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I have some untranslated mangas that come in pairs of two, and each of them is
labeled with 上 or 下 to denote which is the first volume and which is the
second. I'm wondering if these labels are only used for pairs of two or can
also be used for trilogies, maybe in the order of 上 - 中 - 下 perhaps, but I
don't have access to library or bookstore for Japanese books to verify.

So, are the usage 上 and 下 as labels only limited to books/movies/etc that come
in pairs of two?

p/s: On related note, in ダンゴ３兄弟, the eldest dango is 長男, the second is 次男 and
the youngest is 三男. If they were actually ダンゴ二兄弟 instead, would they be
labelled with 上 and 下 instead? I think I've heard "上の子" or "下の子" being said
but I'm not sure if they are referring to the order of siblings or something
else.
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usage numbers
Are the usage of 上 and 下 as labels only limited to items that come in pairs of two?
上 - 中 - 下 is common for trilogies, yes.

Then, no the nouns 長男、 次男、 三男 are fixed and show the rank. Unlike a story
which comes in two parts, and where you (as the author) _know_ that there will
two or three parts, you don't know how may children you'll have. Moreover, it
would be quite a pain for an absolute naming/ranking convention to be
relative!
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上巻, 中巻, 下巻, are all used. 中巻 is probably rarer because it's harder to write a
trilogy than a two-parter. I don't really understand your second question.
There's no 上 or 下 involved here. It's eldest son, second son, third son.
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2011-09-09T05:15:02.220
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As Axioplase and rdb said, it is common to label a three-volume book as 上巻,
中巻, and 下巻, or simply 上, 中, and 下.

As for your second question, 上の子 (うえのこ; the older child) and 下の子 (したのこ; the
younger child) can be used to distinguish two children (usually siblings) in
informal context. If there are many children to talk about, you can even say
上から2番目の子 (うえからにばんめのこ; the second oldest child) and so on.
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