Storing and Protecting a Manga Collection

Manga is printed on cheaper paper than most books, bound more simply, and read more often. It ages faster than a hardback and the damage is almost entirely preventable.

What actually ruins it

Sunlight. Spines fade within months in a bright room, and a faded run cannot be fixed. This is the single biggest cause of damage and the easiest to avoid.

Humidity. Paper absorbs moisture and the pages ripple permanently. Bathrooms, basements and exterior walls in cold climates are all worse than they look.

Being packed too tight. Pulling a volume out of a full shelf tears the head of the spine. It is the most common damage on a well-read collection and it happens a book at a time.

Lying flat in stacks. The bottom volumes warp under the weight.

How much shelf a series needs

A standard 30-inch shelf holds roughly one long series or two short ones. Omnibus editions take more width than the volume count suggests, because each book is three volumes thick.

Slipcases: keep or discard

Keep them if the set is complete and you want it to stay together. They protect the spines from light and stop volumes being borrowed and not returned.

Discard them if you reread often. Getting volume nine out of a slipcase means removing several others, and that handling does more damage over a year than the case prevents.

Worth doing

• Shelve upright, with a little room. Enough that a volume slides out without the spine catching.
• Bookend rather than overfill. Leaning is better than crushing.
• Away from the window. Even indirect light fades red spines, and manga publishers love red.
• Room temperature, normal humidity. Wherever you are comfortable, the books are comfortable.

If you intend to sell later

Complete runs sell. Partial runs mostly do not, at any price. If a collection might be resold, finishing a series matters more than starting another, and keeping the box matters more than it does for a reading copy.

The shelf is on the Manga page.