Forum - View topicPaper used in Manga Books
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8JF
Posts: 88 |
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Does anyone what kind of paper and what types of inks are used in them? From the smell and texture is looks like some sort of newsprint.
I'm just asking for long term storage purposes and interventions that might be needed down the road. |
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FeralKat
Posts: 402 |
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Although I don't know what kind of paper and ink is used, I do know that age and light yellows the paper in most manga. It's safe to assume publishers don't use acid free paper.
 Sucks, I know.
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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It's definitely better quality than newspaper, since that is the most disposable paper product out there, but I would be surprised if it's much more than a decently heavy, cheap stock. A bit better than what you'll get in a paperback novel, but only because it's being used to print images rather than just text.
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Moomintroll
 Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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I'm not sure how anybody can answer the question given that different publishers use paper types of widely divergent quality.
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marie-antoinette
Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I don't know if I would say widely divergent. I haven't noticed any difference in paper from the manga I have, which is from TokyoPop, Viz, Del Rey, and ADV. Sure, they may be some that stand out, but the majority use pretty much the same stuff, and none of it is that high quality (though apparently better than what the Japanese tankouban are on). |
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Moomintroll
Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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I agree those publishers are generally much of a muchness (though Tokyopop's paper always seems marginally worse than anybody else's) but next time you're in a book or comic shop, flip through a book from Fanfare or Drawn & Quarterly or Infinity Studios. Other manga publishers (Dark Horse, Viz, Vertical etc.) vary the paper quality depending on the type of release. By way of example, Viz uses fairly cheap paper for its run of the mill releases but if you take a look at the Tekkon Kinkreet omnibus, you'll see it's printed on a far higher standard of paper than their bread and butter stuff. Similarly, you'll see a hell of a difference between Dark Horse releases like GitS or Orion on the one hand and Gunsmith Cats or Museum of Terror on the other. |
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darkhunter
 Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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Quality varies by publish with Viz, Tokyopop and ADV using the lowest one. Shonen jump title are especially shitty paper quality so sometimes you'll have book with smearing, faded print and yelllowing etc. You need a large pool of sample to judge the quality of the paper. Dark Horse, Viz's editor choice line, Del Rey's mature line, Verticle, Gutsoon, DMP, Dawn and Quarterly, Ponent Mon etc usually use better paper stock but they too varies on the title. |
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jgreen
 Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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I've always thought CMX used the lowest quality paper of all the manga publishers. A 200-page GN from them is about 30-40% thinner than a 200-page GN from any other publisher.
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Moomintroll
Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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The only CMX series I own is Gon and if that's anything to go by, the paper's thinner but it's a hell of a lot less coarse than the stuff used by Tokyopop. So I'm not sure thinner necessarily equates to "lowest quality" (though I grant you it's probably less durable). |
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marie-antoinette
Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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Paper types are sold according to weight (as well as other things), so a thicker paper would be more expensive.
I do agree that you can't say that all manga is on the same paper, but most of it is on fairly cheap stock, because they are mass market products and publishers want to make as much money as they can (which is not an easy thing to do in publishing). |
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Patachu
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 1325 Location: San Diego |
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DrMaster wins the Cheap Ass award hands down. Anyone who says otherwise has never had to experience the suffering of reading their releases. (And personally, I don't blame you! The only good licenses they ever had were Iron Wok Jan and Shin-chan, but I digress.)
As to the quality of CMX's paper, thinner may not equate to lowest quality, but how about duller? I practically have to use a flashlight just to read Emma. Good gracious, I don't know what they put in their paper but it's like a couple of shades of gray away from newsprint. My toilet paper is whiter than what CMX uses. And I don't know where this "Tokyopop's paper is the worst" could possible come from except for some wacky anti-TP bias. Now, I'm not some crazy Tokyopop Defender Fanboy, but I get a review pile of new TP releases on a monthly basis, and I can safely say it's been a few years since they used Really Lousy Paper. I used to have to complain about their print quality in my reviews but at this point I don't mention it anymore because they're about the same level as Viz and Del Rey anyway in terms of paper standards. And since Viz publishes the most (IN AMERICA) they basically set the standard for what's "average and normal." Now, as to the paper stock they use in Japan, that's a whole new thread... |
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chichiriNoDa
 Posts: 533 |
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My only complain is the consistency of the paper color. I mean in one series there is the majority of clear color(white) but once in a while there is an old looking one (light brown) and it doesn't fit with the rest.
But anyway I have one nice looking manga from Broccoli Books, Kon Kon Kokon. The quality of the product was great. The paper is thicker and clearer. And I noticed too, that it is much heavier than the other manga. It has 3 colored pages which is awesome. My only complain is that Broccoli Books takes really slow to release it's series. I've been waiting forever for the next volume of Kokon. And in my opinion Broccoli is one of the best (maybe the best (again my opinion)), when it comes to product quality; such as paper, cover etc. |
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Moomintroll
Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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Fair point - when I mentioned Tokyopop, I was thinking of older titles of theirs that I've recently re-read (early printings of GTO and such like). I agree that their newer stuff's no worse than Del Ray and standard Viz releases. |
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8JF
Posts: 88 |
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It does look like manga are going to be tricky to keep for a long time without spending a fair bit on protection.
As for the difference in paper quality between publishers I have one title printed in 2004 by CPM that is still white compared to a very yellow title by ADV printed in 2005. I might have to write to the publishers and ask about the paper types since they don't include it as part of the publication information in the books. Although no mention usually means it has acid and lignin in the paper. |
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chichiriNoDa
Posts: 533 |
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Do you guys think the newer manga has a bad quality when it comes to paper? (Mainly talking about viz release.)
I noticed that when I read some of the recent publish tankoubon it becomes wobbly or wavy after reading it? They are soft and easily bent. I think the quality is getting worse. |
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