早朝からファン、書店に列　「鬼滅の刃」最終巻発売

　吾峠呼世晴さんの人気漫画「鬼滅の刃」（集英社）の最終巻となる第２３巻が４日、発売された。東京都内の書店では、早朝から熱心なファンらが「密」を避けつつ売り場に列を作る姿が見られた。
　数千冊を入荷した丸善丸の内本店には、午前９時の開店直後から多くのビジネスマンらが訪れ、最終巻を手に取った。１０歳の息子の影響で自分も鬼滅ファンになったという千葉県成田市の平野敬太郎さん（５５）は「完結編は息子より先に読む。終わってしまうのは寂しいが、スピンオフなども楽しみにしている」と笑顔を見せた。
　同店の壱岐直也副店長は「在宅勤務が増えた影響で都心の書店を訪れる人が減る中、久しぶりに活気づいた。既刊巻も引き続き好調で、人気はしばらく続くのでは」と話した。
　全国紙５紙の４日付朝刊には、発売を記念した全面広告が掲載された。版元の集英社によると、最終巻は初版３９５万部で、１巻からの累計発行部数（電子版を含む）は１億２０００万部に達している。（2020/12/04-11:43）

The final volume of "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba" went on sale across Japan on Friday, with fans flocking to bookstores for the 23rd issue of the blockbuster Japanese manga series.
   At stores in Tokyo, people were seen lining up, keeping a distance from those ahead of and behind them to avoid possible infection with the novel coronavirus.
   Many customers seeking to buy the book, including corporate workers, visited the flagship Maruzen bookstore in the Marunouchi business district in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward from the start of the day's operations at 9 a.m. (midnight Thursday GMT). The shop had secured thousands of copies of the final volume.
   "I'll read the final volume ahead of my son," Keitaro Hirano, 55, from the city of Narita, Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, said at the store. Hirano became a Demon Slayer enthusiast, inspired by the son, 10, also a fan of the series. "I feel sad that it has come to an end, but I look forward to reading a spin-off story," he added.
   "The sales floor has never been so lively recently, at a time when the number of visitors to bookstores in the heart of Tokyo has fallen due to many people working from home (amid the coronavirus crisis)," Naoya Iki, deputy manager of the bookstore, said. "With earlier volumes of Demon Slayer continuing to sell well, I expect the popularity of the series to continue for some time."