most of the ones they've been churning out have been really enjoyable. But no matter what they end up doing, hopefully they find some success in 2019.
