Where to GET These Manga Series!



Tsugiri from 'Alichino'A couple people have asked me where I get my manga, and where they might order some of the manga series that I summarized on this Random Shoujo Manga Page. So here is a little section covering those questions :) Personally, I got most of my manga at Kinokuniya Bookstore. I lived in San Francisco for a while, so I was fortunate to have this easy manga access both in the city, and at their other store down in San Jose. Now I know many of you have not been quite so lucky. I lived for a long time in an Anime Wasteland myself so I know what it is like. In fact, I once again live in an anime wasteland, and must again depend on online stores to get my manga fix. Fortunately there are many places on the web that sell manga, and perhaps you may find them that way. Here are a few places to look to get you started:



Note: I am in no way professionally associated with any of these companies, so I can't guarantee what kind of service you are going to get. I can only offer the links and wish you the best of luck :)



  • BK1: If you can read Japanese, then I highly recommend this site! It's a Japanese online bookstore, and the site is all in Japanese, however, they DO ship overseas, and their shipping prices are very reasonable! In fact, I placed an order for several volumes of manga, and the bk1 price was $14 cheaper than it would have cost me to buy the manga directly from Kinokuniya when I lived in San Francisco, and this is INCLUDING the cost to ship it. Of course, I had my order shipped SAL, but it was still fairly fast. My manga arrived on my porch 10 days from the shipping date. And I live in Texas. If you live on the West Coast, it would probably be even faster. Woo hoo, I really like this place so far :)

  • JPQueen: This is another great site for purchasing used manga. What's nice about JPQueen is that they almost always have a scan of the manga cover, and will even sometimes scan a page from the book's interior. This is great for random buyers like me. Their prices are so-so, I think their shipping is a bit steep, but the site is in English, easy to navigate, and simple to use. They accept Paypal too. I love Paypal. If you have any extra money, paypal it to me at MagicalEmi at aol dot com. I need to buy more manga from JPQueen! Hahahahah!

  • Kinokuniya Bookstores: Okay, it is no surprise that I would begin with a plug for Kinokunya. They are a cool chain of bookstores, and you don't have to live by one to get manga from them! No, their site does NOT have a online catalog. However if you click on the link to their New York store, then click on the link to find their store locations in the US, you can then call the store nearest you and ask them to mail you the manga you are looking for. I believe they will ask you for the ISBN# of whatever manga you want, which is why I provided that information in my summary pages. If they do not have the manga you want in stock, they will most likely be able to special order it for you. Their prices are fairly reasonable, something around $6 per manga volume. It depends on the exchange rate and size of the manga volume though. I would expect larger sized volumes such as Asuka Comics DX series to cost a bit more. You need to talk with the Kinokuniya employee for payment options ^_^



  • Book-Mart: This is a great online store for used manga. It is based in Japan, but the site is in English, and it is easy to navigate. Their stock changes all the time, and their shipping charges can be a little high, but they are a pretty good source of manga. they have a lot of nice doujinshi too *_* They also accept PayPal!

  • The Place: The Place is an online anime and manga goods shop that sells manga and can also special order it for you. Their prices range from around $6.75-$10 per volume. The upside is that they have an online catalog, and you can order from them directly online. They say that shipping is about $5.50.



  • Sasuga Japanese Bookstore: This is a bookstore in Boston that also has an online catalog, as well as a special order service. Their prices look very good, and they seem to have many obscure/random manga series in stock, though perhaps they may have more shounen series than shoujo... but with special ordering, that doesn't really matter ^_^.



  • Aclimate Solution: Now Here is an interesting place... Aclimate Solution is an online manga store that is physically located in Japan. They sell new and used manga (both individual volumes and complete sets) and have a whole lot of random/obscure type authors. They offer different shipping options, but shipping costs depend on the weight of the manga you are ordering, so be sure to add up how much all the stuff you want weighs and then look at the shipping costs chart. The shipping costs can be pricey, but they have a lot of older stuff that may be out of print and hard to find elsewhere. What I found to be interesting is that for a few dollars more per volume, they will include a typed translation sheet for each manga you buy. Sending typed translations with the orders? Is that legal I wonder?



  • Fujisan.com: Looking to get a subscription of a shoujo manga magazine like the ones I have listed on this page? Well you can buy individual issues or get entire subscriptions to just about every shoujo manga magazine out there (many that I have yet to cover on this page) through Fujisan. The main page is in Japanese, but there is an English version of the site, and if you look in the Magazine section you can find listings for all the magazines. The prices look fairly decent, at least compared to the subscription prices other places offer. This site also sells misc. manga tankoubon and cds and other japan-related goods.



    • That is it for now, I will add more places to get manga from as soon as I can!