ぴこぷり Pikopuri Summer 2015 Magazine - GIRLS MODE 3

It's time to take a look at another Japanese magazine featuring information on the Girls Mode series. This is the ぴこぷり Pikopuri Summer 2015 Magazine released in June 2015 in Japan and features 124 dedicated to various video games aimed at young girls. I mainly brought this issue for the content on Girls Mode 3, Disney Magical Castle: My Happy Life and Animal Crossing. This particular issue came with the usual Animal Crossing QR Code appendix book, stickers and some special origami of some villagers. Today we'll just be looking at the Girls Mode 3 content of the magazine which covers a few pages. First off is the cover of the magazine which is bright and colourful as usual.

ぴこぷり Pikopuri Summer 2015

 The title page of the Girls Mode 3 section features the character that the magazine uses for the game and a cute photo of a character in game wearing a dress from Marzipan Sky (known as La Chou Chou in Japan). The next page features some more outfits which is the standard content you will see in the Pikopuri magazines with Girls Mode stuff. There are some cute Girls Mode themed comic manga strips included on some of the pages. They follow the adventures of the character shown on the title page and her doing things around Bougainville and interacting with characters like Sophie.

Some more outfit photos are shown on the next few pages. The Pikopuri magazines along with the Girls Mode content in the キャラぱふぇゲーム Chara Parfait magazines and special Girls Mode book are great resources for getting outfit ideas. I know I've gotten some inspiration from outfits I've seen in the magazines which were combinations I never thought of or items I've kinda ignored.

Girls Mode 4 キャラぱふぇゲーム Special 2018 WINTER Magazine

Last year I posted about a Girls Mode 3 magazine I brought from Japan. Well I recently received a similar magazine from Amazon Japan so I thought I would share some photos from it. The magazine is a special winter edition of the Chara Parfait magazine which is a magazine targeted at young girls. The title of the magazine is キャラぱふぇゲームSpecial 2018 WINTER and features a section devoted to ガールズモード 4 (Girls Mode 4). Here is the cover of the magazine which features a variety of topics and games. Most of the magazine is about Sumikko Gurashi and even came with a adorable Sumikko Gurashi playing cards set.

The magazine features a cute calendar based off ガールズモード 4 that you can cut out of the magazine. It features 12 months and images of the main idol girls in their promotional material outfits. The back of the calendar has some characters dressed up in new items from the game.

MOMOLAND BBoom BBoom (Japanese Version) - Single Review (Limited Edition B CD+Photobook Edition)

BBoom BBoom is the debut Japanese single from Korean Pop group MOMOLAND. The girls are off to conquer the Japanese market with the Japanese version of their hit song BBoom BBoom. The physical editions of the single was released this week and I received a copy of the single in the mail this week so let's do a review of it!

MOMOLAND's debut Japanese single BBoom BBoom with member sticker.

BBoom BBoom was released in June 2018 and is available in three editions: Regular CD Only, Limited Edition A CD+DVD and Limited Edition B CD+Photobook. Both Limited Editions and First Press Regular Editions come with an event ticket. No photocard is included with the single however if you ordered or purchased it from certain retailers in Japan, you got a member stick. I purchased the Limited Edition B which contains the following contents:

• CD- 4 track album
• Photobook
• Member Sticker
• Event Ticker
• Plastic Sleeve Cover

Close-up of the front cover.

The design of the photobook is themed around the tropical look of the MV. The front cover has the girls in the beauitful white outfits and the photobook contains photos of this same outfit as the t-shirt look from the MV as well. The back cover has a photo of the girls enjoying a sunset and information about the single. I think the back cover is quite pretty and well designed. One thing about this single is that its giant! I thought it was going to be the same size as most k-pop albums but it's actually about the size of a piece of A4 paper. It's taller than MOMOLAND's Welcome To MOMOLAND Mini Album but much thinner. I was amazed at the size of the single when I got it in the mail. The single is a nice quality paper and is not a hardcover photobook. Kinda reminds me of Orange Caramel's やさしい悪魔 Yasashii Akuma (My Sweet Devil) photobook which I reviewed recently. The CD is housed in a slip sleeve cover at the back of the album. My CD was in perfect condition with no damages and I wish companies would stop with these unprotected covers, one speck of something in the sleeve and your CD is done for. The CD has a green tone to it which matches in with the look of the single.

Back cover.

Front cover.

CD sleeve at the back of the photobook.

BBoom BBoom CD

The main reason I got this edition of the single was for the photobook. MOMOLAND is currently my main group that I follow so it was worth getting this Limited Edition first. The photobook is stunning with a variety of sized images of the girls. Each member gets a selection of images and they all look great. Ahin's page with her in the white dress is my absolute favourite in the entire thing. Enjoy these photos of the photobook!

Amazon Japan Haul - MOMOLAND, Girls' Generation & Books

This is the first order I've received from Amazon Japan for a fair while and it probably will be the last for a long time. This is because the government is bringing in new GST restrictions for online stores and Amazon has decided to cut Australia from using their overseas site. Not entirely sure what will happen on July 1st when the changes come in effect, but as soon as I heard the news last month I placed an order straight away on Amazon Japan for some items I was after. So here are the items I received in my recent order! 

I got a Chara Parfait キャラぱふぇゲーム magazine which is the 2018 Winter Special released in December last year. The main reason I got this magazine was for the ガールズモード 4 Girls Mode 4 content, but you also got a cute Sumikko Gurashi playing cards set. The cards come in a nice steel case which I haven't set up yet, they're still in the cardboard box. I'll blog about the ガールズモード 4 pages on here soon as there are some great pictures of the game in the magazine. I have an older issue of the Chara Parfait magazine which was devoted to ガールズモード  3 Girls Mode 3 and I've written a detail blog post about that here!

Sumikko Gurashi playing cards.

ガールズモード 4 pictures of brand representatives.

Picked up this adorable needle felting book because I wanted to learn how to make animals. Also mainly because it has the cutest Shiba Inu's in it and I need to know how to make like a million of them.

The next item was kind of a random purchase as I originally wasn't planning on getting it. Since Amazon is changing soon, I thought I'd look through for any cheap items I could add to my order. When I was going through artists that I'm looking to collect albums of, this Girls' Generation single came up for only 300JPY. It was on sale from about 2000JPY and no clue why it was so cheap. So I thought why not for only 300JPY plus 300JPY shipment fee per item.

My J-Pop Collection 2017

This year I added quite a few new albums and singles to my Japanese Pop collection. 2017 was the year I started getting into collecting albums from E-girls and Dream Ami. This month I finally got the last Dream Ami single I was missing to complete my singles collection! Besides those artists, I got a few new albums from some of my favourite groups such as After School and KARA. I got very lucky and managed to get a set of Girls Talk and two Super Girl albums extremely cheap from a seller in Japan. I was so happy when I found them as they are hard to come across, especially the limited edition ones. Here is a photo of my J-Pop collection at the end of 2017. These are all the physical single and albums I have, I have a lot of musically digitally as well.

The albums in my collection include:

• KARA - Girls Talk - Type C (First Press Limited Edition)
• KARA - Super Girl - Type C (First Press Limited Edition)
• KARA - Super Girl - Type A CD+DVD (First Press Limited Edition)
• KARA - Girls Forever - Type A CD+DVD (Taiwan Edition)
• KARA - Best Girls - Type C 2CD's (First Press Limited Edition)
• KARA - Mamma Mia! - Type A CD+DVD (First Press Limited Edition)
• KARA - Girl's Story - CD+DVD (Taiwan First Press Limited Edition)
• AFTERSCHOOL - Bang! - Type C CD Only
• AFTERSCHOOL - Diva - CD Only (First Press Limited Edition)
• AFTERSCHOOL - Heaven - CD Only (First Press Limited Edition)
• AFTERSCHOOL - Lady Luck/Dilly Dally - CD Only (First Press Limited Edition
• AFTERSCHOOL - Dress To Kill - CD+DVD+Photobook (Taiwan First Press Limited Edition)
• Crayon Pop - RaRiRuRe - CD+DVD (First Press Limited Edition)
• Crayon Pop - Dancing All Night - CD Only (First Press Limited Edition)
• Crayon Pop - Crayon Pop - CD+DVD (First Press Limited Edition)
• Crayon Pop - Pop!Pop!Pop! - CD+DVD (First Press Limited Edition)
• AOA - Runway - Type C CD+DVD (Taiwan First Press Limited Edition)
• Kyary Pamyu Pamyu  - PAMYUPAMYU Revolution (Hong Kong Edition)
• Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Pika Pika Fantajin (Australian Edition)
• CocoSori - Itoshi no Mermaid - Type B
• Pungdeng-E - Pungdeng-E 1st Japanese Album Ppi Ppi Ppa Ppa
• Orange Caramel - Lipstick/Lum no Love Song - CD Only (First Press Limited Edition)
• Orange Caramel - ORANGE CARAMEL - CD+DVD (Hong Kong Edition)
• Orange Caramel - Yasashii Akuma - CD+Photobook (Taiwan Edition)
• E-girls - Lesson 1 - CD+DVD+Photobook (Taiwan Limited Edition)
• E-girls - E.G. Time - CD+DVD (Taiwan Edition)
• Dream Ami - Dress wo Nuida Cinderella - CD Only
• Dream Ami - Try Everything - CD Only
• Dream Ami - Lovefool - Sukidatte Itte - CD Only
• Dream Ami - Hayaku Aitai - CD Only
• Dream Ami - Kimi no Tonari - CD Only

Kara makes up the largest part of my collection and they were the first k-pop group I got into many years ago when I first started listening to the genre. I'm hoping to collect the last album I'm missing which is Fantastic Girls next year. I have a number of After School and Orange Caramel (After School's subunit) singles and albums, but I have some more in digital form and haven't got the physical ones yet. Dress To Kill was a great buy that I found this year. I brought the Taiwan edition which was about $40 cheaper than the Japan edition of the exact same CD+DVD+Photobook edition.

KARA Collection

AFTERSCHOOL Collection

Orange Caramel Collection

When buying J-Pop singles, I usually get the CD Only edition as it comes with the instrumentals and occasionally bonus tracks. Plus they are always the cheaper edition to buy. With albums, I try to get the DVD edition and occasionally the photobook as well if it comes in the same edition. However these editions often are extremely expensive or out of print. I often buy the Taiwan edition of albums as it is a cheaper price than the Japanese versions and comes with the same content (sometimes more!). I recently got the Taiwan edition of the E-girls album Lesson 1 and it was a good buy as it came with the CD plus a DVD of the music videos and a 64 page photobook. I also have the Taiwan edition of E.G. Time which came with the CD and DVD of the music videos. This year I managed to collect all the singles from Dream Ami who is my favourite solo artist. The covers of her singles are just gorgeous, I just can't pick which one is my number one favourite. I did not buy her recent album though as it was quite expensive for how many songs I didn't own (was only missing four which were new ones), so I just brought the seperate songs on iTunes. I'm hoping maybe one day to find the CD+DVD+Photobook edition cheap second hand if I ever go to Japan.

Where To Buy J-Pop & K-Pop Albums - Online Store Reviews

I've been buying J-Pop and K-Pop albums online for a few year now so I thought I'd share my experiences with the online stores I've used. These reviews are based on my experience with only a few online stores. There are many other sources you can use to purchase J-Pop and K-Pop albums online that I haven't used and there's lots of reviews on google you can consult for more information. I'll list pros and cons of using each site as well as a brief introduction to the main features and my opinion on using the site.

YesAsia
NOTE: An updated review of YesAsia is available here!
This is the main site most people will start out using as it's one of the big online stores that stocks asian pop music albums. It sells a wide variety of items from movies, video games, book, gifts and anime merchandise. The search engine is easy to use and the site stocks a large selection of J-Pop and K-Pop albums.This is the site I've brought the most of my collection from and have been using it for a number of years. I find it's useful for getting the CD-Only versions of J-Pop singles and ones that are hard to buy outside of Japan. The main problem I find with YesAsia is the albums are more expensive than other sources which is due to raising the cost to cover the free shipping item. But some J-Pop albums are ridiculously over priced from what I've research sometimes. Also years ago, they used to ship orders in a box but a while ago they switched to envelopes. And the weird thing about the shipping is that when I receive it, the sender address shows a random man from China rather than a YesAsia address in Hong Kong (which is where they are based). All my orders have been like this which is strange. I've always been puzzled by this, but I'm guessing it's just a merchant or something they use. 

Pros
+ Large selection of albums and merchandise available. It's a good site to use to find the different versions of each album or if you want a certain cover.
+ Great for J-Pop albums that are hard to find outside of Japan Only stores. I've brought a few Dream Ami singles that I couldn't find on other sites.
+ Free international shipping if you order over $39USD worth of items.
+ Good customer service. I've always received quick replies to my inquiries and they will make necessary changes to your order if needed.
+ Free gashapon if you order two Japanese items that have the gashapon icon.

Cons
- Albums can be expensive as YesAsia marks up the prices to account for the free shipping they offer. I find the K-Pop albums can be over priced compared to other sites and once I convert the price to AUD, some end up being outrageous prices for an album of 4 songs.
- Some items displayed on the website aren't actually in stock and will be cancelled from your order. This is one of the things I hate about online stores. It's the worst when stores list items as available, you order and pay for them only to receive an email later stating the item is not available. They always refund your money and offer the free shipping still if you order goes under $39USD. But I wish online stores would not list items if they're not available. This has happened to me three times with YesAsia. Once with a magazine which I wasn't too fussed about and ended up getting it on Amazon Japan. The other two times was when I ordered the B-version of CocoSori's Japanese single. I pre-ordered the item near when it was coming out and then received an email stating it was not available. I asked them to switch my order to the A-version but then I received an email stating that was not available! So YesAsia never even got the CD in but still listed it as available. It's still listed on the site now but as out of print. Luckily a friend in Japan offered to get the CD for me which was lovely after all that trouble.
- Packaging of the orders isn't as good as it used to be. The albums are sent in an envelope with bubble-wrap. I've had a number of K-Pop albums come with the corners slightly damaged or marks on the cover. This is one of the main reasons I'm thinking of switching to another store for K-Pop, receiving my order is good condition is important to me.

YesAsia Items

Amazon Japan
The Japanese version of Amazon is a fun site to use as they stock unique products you can only get in Japan. I use Amazon Japan to buy all my game books and magazines which are only available in Japan. They have a good range of J-Pop available and it's best to buy albums around the time they are released. I've been using Amazon Japan for a few years and I love it! Even though the shipping costs are expensive, the quality of the shipping service is amazing. Takes about 2 days for my items to arrive and they're always sealed and in a box. The most useful thing to do when using Amazon Japan is to translate the reviews into your language and read what people are saying about the item. The ones on the Crayon Pop album are great especially the ones about the DVD because the reviews are accurate about the terrible filming.

Pros
+ Super fast shipping and great packaging!
+ Sometimes you can find albums or singles for cheap prices. I got my After School Bang and Diva singles for under ¥800 and the limited edition version of Crayon Pop's Japanese album for a cheaper price than YesAsia.
+ Use theMP3 section to listen to samples of songs. This is useful if you cannot find a sample of the song on Spotify or Youtube.

Cons
- Shipping costs can be outrageous once you start adding things into your cart. To ship to where I live, it's ¥900 per shipment and ¥300 per item. So I find sometimes the costs add up once you convert it to your local currency. It's best to compare prices on a few different sites before deciding on where to buy.
- Certain items will not be available as they cannot be shipped to your location or outside of Japan. You could get around this using a proxy service but I've never tried that (one day I'll give it go as there's lots of good albums available second hand). Sometimes you put items in your cart and when you go to pay, it will tell you it will not ship to your country. That's a bit annoying as some items even say they will ship on the listing but it doesn't tell you until the payment part.

Amazon Japan items

KpopMart
I've only used this site once and I wasn't happy with it, so I never used it again. Based in South Korea, they offer a wide selection of K-Pop albums and official merchandise. It's a good site for posters and pre-orders. The only time I've used it was to buy Crayon Pop's album Vol. 1 Evolution Pop. It was listed as a cheaper price than YesAsia and you got a free poster if you pre-ordered. So I ended up pre-ordering the album from there and the poster isn't really free as you have to pay shipping. Now to what turned my off ordering from them again. I had to pay $12 USD in shipping costs (that's way more in AUD) and I didn't even get a tracking number. I feel if you're paying that, there should be a tracking option. So my order got shipping eventually when the album came out and the only way I knew it was coming was by talking to other people who ordered the same album who lived nearby. However when my order came, I noticed how awful the packaging was. I was surprised it made it to me in one piece! It came in a large box which was 50% destroyed and all that was in the box was the poster tube and the album wrapped in some bubble wrap. Amazingly that album wasn't damaged with the awful packaging. Turns out the stock KpopMart had of Crayon Pop's album was also faulty as the CD's were not secured properly and were popping out. Mine had this issue as the tabs the CD's were held on had come off the album. I just glued them back on as they weren't damaged with my album. I did read the KpopMart was offering exchanges on the album so other people had the same issue. I think that's more to do with the album being made for the cheap as it's literally in this cheap cardboard box.

Pros
+ Great for pre-orders and posters!
+ Counts towards the Hanteo chart
+ Useful for older albums as they have a good quantity of albums in stock.

Pungdeng-E プンデンイ 1st Japanese Album Ppi Ppi Ppa Ppa ピピパパ - Review

If you haven't heard of the awesome group called Pungdeng-E, you're definitely missing out. They are a music group from Korea who has a fun, bright and unique image. A while ago, they release their first album in Japan where they have a large following. Thought I would review the album as it's one my favourites in my collection.

Pungdeng-E 1st Japanese Album Ppi Ppi Ppa Ppa 日本盤1stアルバム ピピパパ

The album is titled Pungdeng-E 1st Japanese Album Ppi Ppi Ppa Ppa ピピパパ and features six amazing tracks. Japanese versions of  ピピパパ Ppi Ppi Ppa Ppa and ペチュポサム Baechu Bossam are included as well as the original Korean versions of Reversal, Cotton Candy, Al-Tang and Jal-Tang. No instrumentals are included on the album and it is basically a introduction to the group as it includes their discography as well as new Japanese versions. It comes in a standard jewel CD case and no OBI was included in the album.

Here is the track listing for the album:

1. ピピパパ (Japanese Version)
2. ペチュポサム (Japanese Version)
3.  ヨクチョン Reversal
4. ソムサタン Cotton Candy
5. アルタン Al-Tang
6. ザルタン Jal-Tang

The cover features a colourful layout and shows the three members in their individual colours; red, yellow and blue.  Colourful word bubbles are scattered about and the album title is displayed in the top right hand corner.

Front Cover

The back cover continues with the individual colour theme and the groups logo is featured. Here you can find the track listing showing the Japanese titles for the songs. Inside the CD case, there is a bright orange CD and a lyrics booklet. Japanese lyrics are included for the first two tracks and the rest have the Korean lyrics. Producing credits are listed on the last page of the lyrics booklet. There was no pictures unfortunately in the lyrics booklet and I would've liked to have seen at least one group picture.

Back & Front Cover

Inside of the album