Boys Over Flowers is easily one of the most iconic shojo series, and it is now confirmed as the biggest. Recently, Guinness World Records announced that Boys Over Flowers is officially the world record holder for the most published shojo manga.
Specifically, Boys Over Flowers is the most published shojo manga that’s written by a single author.
But from the looks of it, even if you count all shojo manga, it still has the most copies published.
While there are still lots of ongoing shojo manga, it’s unlikely that this record will be topped anytime soon.
Boys Over Flowers: The Manga That Inspired Massive Drama Shows
The manga began serialization in Shueisha’s Margaret magazine back in 1992, and it serialized there until September 2003.
While the shojo manga was a huge phenomenon back in the 90s, the series’ popularity continues to live on thanks to its various adaptations.
For starters, an anime by Dragon Ball studio Toei Animation aired from 1996 to 1997.
While no other anime adaptation was produced, the manga was also made into multiple live-action shows.
First, there’s the 2001 Taiwanese TV drama Meteor Garden which was a huge hit in Asia.
Other Asian countries followed suit as Japan also released a Boys Over Flowers TV series in 2005.
South Korea also joined in with its 2009 Boys Over Flowers drama, which also became a huge phenomenon in Asia.
In the past couple of years, there was a resurgence in the series’ popularity thanks to new live-action adaptations in China and Thailand.
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Guinness Recognizes Boys Over Flowers Manga’s World Record
As the series continues to be popular, it’s no surprise that Boys Over Flowers has been recognized as the Guinness World Record holder for most published shojo manga.
As of November 2022, the series has over 59 million copies in circulation.
The world record was confirmed alongside the franchise’s 30th-anniversary celebration. This is also currently being celebrated with a special exhibit in Japan.
While the manga ended in the early 2000s, the story continued with Boys Over Flowers Season 2, a sequel that was also written by Yoko Kamio and serialized in Jump+.
Though from the looks of it, the record does not include published volumes from Season 2.
Given the manga's popularity, it won’t be a surprise if we get a new anime adaptation.
After all, we have seen several anime reboots recently such as the Urusei Yatsura anime and the upcoming Rurouni Kenshin series.
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Source: Comic Natalie
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