If you live in London and find it hard to find your fave anime/manga stuff, read this feature on finding anime in London...

Anime on the larger screen

In 2003 we decided to go and see the new "Cowboy Bebop" movie in a cinema after seeing it advertised in "The Metro" newspaper (over in the US it was out on DVD already!).
I was surprised to hear that an anime movie was playing in a cinema and we were all excited at this proposition.
Then, we realised that there were very few cinemas showing the film. We worked out that the closest place playing it was the ICA in Charing Cross. This cast a shadow of doubt over the outing, but fortunately it was the summer holidays so we made a day of it.

The ICA is a nice centre and can be found by leaving the main exit at Charring Cross tube and turning right. Walk in this direction for around 5 mins and then you will see some arches. Walk through them and cross over to the right side of the road if you aren't already there. Walk forwards and eventually the building you are walking along side will have an open door. If these directions don't help you ask someone in one of the buildings, they're all very polite and helpful.

When we arrived at the ICA I was surprised to find not a cinema, but and art centre!
There was a theatre area, an alcoholic bar and postcards of naked people (But it's ok because "it's art"). It turns out that we were the only under 18's there!

Because the ICA is not a proper cinema the screen was quite small, but it was large enough and the sound quality was good.

The seats were not great either but not bad enough to complain about.
In fact we were very impressed and would recommend the ICA for any anime fans who want to see new anime on a big screen.

My only gripe is that it costs £6.50 (although concessions and members get discount). This is a lot more than your local cinema, which has better facilities but of course, your paying because it's the centre of London, to see new anime, plus its not a cinema, it's an art centre…

But any way... Here's the guide getting your anime fix in London...

Go see a film at the ICA

The Mall, SW1 (020 7930 3647)
Tube/British Rail : Charing Cross
Call them or look in the "West End Cinemas" section of the Metro newspaper to find out what's showing there soon!

Buy your DVD's at Forbidden Planet

This place is geek-heaven. Even non-anime fans will love tis place. As well as the large selection of anime, they stock Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Dr Who stuff too. You'll find this store near Tottenham Court Road tube station as well as the "outlet store" where hey sell damaged or older products. There are some real bargins to be had at the outlet store actually...

Anime's even available at HMV...

As anime is becoming more popular, we find it in more and more mainstream stores. These include HMV and Sanity anomg others. Sanity's selection isn't as good as HMV's and smaller HMV stores have little or no selection but the Oxford Street HMV has great stuff and the Brent Cross store is even better.

So that just about rounds up our guide to shopping for anime in London. Of course, there are other places but these few are our personal faves. Look around and see what you can find. E-mail us if you find any good anime spots, OK?

Dr Placebo