How to Grab Those Awesome Rare Anime Goodies

[Dreams]

I know every true-blooded anime fan has wanted those super rare import goodies at some point... you know, you see the one exceptionally awesome statue up on eBay for $200 and wish you could snag it. Or some website shows a picture of the awesome things they released in Japan that will never see foreign soil. Well, I've got some websites that may help.

Firstly, The Websites

1. Celga - This is the one and only place to go to when you need something imported from Japan. Seriously. They're a service that will buy products for you from a myriad of Japanese websites, and take care of the communication and shipping and everything. (This is excellent, because you'll find that most of the sites listed below will NOT ship outside Japan.) Of course, you pay a small fee per item, but it's worth it. They have excellent communication, and after using their services for about five years now, I highly recommend them.

2. Yahoo! Japan Auctions - If you can't find what you're looking for here, it probably doesn't exist. This website is the mecca of anime merchandise, both used and new. If you think eBay has a lot of anime junk for a certain title, I guarantee YJA has double that. The best part are the prices - not only can you find awesomely rare stuff, but for amazing prices.

3. Rakuten Furima - Another Japanese auction site. Nowhere near as big as YJA, but sometimes you'll find better prices here.

4. Bidders - Yet another Japanese auction site. Also smaller than YJA, but I've found a thing or two here that were a much better deal.

5. Amazon Japan - AJ is tied with YJA as my favorite place for import goods, because it also has an excellent selection and... will ship directly to the USA! But, there are a couple restrictions on the direct shipping... they won't ship things like toys, and you can't buy used things from third party sellers. Luckily, Celga will also order items from Amazon Japan, meaning you CAN buy toys and used goods, you'll just have to buy it through Celga.

6. JP Queen - An English site that ships directly from Japan. They mostly carry printed goods - manga, doujinshi, magazines, art books, etc. I found my complete set of Yuugi-ou manga here for an excellent price.

7. CD Japan - I don't know what list would be complete without CD Japan. :) Its main site is also in English, and they carry all kinds of authentic import CDs, DVDs, and so on.

8. Pesan Yamada - Like JP Queen, this site is in English and will ship things directly from Japan. But they have no search function, so looking through the site is time-consuming. They also run a go-between service like Celga, but I've never used it. (And fair warning - whoever runs this site doesn't speak English very well.)

(Got any other links? Let me know!)

So, How the Heckin Do I Search For Stuff?

Looking for specific goods might be a little hard if you don't know Japanese. There are a few great ways you can look up anime titles in Japanese, though: visit ANN, the Wiki, or do a Japanese Google search. Anime News Network lists the title for each anime in Japanese on their website, and the Wiki usually does as well, so a little copying and pasting onto the auction sites won't be too much work. You can also open up Google, hit "advanced search", write the anime title in English in the "exact phrase" box, set the language to "Japanese", and search. You won't believe how often this works - the first search result will often be the official Japanese page, and the title will give you the Japanese title.

Search terms might be tougher, as some slang is used that you may not find in Japanese-English dictionaries. I'll post a list that might help:

アニメ = anime
同人誌 = doujinshi
CD = (just wanted to point out that they use this term)
サウンドトラック = soundtrack
サントラ = "santora" (short for "soundtrack")
ゲーム = game
ビデオ = video
VHS = (pointing it out, again... not that anyone but me buys VHS tapes anymore, hahaha)
DVD = (again)
カード = card(s)
カレンダー = calendar
ポスター = poster
漫画 = manga
まんが = manga (written in kana)
コミック = comic
セル画 = cel art
フィギュア = figure
ぬいぐるみ = doll
モデル = model
画集 = art book

And the beauty of these symbols:
巻 = a kanji used for counting things in Japan
枚 = another kanji used for counting things in Japan
本 = and another; also the symbol for "book"
Is that by searching for them, you may stumble across an auction that says, "Yuu Yuu Hakusho 100枚 Cards!" Win.

So, in the auction boxes, you can look for something specific by first putting the series title (like, Yuu Yuu Hakusho = 幽遊白書), leaving a space, and then putting another term after it. Yuu Yuu Hakusho soundtrack -> 幽遊白書 サントラ ...just like that. :)

And How Am I Supposed To Order Stuff?

If you find anything you like on YJA, Rakuten, Bidders, or Amazon, you'll have to drop Celga a line via email and let them know. They have instructions on their site as to what information they need in the email. Currently, they accept payment via PayPal, money order, and cash (at the sender's risk). They also have some basic pricing guides on their site, as to what to expect to pay total. To figure out how much the items themselves cost, a good Currency Converter is essential, as the exchange rate fluxuates daily. As a general rule, 100 yen = $1.

From there, Celga will fully take care of everything for you - the bidding, the auction ending, communication with the seller, all the way up to shipping it to you. A couple warnings: bookmark the stuff you're bidding on! Celga won't tell you whether you won or not - it's up to you to check, and either rejoice or weep at the results. Also, getting stuff through Celga takes longer than if you buy something off of, say, eBay. This is due to the item first being shipped to Celga's Japan office, and then being shipped to you. But I still say it's worth it!

If you decide to order new things from Amazon Japan and not bother with the hassle of a go-between service, it's not all that hard to sign up. The easiest route is to find something you want first. Then, on the right, you will find... that there is a button that says "Would you like to see this page in English? Click here." It's pretty much that easy. Now, it won't actually display everything in English. But it will allow you to see the essential stuff, like "add to cart" and so on. Once you proceed to the checkout, you can sign up for an account. (You may have to switch it over to English again.) And, even if you already have an Amazon.com account, you MUST sign up for a new one on Amazon Japan. The two sites operate separately.

The other sites, like JP Queen, are much more obvious and possess no language barriers. :)

So, give it a shot and see what you find. (Or at least do a search and browse through the items... you might find ridiculous things you've never seen before. Like masks. And piggy banks. And candy in the shape of your favorite characters.) You can always PM me, too, if you need help searching or whatnot.

[Aoi Sakuraba]

You are like a Goddess Dreams!

thanks a bunch

[Yuki~]

Hey, this is nice ^^
thanks Dreams!

[Khorne]

Dreams for president, I'd say!