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Yeah i think I referenced this in one of my other posts, when I go to certain anime retail stores they do indeed have their manga wrapped in plastic wrap including domestic releases. Whenever I personally go to the bookstores, most of these kids are teenagers that either don't have the money to buy manga, are too cheap, or have no lives and have nothing else to do. Granted, there are other people there that read magazines and other books that tend to put them back, but the other ppl in the store are HIGHLY UNLIKELY reading from cover to cover and then leaving. And yes indeed you are right there are individuals there that will sit for several hours reading from one book to another. Just like the corny piracy commercials you see before you get to the menu on your dvds, in a subtle way it's considered stealing, using something you did not pay for. And they are certainly not supporting the companies that have put time money and efforts to translate and put out the manga in english. There has maybe been one time when I was a teenager when Video Girl Ai first came out in english and I read the first volume half way through, but I knew I would eventually have to purchase the books to finish reading them.

You've also got a very valid point with the big comfy chairs (which are *always* being occupied by the manga readers w/ a stack on the table next to them) because the bookstores are just asking for customers to read something, lose interest and put the product away. It's not like Bookstar or Crown Books where you're either gonna buy the book or walk out of the store. As far as the books being wrapped and not being able to getting a feel for it, there should be a summary on the back of the manga books, and much like DVDs, technically that's all one should need to go off of. Other than, of course, the internet. When I pick up a manga that looks interesting by it's cover and title, I read the back and sometimes flip through it but then again if you're flipping through it you're not really getting into the story just looking at random moments in the manga.

So in short, since retail anime stores here like Anime Nuts, Anime Japan and other shops wrap the manga in plastic, I don't see why retail bookstores shouldn't. I think places like Barnes & Noble and Borders wouldn't do it, though, because it would defeat the whole purpose of the atmosphere and/or experience of sitting at the cafe or chairs and read. And you're right, go to a library to read something you don't intend to pay for. If you don't have the money then work for it like the rest of us!! lol