Why Does Vinland Saga Have Two First Volumes?

Because the series changed magazines, and Kodansha re-dressed the books.

Vinland Saga has two different volume 1s because it has two different first homes. The series debuted in Weekly Shōnen Magazine, and its first two volumes were collected under the Shōnen Magazine Comics imprint in 2005: volume 1 on July 15, volume 2 on November 17, in a red, map-backed design.

When the manga transferred to Monthly Afternoon, Kodansha brought the early books with it. On August 23, 2006, volumes 1 and 2 were reissued under the Afternoon KC imprint with new ISBNs and new covers, Yukimura paintings replacing the shōnen design. Those Afternoon KC editions are the ones still in print, and the ones the gallery shelves.

For collectors the consequence is real: a true first edition of volume 1 is the 2005 Shōnen Magazine Comics book with the red cover, not the familiar Afternoon KC painting. How to check a copy is set out on the first-printing page.

Vinland Saga Japanese volume 2 cover — **THE EARLY VOLUMES**Japanese volume 2, one of the two volumes from the Weekly Shonen Magazine run.

THE TWO PRINTINGS

Volumes 1 and 2

Shōnen Magazine Comics, 2005

Vol. 1: July 15, 2005 · ISBN 978-4-06-363559-1. Vol. 2: November 17, 2005 · ISBN 978-4-06-363580-5. The first editions, from the weekly run.

Afternoon KC, 2006

Both volumes reissued August 23, 2006 · ISBN 978-4-06-314423-9 and 978-4-06-314428-4. New covers, new imprint, the standard editions ever since.

Why Does Vinland Saga Have Two First Volumes?

THE TWO PRINTINGS

THE FIRST WORD