Buying Anime/Manga

I went through a little phase a while back where I was buying a lot of Anime DVDs and Manga titles. I must admit, I got some quality stuff during that time. I picked up a lot of the highly recommended stuff, and I really liked it. But then I started getting into more obscure stuff and it got really hit and miss. It is really expensive too. You can spend $30 for a dvd with three episodes on it. So I ended up buying titles that I watched/read and hated. Now I am turned off to buying it at all, and I’m looking to unload the stuff I do have.

Anyone else have the same experience with Anime/Manga? It is pretty frustrating.

I really don’t have this problem because I always make sure to know exactly what I want or check before hand information about new stuff or the ones I haven’t heard about before,I do the same with video games,and it really works,so try it out before you go on a shopping spree for anime and manga.

But how do you know if you’ll like it before you watch it?

Its not like I was randomly picking stuff. I bought stuff that seemed similar to stuff I already liked.

Its not like any video stores rent Anime. At least not near me.

You actually buy the stuff? >_>

I bought only one anime without knowing anything about it beforehand. Arjuna.

To this day I haven’t finished watching the three episodes I got. I bought it in January… 2004

The moral of the story is get recommendations and/or fansubs first. And google for information.

I got cat soup and grave of the fireflies, maybe for Christmas can’t remember exactly. Cat soup sucked unbelieveable balls while grave of the fireflies just annoyed me. Cat soup seemed to say on its cover it won an award or something, never falling for that again. Grave of the fireflies is well known so figured i would give it a shot, I did like Akira and Ghost in the Shell. OH animatrix was okay, I’m not gonna sell it, but it really wasn’t worth buying it.

One good experience was my mom got me the Spirited Away dvd and the artbook. I wasn’t sure i would like it since it happens sometimes that i don’t like whatever that has hype surrounding it. Glad I turned out liking the movie and it’s artbook.

A movie i would suggest is Tokyo Godfathers, saw that on one of the movie channels, was pretty good though events happened kinda of in a contrived way. :confused:

Oh i heard reviews that Trigun was good and had seen pictures of sexay Vash, then I bought the box-set; that was a good buy. ^ _ ^

I had heard Ranma 1/2 was good too and comedy based, so i started reading the manga; I loves it. Damn bookstores not carrying the next volume i need to read though. >_<

If you want to make sure you’ll like something first the best way is to watch/read it. Since you’ve said that video stores in your area to rent videos, and I’m assuming that the libraries in your area don’t lend manga, the best way is fansubs/scanlations.

While I don’t normally recommend people to get fansubs or scanlations of animes and mangas that have gone commercial, I don’t mind if I know the person will buy it if they like it. And if you don’t like it, then you obviously wouldn’t get any more of the fansubs or scanlations, so there wouldn’t be a problem.

Another good way is to find someone who has similiar taste as you do, and get their opinion. Sometimes you luck into someone who you know has the exact same taste as you, which can make finding new series really easy.

I don’t know where you live, but try checking some of your local comic shops to see if any of them rent anime. That’s how I used to get to see them. And if there’s a local anime society in your area, they can be a big help in finding out what you’ll like.

Hope that helped some!

If you’re into online DVD rental, there are at least a few sites specializing in anime on either a per-rental or subscription basis. I’m thinking about trying one out, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. If anyone has used one of these services, I’d like to know about it.

I haven’t had a negative experience with what I’ve bought, which honestly isn’t all that much. I liked paying bills and buying food and clothing a bit more than buying anime or manga. Before I watch something (as I’m a lot more into anime than manga), I usually talk with someone about it… having an anime friends network is wonderful, if you can pull it together. It’s great to have generous friends who share feedback and trade DVDs and tapes back and forth. :smiley:

If you can, try before you buy - I think that’s the lesson we’ve all learned. I feel for you, but I try a LOT before I buy, so I can’t empathize.

When I get things I usually take a quick look through them if I don’t know what they are before buying.

EDIT: To Shinryu- I liked Arjuna. 0-0

When it comes to manga, I usually try reading parts of it in the store before trying it. Or, go by recommendations. Most of the manga series I’ve started so far are good, except for Wish. Stay away from that.

And, as far as anime goes, recommendations are the best thing yet again. Another way to see how good an anime is before buying it is going to anime-review type sites; theOtaku has some anime reviews, otherwise I don’t know of anything else.

Eh, to each their own.

I will say that I bought Nuku-Nuku TV on impulse, and it turned out ok, although a bit juvenile for my taste.