Another Manga Volumes: All 4 Books and Why the Series Is Complete
Another is a supernatural horror manga — a Japanese comic series — written by Yukito Ayatsuji with art by Hiro Kiyohara. It ran from October 2010 to January 2012 and is fully complete at 4 volumes. No cliffhangers, no waiting — the whole story is finished.
The manga was published in Japan by KADOKAWA under their Kadokawa Comics Ace label. It’s based on Ayatsuji’s horror novel of the same name, which built a cult following among horror readers as one of the more chilling modern Japanese horror stories before the manga adaptation brought it to a wider audience.
For anyone coming in fresh: Another follows a transfer student named Koichi Sakakibara who joins Class 3-3 — the third class in the third year of middle school — at Yomiyama North Middle School. Something is very wrong with his new class. A girl named Mei Misaki sits alone, ignored by everyone, and no one will explain why. What unfolds is a death curse mystery where the stakes are brutally real.
At only 4 volumes, this is a tight, focused horror story — no padding, no storylines that go nowhere. You can read the entire thing in an afternoon or two.
Another Complete Volume List
Here’s every volume of Another with its Japanese release date and a spoiler-light summary of what each one covers.
Volume 1 (October 2010)
Koichi Sakakibara transfers into Yomiyama North Middle School’s Class 3-3 and immediately senses something off. His classmates are tense. There are unspoken rules no one will explain. And then there’s Mei Misaki — a quiet girl with an eyepatch who sits at the back of the room, seemingly invisible to everyone else. Koichi is drawn to her despite warnings, and the eerie atmosphere of Class 3-3 begins to take shape.
This opening volume is all about building dread. Something terrible is connected to this classroom, and the first volume makes sure you feel it in your bones before anything overt happens. Kiyohara’s art carries enormous weight here — the empty hallways, the sidelong glances between classmates, the way Mei is framed in isolation. The horror is implied rather than shown, which makes the tension almost unbearable.
Volume 2 (March 2011)
The curse of Class 3-3 reveals itself. Classmates start dying in mysterious, violent ways — and the deaths aren’t subtle. This is where Another shifts from creeping unease into full-blown horror. The students begin to realize that the deaths aren’t coincidence, that they’re tied to something specific about their class, and that the pattern has happened before. The mystery deepens as Koichi and Mei try to piece together what’s happening while the body count starts climbing.
Volume 2 also does important work in fleshing out the supporting cast. Several classmates who were background figures in Volume 1 get moments that make you care about them — which, given the nature of the story, makes what follows that much more devastating. This is smart horror writing: it invests in the people before it puts them at risk.
Volume 3 (September 2011)
The death toll escalates and panic sets in. The class desperately searches for the rules behind the curse — how it starts, who it targets, and whether there’s any way to stop it. Paranoia runs rampant. Friendships crack under the pressure of knowing that anyone could be next.
Volume 3 is the emotional and thematic core of the series, where the horror becomes as much about what the students do to each other under extreme fear as it is about the supernatural curse itself. The line between justified caution and cruelty blurs in ways that are uncomfortable to read — and that discomfort is exactly the point. Kiyohara’s panel compositions grow increasingly claustrophobic here, boxing characters into tight frames that mirror the psychological pressure closing in on them.
Volume 4 (January 2012)
The final volume. The class goes on a trip that becomes the setting for the climactic confrontation with the truth behind the curse. Throughout the series, there have been hints about an “extra student” — an additional person in the class who shouldn’t be there, tied directly to why the curse activates. Volume 4 finally reveals who that person is, and the resolution is both satisfying and haunting.
Without spoiling the specifics, the ending ties together the mystery threads laid across the previous three volumes and delivers the kind of gut-level conclusion that good horror demands. The final pages carry a weight that lingers well after you close the book.
A note for new readers: The descriptions above are kept intentionally general. Another is a mystery at its heart, and the reveals hit much harder when you go in without specifics. If you’re on the fence, just know that the 4-volume length means the story never drags — every chapter pushes forward.
How Dark Does the Another Manga Get
This is a horror manga, and it earns that label. Here’s what to expect so you can decide if it’s right for you.
The death curse is the engine of the story. Students in Class 3-3 die throughout the series in varied and graphic ways — accidents, impalements, and other gruesome fates. Kiyohara’s detailed art doesn’t shy away from depicting these deaths, and some panels are genuinely shocking. For reference, there’s also a 2012 TV anime adaptation of Another that covers the same story — if you’ve seen it, the manga’s death scenes carry similar impact through still images, which in some ways makes them linger even more.
The atmosphere is suffocating. Beyond the individual death scenes, Another maintains a persistent sense of paranoia across all four volumes. Anyone in the class could die at any time. The students know this. The way that knowledge warps their behavior and relationships is arguably darker than the deaths themselves. Trust erodes. Fear makes people cruel. The horror isn’t just supernatural — it’s deeply human.
Who is this for? Readers who enjoy dark, mature horror manga with strong mystery elements. Think less “action horror” and more “something is very wrong and we’re all going to die trying to figure out what.” The series sits comfortably in the supernatural horror and dark mystery space. If you’ve enjoyed titles like Uzumaki or Higurashi, Another operates in a similar atmosphere of creeping, inescapable dread.
Content note: Another features frequent graphic death of teenage characters. The violence is contextualized within the horror narrative rather than played for shock alone, but it is explicit. If that’s a hard boundary for you, this probably isn’t the right pick.
For dark fantasy and horror manga fans, though, Another is well-regarded for good reason. The combination of Ayatsuji’s mystery plotting and Kiyohara’s atmospheric art creates something that sticks with you.
Original Volumes vs the English Omnibus Edition
This is the section that clears up most of the confusion people have when searching for Another manga volumes. Here’s how the Japanese and English editions compare:
An omnibus, for anyone unfamiliar with the term, is a collected edition that bundles multiple volumes into a single book. In manga publishing, omnibus editions are common — they let you get an entire series or a large chunk of one without buying each volume separately.
| Detail | Japanese Edition | English Edition |
|---|---|---|
| Format | 4 individual volumes | 1 Complete Omnibus |
| Publisher | KADOKAWA (Kadokawa Comics Ace) | Yen Press (a major English-language manga publisher) |
| Content | Volumes 1–4 | All 4 volumes collected in a single book |
| Availability | Japanese-language only | English-language |
What this means for you
In Japan, Another was released as four separate books between October 2010 and January 2012. In English, those four volumes were collected into a single Complete Omnibus edition — one book that contains the entire series from start to finish.
This is important: the omnibus is the only way to read Another in English. There are no individual English-language volumes. You won’t find a “Volume 1” or “Volume 3” in English as standalone books. It’s all or nothing, collected in one place.
For a 4-volume series, this actually works out really well. You don’t need to hunt down separate books, worry about whether volume 3 is out of stock somewhere, or track release dates. One purchase, complete story. Given that Another is a tightly plotted mystery where you’ll want to read straight through anyway, the omnibus format suits it perfectly.
Is anything cut or changed in the English omnibus?
The English omnibus collects the complete manga. You’re getting the full story as it was published in Japan — just in one binding instead of four.
Where to Buy the Another Manga in English
Since Another exists as a single English omnibus, buying it is straightforward. One book, one purchase, the whole story.
The Another Complete Omnibus is available through major retailers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and bookstores that carry manga.
Another (manga)
A few practical notes for buying:
- It’s a single book. If you see listings for “Another Volume 1” in English, double-check that it’s actually the omnibus and not a Japanese-language import. The English edition collects everything.
- Check your preferred retailer. Since this is a well-known series from Yen Press, a major English-language manga publisher, it’s widely stocked. Availability is generally good.
- Digital options exist too. If you prefer reading on a tablet or e-reader, the manga is available digitally through platforms like Kindle. Note that the digital edition may be sold as individual volumes rather than as a single omnibus — check your preferred platform for exact packaging before purchasing.
- Typical retail pricing for the omnibus falls in the range you’d expect for a collected manga edition. Since it contains four volumes’ worth of content in one book, it represents solid value compared to buying four separate volumes of a similarly-lengthed series.
The nice thing about Another being a complete series in a single omnibus is that the barrier to entry is about as low as it gets for manga. No multi-volume commitment, no box sets to evaluate, no ongoing series to keep up with. You grab one book, you read one of the tighter horror manga out there, and you’re done.
The Novel Behind the Manga
One thing worth mentioning for readers who finish the manga and want more: Another is adapted from Yukito Ayatsuji’s horror novel, also titled Another, originally published in 2009. The novel goes deeper into certain aspects of the story — particularly the backstory of the curse and some character details that the manga condenses. A sequel novel, Another 2001, also exists for readers who want to return to Yomiyama North Middle School.
If you’re wondering whether to read the novel first or the manga first, either order works. The manga is a faithful adaptation that hits all the major story beats, while the novel provides a more detailed, prose-driven experience. Many readers start with the manga because of its accessibility and pace, then move to the novel for the deeper cut.
Final Thoughts
That simplicity is part of what makes Another such a solid recommendation for anyone looking to get into horror manga or dark supernatural stories without a massive time or money investment. Four volumes of supernatural horror mystery, one English omnibus, a complete story with a real ending. That’s the full picture.