The physical copy of Vol. 1 sold just 2,300 in February, which was awful for a first volume. It ranked as the second-worst, not only in
Young Dragon Age but
across the Dragon branch. Other titles from
YDA that month sold 2-3 times that, or even more, like
Tensei Coliseum 3, which hit 26k. What happened to the only series that did worse that month from
YDA?
Same fate.
Now, you can find
YDA titles which did poorly in nearby month like
Black General-san 11 in January (2.1k),
Kenshi wo Mezashite 14 in March (1.4k), or
Kaijuu Iro no Shima 2, which did worse. But here's the thing: one is already established, with a solid online presence, and an English version even. The other, while currently not doing great, is from a solid LN and has had a solid run overall. And the third is by a well-known mangaka, which can get you some leg before the axe. (There are more, but most are a repeat of these, and this text is too long already)
This manga had none of that, and lacked any significant online presence.
When Vol. 1 released, it ranked awful on digital platforms (At least the ones I checked then, as it was the across the board release date), to this day has almost no reviews in them, and has had no buzz on social media either. Just check out the sad reception of the
Vol. 1 tweet. Of course, these are all vague, but you can notice a trend if they all tell the same tale.
If we talk about the App, which is where this manga was doing "OK", we have to consider that there are free chapters, and that this alone, on
Young Dragon Age, usually won't be enough.
As for first volumes, there’s little to compare from
YDA. In January,
Densetsu no Ore Vol. 1 sold 9.8k with a strong online presence, a healthy start compared to this. (In March and April, there were no Vol. 1 releases I believe.)
Most other low sales Vol. 1 series that doesn’t belong to this magazine, but to the
Dragon branch, have now been axed (like
Ponkotsu Ojou-sama from
Dra Dra Sharp, Vol.1 released in January), were in magazines where they can survive with low numbers for a bit longer, like
Dra Dra Flat, or fits what I just mentioned. For example,
Yomega Kiss 1 from
Dra Dra Sharp sold only 2.4k physical copies in March but has somewhat of an online and digital presence. You can see this by checking reviews, online reception, and buzz. Like the reception of the tweet for
Vol. 1, not the best, but it's something at least (TBS, Vol .2 of this recently tracked bad).
Ultimately, a manga can survive poor sales if the mangaka is established, the series finds success elsewhere, how fast it can recover from a low point thanks to its release format or the genre it belongs, or simply by luck; there are always exceptions. But even a decent online ranking can only do so much when the series struggles from the start, and even then, it's not like it was a super top ranker.
(Also, I'm not an expert at this, so I could simply be missing something)
