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Friday, February 17, 2006; Page WE29
Manga and anime are so mainstream now that the most popular titles are available at such mass-market retailers as Borders, Blockbuster and Barnes & Noble. Some proprietors of local comics stores admit they can't compete with the chains' selection. But smaller stores carry more offbeat material, and their employees are likely to have more expertise.
Wisconsin Avenue is the main line for local comics shops, beginning with two "big" Georgetown stores, Big Planet Comics (3145 Dumbarton St. NW; 202-342-1961) and Big Monkey Comics (1419-B Wisconsin Ave. NW; 202-333-8650). Farther north are Fantom Comics (4500 Wisconsin Ave. NW; 202-362-5051), another Big Planet (4908 Fairmont Ave., Bethesda; 301-654-6856) and Beyond Comics (701 Russell Ave., Gaithersburg; 301-216-0007). Anime is among the specialties of Dream Wizards (11772 Parklawn Dr., Rockville; 301-881-3530).
In Virginia, there's a third Big Planet (426 Maple Ave. E., Vienna; 703-242-9412), as well as Phoenix Comics & Toys (678 Elden St., Herndon; 703-437-9530) and two stores specializing in anime and manga, Anime Pavilion (115 Hillwood Ave., Suite 10, Falls Church; 703-534-1544) and Anime World (4300 Chantilly Shopping Center, Chantilly; 703-817-0550).
Among local video shops that specialize in cult material are Alexandria's Video Vault (113 S. Columbus St.; 800-828-5866), Adams Morgan's 18th Street Video (2104 18th St. NW; 202-588-0117) and Takoma Park's Video Americain (6937 Laurel Ave.; 301-270-4464).
For fans fluent in Japanese, or just interested in investigating what's available to those who are, the Daruma Japanese grocery (6931 Arlington Rd., Bethesda; 301-654-8832) rents videos. Adjoining Daruma's Rockville location (301-738-6468) is Taiga (1055 Rockville Pike; 301-738-2409), a Japanese-language bookstore and video-rental outlet.
Events
"Hokusai," an exhibition of almost 200 paintings, prints and drawings by influential 19th-century artist Katsushika Hokusai, runs from March 4 through May 14 at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (1050 Independence Ave. SW; 202-633-1000).
The Freer Gallery, the Sackler's sibling institution, presents its fourth annual Cherry Blossom Anime Marathon on April 1. The free events will feature four anime films (titles yet to be announced) and a talk by Patrick Drazen, author of "Anime Explosion! The What, Why and Wow of Japanese Animation."
This year's Sakura Matsuri, which concludes the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival, will add "J-Pop Land" to its customary array of Japanese food, culture and performance. The event runs
April 8 from 11 to 6 around 12th Street
and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. For details,
call 202-833-2210 or visit http://www.us-japan.org/dc .
Resources
The principal American magazine dedicated to Asian popular culture is Giant Robot, which is available at major book and CD stores, as well as at specialty shops.
For information on local anime events, including the several area university anime clubs, visit http://www.dcanime.org/ .
Hundreds of Web sites sell manga, anime and related items, but for a comprehensive array of Japanese pop-culture consumables, visit http://jbox.com/ .
-- Mark Jenkins