Akiba House - Queens Anime Store — Local services in New York

AKIBA had its GO earlier in the month of July inside Tangram mall and I was super excited as this is every anime fans' dream store!

Located on the main floor (short walk past the movie theatre) there is no way you would not notice it. The store carries officially licensed products and merchandise from Japan which include stuffed anime characters, plushies, figurines, manga comic book sets, anime themed books, DVD singles and sets of anime series (I was very tempted to purchase the the whole box set of Demon Slayer), some clothing, cute back packs and food items.

The food items included some snacks and drink that you might find at your local Asian grocery store including Pocky, Japanese flavors of Kitkat and RaMuNe soda. But I found some unique things like Hello Kitty brand Matcha and Strawberry flavored marshmallows.

It is a decent sized store although it can get packed (shows how many anime and Japanese pop culture fans there are). I was there with a friend browsing and I ended spending more than I planned and that is all right as it made her happy. I ended purchasing four plushies (Zenitsu, Tanjiro, Pusheen and a small cute green colored one), three food items (two marshmallow Hello Kitty brands mentioned above and a box of Pocky) and one Demon Slayer pencil holder.

I had a total of 8 items and went to the register. The line moves pretty fast but it is somewhat unorganized at the register area. The employees were one male and one female wearing a cool comic book themed shirt as their uniform and they were working hard. Everything was rang up by the guy named J for a total of $125. They accept CC and contactless payments which was super convenient. All items were put in a large brown bag and handed to us. They put the receipt in the bag and I thanked the gentleman. We left the store and were chatting for several minutes. When I went to give my friend her toys I realized that they forgot to pack the pencil holder yet I was definitely charged $16.99. I had to go back in (lucky we did not leave the mall) and get this employee's attention. I gave him the receipt letting him know he forgot to give us the last item (was scanned as an accessory with no other description) which was a yellow box. For a moment he looks at the receipt and then looked at me with a serious face and then asked "what box do you mean?" I explained again he forgot to put an item in the bag and it might be by the register where he was ringing up items.

He finds the item (which was right where I knew it would be) and then his expression changes from serious to less serious when he realized a mistake was made. He handed me the accessory box and I am sure I heard an apology. But I just wanted what I paid for so I could leave the crowded store. I felt for a moment like I was being accused of lying or being dishonest when I first brought my concern up.

Most people were buying small items so it is easy to keep track when you leave. However if you make a multiple purchase like I did, it is best to check your bag before leaving the store and count the item against the receipt. There was a dude standing near the register and entrance/exit looked like in store security (plain clothes) but maybe it was just a customer who just likes to stand around in the same place......

This place is not Costco or a big retail store so the return policy is quite strict. Whatever you buy, plan on keeping it. So choose wisely. I was getting gifts for a friend that I had no intention of returning anything.

Overall, it is a cool spot and you can easily go over a budget because of so many cool and cute anime themed stuff they have here. Being inside and walking around Akiba makes you feel like you are at a mini anime / japanese pop culture convention and the items just beckon you to buy them. haha. Just be careful of going over any budget you might have had before you walked in and do not forget to count your purchases if you bought...

First and last time coming to this store. Although the store is decorated very well and had a solid amount of manga, figures, and snacks, it felt like almost half of the figures you’d want to actually purchase aren’t available, and they’d rather have you spend more money on raffles for a chance to get them. Seeing it as my first time coming to the store I was unaware of this and when I brought one of the figures to the register (they’re all on open shelves and no sign indicating that you had to buy raffle tickets), I received a very nasty attitude from the staff and when I explained that I wasn’t aware of how their store worked for nicer figures, all of the staff stayed quiet instead of apologizing for their rudeness. Don’t think I’ll be coming...

Akiba House is a store specializing in anime and otaku culture related goods, as well as hosting a robust Kuji (lottery) system, ranging from Sanrio to Ichiban Kujis.

The prices are reasonable, about on par to what you'd find online. The store contains many different goods, such as blind boxes, stuffed animals, figures, Tomica cars, Gundam model kits, and more.

The Kuji is quite fair, maybe a bit pricey if you continuously get lower tier prizes, but they keep it updated and have on display any prizes unclaimed, so its easy to tell if the high ticket items are...