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wingblossomIn the city, there once used to be a holy trinity of Japanese-owned bookstore chains: Kinokuniya, Asahiya, and Book-Off.
Asahiya closed down a few years ago, but back in my high school manga-buying days, I used to go to Kinokuniya and Book-Off all the time. As time went on, however, Book-Off gradually replaced Kinokuniya in my affections, both due to its marketing and ease of access with regards to my train route. In addition, Book-Off also stocked a ton of used English books and CDs on the main floor, turning it into a "one-size-fits-all" kind of place. It was located on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, and...I was kind of addicted to going there! Along with the Strand, it was my favorite bookstore in the city.
Then a couple of weeks ago, I stopped by there, and much to my shock and horror, I found out that the place had closed down! In the store window, there was a note that said a new location would be opening up on the 17th, a few blocks down on 45th Street. Since I had already planned on going into the city that day, I managed to take a look at the new Book-Off on its first day open.
It was considerably bigger than the old location, and even on the opening day, completely packed. So just as proof of my craziness, I took pictures of lots and lots of different areas in the store.
I felt like such a dork while trying to be discreet and look like I was just fiddling with my phone so no one would figure out I was actually taking pictures. Like I was telling Ari earlier, I don't think I succeeded.
I am glad I didn't buy anything at Book-Off that day, because I shudder to think what my wallet would have looked like otherwise. (Every five minutes, I was thinking, hey, this is really pretty! Or, hey, this is only a dollar! Or two dollars! Or, hey, they have so-and-so book series! Or, hey, LOOK AT ALL THE CDs AND DVDs! But no, I still didn't buy anything.) What they did was to move all the stationery, children's books, and animanga-related goods to the basement, leaving the English books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, and video games on the main floor. The top floor was a little smaller and less crowded in comparison, with shelves and shelves of Japanese books. In general? Lots more elbow room, and I still marvel at their inventory.
Not so thankfully, most of my pictures also ended up being quite blurry. Damn it.
More stuff:
I haven't kept up with Nana in a long time, but I do remember everyone talking about this Spoilery Thing that happens in one of the later volumes.
More Yazawa Ai! A few years ago, I found these same volumes of Parakiss for a dollar each in the discounted section, which was indescribably cool.
For some inexplicable reason, I was honestly surprised to see this here.
One new section that Book-Off added? Video games.
The Hikago artbook is huge. And nicely bound. And pretty. And way too expensive for me to consider buying it, unfortunately. Yes, that is the Tokyo Babylon Photographs artbook right behind it.
The allure of the one-dollar novel.
WYSIWYG.
Which book here sticks out like a sore thumb among the rest? (Hint: NO LOGO.)
Naoki Urasawa's Monster and some other series below that called Kaze no Daichi.
Er, so is Patalliro the longest shoujo series ever or what? I didn't even know it was serialized in Hana to Yume, which says something as to how little I know about it.
And finally, part of the DVD selection along with the storefront.
I did some more poking through the manga selection they had in the basement, but the only new thing I noticed was this Ouran-ish host club series running in Flower (not sure if it was Cheese or Betsucomi) with a lead that was a dead ringer for Tamaki. Shame the heroine was so wibbly, though.
Of course, this all leads back to my original verdict, which is that I like the new Book-Off very much. :)
Asahiya closed down a few years ago, but back in my high school manga-buying days, I used to go to Kinokuniya and Book-Off all the time. As time went on, however, Book-Off gradually replaced Kinokuniya in my affections, both due to its marketing and ease of access with regards to my train route. In addition, Book-Off also stocked a ton of used English books and CDs on the main floor, turning it into a "one-size-fits-all" kind of place. It was located on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, and...I was kind of addicted to going there! Along with the Strand, it was my favorite bookstore in the city.
Then a couple of weeks ago, I stopped by there, and much to my shock and horror, I found out that the place had closed down! In the store window, there was a note that said a new location would be opening up on the 17th, a few blocks down on 45th Street. Since I had already planned on going into the city that day, I managed to take a look at the new Book-Off on its first day open.
It was considerably bigger than the old location, and even on the opening day, completely packed. So just as proof of my craziness, I took pictures of lots and lots of different areas in the store.
I felt like such a dork while trying to be discreet and look like I was just fiddling with my phone so no one would figure out I was actually taking pictures. Like I was telling Ari earlier, I don't think I succeeded.
I am glad I didn't buy anything at Book-Off that day, because I shudder to think what my wallet would have looked like otherwise. (Every five minutes, I was thinking, hey, this is really pretty! Or, hey, this is only a dollar! Or two dollars! Or, hey, they have so-and-so book series! Or, hey, LOOK AT ALL THE CDs AND DVDs! But no, I still didn't buy anything.) What they did was to move all the stationery, children's books, and animanga-related goods to the basement, leaving the English books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, and video games on the main floor. The top floor was a little smaller and less crowded in comparison, with shelves and shelves of Japanese books. In general? Lots more elbow room, and I still marvel at their inventory.
Not so thankfully, most of my pictures also ended up being quite blurry. Damn it.
More stuff:
I haven't kept up with Nana in a long time, but I do remember everyone talking about this Spoilery Thing that happens in one of the later volumes.
More Yazawa Ai! A few years ago, I found these same volumes of Parakiss for a dollar each in the discounted section, which was indescribably cool.
For some inexplicable reason, I was honestly surprised to see this here.
One new section that Book-Off added? Video games.
The Hikago artbook is huge. And nicely bound. And pretty. And way too expensive for me to consider buying it, unfortunately. Yes, that is the Tokyo Babylon Photographs artbook right behind it.
The allure of the one-dollar novel.
WYSIWYG.
Which book here sticks out like a sore thumb among the rest? (Hint: NO LOGO.)
Naoki Urasawa's Monster and some other series below that called Kaze no Daichi.
Er, so is Patalliro the longest shoujo series ever or what? I didn't even know it was serialized in Hana to Yume, which says something as to how little I know about it.
And finally, part of the DVD selection along with the storefront.
I did some more poking through the manga selection they had in the basement, but the only new thing I noticed was this Ouran-ish host club series running in Flower (not sure if it was Cheese or Betsucomi) with a lead that was a dead ringer for Tamaki. Shame the heroine was so wibbly, though.
Of course, this all leads back to my original verdict, which is that I like the new Book-Off very much. :)
no subject
on 2010-04-22 07:56 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-05-06 08:15 pm (UTC)Honestly, I thought they had expanded their stock of manga, but that might have just been because of the layout, like you said. At any rate, I'm glad that they have more space now. :)