Good source for manga in Tokyo? Unless online is a better/cheaper/more convenient option...?

Question

I need to buy A LOT of manga. A lot. I have several requests from my friends and I don't even know if I can fulfill all of them because I'm not sure what manga is currently available. I am out of the loop with manga in general.

Some of the requests I have: Sailor Moon, 12 Kingdoms, Harry Potter.

Where can I find any comic-style books in these areas?

Also, what manga is currently popular for the 20-year-old generation in Japan? Or what manga do you think will end up being popular once it hits America?

Any recommendations at all would be lovely!

Answer 1

I assume that you want to get manga in Japanese language. Well, there are so many bookstores that carry a lot of manga in Tokyo. So you won't have a problem finding manga. However, depending on a bookstore, you might not be able to find some manga that you want to get for your friends even in Tokyo if your friends are asking you to get a set of new comic books/manga series. If I were you, I would just search manga online or just e-mail Kinokuniya bookstore in the US. I usually e-mail Kinokuniya bookstore in San Francisco and ask them to send me manga if they have it in stock. Of course the manga that I always ask them to send me is in Japanese language. Anyway, in this way, you don't need to get manga for your friends, but your friends can actually get manga for themselves: http://www.kinokuniya.com/

But usually buying comic books in Japanese lanugage in the US costs more than buying comic books in Japan. That's one of the problems but it's much cheaper than actually going to Japan. I know you are going to Japan so you might not need this information. But I just wanted to give you this information because there is a way to get Japanese comic books in the states.

Well,  if you want to buy some cheap manga/used manga in Tokyo, you can go to Book Off. Book Off carries a lot of used manga in a good condition. So if you want some used, cheaper ones, just go there.

By the way, are you male or female? Depending on the gender, the popular manga would be different. Usually female manga fans love more adult love story manga if they are around 20 years old. Even in Japan manga is usually for kids not for adults even though we do have manga for older people. And usually older people don't read manga like Sailor Moon because that kind of manga is for kids.

Anyway, what many of manga fans usually do is that we buy a monthly or weekly comic magazine and then we find the manga we like in the magazine.

Well, for older generation for male manga fans, Young Jump, Business Jump, Super Jump, Ultra Jump, Monthly Young Jump, Oh Super Jump from Shueisha would be considered appropriate. Well, there  are more manga magazines from different publishers, but I can't think of other manga magazines now...sorry.

Answer 2

Any bookstore in Tokyo will have a ton. Even a newstand in any train station has manga--maybe not the exact ones you are looking for but...

I assume you are talking about in Japanese. If you want it in English then you'll have to go to a bigger bookstore like Kinokuniya.