Manga is a comic drawn in a style that suits the tastes of the Japanese in the late 19th century. Manga is mainly for entertainment purposes, like other literary fiction genres. But the global manga craze is turning these seemingly ordinary publications into valuable collections.
1. Episode 1 of What a Wonderful World! – 135 USD ~ 3,000,000 VND
What a Wonderful World! is a special collection of short stories by the legendary Inio Asano. The content of the stories in this collection of short stories revolves around the daily lives of many different characters. The only thing they all have in common is that they all struggle with the darkness within themselves. Basically, all the characters just want the world they live in to be amazing.
The first volume of this publication sold for $135, well above the average price for a regular manga.
2. Volume 3 of Bokurano – 150 USD ~ 3,500,000 VND
Bokurano is a series of manga by author Mohiro Kitoh. The story is about a group of students who realize they are controlling a giant machine called Zearth. Their mission is to use Zearth to fight other robots in parallel worlds. The survival of this world entirely depended on their victory, but that required a heavy price.
Volume 3 of Bokurano is among eleven large volumes, so it’s not too surprising that it’s priced at $150.
3. Episode 15 of Battle Angel Alita – 160 USD ~ 3,700,000 VND
Battle Angel Alita: Last Order by author Yukito Kishiro is the next name on this list. The popular series has been printed and the volumes since volume 12 are extremely hard to find. Among them, volume 15 is the hardest to find, so it has the most expensive price in the whole series.
4. Episode 8 of Eden: It’s An Endless World! – 180 USD ~ 4,200,000 VND
Eden: It’s An Endless World is a controversial manga series by Hiroki Endo. The plot is based on Gnostic mythology with symbols, metaphors about heavy problems in the real world, making it difficult for many readers to grasp the full intention of the author. However, that pushes the value of the series up significantly commercially. Episode 8 of the series once sold for 180 USD.
5. GANTZ Episode 26 – 200 USD ~ 4,600,000 VND
Although most of the volumes in Hiroya Oku’s GANTZ series are hard to find, volume 26 is the hardest to find. As a result, the value of the collection skyrocketed. The book was once sold for $200.
6. Episode 12 of Karakuri Doji Ultimo – 500 USD ~ 11,700,000 VND
Since this is the last volume in the series, it sells for around $500. Karakuri Doji Ultimo by author Hiroyuki Takei attracted the attention of readers around the world when the character Dr. Roger Dunstan. This character has a similar shape to the American comic legend, artist and screenwriter Stan Lee.
7. One Piece Limited Edition Volume 1: Romance Dawn – $4999 ~ VND 117,000,000
One Piece is now not only the name of a manga series but also an expensive brand. The limited edition of One Piece: Romance Dawn is currently priced at about $4999 depending on the quality of the book. Even the cheaper versions of the series are worth around $2,000, but the average price for sale on eBay currently hovers around $3,500. A price dozens of times higher than normal manga books.
