Recent (Japanese) Things You Have Purchased

[Dergonu]

2 hours ago, Forgetful Frank said:

I'm so jealous of all the awesome stuff being posted on here! I was wondering if anyone could tell me of some trusted websites you can buy Japanese stuff from? I'd greatly appreciate it!

I have a few anime figures I've received as gifts for birthdays and Christmases etc that I'll post pictures of in here when I'm home next and have the chance.

Well I really only buy VNs so its mostly just Amazon.co.jp for me with like tenso shipping it.

But one site I know has a lot of different stuff, and that I have had a very positive experience with myself is AmiAmi.com

 

Recently got my special edition of Miagete goran, yozora no hoshi o. Its so beautiful  A little out of focus though. 

Not ashamed to say, I´ve listened to the entire soundtrack 3 times.  

Spoiler

 

[Forgetful Frank]

4 minutes ago, Dergonu said:

Well I really only buy VNs so its mostly just Amazon.co.jp for me with like tenso shipping it.

But one site I know has a lot of different stuff, and that I have had a very positive experience with myself is AmiAmi.com

 

Recently got my special edition of Miagete goran, yozora no hoshi o. Its so beautiful  A little out of focus though. 

  Hide contents

 

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll be sure to check them out!

I never realised I could just go to the Japanese version of Amazon (I shop the UK version all the time) and order from there!

My main problem will probably be that I have to remember to calculate the VAT I'll be forced to pay. /sigh

It really is beautiful! I haven't really looked at what a VN looks like as a physical copy since the one's I own are all digital. But I did imagine in order to play more VN's legally (I'm not comfortable torrenting anything) I'll have to order some from Japan so I actually have the game to use the fan-translated patches for.

That VN looks interesting to me and catches my eye from its packaging. I'll have to look it up!

[Fred the Barber]

4 hours ago, Forgetful Frank said:

I never realised I could just go to the Japanese version of Amazon (I shop the UK version all the time) and order from there!

Do note what Dergonu said about Tenso - you won't be able to buy anything 18+ (like most VNs) from amazon.co.jp with an international address. But Tenso will give you a Japanese address and "re-ship" the item to you. There are other companies as well, but I also use Tenso; very reliable, never had any problems with them (and at this point I've bought quite a lot of stuff from amazon.co.jp shipped through them...).

[Totodile]

I find it awkward that the only Japanese thing i buy is ramen, but if anyone has a way to pirate and 3D print ramen that could also change very soon.

[Forgetful Frank]

4 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

Do note what Dergonu said about Tenso - you won't be able to buy anything 18+ (like most VNs) from amazon.co.jp with an international address. But Tenso will give you a Japanese address and "re-ship" the item to you. There are other companies as well, but I also use Tenso; very reliable, never had any problems with them (and at this point I've bought quite a lot of stuff from amazon.co.jp shipped through them...).

Ah right, I see! Thanks for clarifying that, I did notice the phrase 'Tenso' but I initially assumed it was a shipping option from Amazon itself. So I take it that it's safe to purchase VN's that have no 18+ content directly from Amazon JP, but if they do, I'll have to go through Tenso?

[Yuuko]

16 minutes ago, Forgetful Frank said:

Ah right, I see! Thanks for clarifying that, I did notice the phrase 'Tenso' but I initially assumed it was a shipping option from Amazon itself. So I take it that it's safe to purchase VN's that have no 18+ content directly from Amazon JP, but if they do, I'll have to go through Tenso?

Amazon JP doesn't ship computer software outside the country all-ages or not. Also I think it doesn't ship most of the 18+ stuff like wall scrolls etc. but sometimes it does. It's kinda weird what 18+ content it allows and what not. 

[Forgetful Frank]

10 minutes ago, Kiriririri said:

Amazon JP doesn't ship computer software outside the country all-ages or not. Also I think it doesn't ship most of the 18+ stuff like wall scrolls but sometimes it does. It's kinda weird what 18+ content it allows and what not. 

Thanks for confirming that with me!

I'll be sure to bear Tenso in mind for when the time comes for me to order something from there.

[Forgetful Frank]

17 hours ago, Zenophilious said:

I can confirm this.  I'm buying Rose Guns Days, which is all-ages, and I wasn't able to ship it to the US.  Blanket ban on any VN being sold outside of Japan too stronk.

Tenso kinda scared me off, I have to say.  I didn't want to give them pictures of my ID and other info like that because it makes me incredibly nervous to hand out info like that.  I'll say how my experience was with Dv8Cag when I get my copy of RGD.

Truthfully? Tenso requires you to provide them with an image of your ID in order to use their reshipping services? While I'm no where near as paranoid about revealing my real identity like some of my close friends, I still prefer to keep my personal information to myself and only for the utmost important legal things; hearing about that is actually scaring me off if I'm honest. I'm sure they provide a good service as others have mentioned earlier, but I'm not too sure whether I'm personally comfortable with handing out that kind of private information like that.

I'd definitely be interested in hearing about your experience with this other supplier and appreciate it.

[Forgetful Frank]

1 minute ago, Zenophilious said:

They do, yes.  I remember it saying that if I bought anything using my "Japanese address" before I verified my identity then they wouldn't ship it out and would just store it in their warehouse.  You can use other things besides your ID, apparently, I just don't really want to give them anything 

I completely agree with you, thanks for letting me know!

[Fred the Barber]

If I recall correctly, Tenso asks for proof of name, age, and address, on some sort of reasonable official document. A copy of a utility bill, for instance, is sufficient for name and address, but a copy of an ID of some sort is usually the only way to get the proof of age. I totally get the concerns - identity theft is a pretty reasonable thing to be afraid of. All I can say is that they seem to be on the up-and-up.

I'm also eager to hear the results of the service you're trying out, Zeno - anything that makes importing VNs easier and less worrying for people is goodness.

[Forgetful Frank]

11 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

If I recall correctly, Tenso asks for proof of name, age, and address, on some sort of reasonable official document. A copy of a utility bill, for instance, is sufficient for name and address, but a copy of an ID of some sort is usually the only way to get the proof of age. I totally get the concerns - identity theft is a pretty reasonable thing to be afraid of. All I can say is that they seem to be on the up-and-up.

I'm also eager to hear the results of the service you're trying out, Zeno - anything that makes importing VNs easier and less worrying for people is goodness.

I completely agree, well said. I'd probably give Tenso a chance since plenty of people have recommended them. But I'd definitely prefer Zeno's way if he can recommend his reshipper for the identity issue.

[Nosebleed]

Was threatened and blackmailed by UnoriginalRun and ended up buying this figure. For 3,000 yen it was cheaper than literally every single nendoroid I was thinking of getting.

I don't even play Senran Kagura.

Also my Umaru nendoroid  got delayed until February, so that sucks.

[Noumi Kudryavka]

On 1/14/2016 at 10:20 AM, Forgetful Frank said:

I'm so jealous of all the awesome stuff being posted on here! I was wondering if anyone could tell me of some trusted websites you can buy Japanese stuff from? I'd greatly appreciate it!

I have a few anime figures I've received as gifts for birthdays and Christmases etc that I'll post pictures of in here when I'm home next and have the chance.

If figures is what you're looking for, I mainly go to amiami.com. They've got a huge range of them and usually cheaper. They're also up to date with new ones. Remember to look at who manufactured the figure to make sure you get quality work, because there are some lesser quality companies listed there.

[Nosebleed]

I'm from Europe and I order from AmiAmi, it's actually not that hard to calculate how much you will pay for VAT and their service has always been great to me.

Aside from the base price, the shipping, if you use EMS (express mail) for regular stuff, usually stays around 2000 - 2500 yen per figure (2000 for nendoroids, usually around 2,200 or 2,300 for 1/8 figures).
I've never ordered more than one figure at once so I don't know how much multiple figures could weigh but my Umaru pillow cost me about 3,500 in shipping and I doubt you'll get enough figures to surpass her weight (1.5 Kg).

The VAT will be a percentage of the price of the figure + the shipping cost (check the VAT rates in your country).

Then check if you have customs handling fees, which some countries have, this is a flat fee that customs charges you every time and isn't usually that much (for me it's like 6€).

Add that all up and you got your final price, then you can compare that price with other local stores and see if it's worth buying from those instead.

If you're from the USA you don't pay for customs.

[Forgetful Frank]

Thanks for more useful information everyone, I'll be sure to check them out and hopefully use them in the future.

[Dergonu]

4 hours ago, Nosebleed said:

Was threatened and blackmailed by UnoriginalRun and ended up buying this figure. For 3,000 yen it was cheaper than literally every single nendoroid I was thinking of getting.

I don't even play Senran Kagura.

Also my Umaru nendoroid  got delayed until February, so that sucks.

Damnit! I'm all out of likes for today! Here take this Pyaa instead!

(...How did I spend 25 likes just lurking for like an hour? ...)

[Noumi Kudryavka]

1 hour ago, Asonn said:

I want to use amiami but the VAT reks me as you never know how much bullshit you will need to pay, so I will just buy from shitty EU company's as I only pay some euro's more and sometimes it is even cheaper than buying it from Japan directly. so basically EU shops are much faster with delivery and are sometimes cheaper for me. If you're from Europe I would say checkout some shops in your country and just search the shop name in MyFigureCollection, it will tell you if they sell bootlegs or not and of course you can see the reviews. 

 

1 hour ago, Nosebleed said:

I'm from Europe and I order from AmiAmi, it's actually not that hard to calculate how much you will pay for VAT and their service has always been great to me.

Aside from the base price, the shipping, if you use EMS (express mail) for regular stuff, usually stays around 2000 - 2500 yen per figure (2000 for nendoroids, usually around 2,200 or 2,300 for 1/8 figures).
I've never ordered more than one figure at once so I don't know how much multiple figures could weigh but my Umaru pillow cost me about 3,500 in shipping and I doubt you'll get enough figures to surpass her weight (1.5 Kg).

The VAT will be a percentage of the price of the figure + the shipping cost (check the VAT rates in your country).

Then check if you have customs handling fees, which some countries have, this is a flat fee that customs charges you every time and isn't usually that much (for me it's like 6€).

Add that all up and you got your final price, then you can compare that price with other local stores and see if it's worth buying from those instead.

If you're from the USA you don't pay for customs.

Good thing I don't have to pay the VAT, even though I live in Europe. Gotta love the military benefits sometimes! ^^ Shipping to an APO address means it's ships to the USA (so no VAT & cheaper shipping from Japan) and then the military ships it over to Europe for free i.e. no extra costs.

[LiquidShu]

Does anyone want to help me on the hunt for some wall scrolls and other various items? I can't find anything and all the crap I want is no longer in print...

[AaronIsCrunchy]

Just ordered a 1st press limited edition of Buck-Tick's 'Kurutta Taiyou'. It's used (obviously, the original was 1991) but I'm still really excited; it's become one of my favourite albums and it'll be amazing to finally own it

[solidbatman]

On 1/19/2016 at 1:17 PM, Nosebleed said:

 

If you're from the USA you don't pay for customs.

 

 

 

 

 

[OriginalRen]

On 1/19/2016 at 0:17 PM, Nosebleed said:

If you're from the USA you don't pay for customs.

Freedom!

[Down]

I guess I'll just pay those customs fees with the money I didn't spend on my education and my healthcare and what I get from social benefits

 

[OriginalRen]

8 hours ago, Down said:

I guess I'll just pay those customs fees with the money I didn't spend on my education and my healthcare and what I get from social benefits

[solidbatman]

It is our manifest destiny to import the shit out of some weeb toys and not pay custom fees. Hence why I have a chibi batman figure. 

[Forgetful Frank]

I'm not too sure if this counts exactly, but it is Japanese... I didn't really want to create a new thread just for this so I hope this is acceptable, as I didn't exactly import it from Japan like the other awesome stuff on here, ahaha!

My Blu-ray Collectors Edition of Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' I pre-ordered ages ago was finally released and came earlier this morning!

Spoiler

Growing up as a kid many years ago and rushing home from school pulling my mother along by my hand to make sure I didn't miss the 'next exciting episode of DRAGON BALL ZEEEE!' is one of my most fondest memories. DBZ has always been my favourite because of it, I know it has its annoying flaws and whatnot, and I openly admit I've watched plenty of other anime over the years that are much better, but to this very day it is still my all-time favourite anime because it's just very dear to my heart. It was the first anime I ever watched and I didn't even know it was an anime because I was a small child who didn't know any better.

I've been trying to build up my Dragon Ball collection over the years, I have the original Dragon Ball manga box-set that I purchased during my time at college years ago, it was only £39.99 or £49.99 at the time, and the DBZ manga box-set was £79.99, but I couldn't afford it at the time, and when I finally could, it was out of stock and discontinued, so people were selling their second-hand copies for much more.

I still hope I'll be able to purchase the DBZ manga box-set some day and read it. Now I've got the complete collection of Dragon Ball in DVD, both official Blu-ray films and I'm just missing one more season of DBZ:Kai Blu-ray.

I plan on getting all of DBZ on DVD and then I'll be content with my collection, but I'll never feel that it's complete until I get the last box-set of the manga. I also ignore anything GT-related as even watching that as a kid I despised it, and I didn't like any of the non-canon movies because the inconsistency bugged me too much to actually enjoy them. I'm very particular when it comes to canon.

Literally DBZ is one of only a handful of anime that I watched English dubbed, I tried switching to Japanese when I was at college but I just couldn't get past Goku's high-pitched child voice, and I know how it's a fan-favourite and the voice actress is very well-known and received, but unfortunately I grew up with Sean Schemmel as my Goku, and Goku's voice being realistic and actually breaking towards the end of Dragon Ball made much more sense and believable to me, and I'm very happy with Funimation's dub quality of it. However saying that, I watch all new anime in Japanese regardless of if it has an English dub as we all know that their voice acting quality is always far superior to English.

I'd like to pick up some awesome Dragon Ball figures from Japan some time in the future, but for now I'm focusing on getting all the official media I want.