20. Between 2008 and 2010, five volumes of Kinnikuman II Sei: Kyūkyoku no Chōjin Tag Hen also ranked on Oricon's top 30 list. The series as whole has sold more than 77 million copies in Japan as of 2021. As well as Kinnikumans manga was considered a hit, the series' merchandise in general was also successful. Bandai reports that over 180 million units of Kinkeshi were sold in Japan. Shaenon K. Garrity said, "The M.U.S.C.L.E. figurines ... were the sole American extrusion of a 1980s manga/anime/licensing phenomenon." The original 1983 anime series was popular, premiering with a rating over 20 percent. Despite being considered "too old to be marketable on American television" by 4Kids in the 2000s, the 2008 Kinnikuman complete box set had 25,000 reservation requests by August in Japan. In 2005, Japanese television network TV Asahi conducted a "Top 100" online web poll and nationwide survey; Kinnikuman placed 97th in the online poll and Ultimate Muscle placed 39th in the survey. In 2006, TV Asahi conducted another online poll for the top one hundred anime, and Kinnikuman placed 12th in the "Celebrity List". In France, however, it caused some controversy because of the depiction of a character's garment featuring a swastika; the episode in which the character appeared was requested to be removed from air. Garrity called Kinnikuman a "cross between superhero parody and pro-wrestling goofiness". Liann Cooper of the Anime News Network said that the "artwork alone is enough to clothesline itself and the whole concept of superhero wrestlers is like a manga-fied Mucha Lucha", but Ultimate Muscle "is actually pretty funny". Eduardo M. Chavez of Mania.com wrote that in 1979, "the series relied on its comedy and action to bring in an audience." Ultimate Muscle, while "keeping some of the old silliness", adds "some depth through a mature writing style and better action scenes." On T.H.E.M Anime Reviews, Christi wrote, "Overall, Ultimate Muscle is the best thing about the Fox Box anthology." She praised the "funny, and in their own disgusting way, charming" characters, its "crisp and well-done" animation and the "very clean and appealing" character designs. Legacy Widely regarded as a classic manga series, it has been cited by Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa as a series she "love[s]" and as an influence to her work, as well as by Fairy Tails Hiro Mashima. Assassination Classrooms Yūsei Matsui cited it as one of his favorite