Worst Physical Manga Releases

Collecting manga is all fun and games until it's not...
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0:00 - Intro
1:10 - Series Inconsistencies
4:49 - Size
6:46 - Printing Issues
9:43 - Quality Control
11:18 - Your Thoughts
15:14 - Outro
DISCLAIMER I do not own any of the photos/external videos in this video. Credits go to the owners.

[@RenniganEagle]

YES the quality control on Kodansha is insane. I have a complete set of AoT and I've had to literally SEARCH around to find volumes that weren't messed up. The biggest issues I saw was volumes being incorrectly cut? Idek how that happens but it was obvious that something in the production factory happened and the volumes got sliced. 2nd is misaligned spines and cover art and the third is having missing text? Like one of my AoT volumes just says "On Titan" with a white box where the word Attack should be. Utterly insane

[@sultries9096]

I'm sorry but the idea of getting an aot volume that just says "on titan" is hilarious 😭😭😭

[@Cass_Collects]

So the biggest take away from this video is - DONT BE KODANSHA 😏

[@cryn6519]

I literally hadn’t experienced this thus far, but i got some kodansha volumes in that ruined my prestine witch hat atelier collection with stairs and off-spines… Usually this didn’t bother me so much… but now its noticable…

[@Mink0029-K]

As a person that have limited access to bookstores, my issue is the shipping logistics for online stores. Inconsistent packaging, shipping timing, anything not UPS. This is a struggle as well.

[@turtleanton6539]

Jupp yupp

[@lightyagamisenpai7746]

I want to add one Why do publishers actively release a series that still getting new volume releases but the first half of the series is super oop or oos,if the first volumes are unavailable people won’t buy it simple 😅

[@InfamyOrDeath-__-]

The thing that annoys me the most is the slow release schedule for series that are long finished. Like JoJo’s, Fist of the North Star, Soul Eater, Gantz etc. It drives me absolutely nuts that they bring out 1 new volume every 3-4 months, just release the entire series so I can read the bloody thing.

[@rubyaddison5446]

Literally hate when that happens too 😭

[@zsujaz]

ong exactly... especially jojo's.. i'll be 30+ when viz will finally start to release jojolion 💀

[@x1toxickiller]

One thing I don’t like is when cuz doesn’t include color pages or the fold out posters for certain series that have that in the Japanese release

[@danaesteaparty]

Yeeees that’s so bad! And not just that we missing those illustrations at the front, but you can also tell that some pages where meant to be coloured (like first pages of some chapters) …

[@Rillant]

Great video! I totally agree with all of these except one! The Vinland Saga one, that is mostly because Vinland is simply slow to release, even in Japan. I work on the fan scans of the series, and recently we've been getting 20 pages every 2 months. For that to compile into 2 volumes for Kodansha to release in English just takes loooooong. So it's not that Kodansha takes a really long time, it's just that the series takes a long time to release in general.

[@hvlmanga]

Yes! That's totally true, I think it's frustrating regardless even though I can't control it LOL

[@rickywhitman9224]

Great video. Binding is my biggest issue when collecting manga. We need more deluxe editions like berserk. Dark horse does a great job in giving us what we need binding wise.

[@sour4626]

Fun fact: Dark Horse, Seven Seas and Yen Press have all out-sourced their printing to other countries like China, South Korea and in DH's case, Italy as well. Yet, no one bats an eye! Just goes to show how immensely popular Viz's manga is. I have a nearly complete LW&C omnis set (11 and 12 haven't been reprinted yet). Omni 1, 7 and 8 are printed in the USA and are noticeably thicker than the others. These volumes are from the previous print run, however. The others are printed in Italy and are thinner (which to me isn't a bad thing really, they're THICC books).

[@Cass_Collects]

Viz has outsourced to china as well actually, the latest reprint run of vagabond vizbigs were printed in china

[@hvlmanga]

Interesting fun fact!

[@TheMonkey0King]

Noise is the worst physical hardcover release. Vertical slapped on some cardboard paper and jacked up the price with no attention to quality or design. Mostly, I hate the attitude of the community when other collectors who care about condition and aesthetics complain about these things. When you read manga- you are committing $100s of dollars to read an entire series. With novels, you spend $10-30 to read a story. It is completely appropriate to ask for quality.

[@crystallewis5902]

Some copies of Skip and Loafer volume 2 have a major misprint where a few chapters from vol. 3 were included (meaning there is content missing from volume 2). And some copies of vol. 3 have the missing sections from volume 2! I had to rebuy vol. 2 in-person in order to make sure I didn't buy another misprinted edition: luckily, I was able to find a correctly-printed copy. Considering this is only the second series I've bought from Seven Seas, it's not a great impression.

[@mclinftw]

Me, having major OCD, cannot stand the poor print inconsistencies when it comes to the spine. What you've mentioned: e.g. one being taller than the other, maybe the spine print looking cracked asl being partly not even completely visible on the spine bcs the printing was just done so bad... I do have to say; My gantz omnibuses are still staying strong till today even though theyre big bois LMAO

[@0MrScruff0]

I do hate new logos which appear on 2nd print runs. I can live with the logo changing half way through a run as long as all the future volumes use the same logo. Miss aligned spines are the worse, especially if you have any linked artwork.

[@thenotebookofcuriosity9145]

When you mention the year(s) gap between volumes...I immediately thought of *I Want To Be A Wall* 😭 God the spines grind my fucking gears all the time. Same with the volume being unexpectedly sticky or dirty. I don't even know how they shit happens

[@hvlmanga]

The years between volumes is far too much, it's so frustrating!

[@fr099ie3]

I work as customer service for a small bookstore and I think it’s insane how poor the quality is for omnibuses. I don’t have enough hands to count for how many times customers have returned Vagabond omnibuses because of pages falling out. Also we’ve received multiple boxes of volumes with almost HALF OF THE SPINE misaligned. I understand that demand has been high and people want more than what publishers can pump out but come on.

[@AmartharDrakestone]

One of my biggest gripes with physical releases (in my country) is when different series by the same author are picked up by different publishers and released in different size formats.

[@hiimthessa]

I hope certain publishers stumble across this video and takes notes. I agree with everything you bring up. Some of these things makes me hesitant to keep collecting, especially since I can only buy manga online. For me, wonky/misaligned spines and height differences are so painful to look at, i have to take it off my shelf. I'm also really upset about the difference in paper quality for TR, a series I was so excited to collect. I've now collected the japanese version instead, and only get the english ones when I see them on sale and then pray they're of the same quality T_T

[@_emiku]

Italian collector here, i wasn't aware that Viz printed some of their volumes in Italy haha (*´∀｀*) manga here is smaller compared to eng volumes but almost half the price. I own both italian and english books and while for the most part i'm happy with my country's releases one thing that really bothers me is how they handle omnibuses... a lot of them have very thin covers and dust jackets that get damaged in the blink of an eye（ ; ; ）(except for the Monster omnibuses, which really surprised me ngl). I'd be willing to pay a bit more for higher quality releases, not necessarily hardcovers but at least firmer paperbacks, which imo is essential if you're holding 1,5+ volumes worth of content in one book

[@skylarhall5159]

I cannot for the life of me understand why people like the Vinland saga hardcovers. The endpapers are white for some reason, the trim size is small, the glue runs onto the artwork. The table of contents, cover art and graphic design look overall not good. I'm so excited for the deluxes.

[@Cass_Collects]

The fix for not getting italian prints is getting first prints. For now they’re only doing reprints in italy

[@iriu2403]

That makes sense. I was wondering how my Kaiju no 8 was safe from Italy prints.

[@mohakadecincy2413]

Series inconsistencies….oh yes ! The worse…single one volume going to 2 in 1 or 3 in 1 !! So terrible ! But this is better than cancellation I guess… I like omnibus most of the time but the brick ?? No !! Gantz omnibus edition ??? Big no ! Spriggan I have no prob with, the spine is pretty good. Never have any problems with fading ink…lucky me 😅 Spine problems…yes ! How is it possible? Quality control?? Hellooo ?😂😂 kodansha quality control bureau where are you ??? In strike somewhere in France I guess 🤔 Tokyo revengers omnibus…bad I agree. Thanks for the video ! Nice one as usual !

[@rob33]

I just got back into collecting manga last year after an 8 year break, the only series I collected through those years was His Favorite from Sublime, a series where you at times have to wait between 1 to 2 year for a new release. I know there is about a year between when it comes out in japan and when we get the english release, but damn it is just sucks to wait that long ):

[@danielfranya4138]

The weirdest thing about kondansha having some terrible volumes is that Vinland saga is perfect. Like just do that every time

[@jayyy4807]

Honestly I can agree with you on almost all of these, these are all pet peeves on collecting manga. Also FIRST COMMENT LIKE OMGGGG!!!!!

[@InfamyOrDeath-__-]

Yea my vol 4 of Vagabond the spine completely split down the middle. It was completely my fault, I wasn’t thinking and left the book open face down for a second and it just split. I’ll have to replace it as it drives me nuts.

[@redshadow2990]

One of my biggest peeves is when the pages aren't cut correctly like theyre fused together or I've even had a volume where the bottom of the pages said Pagina X (pageX) because they didnt cut off the printers notes at the bottom. The weirdest thing that has happened to me is there was was a page that was weirdly in 2 layers that I had to glue together!. One page was the top half of the page printed and then blank on bottom and on the next the top was blank with the image on the bottom. These 2 pages were also weirdly thinner than the rest of the volume. You're so right that they need to improve their quality control.

[@danaesteaparty]

Hahahah Kodansha should watch this video and take some notes! And even though I hate all these Kodansha problems, for me the worst is the SJ and viz logo that changes… they can change their logo on their new series not on reprints and long running ones

[@hvlmanga]

NOISE IS HORRIBLE. I've felt them in stores and they're such a bummer!

[@sososleeepy]

THANK YOU OMFG idk if any of you had this issue but the first two volumes of Bungo Stray Dogs have slightly different sized text then the rest of the series on the spines??? No matter where I look those two volumes always have smaller text on the spine and it's so noticable and ugly and drives me insane. Also, buying manga online makes me so nervous bc there's a 50/50 chance it'll come with misaligned spines where the spine is printed partially on the cover, tears in the spine edges, folded over pages, etc. and most companies don't let you return bc of that. Buying in person you can check for this and avoid ones that have it, but buying online is such a massive gamble that I usually lose and it's so annoying

[@rarrieta789]

For anyone worried about cracking the spines of larger volumes, lay the spine flat on a table or desk and gradually lower the pages a few at a time until the book lays flat. A KZbin video can do a better job of explaining but this was a lifesaver for my Blade of the Immortal omnibuses. Now I do it for any thicker book before reading. Hope this helps!

[@hvlmanga]

That's helpful! Thank you!

[@jamman-th7zu]

I think if the spines going to be big just make it hardback take a page from dark hose deluxe editions and devilman

[@thetravelerkureno1371]

Everytime i blink the kaiji volume 4 release changes 😢im .TRYING to support this series. (And yes March comes in like a lion has also been delayed ♡) When you look at your shelf and see stairs- took me out And honestly all the topics you covered are such valid complaints

[@amberneal5081]

The varying hieghts annoy me, early 2000s is when they went to the viz standard heights and it was like that for a long while, Kodansha was the same when i started see them in the stores, then seven seas made them smaller, and then kondasha and Viz brought out the large size again.... i just want them all one size😅

[@kranibal]

I also despise the Hong Kong prints from Seven Seas! The mangas have this nice but harder paper. When you open those Hong Kong mangas to read it, the pages do not open nicely. 😡

[@RobHopkins1]

I was in a Barnes a while back and wanted to get the first two omnibus’ of Tokyo Revengers, and they had two copies of the first one that were the two different sizes, and the second was the thinner one. The rest seemed to be the thicker ones Burt I don’t want the inconsistency so I just didn’t buy them. I’m afraid to order online because I could get the two different sizes there, so I guess I will just wait until I can get them in person.

[@EntoMonkey]

So, it's not a perfect solution, but if you're worried about spine strength, you can try putting book tape along the spine. Many smallish libraries do this with their paperbacks to prolong their lifespan. Staples in my (Canadian) city sells Scotch Book Tape. It's about 2" wide (but comes in other sizes) and comes in a red box. I keep a roll of it on hand. It's clear, doesn't yellow over time, and won't eat through the paper. You can also use it to reinforce the corners if you want.

[@cloudsofdawn4035]

Lol love the thumbnail can't wait to watch the video.

[@voltanix3466]

yes i fking hate the height inconsistencies literally very few series i have collected/am collecting that dont have them its so bad

[@voltanix3466]

and the Italian prints are so ass im sorry but they just feel awful and lower quality

[@lingesten15]

I agree with everything in this video. I don’t even buy Kodansha anymore because of their quality, I’m strictly digital for them. I mean even the box sets have volumes with chipped corners. I understand the disappointment in Italy prints but I don’t get why no one is talking about or being outraged by 7 seas Hong Kong printings for some of their series. Half the series are regular paper and then out of nowhere you receive a copy with thick paper with super hard binding that smells of chemicals. And not the nice Tokyo Revenger paper but cardboard like paper. They did it with Darling in the Franxx and Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer for example. I take a misaligned cover anytime over these ones. It’s hard to always feel the need to buy a series when it’s first releasing because the reprints are so bad. It’s getting really expensive keeping up with multiple at once.

[@InfamyOrDeath-__-]

All my Witch & the Beast are perfect thank god, I love that series. But Kodansha definitely have the ugliest spines, the spines on AOT & Fairy Tail are awful. But I think they own Vertical, and they publish Bakemonogatari which is my favourite spines of all, I love the spines on those, so colourful.

[@dogtheories]

i dont read manga now but i used to years ago so my experience with physical printings are all older imprints which had worse issues than they do now imo because they werent as popular and their quality control sucked but be glad youre not in the habit of reading/collecting the old del rey (now kodansha) volumes oh my god those SUCKED not only did they have most of the usual kodansha issues and they changed their logo between being in english and kana for no reason there was always localisation issues, spellings of names would change between translators, text would be put in the wrong bubbles SUPER often and break the flow of reading there was just no internal consistency between them and to make things worse of course they went under before they could finish printing some series (ghost hunt has ONE volume that never got printed in english and of course its the last one) and because they went under its impossible to find copies of some older series. tokyopop published series always sucked too because their paper was thin and shitty they also had inconsistencies with printing and typesetting and they never even tried to provide translation notes or sound effect keys and poor little me had to read all of fruits basket like that. NOT GOOD we hate tokyopop. over here in australia too there were a few series that were on an imprint that was specifically from like taiwan? i think? which was fine for the series that they had exclusively (i can only think of twinkle stars rn) but some series they had Viz also had (ouran high school host club, afterschool charisma) so there'd always be a mix between the two publishers on the library shelves and oh my god you could tell the difference because the other publishers books were thinner, had thicker pages with a smooth coat, the binding sucked and would always fall out, the covers would have a dust jacket like a tankobon and the translations were not consistent with the viz translations. anyway i have my bones to pick with a lot of other publishers and how they do things because for some reason thats something i notice a lot but i wont go on

[@manuellopez2070]

someone send this to all the publishers! I have the same annoyances with NA manga -_- they need to do better with QC and consistency

[@KujoPainting]

I hate it when the pages extend beyond the cover of the book. Come on now.

[@aleahtorres8368]

•One of the biggest pet peeves I have is unfortunately when it comes to the Berserk single editions,the panels are printed so huge that it barely even fits on the pages and the text bubbles are almost ran off the page or too close to the spine (as if it's supposed to be for the deluxe versions and they're trying to fit the deluxe size into a single version size,if that makes any sense) •And I completely see what you're saying about the Kodansha quality control being an issue! I have the complete set of Parasyte and one of the volumes have a slice mark across the top of the spine

[@milesthesnivy2414]

None of these seem to bother me except for the faded ink problem.

[@dillonfollett5765]

Ill be reading volume 13 of dont toy with me miss nagatoro volumes 3,4 of undead unluck and volume 1 of eden zero . Also ill be starting the demonslayer manga boxset this weekend . And i got volume's 5,6,7,8,9,10 of undead unluck , volume's 2,3,4 of eden zero ordered plus a neko robin stand figure otw .

[@Hoppit07]

Speaking of waiting forever for the next volume I'm looking at you one punch man

[@hvlmanga]

YES

[@akaanthonydavis]

I’ve never heard of the USA/CAN and Italian print thing and now I’m too scared to look at my volumes so I think I’m just never going to look at my collection ever again

[@turtleanton6539]

Very interesting video!

[@jamman-th7zu]

Had the ink loss with mashle

[@goom-]

the binding of the dororo omnibus is very flexible and easy to read. pick it up and see for yourself

[@benczehelmut]

The size and spine of the Gantz Omnibus shocked me. Only bought Volume 1 and am not sure if I want the rest.

[@hvlmanga]

I totally get it. I was surprised that I was okay with the omni because MAN they are so thick!

[@AReadsManga]

Kodansha’s Shaman King had such bad printing- all the colours of the spines are faded, banged or misaligned. I don’t buy any Yen Press volumes because I HATE the sharp edges of their spines, they get ruined so quickly, also their flimsy cover thinness. My biggest pet peeve though is not leaving sufficient gutter space/ tight banding at the spines - K-On has the tightest omni I’ve ever seen, it’s impossible to read. I should be able to see/ read the full content I am buying.

[@lingesten15]

I agree with you on the sharp edges of Yen Press! And I don’t know what kind of covers / colors they are using because the covers always looks like dried paint that have cracked. How does a book even do that!

[@TheIsekaiScholar]

My biggest issue is when publishers don’t use consistent sizes because there are two basic sizes, standard and oversized. Standard being the most common and oversized used mainly by Kodansha and the Viz Signature line but then you have smaller publishers specifically Seven Seas who uses a smaller size for most of their releases. I ask why? Why not use Standard size trim.? Then Dark Horse for the mob psycho 100 books are smaller than standard but slightly larger than seven seas books. On top of that you have like Viz big editions and special editions that are impractically huge. I can’t get the Card Captor Sakura books because of the insane size. As far as quality of books go I have issues with Yen press releases. I keep pretty good care of my books but accidents happen and Yen uses such cheap material for their spines that if you breathe on it too hard it will chip and scuff and they should be better made.

[@2_ratsplz]

I just brought 4 Japanese weekly shonen jump mags and holy crap are they huge, they dont fit in my bookshelf

[@darnellmurrell8173]

Just ordered Tokyo Revengers and now apprehensive after your comment about the series. Hoping for the best and preparing for the worst lol...thanks for the video!

[@dattatreyapati9919]

My problem is there is only one physical store and availability in places like amazon and also whether they are authentic or not😪

[@cordellfrank1798]

Vertical has qc on the volumes as well

[@michaelogwo402]

Honestly, I don't have any problem with the physical manga I've collected. I love all of them, especially one of my favorite manga I've ever read was Berserk. Which reminds me, I'm need to order Berserk Deluxe Volume 3. And I'm going to order all Vinland Saga Manga set.

[@hvlmanga]

I'm glad to hear that!!

[@TheCrazyChickity]

An issue I have is pricing of manga vs how much you’re getting. So I don’t know how they price manga or what sets a value of a manga so excuse my lack of knowledge. I hate tho when I want to buy a series but their volumes are so skinny and there’s not much substance to it yet it’s priced around the same as another series but is the normal size of a manga and has more substance. For example don’t toy with me miss Nagatoro are pretty skinny volumes but cost $13 at Barnes and noble. Yet a normal size volume of a manga, for example one punch man, is listed at $10. Even the death note black edition is set at $13. It’s not like nagatoro price was raised due to popularity it’s always been that way. I get omnibuses being more money or hardcovers but this is a simple thin paperback. So I guess my gripe/question is why are some manga series that are skinnier and also not hardcover or anything special about them more money then your standers volumes of manga? If anyone can answer this I would love to know

[@TheCrazyChickity]

Also while looking up prices I realized nagatoro is made by kodandsha and I’ve had so many issues with the series being jacked up and even fading

[@cecil8587]

Bruh. Monster Musume volume 17 is the definition of getting delayed a million times. Like come on seven seas.

[@lostsignals2985]

dark horse is the Worst with the series inconsistency thing

[@15arael]

The biggest pet peeve for me is WHITE MANGA COVERS (ex. Bleach) and WHITE SPINES (ex. Bleach/DBZ/Promised neverland) they just look so boring and monotone

[@hvlmanga]

AGREED! I need some spine variety!

[@misc.2331]

I personally love the bigger volumes and omnibuses. I feel like I'm getting a better value for my money and saving shelf space. I hate the standard 2 in 1 volumes because you have to get so many of them to complete a story and it ends up costing more in time, space and money

[@vincentflannigan2727]

Clicked expecting some hot takes I will disagree with but nah everything complaint is legit

[@hvlmanga]

Glad you agree 🤝

[@KatieColson]

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

[@edgarchapa7266]

None of that bothers me y’all way to series about a book as long as I’m able to read it I’m good y’all hella soft

[@Kyubone]

Good for you? But for a lot of people, especially for collectors, there's a lot of money put into buying these books so of course we care about the quality of the books.

[@oruonam]

OCD like me 😂😂😂😂

[@hvlmanga]

Very much so 😅

[@profotaku]

“This one comes from ProfOtaku...” Me: 😭😭😭 *whimpers* “...so honored.”

[@ollybutler99]

FIRST 🎉

[@ABabyShartedInMyTaco]

Yeah this is an agreement all around!