tankbon

Tankōbon (単行本), often rendered as tankobon in English, is a term used in manga publishing to designate a standalone bound volume. It refers to a single book that collects the chapters of a manga series that were originally serialized in magazines, such as weekly or monthly publications. The tankōbon format is the standard way readers obtain a complete, re-readable edition of a series after its magazine run.

A typical tankōbon contains multiple chapters from one series, usually between 180 and 250 pages, and is published after a number of magazine chapters have appeared. It may include material not printed in the magazines, such as color pages, revised art, author notes, or bonus epilogues. The volume is identified by a volume number and an ISBN, and is published by the series’ publisher, such as Shueisha, Kodansha, or Shogakukan, among others.

In the broader manga market, tankōbon is contrasted with other formats: bunkōbon (smaller paperback editions) and kanzenban (complete editions, often remastered with additional content). Outside Japan, licensed translations of tankōbon volumes are the common form for international readers, and digital editions of tankōbon are also widely available through e-book platforms.