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    Bookoff Anime Lab - Irvine

    4.1 (16 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
    Updated over 3 months ago

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    Michelle G.

    Cute but small shop with anime figures and cards with a few 11x18 posters. Some prices were great with prices going up all depending on size and favorite status. Busy parking lot. Unfortunately no books. Fun place and if I want to find something specific I could spend hours.

    Ann T.

    A MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT over the Little Tokyo location as it is at least somewhat organize in a manageable fashion. It's definitely a smaller shop and the parking lot it's located in is quite crowded and limited (whose brilliant idea it is to put so many restaurants and an entire food court with so little parking is beyond me), but it's nice to kill some time at or sift though things. In terms of pricing, I would definitely do my research before shopping, at any Bookoff, to be honest, since the only time I have ever seen a steal is at the Riverside location. $35 is WAY too much for a prize figure unless it's a limited run or out of print completely. There is more variety of what I saw here in terms of more rare or older items and figures in comparison to what I recently saw at Ecotown, but in terms of value and pricing if you are purchasing, Ecotown's got them beat. The items here are organized at the very least in categories with similar series being grouped together (K-ON figures together, Nendoroids together), and the smaller items are subdivided so the Poke'mon stuff is together, certain shonen series are sorted together (Demon Slayer, JJK, Tokyo Revengers, etc.), kawaii items and plushies are together, retro video games are together, and the miscellaneous items are set together and there is an attempt to categorize that too. For example the Oshikatsu ribbons for male idol/otome items are together, the mugs and cups are altogether, tin cans together, towels together, light sticks together, art books together, etc. It's by no means organized, say, at Animetopia's level, but this is a HUGE improvement compared to the overwhelming feeling that I've gotten at other Bookoff's for sure (aka perusing for 3 minutes and then giving up generally). We did purchase a small Chiikawa tin that had a couple acrylic chain charms and stickers in it for $7, which in terms of Chiikawa merch goes, a pretty good deal!

    shelf of some niche little trinkets you can get (so cool omg !)
    Rei A.

    i been going to BookOff for a couple of years now here and there, and i will say i feel like their selection and prices were better and more negotiable in the past, though more recently in cases with the figures and manga, i'd say shopping online is a better option if possible since the prices are similar to Amazon at times, it's very fun to look at though! really something you have to experience for yourself if you haven't, especially if you have interest in niche japanese media from otome, rhythm games, and so much more :3

    These are the two broken games that were sold to me. Please avoid purchasing these games
    Richard A.

    My review is based on my recent visit to this location. I will also be adding a review of the Little Tokyo down the line. I will start off by saying that I don't recommend shopping here and purchasing any merchandise from this or any book off. Book Off offers a wide variety of products determined by location. I came to this location to purchase some video games. Neither of the games worked, I had to return two days later to get a refund. Some better quality control would not only benefit the customers but also the company. In terms of quality control, the company could test games before trying to sell them to customers. Other retro video game shops do this, so why can't this company do this. Book Off, according to employees, work on an honesty system, meaning that if you sell merch to them, they trust you to be honest on if them game works or not. This system honestly is terrible. As for value in games they offer, I don't see any here, especially if you will need to return them when they don't work. The only positive thing about this location was that the person who helped me both times was kind but lacked any knowledge of certain products they sell. Avoid this place at all cost. This place will receive a single star since that is the lowest grade a business can receive on Yelp.

    Rin Natsume figure front side

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    3 years ago

    Small but lots of good stuff! Great music selection, can't wait to see what they do with this location

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    2 years ago

    This place is so cool! I'm obsessed! Tons of great stuff and you can find single cards for sale!

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    The Hill

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    2.8
    (25 reviews)
    2.0 mi
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    Been trying to order "online only" diploma frames from them for years and it's always getting…read more cancelled. I've called so many times to figure out the issue and they never pick up or return messages. Horrible customer service

    The whole time I was at UCI, the UCI Bookstore was just the UCI Bookstore. Apparently in 2013, they…read morerebranded as the Hill and then more recently the Hill has been bought out by Barnes and Nobles. New students may not know the difference if they did not know our former bookstore, but as an Alumni I notice the corporate effects making our once beloved UCI Bookstore less unique and more expensive. I recently came back for a Book Signing for my former Vietnamese Professor for the Vietnamese Stories that is written in Vietnamese and translated into English. It is a great language tool for those who are studying either languages. It has great insight into the Vietnamese culture and traditions, as long as you keep in mind that the origins of these stories were from many eras ago. The Book Signing event was nicely set up and I was able to meet one of their managers who was a fellow Anteater Alumni too. The staff was very sweet and accommodating to the event. Since the staff is still UC students, they are still friendly and sweet -- for the most part. My issue is with the merchandise and pricing. The books here are probably over 25% more expensive than if you were to buy it somewhere else. It is sad that some students who do not have the time or knowledge to buy their books elsewhere will be extorted to buy their books here. Every year the bookstore will buy your books used for dirt cheap and then resell it for barely less than a new book. I am sure things will only get worst now that the bookstore has completely gone corporate on us. Other than buying a few of my respectable Professor's book to support him, I was not too interested to buy anything else. I actually want to buy a few more of these copies for friends and family who want to learn more about Vietnamese culture, but I will probably order it online. Zot Zot!

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    Irvine Valley College Bookstore

    Irvine Valley College Bookstore

    1.8
    (12 reviews)
    4.5 mi
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    I ordered my textbooks online and paid for them. I received an email confirming my order. They've…read morecollected my money. After more than two weeks I had not received the promised "we'll let you know when they're ready" email and assumed I'd accidentally deleted it or it had gone to my spam folder. So, I went in. They said they hadn't figured out their system yet and I should wait for that email. I asked if they had the books. "Yes," they replied. "Then please give them to me." "No, we can't do that until we work out the system." It'll be another week tomorrow. How can you be so incompetent that you can't give someone the two books the bought and paid for? I'd fire whoever is responsible, maybe that would get his replacement energized enough to solve the problem.

    Hands down, the worst experience trying to receive/return books. Massively overpriced, never in…read morestock, they don't communicate with the staff on inventory needed prior to start of school. Week 4 and books are barely being ordered for courses. I messaged them regarding returning an unopened book for a class I no longer needed. Took them 10 days to respond. They gave me ONE day only to come in person to return. I took off work to return this book, waited in line and the second I got to the front, the clerk told me their boss is the only person who can help and they just left so they can't help me. This is just the most horrific experience in general, trying to enroll, establish financial aid, purchase books, etc. IVC as a whole does not care about their students. If you can take the same courses anywhere else, save yourself the headache.

    Bookoff Anime Lab - Irvine - videogamestores - Updated July 2026

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