Here are some search tools and sites that might resolve many of your requests:
Looking for an anime? Google part of the title with the word "BakaBT " in front. (If you're a member there, you can browse and search on the site, otherwise, use the google trick to get to their torrents.) I generally use this for completed series. If the show has been licensed then you won't have any luck, but it's worth a try.
With newer anime you can search at
NyaaTorrents. Choose the type of file you're looking for from the drop-down menu at the top. Start general then get more specific on later searches over in the search box.
If you use
IRC and XDCC then you can try an @find in #NEWS. I think that's the channel on Rizon with the most bots.
Looking for Manga? Torrents for many completed manga scanlations can also be found on BakaBT. Use the same google trick I mention above, but just use the word "Baka ": This will give you both the BakaBT links (if they exist) as well as the
BakaUpdates manga info page, where you can follow links to scanlators, their websites and IRC pages (if you do XDCC). Note: Many scanlators' IRC channels are on IRCHighway rather than Rizon.
Looking for J-pop? Try searches on the following sites:
http://jishaku.net/,
http://nipponsei.minglong.org/tracker or
http://www.nyaa.eu/.
Tokyo Toshokan is another torrent option for all of the above.
What other tricks and tools have you all picked up? I'm sure there are many sites I've missed.
