I guess I've become the keeper of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex anime shopper's guide, so here is the updated (Oct 1994) version. (Thanks to Kevin Chin, Scott Robinson, Greg from Dal-Tile, Paul England, Daniel Sifrit, and Laly Thao for their contributions.) If I've missed anything (and I'm sure I have) please e-mail me and I'll include it in the next guide. (C'mon folks, there's *got* to be something in Denton.) -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ DALLAS-FT. WORTH SHOPPER'S GUIDE TO ANIME (October 1994) Texas is *not* the "anime wasteland" I once saw it described as. Granted it's not the Bay Area (particularly when the temperature hits the upper 90s and there are ozone alerts), but there *is* anime out here, it's just in small quantites in odd corners and you have to dig a bit to find it. *New since last time: RPM, Incredible Universe, and AnimeFEST* CyberNet 1431 North Beltline Road, Irving TX (in shopping center with a Winn-Dixie Marketplace) (214)313-0053 (voice) (214) 313-0119 (fax) hours: Sun-Wed 2-10, closed Thurs., Fri-Sat 2-midnight A one-person operation, it is the only place in the area that is predomin- ately anime. Rents and sells videos, some LDs and CDs, imported videogames, imported videos, animation cels, books, comics, idol cards, posters, etc. It has just about every anime video that's commerically available in the US. Check out the anime mural they have started painting on the wall. Lone Star Comics and Books A local chain that carries anime videos, books, etc., not a whole lot at each store, so you may have to hit several to find what you're looking for. (If you know what you want, they will call the other stores and check for you. I've done that a couple of times and it saves gas.) North Dallas: 11661 Preston Rd at Forest (214)373-0934 Plano: 1900 Preston Rd at Park (214)985-1593 Mesquite: 3600 Gus Thomasson (214)681-2040 Irving: 2550 N. Beltline Rd (214)659-0317 Central Arlington: 504 E. Abrams metro(817)265-0491 South Arlington: 3415 S. Cooper (817)557-5252 Ft Worth: 6312 Hulen Bend Blvd (817)346-7773 Hurst: 931 Melbourne (817)595-4375 Keith's Comics Another (and smaller) local chain, but they generally have more anime stuff than Lone Star. They also rent anime tapes! (With a pretty good selection at the Mockingbird location, which is my personal favorite.) Dallas: 5736 E Mockingbird (214)827-3060 University Park: 3406 Rosedale (214)696-1116 Richardson: 581 W Campbell (214)680-9353 RPM Records (NEW since last Guide) 1900 Oates, Suite 200, Mesquite (just east of the Oates/LBJ intersection in the shopping center with Albertson's) (214)681-8441 A music store and video rental place that specializes in "the things you can't get at Blockbuster". Has a good collection of anime on VHS and laserdisc for rent, and also sells some used anime tapes for about $12. They will order any available video or disc for 90% of the list price. Heroes I *still* don't know anything about these folks other than they had a booth at AKON5, they were selling mangas and videos, and I got their flier. Ft Worth: 8639 Highway 80 West (817)244-2503 Ft Worth: 2704 W Berry (817)926-9803 Hurst: 8723 Bedford-Euless Road (817)589-2703 Kazy's Food Mart 8989 Forest Lane, Dallas, 235-4831 Near Forest Lane and Greenville Ave, next to O'Riley's Pub and adjacent to Texas Instruments facility. A Japanese general store carrying books, magazines, grocery items, art, and miscellaneous stuff. You can subscribe to just about any Japanese publication like Newtype, etc., through them. Blockbusters (various locations) As you know from reading r.a.a, Blockbusters now carries anime, but the selection varies widely from store to store. The best selection I've found is at the Blockbuster at 14845 Preston (between Belt Line and Spring Valley) which also rents laser discs and laser disc players. Premiere Video 5400 E. Mockingbird (near Central) and 9901 Royal Lane (at Skillman) A pair of video rental stores which have started to increase their anime stock. Not great, but better than most Blockbusters and improving. Suncoast (Collin Creek Mall, Plano; Town East Mall, Mesquite, Irving Mall, Irving) These are video retail (not rental) stores, but they do have a small section listed as Japanimation. They're the only mainstream place I've found that sell Viz's "Ranma 1/2" and Animeigo's "Oh My Goddess!" tapes. Incredible Universe *NEW since last guide* 12710 Executive Drive, Dallas and 102 I-20, Arlington These stores are to your local Radio Shack what Walmart is to the local Mom and Pop store. (And Tandy Corp. owns both Radio Shack and Incredible Universe.) Anyway, if you can find your way through the acres of store there to the videotape and videodisc section, there is a small section of anime laserdiscs (all of it domestic releases, mostly Streamline titles). Right Brain/Left Brain (Northpark Shopping Center, Dallas) This is one of those toy stores for the terminally trendy. Nothing here is necessary or useful, but it *is* a lot of fun. (The prayer candle for protection against alien abduction is a personal favorite of mine. :^) ) Apparently Astroboy and Mighty Morphing Power Rangers are trendy now. Lots of Astroboy paraphenelia. Also, if you're a collector and have a few thousand dollars, they have collectable Japanese mecha toys from the sixties. . . . *************************************************************************** And, I always end with a smart remark about making a five-hour road trip to Houston to go to Planet Anime, but for one weekend in November, Planet Anime is going to make the five hour trip to Dallas for you. November 4 through 6 will see the convention AnimeFEST here in Dallas. Planet Anime is one of the confirmed dealers that will be there, along with Streamline Pictures, Paradigm Enterprises, #14 Productions, Binbo Club, and Rice Noodle Concepts. For more information about AnimeFEST call (214) 484-9416. **************************************************************************** ______________________________________________________________________________ Marc Hairston--Center for Space Sciences--University of Texas at Dallas hairston@utdallas.edu