Shopping Guide
There’s so many anime and manga titles on the market today but it’s not always easily accessible to everybody. Below are some locations, tips and deals that hopefully can help fans find exactly what it is they’re looking for!
Click here for lists of comic shops that carry anime and manga merchandise!
MANGA___________________________________________________________________
Indigo Book Stores
The best place to buy your books new apart from the internet. Indigo includes both Coles and Chapters bookstores. While Coles are smaller and don’t have as large a selection, you can generally find one in almost every mall. You can also order books to be sent to Coles for you to pick up, eliminating shipping costs so you still get your books at the same price as if you picked them up off the shelf. Chapters tend to have very large sections of manga with hundreds of titles, not to mention artbooks and lots of How to Draws in the art section. They sell at cover price and often have deals, not to mention the discounts you recieve for being a member and the coupons they love to send out. I always leave with arm fulls whenever I go so it’s perfect for readers but not so good for their wallets and shelf space when it all adds up!
Comic Book Stores
Never underestimate your local comic book stores! You can find the closest ones to you using the Comic Shop Locator Service that Diamond Previews has set up or this site’s list of comic shops. They’re not only a great resource for finding manga and random cool merchadise, but most will order in things for you by request. Comic book shops are also fun places to meet people and usually have a nice personal feel to them opposed to large chain stores.
Used-Book Stores
Used bookstores can be a surprising resource and you find them hidden away in most places. You never know where people are going to sell their stuff when they’re through so it never hurts to check. I actually got a lot of old import VHSs at used bookstores including a lot of Japanese manga anthologies, some of my favourite purchases to date.
Online Sources
It’s never been easier to order things from online and it can be a great resource. One option is to order directly from publishers; most manga groups have stores set up on their sites. The problem with this comes with the evils of shipping charges! Since most companies reside in the United States, Canadians are forced with needing to pay international shipping charges (and occassional border taxes!) which can sometimes tally up to be more than the books themselves. Buying a bunch of books at once can make the shipping worth it but it also depends on the group. Always watch for those deals!
For Canadian buyers, the best places to buy your manga online is, in my experience, Amazon.ca and Chapters.ca. You can find just about any release on their sites for cover price (sometimes even less when the Canadian dollar is strong!) and best of all is the cheaper shipping fees. Strongly recommended that you opt for buying several books at once and get your shipping for free! It makes a huge difference. With the free-shipping line being at $40, it only takes four-five books to have the shipping for free. It’s always satisfying having a big box of brand new manga of your choice appearing on your doorstep! Amazon.ca also sells used manga if you’re looking for some deals.
Warning: Like with anything online, always make sure you play it safe! Sticking with company stores and larger sites like Amazon.ca is generally the safer way to go and you should always make sure you’re cautious about who you give your personal information to!
Libraries
Libraries are great sources for finding manga (and sometimes even anime), especially for spotting and trying out some new titles. You can borrow them for free and see how you like them; great for before-purchase decision making. If your library doesn’t carry much you can talk to your librarian and see about having some titles brought in. Librarians want to encourage people so knowing what readers want to see on the shelves is important!
Conventions
Good for manga, anime and all that shiny, shiny merchandise that you often can’t find anywhere else but the internet! Convention vendors are a great place to shop around and find some fun stuff especially while being surrounded by like-minded fans. The only problem that can often occur is prices being higher than usual since vendors are often individual distributors who need to up the price to make a profit on resale. Larger conventions will often have publishers set up booths and readers can usually find things sold at base price there. Another thing to look out for is convention Garage Sales. There’s nothing like hundreds of anime/manga fans looking for a place to sell their stuff to make room for the new! A great place to find good variety for cheap, maybe even do some swappage, their swag for yours.
ANIME___________________________________________________________________
Video Stores
When looking for DVDs, go where DVDs are sold! Video stores like HMV usually carry lots of anime titles. Unfortunately they’re also some of the most expensive places to buy your anime, but on the upside, lots of these places (HMV is a good example) have sale days and deals so keep your eyes peeled. A 30% sticker can make a big difference. Don’t forgot about local rental stores too, you never know what you may find, both for sale and rent. Don’t hesitate to suggest some titles to the store owners either. They’re also great places to find used DVDs for cheap.
Wal-Mart
Oh Wal-mart… what don’t you have? Wal-mart is a great place to find some anime. They carry most of Funimation’s titles and you can usually find their big titles on the shelves on release day. Another great thing to check for is the hidden treasures in bargain bins. You can almost always find some older releases from overstock for as low as two dollars! I got a lot of my series that way including Chobits, Tiny Snow Sugar Fairy & Last Exile! It’s not just old VHSs of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh buried down there (though those aren’t always bad either).
