How long a manga volume takes to come out in English

A manga volume comes out in Japan. Then English readers wait. How long they wait depends on the series and on the publisher. We compared the dates in our catalog to put a number on it.

The short answer

Half of the volumes reached English print within 20 months of the Japanese edition. A quarter took 13 months or less. Another quarter took 38 months or more. The count covers 1,283 volumes that have a Japanese month and an English print date in our catalog.

The long waits come mostly from older series. A publisher that licenses a finished series starts at volume 1 years after Japan did. A series that runs in both countries at once settles into a shorter gap.

Popular series right now

Series that keep pace with Japan run about a year behind. These are the newest English volumes in our catalog for some of the most followed series. Dates after October 2026 are the publisher's planned dates and can still move.

• Blue Lock volume 38 takes 9 months. It came out in Japan in April 2026 and is dated 12 January 2027 in English.
• SPY x FAMILY volume 16 took 11 months. Japan had it in October 2025. English readers got it on 1 September 2026.
• Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End volume 14 took 11 months. Japan had it in March 2025. English readers got it on 10 February 2026.
• One Piece volume 113 takes 12 months. It came out in Japan in November 2025 and is dated 10 November 2026 in English.
• Chainsaw Man volume 23 takes 12 months. It came out in Japan in February 2026 and is dated 2 February 2027 in English.
• Kaiju No.8 volume 16 took 12 months. Japan had it in September 2025. English readers got it on 1 September 2026.
• Kagurabachi volume 10 takes 13 months. It came out in Japan in January 2026 and is dated 2 February 2027 in English.
• Vinland Saga volume 29 took 13 months. Japan had it in September 2025. The English hardcover came out on 6 October 2026.
• Sakamoto Days volume 25 takes 14 months. It came out in Japan in December 2025 and is dated 16 February 2027 in English.
• One-Punch Man volume 35 takes 15 months. It came out in Japan in October 2025 and is dated 19 January 2027 in English.
• Gachiakuta volume 14 takes 22 months. It came out in Japan in March 2025 and is dated 12 January 2027 in English.

By publisher

These are the middle values by publisher for volumes that came out in English from 2024 on.

• Square Enix: 14 months over 22 volumes.
• Seven Seas: 16 months over 241 volumes.
• VIZ Media: 16 months over 162 volumes.
• Kodansha: 20 months over 232 volumes.
• Vertical: 20 months over 39 volumes.
• Ghost Ship: 24 months over 16 volumes.
• Yen Press: 27 months over 43 volumes.
• One Peace Books: 28 months over 16 volumes.

A value over few volumes moves a lot with a single series. A list with many older series also shows a longer gap than a list of series that still run in Japan.

Year by year

The middle value was 16 months for volumes out in English in 2023, over 78 volumes. It was 20 months in 2024 over 147 volumes and 21 months in 2025 over 231. Volumes dated 2026 sit at 20 months over 371. Earlier years have too few volumes in our catalog to compare.

How we counted

• The Japanese date is the month of the first Japanese edition of each volume.
• The English date is the first paperback or hardcover of that single volume with a day or a month. Ebooks and books that hold two or more volumes are left out.
• The gap is the number of months from the Japanese month to the English month.
• Only volumes with both dates count. The count leans toward series that are popular in English, since those have the most dates in our catalog.

Follow a series

Each series page shows the English volumes beside the Japanese ones and the date of the next English volume. The list of manga catching up with Japan holds the series where English is at most three volumes behind.