One of the coolest places for an otaku in The Big Apple (besides the New York Comic Con/Anime Fair, of course) is the Kinokuniya bookstore. It's a spiffy place to get a ton of otherwise Japan-only books. Viz know that fact, and plans to take advantage of its moth-to-flame status to give fans a big ol' gathering.

On October 12th, right on time to coincide with NYCC, they're going to hold the Shonen Jump ALPHA meetup at Kinokuniya, which will be free to attend for anyone into shonen goodness. Also attending will be Tiger & Bunny character designer Masakazu Katsura, who'll help premiere the Shonen Jump ALPHA 2013 calendar, sign autographs, and hand out door prizes.

Attendees can also score bonus items for subscribing to Alpha ('natch!) and check out some of the magazine's more popular titles, including One Piece, Naruto, Blue Exorcist, and Bakuman.

Sounds like quite the time. I'd attend myself, if only I weren't across the sea from New York. Imagine me making a sad face at this time.