Japan’s manga scene, once a cultural staple for every teen, is now seeing a stark gender split. Recent figures from the 2025 E‑Book Business Report, shared by researcher Ichishi Iida on X, show only about three in ten teenage boys still crack open a manga, whether on paper or a screen.
Why Boys Are Falling Behind
Print manga retains a modest 35% appeal among boys, but digital consumption dips to 28%. High subscription fees, pricey in‑app purchases, and the dwindling presence of physical bookstores make it harder for cash‑strapped teens to stay engaged.
Girls Take the Digital Lead
Meanwhile, half of teenage girls report reading manga, with a striking 48% preferring digital formats. The convenience of mobile reading and cheaper access points explain the surge, even though only 28% still buy print copies. manga online has become a daily habit for many.
These shifts echo a broader decline: in 1985, 85% of middle‑schoolers and 77% of high‑schoolers were manga readers. By 2023, those numbers fell to 60% and 49% respectively, and Weekly Shonen Jump saw circulation dip below one million for the first time in decades.
Economic and Educational Pressures
Masato Kondo of Bookbase points to shrinking disposable income and the closure of local bookstores as key drivers. Add to that a 2021 study from the National Institute for Youth Education showing many high‑schoolers struggle with long‑form reading, and the picture becomes clearer: manga is losing its foothold.
Anime Adapts to Faster Consumption
Anime isn’t immune either. About 35.7% of viewers in their 20s and 32.4% in their 30s now binge episodes at double speed. Networks like TV Tokyo and TV Asahi are responding with bite‑size series that run five to six minutes per episode, hoping to keep attention spans intact.
Overall, Japan’s youth media landscape is reshaping itself. While boys drift away from manga, girls and younger viewers are carving out new digital pathways, and anime producers are trimming runtimes to match the new pace of consumption.
// Comments