Almost 4 years of writing the WCS blog on my own has been an enjoyable yet at times lonely stretch. I would like to introduce you to a friend who will be helping out with the blog: Lucy Glasspool. She is attending Nagoya University as a visiting research student doing her doctorate at SOAS University in England. Her research interests lie in character images and their differing interpretations through genres and gender. She will be posting to the WCS blog so please welcome her with a comment below!

-------------------------------

With the Summit less than two months away, I thought I'd go local in Nagoya and take a look at some of the pop culture-related sites of interest.

First up is the Nagoya branch of well-known second-hand manga store Mandarake. It has online shops in both Japanese and English (http://www.mandarake.co.jp/), but delving through the delights of one of the actual stores is an experience in itself, because they have so much more than just manga (I've spent an easy three hours in there before). The building is in the main shopping area of Osu, easily accessible from both Osu Kannon and Kamimaezu subway stations, and is open from 12:00 to 20:00.

Nagoya's Mandarake, while not as big as other stores in the chain, has 3 large floors of actual shop, which are divided into sections for (supposedly) easy searching, though I always do a good bit of rooting around before I actually find what I want; then again, that's half the fun, and you never know when you'll come across a hidden gem. The 1st floor has vintage comics, shounen manga, trading cards and games, with some pretty ancient titles for nostalgia-lovers. It also has some vintage figures.

Up the escalator to Floor 2, you'll find thousands of toys and figures, Japanese and Western, crammed onto shelves that reach up to the ceiling, and collectors can spend many a happy hour here amid the chaos (there are a few Super Dollfie here too, and some clothes and wigs, although the range is fairly basic – for a better selection, check out Nagoya's own Volks Showroom). This floor is also the home of the anime DVDs and CDs.

Up again to the 3rd floor (my personal favourite) for the cosplay, doujinshi, shoujo and boys-love manga and idol goods. The cosplay section has some of the more popular costumes, wigs, and a few Lolita clothes from brands like Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Angelic Pretty. This floor's main attraction, though, is the doujinshi section, from every series imaginable, at an average price of 400-600 yen. The room is divided into those aimed at girls, and those at guys, so that in late afternoon and weekends the 3rd floor is crammed with avid shoppers completely divided by sex (a female friend and I wandered over into the guys' shelves once, and managed to terrify some poor browsers, for whom the appearance of two foreign girls on their sacred turf seemed to be a bit of a shock!).

The shelves of Mandarake are many, the aisles are narrow and fairly confusing, and during busy periods people will tread on your feet – but it's worth it to finally locate that long-sought-after item you just couldn't find on the net, or stumble across something you just suddenly have to buy. And Mandarake also has special sales and events in its 4th floor space, including the Cosplay Dance Party, and sessions where cosplayers can pose with props and have their pictures taken by Mandarake's photographers for 1000 yen.

More to come soon,
Lucy