Tankōbon

is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series, though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series.Gravett, Paul. 2004. "Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics." NY: Harper Design. ISBN 1-85669-391-0. p. 8.] Schodt, Frederik L. 1986. "Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics." Tokyo: Kodansha. ISBN 978-0870117527.] It may be used for a novel, an economics textbook, a book of beauty tips, a book presenting a coherent set of photographs, an exhibition catalogue that samples earlier books, and so forth. It's a more specific term than plain "hon," which encompasses such books but also one or more issues of a periodical, one or more volumes (or the whole set) of an encyclopedia, etc.

"Tankōbon" do not include "bunkobon" (文庫本, typically used for novels), "shinsho" (新書, typically used for intellectually informative books), or rather larger-format "mukku" (ムック, with plenty of photographs), as each is within a series.

"Tankōbon" may be of any dimensions, from a miniature-sized novelty book (i.e. "mamehon," 豆本) to a sumptuous folio-sized one. Nonetheless, oddly-sized "tankōbon" tend to be given a taxonomical name. Using English bookbinding terms, a "tankōbon" of prototypical size would be called quarto or octavo.

Manga

Typically, manga are first published in phone-book-sized weekly or monthly anthology manga magazines (such as "Afternoon", "Shonen Jump", or "Hana to Yume"). These anthologies often have hundreds of pages and dozens of individual storylines by multiple authors. They are printed on very cheap newsprint and are considered disposable. A "tankōbon" collects chapters from a single series and reprints them in a roughly paperback-sized volume on higher quality paper.

In English, while a "tankōbon" translation is usually marketed as a "graphic novel" or "trade paperback", the transliterated terms "tankoubon" and "tankobon" are sometimes used amongst online communities. Japanese people frequently refer to manga "tankōbon" as nihongo|"komikkusu"|コミックス, from the English word "comics".

The term may also refer to the format itself—a comic collection in a trade paperback sized (roughly 13 × 18 cm (5" × 7")) book (as opposed to the larger 18 × 25 cm (7" × 10") format used by traditional American graphic novels). The "tankōbon" format has made inroads in the American comics market, with several major publishers opting to release some of their titles in this smaller format. This format is also called "digest format" or "digest size".

Aizōban and kanzenban

An nihongo|"aizōban"|愛蔵版| is a collector's edition volume. These volumes are generally more expensive and lavished with special features such as special covers created specifically for the edition, special paper used for the cover, higher quality paper, a special slipcase, and so on. Aizōban are generally printed in a limited run, thereby increasing the value and collectability of those few copies made. Generally only the most popular manga (such as "Dragon Ball") are released in this format. nihongo|"Kanzenban"|完全版| is another term sometimes used to denote this kind of a special release. While the aizōban appellation emphasizes the value of the volumes, the term kanzenban emphasizes their completeness.

The aizōban format has begun to make inroads into the US market, with titles such as Fruits Basket and Rurouni Kenshin being reissued in aizōban format.

Bunkoban

A nihongo|"bunkoban"|文庫版| edition is a typical Japanese novel-sized volume. These are generally A6 size (105 x 148 mm) and thicker than tankōbon, printed on thinner, much higher quality paper, and usually have a new cover designed specifically for the release (in the case of manga). In the case of manga, a bunko-ban tends to contain considerably more pages than a tankōbon. Thus, the bunko edition of a given manga will consist of fewer volumes. For example, "Please Save My Earth" was published in 21 tankōbon volumes, and then re-released in 12 bunko volumes. If the original manga was a wide-ban release, the bunkoban release will generally have the same number of volumes. The term is commonly abbreviated to just "bunko" (without the "-ban").

Wide-ban

A Nihongo|"wide-ban"|ワイド版|waidoban edition is larger (A5 size) than a regular tankōbon. Many manga, particularly seinen manga and josei manga, are published in wide-ban editions after magazine serialization, and are never released in the tankōbon format that is common in shōnen manga and shōjo manga. When a series originally published in tankōbon format is re-released in wide-ban format, each volume will contain more pages than in the original edition, and therefore the series will consist fewer volumes. For example, "Maison Ikkoku" was originally released in 15 tankōbon volumes, but was republished as 10 wide-ban volumes.

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