Tankōbon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tankōbon (単行本?) 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.[1][2] 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 is 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.

Contents

[edit] Manga

The average Japanese manga tankōbon (here, Love Hina) is smaller than the average English tankōbon (here, Genshiken).
The average Japanese manga tankōbon (here, Love Hina) is smaller than the average English tankōbon (here, Genshiken).

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 komikku (コミック?), from the English word "comic".

The term may also refer to the format itself—a comic collection in a trade paperback sized (roughly 5" × 7") book (as opposed to the larger 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".

[edit] Aizōban and kanzenban

An 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. 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.

[edit] Bunkoban

A bunkoban (文庫版?) edition is a typical Japanese novel-sized volume. These are smaller (about 16cm tall) and thicker than tankōbon, printed on much higher quality paper, and usually have a new cover designed specifically for the release (in the case of manga). If there was a wideban release, the bunkoban release will generally have the same number of volumes. The term is abbreviated to just bunko (without the -ban). An approximation for the number of bunko is half the number of regular tankōbon, e.g. Please Save My Earth was published in 21 tankōbon, and then re-released in 12 bunko.

[edit] Wideban

A wideban (ワイド版 waidoban?) edition is larger than the regular tankōbon, and generally collects a series in fewer volumes than the original tankōbon release. For example, Maison Ikkoku was originally released in 15 tankōbon volumes, but was republished as 10 wideban volumes. The original three Trigun books where released as two wideban in the U.S. VIZ Media releases wideban as VIZBIG editions.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Gravett, Paul. 2004. Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics. NY: Harper Design. ISBN 1-85669-391-0. p. 8.
  2. ^ Schodt, Frederik L. 1986. Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics. Tokyo: Kodansha. ISBN 978-0870117527.
  3. ^ "Rurouni Kenshin, Vol. 1 (VIZBIG Edition)," VIZ Media