When people think about wealthy manga artists, names like Eiichiro Oda or Akira Toriyama usually come to mind, creators of mainstream juggernauts that dominate Shonen Jump.
But the artist known as Manno just flipped that assumption on its head, casually posting photos of his brand-new Ferrari on social media and leaving the entire community stunned.
“I’ve dreamed of owning a Ferrari for a long time. I finally received mine. I’m extremely happy“, Manno wrote alongside images of the luxury sports car parked in his garage.
For an independent creator working outside traditional publishing, this kind of purchase raises eyebrows and one massive question: how?
The gyaru gold mine
The answer lies in Manno’s breakout hit, Iribitari Gal ni Manko Tsukawasete Morau Hanashi, a six-volume series that’s become a phenomenon in the adult manga space.
The story follows a loner protagonist whose life gets turned upside down by a group of gyaru girls invading his personal space, a premise that’s struck gold with readers.
What separates Manno from most independent creators is how far his franchise has expanded.
The series scored anime adaptations and even a live-action film, milestones that are practically unheard of for self-published works in this market. That kind of multimedia reach doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you’re moving serious numbers.
Numbers that justify a supercar
When fans started digging into the sales figures, everything clicked into place. Just on one digital platform alone, the first volume sold 376,445 copies. The second moved 250,396 units. The third cleared 183,000. With six volumes currently available, those numbers add up fast.
Here’s where it gets interesting: unlike traditional publishing where creators split profits with publishers, distributors, and retailers, digital self-publishing platforms offer significantly higher margins.
When you’re the one controlling distribution and keeping most of the revenue per sale, hundreds of thousands of copies translate directly into Ferrari money.
The adult manga market in Japan operates like a silent economic powerhouse. While mainstream series get all the headlines and media attention, creators like Manno are quietly building empires by serving dedicated audiences willing to pay premium prices for content they love.
It’s a reminder that in the manga industry, success doesn’t always look like what you’d expect, and sometimes it looks like Italian engineering sitting in your driveway.
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