I went into 2024 with the intention of not purchasing any Japanese releases this year due to shipping costs. This was until I was having a bad week and thought bugger it, I'm doing it! Luckily the Japanese Yen was a good rate so I got some bargains and didn't lose out too much on conversion between the currencies. For this order, I focused on getting releases that were exclusive to Japan and not available on any streaming services. The service I used was Zenmarket of course and it was a simple process. Shipping wasn't too bad with the final cost of shipping it here being around $45 and I received it within two weeks. Everything was packed perfectly with lots of bubble wrap and no damages! In total, I ordered 25 CDs which is a good number and it was about $240 for all of this including all the fees and shipping within Japan.
Starting off with the main reason I placed this order which was these albums from m.o.v.e! I have been addicted to these albums for a while now and unfortunately they are hard to listen to here in Australia. The group isn't on Spotify nor does Australian iTunes have these specific releases. It has the singles but not the albums! So I was always listening to them on YouTube until I got sick of that and needed the physical CDs. These were various levels of difficult to get with their first album being the easiest and their third having barely any listings. So excited to have these in my collection and they sound amazing! In clockwise order from the left side, the albums I got from m.o.v.e where electrock, worlds of the mind and Operation Overload 7.
This was kind of an impulse buy as I love one particular song on this dream world album which is King & Queen. dream music is always difficult to come across and I thought I'd get the physical one as I enjoy the songs on this one. It was a pain to find as the title is so vague and I had to go through so many listings of other things to find this. Thank heavens the cover is red otherwise I wouldn't see the listings. Originally I wanted just the standard CD version but couldn't find one as all the listings were for the limited one. I wasn't too sure if the box was big or not however it is a decent size and you get lots of fun inclusions. There was even a calendar that I didn't know about!
Couldn't be a Zenmarket order without getting a new item for my E-girls collection and this time I got their album I was missing which was E.G. 11. Crazy to think I found a listing that had it brand-new with free shipping for only $16! And it was the 2CD+2DVD+Photobook version! It is too large to put with my other E-girls albums so it has to live somewhere else. Now I believe there are only a few titles I am missing in my E-girls collection and I'm not including multiple versions as I'm just trying to get one version of each release first.
Had to pick up more MAX for fun and these girls have the best albums. I brought their second and third albums MAXIMUM II and MAXIMUM Groove. These were dirt cheap and took a while to find a good listing. Paid 100JPY for each of these and they are in good condition considering how cheap they were.
Slowly working on my AKB48 collection and I wasn't sure what to get this time. At first I wanted to get one particular version of the Flying Get single but couldn't find a CD in good condition with the OBI. Whilst looking for that CD though, I came across a listing where someone was selling 13 CDs in one set for only 300JPY. It was just too good of deal to pass it even without the jewel cases! I can easily replace those if I want but honestly for now, they are easy to store without cases. Some of these aren't my top AKB48 songs and you can tell this person collected at certain stage of the group. All of the CDs are the theatre editions and these were the singles I received:- 希望的リフレイン Kibouteki Refrain
- 恋するフォーチュンクッキー Koi Suru Fortune Cookie
- チャンスの順番 Chance no Junban
- ハロウィンナイト Halloween Night
- フライングゲット Flying Get
- さよならクロール Sayonara Crawl
- GIVE ME FIVE!
- 桜の木になろう Sakura no Ki ni Narou
- Kimi no Honoemi wo Yume ni Miru
- ギンガムチェック Gingham Check
- 僕たちは戦わない Bokutachi wa Tatakawanai
- RIVER
- 唇に Be My Baby
I also brought a new sub-unit release for my collection and this time is was not yet. I hadn't heard much from this group and thought getting their album 'already' would be a great place to start. Found this copy of the Type A version for super cheap. The listing was quite vague and didn't have any big red flags for 300JPY so thought why not. Turns out it was in perfect condition with a plastic sleeve and no damage to the case. Plus there was even a photocard! Was not expecting that so it was a nice surprise.
Now for the Korean girl group releases I got in this haul starting off with MOMOLAND's 2nd Single Thumbs Up. I mainly got this as it was brand new and unopened for about $15. Seemed like a good deal and I didn't have this single in my collection. The photobook is amazing and I love the concept! Nice photocard haul and I was pleased with Jooe as I don't have any of her photocards.
I have been looking for this release from Dal Shabet on and off for a few years now. It is a special release done through Tower Records titled The Best and contains all their Korean hits. There is also a 32-paged photobook and DVD included. This album seems rare as I wouldn't come across it often and I believe only a certain amount were printed. Strangely enough I found a two listings for sealed brand-new copies under $15. How bizarre to never see it and then come across it twice. I went with the one with free shipping to keep costs down and it was in a great condition apart from scruff marks from storage.
A new artist for my collection which is GFRIEND who I've always enjoyed listening to and quite enjoyed this particular album. This is the groups first Japanese best album 今日から私たちは Kyou Kara Watashitachi wa ~GFRIEND 1st BEST~ and contains a combination of Japanese and Korean songs. In previous years, I've searched for this album but never found listings for cheap. Luckily I found this one of the Type A edition that was brand new and the original owner only took out the inclusions. Honestly I was after any edition of this album as I wanted the songs mainly and it was nice to get the one that comes with a photobook.
Finally found a copy of T-ARA's third Japanese album Gossip Girls! Everytime I looked for this it was either crazy expensive or damaged. So I was super pumped to find the CD version for 800JPY with free shipping. I don't know why this particular album is impossible to find as I knew T-ARA where popular in Japan. Did not know it came with two photocards so that was cool. Now I have cards from each of their Japanese albums and they look great together in the photocard album.
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