The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity manga sells 7.5 million copies – its anime adaptation one of most popular of 2025
It will be no surprise to anyone watching the ongoing anime The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity that the manga it’s based on has now exceeded 7.5 million copies in print.
What is somewhat astonishing, though, is that 2 million of those copies have been bought/ended up in circulation in just the two months The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity anime has been streaming.
Kodansha USA, the publisher, themselves say the speed of sales of the Saka Mikami-written manga is “unprecedented”.
The anime adaptation
Of course, if you are one of the tens of millions currently watching the utterly wonderful teen romance drama, you may not even be astounded at the speed of the sales.
After all, from its very first episode, the anime has made us almost immediately fall in love with its two main characters — gruff and scary-looking Rintaro, and sweet and adorable Kaoruko — and the friends who hover around them.
Kaoruko’s best friend Subaru, a girl who first comes off as rigid and rude, but is then proven to just be protective of the friend she holds dear.
Rintaro’s friends — the shy but incredibly intelligent Saku, who struggles to express himself; Shouhei, who may not be particularly smart but is energetic and fun, and loves his friends; Ayato who protects his friends and always stands up for them.
And, of course, Rintaro’s wonderfully cool and supportive mother Tsumugi.
All of them who, by the end of the first couple of episodes, you already know they will become some of your most loved characters of the year.
So yes, many many people fell in love with these characters, and then rushed out to buy the manga they originally appeared in.
In fact, many of us may just be surprised that you haven’t done so as well.
The anime itself has just begun streaming on Netflix, almost two months later than everywhere else.
Where to buy The Fragrant Flower Blooms in Dignity manga
Kodansha publishes The Fragrant Flower Blooms in Dignity manga, which currently has 19 volumes out in Japanese, and 8 volumes out in English with Volume 9 due in October via Kodansha USA.
As a reminder, its plot looks like this:
Chidori High is a boys’ school that takes in the dregs of society with the lowest grades. Next door stands Kikyo Girls’ High, where the wealthy, high-class families send their precious daughters.
Chidori second-year Rintaro, who has a fierce face but a gentle heart, is helping at his family’s patisserie when he meets a girl named Kaoruko.
The two hit it off right away…but this blissful peace is quickly disturbed when Rintaro discovers that Kaoruko is actually a student at Kikyo. Worse, she doesn’t seem to realize what a huge problem this really is!
Will these two be able to forge a path for themselves, and sidestep the traps (metaphorical and literal) laid by their classmates?
