If you were an anime or manga fan in Adelaide during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s it was hard to find anything related to the fandom. A handful of comic book stores had some graphic novels, and there was a smattering of VHS tapes around, but if you weren’t interested in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Sailor Moon, or Dragonball, you couldn’t find it in Adelaide.
If you were lucky you might find some toys at collectible stores, but more often than not you had to order everything through the Internet. There was nowhere to borrow anime or manga from, so you needed to buy series—usually from overseas or interstate. It was an expensive hobby.
Early file sharing networks offered one way to preview a series—if you were desperate—and it took days/weeks to download a single (grainy) episode.
Thankfully all this has changed, and anime fans in Adelaide now have lots of options available to them.
In the early 2000’s we got our first store dedicated entirely to anime, manga, and videogames—ShinTokyo—which originally opened in Station Arcade. Over time our comic book stores have also slowly picked up more and more manga material, and now we’re spoilt for choice with large anime sections in JB Hi-Fi stores and a large manga section at Borders.
With our very own anime and videogames convention—AVcon—coming up this weekend, here are some places in Adelaide to get your hands on some goodies:
Where to buy anime:
- ShinTokyo
- JB Hi-Fi
- Some Electronics Boutiques
Where to buy manga:
- Pulp Fiction Comics
- Adelaide Comics Centre (Citi Centre Arcade, Adelaide)
- ShinTokyo
- Borders
Where to buy toys/collectibles:
Anime clubs:
- AJAS: Adelaide Japanese Animation Society
- EVAC: Extremely Versatile Acronym Club—Adelaide University’s Anime and Video Games Club
Where to borrow anime or manga:
- Local Library (Adelaide City Library has some)
- Galactic Video (102-104 Gawler Place, Adelaide)
If you know somewhere in Adelaide to buy Anime or Manga goodies, please let me know!
