The Old School Otaku Lounge

I know that back in the day, it was super easy to find a metric ton of anime/manga shops online...but with the eBay boom of the early 00s, I know a lot of shops closed down or became conventions-only sort of things. I thought it might be a good idea to compile a list of online stores still open that we KNOW are trustworthy (there's been quite a few times I've found shops online via Google that looked VERY shady, or were selling only bootleg merch/dvds). What do you guys think?

Right off the top of my head, here's a few:

The Right Stuf: http://www.rightstuf.com/rssite/main/ Obviously one of the best places for everything. Sometimes their sales are really great, especially around Thanksgiving/Christmas time. Their customer service is top-notch, too (I was amused to discover upon the last time I had to call their helpline that they've actually gotten American anime voice actors to do their phone menus. XD A nice touch!)

Kinokuniya Books: http://www.kinokuniya.com/ One of the easiest ways to order Japanese books and manga. They also sell English books. In the past, their online navigation was terribly confusing, but it looks like they've been working on it at least.

Mandarake: http://www.mandarake.co.jp/ I've bought lots of toys, manga, and misc items from them over the years via their online store. They always have a huge variety of things, from toys, manga, cels, books, models, doujinshi....whatever. Shipping can be pricey, but it's coming from Japan.

Animenation: http://www.animenation.com/ These guys have been around FOREVER, probably one of the longest-running online stores I can think of in America. Their prices aren't that amazing, occasionally they'll have sales, but nothing you probably can't already find somewhere else. Apparently they have a trade-in service now, as well as anime rentals. Some of their staff can be pretty insufferable, though.

Akadot Retail: http://www.akadot.com/ I've bought some merch from them over the years when they've had sales. It seems like now, they're in conjunction with Digital Manga Publishing, carrying a lot of their titles.

Robert's Anime Corner Store: http://www.animecornerstore.com/ Another place that's been around for ages. They carry a little bit of everything, and I believe they also have a trade-in system. My only gripe with them is that they will adjust their prices according to the "going rate" of Amazon--I had bookmarked a DVD set there that I wanted to buy a while back, then came back a week later to discover they'd marked it up by almost 200%. -_- I've heard some people gripe about their customer service, though.

Feel free to add any others to this thread!

CDJapan is a very reliable site. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/anime/index.html

I've been using them for around 10 years now.

Ah, how could I forget CDJapan?! You're right, they've been around for a long time, and very trustworthy. I still think it's amusing that in the...what, close to 15 years it's been online, their layout hasn't changed too much. XD

Thought about this one this morning - USA Animate Online: http://en.animate-onlineshop.jp/ Mostly good for more recent merch, but they also seem to carry English manga as well. I've ordered a few things over the years. Shipping was a little pricy, but worth it. Great customer service.

Nikaku Animart's website hasn't been updated since 2009. Are they still around?

greg wrote:Nikaku Animart's website hasn't been updated since 2009. Are they still around?

They were a few months ago when I visited the store.

I wonder if they just don't get much traffic to the online store anymore, so they just stopped updating it?

I recently made a purchase at Anime Jungle: http://www.animejungle.net/
While they had a volume of Black Jack that people are trying to sell for $60+ on Amazon for the retail price (and apparently I got the last one!), I was disappointed that for my ONE VOLUME OF MANGA they charged me $9.50 for shipping. I assumed this meant that it was being sent express or something, (or possibly that it was being shipped from their Japanese location) but no: it was sent in a priority mail flat-rate envelope from LA (though nicely packaged with a thick layer of cardboard around it) which only costs $5.95 to mail (and even with priority shipping, it still took over a week for it to get to me because they took 3 or 4 days to mail the thing). I mean, I understand they're a business and that they're trying to make money; but I'd never had an online shop charge me so much for a single book. Under the circumstances, even with shipping I still got an amazing deal on it, considering how much everyone else online wants for it...so I guess if they have something rare, it's worth paying the shipping, but I figured I'd warn people before considering buying something there that you might be able to find elsewhere for reasonable shipping.

Ah, dang. That is pretty lousy. Although with rare manga, that is good that you could obtain it. When Tokyo Pop went bye bye, I was surprised that they were able to release one more volume each of Sgt. Frog and Fate/Stay Night. Then the comic book store that was holding it for me went out of business and the landlord changed the locks on the doors and claimed everything inside. Ugh.

I think Jungle started out as a laserdisc specialty store in Osaka. I once visited that store a long time ago, and I am pretty sure it was the original Jungle location. I've since been to the Jungle in Los Angeles's Little Tokyo several times. While it's cool, I never really bought much there.

What, no love for Hobbylink Japan?

http://www.hlj.com/

There are some glitches. Sometimes they don't get ANY info on an item until it comes out, sometimes items will go up for pre-order and INSTANTLY be closed out because demand seems to far, far exceed expected supply (this seems to be a particular issue with Saint Seiya figures and most anything Figma, as examples), but these issues are generally supply issues that HLJ can't really do anything about. If a company won't supply a sell-sheet to a customer detailing a product, there's not much that can be done.

Note: I strongly suspect this happens because HLJ is a gaijin company, as other Japanese companies seem to get all manner of pre-sell info.

Saying all that, Hobbylink Japan is frighteningly fast and efficient shipping product. I've had books arrive at my doorstep in three days using the FedEx option. Add an extra day or two for picking and packing and that's pretty darn good in my eyes. I've had Amazon orders shipped from a seller a couple hundred miles away take longer than that.

They're more than plastic models. They sell lots of figures, and books/magazines, sometimes CDs and home video media show up, and hobby supplies (except, oddly, paint, due to Japanese postal regulations. You can get Gundam Markers but you can't get a jar of paint. It's very confusing and crazy). One thing that might make some here happy, you can buy packs of spare Revoltech revolver joints, in every size and color, as well as the special little pliers they make. So, if you have a Revoltech figure that has a busted joint, you CAN fix it.

There are the usual things to be aware of. Shipping from Japan can be a king bitch. It hurts when the cost of shipping may well be more than the item. It's a good idea to spend a little more money, buy a couple of things and spread out that shipping cost. You buy one $10 magazine and you're paying $15 for FedEx. But buy a $20 book as well and now you're getting $30 worth of stuff and still paying $15 for shipping. There are other shipping options but they really aren't that much cheaper.

HLJ charges actual Yen price, but the Yen fluctuates and we all know what crap the World Economy is lately, so you would be wise to build in a little 'cushion' when you mentally calculate the Dollar/Yen exchange rate, in case there is a change between when you order and when you are billed. Of course if you are using a charge card instead of a debit card it may not be a concern.

I like them. I approve.

Ah, HLJ is a great site! But yeah, the shipping is killer. I've used it to get figures/dolls before, but that was back when I had the cash to burn. Now, not so much...