How to tell a first-printing manga (初版) from a reprint, and what Dragon Ball / One Piece / AKIRA

If you collect Japanese tankobon, the word that changes the price is 初版 (shohan, first printing) - and the only place it is proven is the colophon (奥付) on the last page. A real first shows a single 第1刷発行 date; a reprint lists 第2刷, 第15刷 and so on underneath with later dates. The second thing is the obi (帯), the paper band around the cover: most copies lost it in the first month, so 帯付き copies of an old volume 1 go for several times the bare book.

What the same volumes are actually listed for in Japan right now (asking prices, first printings, read on 16 September 2026): Dragon Ball vol.1 (Sep 1985) ¥150,000-190,000; One Piece vol.1 (Dec 1997) ¥50,000-250,000; Naruto vol.1 ¥15,999-118,000; Demon Slayer vol.1 ¥8,000-90,000 (the ¥90,000 copy has the first-print obi and flyer, the ¥8,000 ones do not); Death Note vol.1 ¥3,500-50,000; AKIRA vol.1 (Kodansha KC Deluxe) ¥9,000-38,010; Hunter x Hunter vol.1 ¥6,480-26,000; Chainsaw Man vol.1 ¥7,000-18,000. The odd one is Berserk vol.1 (Hakusensha, 1990): one listing at ¥400,000 and nothing cheap at all.

Three things to check before paying a first-print premium: the cover price (Dragon Ball vol.1 first print says ¥360, a ¥484 price is a reprint), the ISBN format (old Jump Comics firsts carry the 4-digit ISBN4-08- code, not 978), and whether the obi text matches the first-print obi rather than a later "anime now airing" band that a seller moved over. Also, "Dragon Ball Z manga first edition" does not exist in Japan - the Japanese books are just Dragon Ball vols.1-42; the DBZ-branded vol.1 is the Viz English edition.

The full table with all thirteen volumes, the colophon checklist and the Japanese search terms (初版 / 帯付き / 全巻初版 / 復刻版 = facsimile reprint, avoid) is here: The most expensive manga: rare first editions and what they list for in Japan. For the reading-copy end of the same shops (Suruga-ya, BOOKOFF, Mercari), the ¥500 tankobon guide is linked from the same page: colophon checklist and shop table.