DIVE!! Manga Reading Order: All 3 Volumes Guide

DIVE!! Manga Reading Order: The Complete 3-Volume Sequence

Let’s lay out the core answer one more time, clearly.

The reading order for DIVE!! is:

Volume 1 → Volume 2 → Volume 3

There are no prequels, no spinoffs, no alternate timelines, no bonus volumes floating around. DIVE!! is a straightforward, linear story published in English by Yen Press — a publisher that licenses and translates Japanese manga for English-speaking readers. The series originally ran in Young Ace magazine in Japan (published by KADOKAWA), where the chapters appeared before being collected into the volumes available today. The series wrapped up as a complete work.

Across those 3 volumes, you get 17 chapters of competitive diving drama. The story is adapted from the original novel series by Eto Mori (森絵都) — meaning the manga retells and reimagines a prose novel in comic form — with manga artwork by Akashiba Ruzuru (紅柴るづる) and character designs by Yasuda Suzuhito (ヤスダスズヒト).

There’s no omnibus edition (a single thick book combining multiple volumes into one) and no special collector’s version to agonize over. One edition, three volumes, one reading order. For anyone who’s heard that some manga series have dozens of books and complicated branching reading paths, DIVE!! is refreshingly simple.

Physical, Digital, or Both — Choosing Your Format

Since DIVE!! is only three volumes, the format decision is pretty painless. Here’s what’s available:

Physical Volumes

All 3 English volumes are published by Yen Press and are available through major retailers. For a series this short, picking up the complete set at once is totally practical. You won’t need to dedicate shelf space the way a 30+ volume series demands — three slim volumes tuck neatly into any collection.

There’s no box set for DIVE!!, which makes sense given the series length. You’re buying three individual volumes, and that’s the only physical option.

Digital Availability

The Yen Press English edition is available digitally on platforms like Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, Google Play Books, and Kobo. If you prefer reading on a tablet or phone, digital is a great fit for DIVE!! — the diving sequences have dynamic layouts that look sharp on a screen, and you can carry the whole series in your pocket.

Which Should You Choose?

For a 3-volume completed series, there’s no wrong answer here. Some quick considerations:

Factor	Physical	Digital
Shelf presence	Three clean volumes on your shelf	No shelf space needed
Portability	Light — it’s only 3 books	Entire series on one device
Availability	In stock at major retailers	Instant download
Collectibility	Nice to own for a complete set	No physical item to display
Reading experience	Paper suits manga art well	Great for on-the-go reading

If you like owning physical manga, grabbing all three volumes is easy. Individual manga volumes typically retail around the standard list price you’d see for any Yen Press release. If you’re a digital-first reader, you won’t miss anything — same content, same art, same story.

Volume-by-Volume Breakdown

Here’s what to expect from each volume without spoiling the story beats. Think of this as a roadmap so you know what you’re getting into.

Volume 1 — The Starting Block

This is where everything begins. Volume 1 introduces the Mizuki Diving Club (MDC) and its core cast of young divers. You’ll meet the main characters, get a feel for the competitive diving world, and start to understand what’s at stake — both for the club and for the individuals pouring their hearts into the sport.

Eto Mori’s original novel is well-regarded for the way it captures the internal world of athletes, and the manga adaptation translates that effectively into visual storytelling. Akashiba Ruzuru’s art does solid work establishing the physicality of diving — the tension before a dive, the split-second movements in the air, and the way water receives the body at entry.

If you’ve never read a sports manga before, Volume 1 is designed to bring you up to speed. You don’t need to know anything about competitive diving going in. The manga introduces the sport’s basics naturally through the characters’ experiences.

The Japanese edition of Volume 1 released in August 2017, with the English Yen Press edition following later.

Volume 2 — Rising Pressure

Volume 2 is where the competition storyline kicks into higher gear. The stakes escalate — both in terms of the diving competitions the characters are working toward and the personal conflicts that surface under pressure.

This is the middle stretch of a beginning-middle-end story, so expect tension to build without full resolution. Characters face setbacks, rivalries sharpen, and the emotional core of the series deepens. Sports manga lives and dies on whether you care about the outcome of the next competition, and DIVE!! does a good job making you invested by this point.

The pacing across the middle volume is tight. With only 17 chapters spread over 3 volumes, every chapter moves the story forward — there’s nothing here that feels like padding or wasted space.

Volume 3 — The Final Dive

Volume 3 brings everything to a close. This is the finale, and the story wraps up completely. No cliffhangers, no “read the novel to find out what happens” — the manga adaptation tells a full, self-contained story from beginning to end.

The Japanese release for Volumes 2 and 3 both landed in September 2018, meaning the series wrapped quickly after its midpoint. That compressed publishing schedule means the final two volumes have a strong sense of momentum — the story doesn’t lose steam between installments.

Without giving away specifics, Volume 3 delivers the emotional payoff that the first two volumes build toward. The diving sequences in the climax are where Akashiba Ruzuru’s artwork really gets to shine, capturing the grace and intensity of competitive diving at its peak.

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The Creative Team

It’s worth knowing the people behind DIVE!!:

Original novel series: Eto Mori (森絵都) — the source material that the manga adapts
Manga art: Akashiba Ruzuru (紅柴るづる) — handles the storytelling and all artwork
Character designs: Yasuda Suzuhito (ヤスダスズヒト) — provided the character design foundation

This collaboration between a novelist, a manga artist, and a character designer gives DIVE!! a slightly different feel from manga that start life as original comics. The story structure has the depth of a novel, while the visual presentation is built specifically for the comics medium.

Should You Watch the Anime or Read the Manga First?

An anime TV adaptation of the DIVE!! story exists, covering the same competitive diving narrative. So the natural question is: which first?

Here’s how to think about it:

The Case for Reading First

The manga is only 3 volumes. You can genuinely finish it in a single sitting if you’re a fast reader, or across a lazy weekend if you take your time. Starting with the manga gives you the cleanest introduction to the story — you control the pacing, you can linger on diving sequences, and you absorb the art at your own speed.

Manga has a particular strength when it comes to sports: you can study a single image of a dive for as long as you want. In anime, a dive happens in real-time seconds. In manga, a single moment can be stretched across two facing pages used as one large image — letting you take in every detail of form and motion. For appreciating the technical and artistic side of the sport, manga has an edge.

The Case for Watching First

If you’re someone who connects more easily with animation — hearing voices, seeing movement, experiencing the splash of water in motion — watching the anime first can hook you into the story emotionally. You can then read the manga afterward to experience the same narrative through a different artistic lens.

The Practical Recommendation

For the cleanest experience, read the manga first. It’s short, it’s complete, and it gives you the full story without any pacing compromises. Then watch the anime if you want to see the same story come alive with motion and sound. Both tell a complete story, so you’re not missing critical content either way.

The 3-volume manga length means you can read all of DIVE!! before dinner and start the anime after. It takes longer to watch a full anime season than to read three manga volumes.

Helpful Notes for First-Time Readers

DIVE!! is an excellent choice if you’re new to sports manga, and here’s why:

Reading Direction Reminder

If you’re completely new to manga, here’s something important to know before you open your first volume: Japanese manga reads right-to-left. You start at what would be the “back” of an English book, and read from right to left across each page. The Yen Press edition keeps this original Japanese reading direction. It feels natural within a few pages — don’t stress about it.

No Diving Knowledge Required

You don’t need to know anything about competitive diving to enjoy this series. The manga introduces concepts naturally as the characters learn and grow. By the time the big competitions roll around, you’ll understand what makes a dive impressive because the story has been teaching you all along — without ever feeling like a textbook.

This is one of sports manga’s great strengths as a genre: it makes you care about sports you’ve never watched. Plenty of people have become interested in real-world sports after reading manga about them, and diving is a particularly visual and dramatic sport that translates beautifully to the page.

A Great Length for Beginners

One of the biggest barriers to entry for manga newcomers is the sheer volume count of popular series. When someone recommends a series that’s 40+ volumes long, it can feel like a massive commitment. DIVE!! sidesteps that entirely.

Three volumes. Seventeen chapters. One complete story.

You’ll know within the first volume whether the series clicks for you, and even if you buy all three upfront, you haven’t made a major investment. It’s a low-risk way to test whether sports manga is your thing.

Start Here — The Simplest Way to Read DIVE!! Today

Let’s wrap this up with the simplest possible summary.

DIVE!! manga reading order:

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3

That’s the entire series. 3 volumes, 17 chapters, completed. Published in English by Yen Press. No omnibus editions, no special versions, no complicated reading order. The story starts in Volume 1 and ends in Volume 3 with a full conclusion.

Pick up Volume 1, and if you like what you see, grab the remaining two. For a series this short, buying all three at once is perfectly reasonable — you’ll want them all if the first volume hooks you, and it probably will.

DIVE!! is a complete sports drama about competitive diving that you can finish in an afternoon. It’s welcoming to newcomers, doesn’t require any prior knowledge of the sport, and tells a satisfying story from start to finish. For anyone looking to try sports manga without a huge commitment, this is exactly the kind of series to start with.

Grab Volume 1 and see for yourself.

DIVE!! Manga Reading Order: All 3 Volumes Guide

DIVE!! Manga Reading Order: The Complete 3-Volume Sequence