Links

Links to some of our favorite Anime and Manga related websites.

News

These are the sites we like to peruse to get our fix of anime, manga, and general Japan news.

• Anime News Network – The 800-pound gorilla of the anime news scene, and without a doubt the best place to get your fix of anime and manga news.  Lots of other interesting and fun featured columns, including the always-cute Anime News Nina.
• Japanator – They bill themselves as “the site for all your Japan needs,” this site covers such diverse subjects as anime and manga, to Japanese TV, to other elements of Japanese culture, and is truly “your one-stop shop for all things Japan.”
• Sankaku Complex – A site that explores the relationship between anime, manga and games, as well as such media forms as eroge and the visual novel.  Note: you are likely to see some images of a more prurient nature when browsing to this site (in other words, they are most likely NSFW and thus not child-safe either).  You have been warned.
• Otaku Experience – The personal blog of Ed Fonseca, who offers interesting insights into new anime (mostly fansubs). With lots of pretty pictures. (I know, lame description, but trust me, it’s a good site. It’s just been a long weekend, I’m operating on almost no sleep, and I don’t happen to have any Mental Power Ups handy…)

Places to Buy Stuff

DISCLAIMER: With the exception of Amazon.com, we aren’t getting any special “deals” or anything from any of the sites listed here.  These are just some of the places where I myself or one of my cohorts have used in the past to get our anime/manga fix and we really like them.

• Amazon.com – They don’t call it “earth’s biggest bookstore” for nothing.  You can find just about any anime or manga related item here – anime DVDs, manga volumes, anime/Jpop/Jrock music, artbooks, wall scrolls, you name it, they’ve got it (although for some of the rarer/more esoteric items, you might have to wait a few days for them to get it in stock).  If the item is in stock, shipping is usually very quick, and if you subscribe to their Amazon Prime service, two-day shipping is free, and overnight will only cost you $3.99.If you use any of the Amazon links on this site (including the one above), we get a little “cut” of whatever you end up buying.  It doesn’t cost you anything extra, and the money helps to pay the bills for bandwidth, server hosting, etc. for the podcast and website.  So when you decide you want to get that fancy home theater system with high definition TV and Blu-ray player, keep that in mind. 
• The Right Stuf – They may not have the world’s fastest shipping, but their selection and prices certainly can’t be beat.  Be sure and check out their many “deals” sections, including the Weekly Specials, Bargain Bin, and the infamous “Shawne’s Deal of the Day” for some awesome prices on anime goods.
• CDjapan – THE place to get your Japanese import CD’s, hands down.  Anime OST’s, Jpop, Jrock, they’ve got it all.  And fortunately for us gaijin, the site is in English!  Yay!!
• J-List and J-Box – Do you want cool Japanese toys, anime/manga tie-in merchandise, snacks, or other things?  Do you, like me, live in a crappy backwater town lacking anything even remotely resembling a Japanese/Asian shop of any kind?  Wish you had a friend in Japan who could buy this cool stuff for you, then ship it to you wherever you live?  Guess what, you do!  J-List has been doing exactly this for countless otaku since 1996.  Their collection of items is vast indeed – anime to artbooks, magazines to manga, lunchboxes to weird Japanese snacks, doujinshi to dating-sim games, and everything in between.  In particular, they specialize in those “weird” items that can only be found in Japan.  If they don’t have it in their San Diego, CA warehouse, then they’ll just get it to you from Japan itself.  Note: some of their items are decidedly “adult” in nature.  Definitely 18+ material here!  If you don’t mind, then Jlist.com is for you; if, on the other hand, you do not want to see any of the adult content/items, go to Jbox.com.
• PowerAnime – PowerAnime used to be an excellent “brick and mortar” storefront in the Los Angeles area.  Sadly, the storefront is no more.  However, their website lives on!  They stock an amazingly wide variety of anime goods, from CD’s and DVD’s to gachapon and figures, and more.  Definitely worth your while to visit the site and give them some business – they’re good people.

Other Podcasts that We Like

If you absolutely positively must listen to other anime podcasts (besides the always-excellent Otaku no Podcast, of course ), may we suggest that you check out some of these?

• TJX: The Japan Xperience – where your intrepid hosts DJ City and DJ Gladiator talk about the Japanese music scene (Jpop/Jrock/etc.) as well as their travels through Japan.  Tons of useful tips on where to go, what to see, and how to do it, and their easy-to-listen-to banter is always entertaining and humorous.
• The Cartoon Geeks – a blog and podcast about cartoons, mostly coming from the American animation industry’s point of view, but occasionally delving into anime and manga, courtesy of guest appearances by yours truly.
• JapanesePod101 (website) (iTunes audio podcast link) (iTunes video podcast link)- OK, let’s face it, we all want to learn Japanese, right?  I mean, do you really trust the fansubbers or the dub companies to get it right?    Seriously, though, wouldn’t it be fun to be able to watch unsubbed raws and amaze your other otaku friends with your mad leet linguistic skillz?  Or maybe you have friends in Japan whom you would like to communicate with more effectively?  Or what if you’re planning on visiting Japan (you lucky devil!) and want to at least try not to look like a clueless gaijin tourist?  Forget those language classes and Berlitz tapes – this is the iPod age!  And JapanesePod101 is there to help.  Consistently one of the highest-rated non-music podcasts, JapanesePod101 offers free daily lessons in podcast form and accompanying exercise sheets.  If you become a paid member (there’s the upsell) you get access to even more learning tools, a forum, various physical course materials, etc.