| Greetings! I wanted to make a general post to discuss anime shops in the NYC area. This information is from the Spring of 2011 and I'll be traveling there again next month (Jan 2013) to update this. However if anyone has information regarding these locations. Please comment below or give your general thoughts. Mitsuwa Marketplace (Japanese) http://www.mitsuwa.com/tenpo/newj/eindex.html This is a Japanese marketplace located in Edgewater, NJ and seems to me to be the best location in all of NYC for Japanese-related fandom. It has a grocery store, food court, many shops, and also a bookstore selling Japanese language books and some English anime DVDs. This was my favorite location in all of NYC since the staff was incredibly helpful and helped me locate the books I was searching for. How to get there: http://www.mitsuwa.com/tenpo/newj/access/eshuttle.html You can take the bus from Gate 51 at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan. It costs $3 (one-way) and runs every hour. You can easily spend an hour at Mitsuwa looking at everything. Anime Castle (English) http://www.animecastle.com/ This is probably the best anime shop in NYC that sells relatively rarer items at decent prices. This is my favorite English shop for anime to shop at while I was in NYC. They have a fair amount of English manga, an above average selection of shirts, and the staff was helpful. I also picked up a few rarer anime DVDs (of course they were English translations). The prices are also fair and isn't as expensive as I'd thought it'd be. How to get there: This shop is located in the borough of Queens. Take the 7 train and get off at "Flushing - Main St". Leaving the underground subway, walk four streets north to Northern Blvd, and then walk east one block to Union St. When you turn north on Union St, Anime Castle is on one of the shops on the left side of the street. The staircase will lead you down into it. Book Off (Japanese) http://www.bookoff.co.jp/en/index.html This is a Japanese shop located in Manhattan that caters to Japanese clientele. You can buy and sell Japanese books, and the cost of books is dirt cheap. They have a tremendous amount of old Japanese anime and books to choose from on the basement level. How to get there: http://www.bookoff.co.jp/en/info/kaigai02.html It is located on the north side of W 45th St between 5th Ave and 6th Ave in Manhattan. Kinokuniya Bookstore (Mix) This is the equivalent of the Japanese Barnes & Nobles that caters to Japanese-speaking clientele. There's one in Shinjuku(Tokyo) and San Francisco(Japantown), and if you've seen one you've seen them all. It's a high-class, expensive version of Book-Off (as mentioned above). While the cost is too expensive for most, if you want to find current, hard to find titles that have been released in Japan recently - then this IS the place for it. Finding the latest titles by major Japanese publishers is more of a challenge to find in smaller retailers like BookOff and Mitsuwa Marketplace. How to get there: http://www.yelp.com/biz/kinokuniya-bookstores-new-york-2 It's located a few blocks south of Book-Off in Manhattan so it might be a good idea to visit both in one trip. Kinokuniya is located on the west side of 6th Ave between W 41st St and W 40th St. Forbidden Planet (English) This is a regular comic book shop, with Japanese products relegated to the 2nd floor. The nice thing about this place is that I found a few rare Japanese artbooks mixed in with the anime section, but it mostly has run-of-the-mill English anime/manga. You might find some rare finds here however, so keep an eagle eye out when looking around. How to get here: http://www.fpnyc.com/New-York-Store/ Take the 4,5,6,L,N,Q, or R subway to Union Square Park in Manhattan. Then on the south side of the park take Broadway one block south to E 13th St. Forbidden Planet is on the SE corner of the intersection. Image Anime (English) I suppose the only positive thing about this place is that they know how to sell anime and toys at ridiculous prices to make a profit. I'm a savvy buyer. And I only spend my money on things I know I will get some use out of. The selection is very slim and they don't carry rare titles. This is purely an English shop, and don't even bother asking for bootleg-type items. They are completely legitimate and take great pride in it. For a rarer treasure seeker like myself, this shop represents my antithesis. How to get there: http://www.imageanime.com/ It's located very close to Penn Station. The shop is on the south side of W 30th St between 8th Ave and 7th Ave in Manhattan. (If you live in the NY area or have visited these shops, PLEASE contribute your own opinion! Also, I'd like to see more information on any Japanese toy stores or video game stores that might carry Japanese titles or products. As long as it's accessible from Manhattan by subway, bus, or train, please provide: 1) What it is, 2) Your personal opinion on how good it is, 3) Directions to get there, and 4) a website link.) |
| "You cannot dream yourself into a character: you must hammer and forge yourself into one." Henry D. Thoreau |
JavierR said: Lol, I live in NY and would never go there, i probably reeks of weeaboo. I rarely post on message boards, or get involved with drama ^_^ But I am a huge anime fan and love to contribute my knowledge. However, despite my elitism, I strongly recommend you go and visit these shops when you have a chance. The only rule you need to follow is to be very quiet and not brag about "this" or "that" anime. That's okay in English shops, but NOT in Japanese shops. Conduct yourself in a Japanese shop the same way you'd conduct yourself in a library. If you have a title you'd like to own just for a keepsake in Japanese, then print out a list of titles in Japanese that you might be interested in, and say to a shopkeeper "Sumimasen, kore manga o arimasu ka?" (Excuse me, this book, do you have it?) or ("Sumimasen, kore anime video o arimasu ka?") - but of course in NYC you can speak English too. It just gets results when you know a little Japanese and show the proper respect. |
| "You cannot dream yourself into a character: you must hammer and forge yourself into one." Henry D. Thoreau |
| Though I'll probably never go to these stores/this is sorta the wrong section, that was still pretty interesting. Thanks for the info :D |
| "Our everyday lives may, in fact, be a series of miracles." - Nichijou |
| I'll talk about Imagine Anime. When I went to NY exactly a year ago, that was the first place I went. The prices were good, I looked around, and the store was pretty nice. I'm not sure about other stores, but they had quite a big mixture of things. I actually bought a Madoka nendoroid and a wall scroll. Like I said, everything was nice and stable, the prices were okay. I think they could of been a little bit cheaper, but it's worth it for what you get. The only thing I did not like was that they kept staring at my family like we were about to steal something. (We were the only ones in the store at the time.) But, you know, I can side with them. I'm not sure about NY, but maybe there's a high dosage of stealing or something. It's nice that they take care of their things though. |
| [The information below is now valid as of January 2013.] An image of what I purchased in Jan 2013 from my day shopping for NYC anime/kpop goods: http://i.imgur.com/RoQjd.jpg The one thing I learned about this trip is that Flushing in Queens, NY has an amazingly strong Asian community. The New World Mall is worth seeing yourself, not to mention the Anime Castle anime shop (while out of the way) is an absolute MUST to visit on any trip to New York City (even though it's NOT in Manhattan). So here is my updated list of places to check out: Anime Castle (English) http://www.animecastle.com/ On my second trip, I'm going to go ahead and say this IS the best anime shop in NYC(located in Flushing, Queens, NY). Their staff is the best in all of New York. I have been to Japan, and the shirts they sell at this store are VERY close to what you can find in independent shops in Akihabara. Not to mention their DVD, Toys, and anime related items are consistently updated. I was able to find rare anime DVDs that are not easy to find online. The prices were once again fair and isn't as expensive as I'd thought it'd be. How to get there: This shop is located in the borough of Queens. Take the 7 train and get off at "Flushing - Main St". Leaving the underground subway, walk four streets north to Northern Blvd, and then walk east one block to Union St. When you turn north on Union St, Anime Castle is on one of the shops on the left side of the street. The staircase will lead you down into it. Mitsuwa Marketplace (Japanese) http://www.mitsuwa.com/tenpo/newj/eindex.html This is a Japanese marketplace located in Edgewater, NJ and seems to me to be the best location in all of NYC for Japanese-related fandom. What few people know is that there's more to do there than just buy books at Sanseido bookstore. There's also a bakery (Saint Honore) and also they have a large food court - but I recommend Santouka Ramen (It ALWAYS has long lines but is the very best!), not to mention the full Japanese grocery store. How to get there: http://www.mitsuwa.com/tenpo/newj/access/eshuttle.html You can take the bus from Gate 51 at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan. It costs $3 (one-way) and runs every hour. You can easily spend an hour at Mitsuwa looking at everything. Koryo Bookstore (Korean) This shop is located in Midtown West in Manhattan. This is the best (and probably only) bookstore in NY that you can find K-pop bands CDs and accessories. Granted, this store caters to Korean shoppers looking for books. They only have 1 tower of CDs to choose from, but I was able to find the 1st Girls Generation CD with the alternate cover (Baby Baby). They also had a few 2013 K-pop calendars which caught my eye in the $30 range. The prices here are more expensive and are equal to that of Manhattan pricey range. So expect to spend at least $25 on a CD and near $50-60 for a video album. The level of kindness and reception I found was the best of any Korean store I've been to. They are VERY helpful and realize foreigners like us need help finding things. Don't hesitate to ask them for help! You'll need it. How to get there: There are many subways that take you to this area but the address is 35 West 32nd Street, New York, NY. It's on the north side of the road on W 32 St between Broadway and 5th Ave. As of this posting their hours are 9a-9p, 7 days a week. W 32 St has many Korean shops other than this one. Kinokuniya Bookstore(Japanese) & BookOff bookstore(Japanese/English) See the 1st post for more information. However it is important to note BookOff has a huge selection of books other than Japanese and also sell English anime books in their basement (right next to the purely Japanese anime books). Kpop Joy Gift Shop @ New World Mall (Korean) This store is located in Flushing, Queens, NY. This store is very small, but is dedicated solely to Hello Kitty(75%) and K-pop mechandise(25%). The selection is rather slim, and they don't sell CDs, but I picked up a few Girls' Generation file folders which I can convert into posters on my own. They have a lot of small accessories, so this store heavily favors girl shoppers over guy shoppers. The one thing to note is the New World Mall itself. It's very Asian-heavy but strikingly beautiful, and very English-speaking friendly. The basement is a purely Asian food court and it takes a little courage to order, but I had some congee at one of the stores. Also recommend just walking around the 1st and 2nd floors. These 2 floors cater mostly to the female shoppers, but still worth seeing for yourself. The 3rd floor, humorously, looks to be a mafia-run restaurant, and isn't for the casual shopper. How to get there: Take the [7] to the most northbound stop: Flushing-Main St. It's right there when you get off the subway and leave the station, and is located on the SE corner of Main St and Roosevelt Avenue. If you're looking at street-level on Google Maps, it's where Caldor used to be. The main entrance is on the south side of Roosevelt Avenue. Toy Tokyo (open to all) This store is located near NYU in Manhattan. The thing I like about stores is that they are original. This store didn't live up to my expectations, but it may be liked by toy enthusiasts. A lot of the toys catered to popular titles, and 80% of them don't cater to Japanese anime enthusiasts. I was hoping to see some model sets but almost EVERYTHING is dolls and figurines. How to get there: You can either get off the [6] at Astor Place and walk east to 2nd Ave, or do as I did and take the [F] to 2 Av/Houston St, and walk north 6.5 blocks to the store on 2nd Ave. The address of Toy Tokyo is 91 2nd Avenue, New York, NY. It's located between E 6th St and E 7th St on 2nd Ave on the west side of the road. |
| "You cannot dream yourself into a character: you must hammer and forge yourself into one." Henry D. Thoreau |
| Do you know where I could get books and stuff to learn Japanese? O: |
Physiicx said: Do you know where I could get books and stuff to learn Japanese? O: Sure! The very best way to learn is to train yourself to take and pass the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) which is offered twice a year in the United States at select locations. It is offered in July and December. Here's the official page Official JLPT sign up The test comes in 5 levels. N5 being the easiest and N1 being the hardest. N5 you can take after 1 college semester's worth of Japanese classes, N4 after taking 2 semesters, N3 after 4 semester. N2 and N1 is equivalent to high school level Japanese students, and most people who pass N1 are fluent and can answer high school mathematical questions in Japanese. To study for the exam, you can find materials here: JLPT study materials Finally, learning Japanese can be a very lonely process, and the hardest thing about it is that there's no quick rewards for your hard work. So if you'd like to learn, then I strongly suggest you take a course in it, and make permanent friends with native speakers. Learning a language is by listening and speaking, not just by reading. |
ReineIwakuraJan 16, 2013 2:00 AM
| "You cannot dream yourself into a character: you must hammer and forge yourself into one." Henry D. Thoreau |
| I live in NY and ive been to Mitsuwa's quite a few times. i enjoyed going there alot. |
| Don't live in New York Don't care |
 Nico- said: Conversations with people pinging/quoting me to argue about some old post I wrote years ago will not be entertained@Comic_Sans oh no y arnt ppl dieing i need more ppl dieing rly gud plot avansement jus liek tokyo ghoul if erbudy dies amirite |
| I don't live there but I stumbled across the Kinokuniya Bookstore when I was visiting completely on accident (taking shelter from rain). It's got some neat stuff in the basement and the atmosphere is entirely non-weeb. Edit: wait, who dug this thread up from the grave? |
| Thank you for this thread. Needing it because I'll be visiting in the future! |
| Oh this thread is useful. Well, it would be if I lived in NYC. I knew about and have visited Kinokuniya before but I didn't know about the others. |
| Avatar character is Gabriel from Gabriel DropOut. |
GlennMagusHarvey said: I dunno why some spambot bumped this earlier (lol) but this thread is obviously a bit outdated.Oh this thread is useful. Well, it would be if I lived in NYC. I knew about and have visited Kinokuniya before but I didn't know about the others. Most of these places are still up, but Image Anime closed down their storefront as of a year or two ago (their online site is still up though). |
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