Media Plaaaay ... is dead.

I made what is likely my final trip to Media Play today, to score some heavily discounted anime DVDs that were needed to finish off a few series I was collecting.

Media Play was one of the first B&M stores where I spent my younger years that actually began stocking a decent amount of anime titles, especially on DVD. It played a large role in not only my interest in the genre (the ability to browse at a store is very helpful for finding new titles), but played a larger role in the past several years where anime and manga has become more "mainstream." While people like to debate whether it is a good thing for anime and manga to become mainstream in the US, it does lead to far more series being picked up and brought over here; series that a decade ago would have never seen a US release.

More than that, Media Play served as a bit of a hang out place in HS/college - a place to meet and get the night started. There is nothing quite like memories of chasing your friends around and hitting them with sticks in the parking lot ^_^

Recently, though, I have been buying less and less from MP. I have cut down my spending on entertainment, but more than that Best Buy and online stores usually have MP beat on price - most titles at MP are only 10% off the suggested MSRP.

I do have to wonder if Media Play was losing money for Musicland, or if it just wasn't making enough money. And if it was losing money, was it due to mismanagement, or a failure to price aggressively enough?

Whatever the reason, by the time I return from my trip out of the country, the old stand-by will be closed.

My final, nicely discounted, haul:

• Texhnolyze 5
• Requiem from the Darkness 2 - 4
• Kaleido Star 5, 6
• Burst Angel 4, 5