I've been an anime fan for 6 years now. My favorites are the Slayers series (it got me hooked), Ranma 1/2, Full Metal Panic and Love Hina. I went to Otakon (2003-2005), Manganext (06), Animenext (07), and volunteered at New York Anime Fest (07). I'm really into Harry Potter, Harry Potter fanfiction, and fantasy books like Dark Materials series. IF ANYONE IS GOING TO ANIMENEXT I'LL SEE YOU ALL THERE! This Sunday on August 17 New York Anime Festival (NYAF), in collaboration with Delray Manga and Japanese Radio Show Samurai Beat Radio, is holding a Cosplay Day at the New York City branch of the Kinokuniya Bookstore. During the event Team USA for the World Cosplay Summit, Sonnya Paz and Renee Gloger, will also be there talk about their experiences when they went to the World Cosplay Summit, the Olympics of Cosplay, in Japan earlier this month. Anyone wearing a cosplay outfit will receive a 10% discount for all manga and anime products. For the schedule of what is happening during the day go here.
While at the store make sure to check out the wide variety of products available. The first floor has a lot of magazines dedicated to pop culture in Japan including fashion, idol, and anime magazines. Almost the entire second floor is dedicated to mangas, DVDs, CDs and they are very good at keeping their manga up to date. It shares the space with Café Zaiya, a good place to eat cake, tea and sandwiches.
For anyone that needs the address for the store in order to look for directions, Kinokuniya is located at 1073 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10018.