Physical magazines have increasingly been going extinct. As far as I know, Otaku USA is the last-standing physical magazine that covers anime and manga in the US. At my library, the children’s department uses the magazine to help their manga ordering. The magazine reviews manga, anime, and video games as they release here in the States. The magazine’s coverage is a little behind the streaming seasons, especially now that simulcast is common. But the magazine covers a variety of titles, not just the titles with the most online buzz.

The magazine also contains interviews with cosplayers and creators. It offers look-backs, such as the Cowboy Bebop article you see in my photo below, and even Japanese film articles. Articles are well-written, and as you can expect, most of the reviews are recommendations. Otaku USA reminds me of a periodical I carry at the library named Book Page. Neither are overly critical; rather, the magazines aim at introducing upcoming releases to readers. The Internet is a great resource, but it is a deluge. Sometimes having someone else sort through the stream helps, and that’s the role Otaku USA and Book Page serve. In the library world, we call this reader’s advisory, and it’s becoming a lost art. There used to be many magazines dedicated to this. People would get to know the tastes of regular reviewers and follow their recommendations toward new discoveries. There’s also conversation as readers of the same periodical discuss the recommendations. With the Internet, finding people who share the same source for discussion has become pretty rare. At my library, patrons will pull out Book Page and talk about the books and the reviews within it. Otaku USA, if more rarely, does the same for the local manga readers.

Not everything the Internet offers surpasses the old way of doing things. When it comes to reader’s advisory, curated offerings can save you time. They reduce the information overload we all contend with too. Plus there’s pleasure in perusing a magazine and marking things you find interesting. The Internet lacks such pleasures. There’s a mechanicalness to bookmarking pages in a web browser compared to dog-earing a magazine. Perhaps it’s because I straddle the analog and digital eras that I have a fondness for those older methods. Granted, I don’t want to go back to some older methods, such as typing on a mechanical typewriter. But when it comes to magazines and even newspapers, there’s much to be said about the old, physical way of doing things.

Otaku USA offers a preview chapter for upcoming manga in the center of every issue. This offers a nice way to get into a series you may not consider. This ties into the benefits curation can give you: something you wouldn’t consider trying.

Pictures dominate the magazine, and it has a layout that pulls your gaze across the articles. Unlike most magazines, Otaku USA doesn’t teem with advertisements. When you pick it up, subscription leaves don’t go flying either. In the issue I used as a base, I counted only 9 advertisements. Most of them were full-page ads instead of the in-article advertisements that break up articles in other magazines. Although, you could argue the magazine itself is an advertisement. I consider reader’s advisory different from advertising.

The magazine covers video games across all the major consoles. There’s a surprising amount of content stuffed into the magazine’s 100+ pages. I was surprised to see a movie release article that covered the rather obscure film Warning from Space. The coverage covered 2 pages, which if you know anything about magazines and newspapers, is a lot of space.

Now if you aren’t into physical media, Otaku USA offers a digital version. I also have to note that the company didn’t offer me anything for this review. I’ve carried the magazine for several years at my library, and it has proven itself useful for our purchasing and for reader’s advisory. Many of the library’s manga fans also use the magazine for their drawing practice.

Like all magazines, your interest in each month’s issue will vary, but there’s much to be said about this older way of keeping updated with releases. Sure, you can follow MyAnimeList and other online sources. However, you miss out on the pleasures of perusing a magazine and the anticipation of receiving one every 2 months. Anticipation enhances your enjoyment in surprising ways. You miss out on the benefits curation can provide: namely, the filtering of the information deluge. Don’t underestimate how much time this filtering can free. Time you can use for your interests or for actually reading manga. Physical media also has an immediacy digital lacks. It sounds strange, but it’s easier to reference a page in a physical book than to find the reference in a video or on some website. Pull out the magazine, flip to your dogear. We often forget we live in physical bodies and so navigate information in a physical way. That’s part of why reading books, newspapers, and magazines offer the better information retention than reading on a screen.

Otaku USA mails 6 issues a year (as of writing this article) for $19.95 for the first year.