Zenmarket Haul - AKB48, Morning Musume, Momoiro Clover Z, MOMOLAND & m.o.v.e

After writing that title, I realised it was almost artists that start with the letter M! So I got another CD haul from Zenmarket last month and got some great new additions to my J-Pop collection. Last year I did get a large number of albums from Zenmarket but never ended up posting them on here. Maybe I'll do my CD collection posts later on this year and add them to that. 

This order I focused mainly on AKB48 releases as there was a number of singles I was interested in collecting. Then there was also some harder to find albums that I have been searching for that I managed to find selling on Yahoo Auctions which is the platform I use to buy all my CD's from in Japan. Here are all the items I received in this order from Zenmarket! 

Starting off with the large collection of AKB48 singles I brought from this one seller. They were selling a set of 20 singles for 400JPY. Absolutely insane and all of them were brand new and unopened. So I couldn't say no to this deal as it contained quite a few singles I had been wanting. Sustainable was the main one I have been looking for as I really enjoy this song and it feels like a true AKB48 song to me. There was one song on Negaigoto no mochigusare that I like from hearing the JKT48 version of it. I had originally brought this CD last year but sadly it got cancelled by Zenmarket due to issues with the seller. So it was nice to finally receive one. All of the below singles are the theater or shop editions which are usually the ones I collect.

After that massive lot of singles, I brought even more AKB48 singles! I had been wanting to get Ponytail to shushu for a while now as I love the Majijo Teppen Blues song. It's so dramatic and amazing to listen to and the part with Takahashi Minami is my favourite. Also brought a set that had some random singles in it mainly because I was looking for the Heavy Rotation CD which is the one in the case. A big thank you to Zemarket for helping with this specific item as they helped out with this a request I had regarding this item. Super helpful and great communication with everything! These were also all new sealed singles which are super easy to find with AKB48 as fans often bulk buy the CD's and rarely open them.

Zenmarket Haul - Found New Treasures!

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!

April Favourites

Super happy to see April go as it was another stressful month and I've quite a number of things on all at once. I have been working on the blog more and trying to clear out my backlog of screenshots. Pretty much up to date and I am going to work on updating/revamping the various topic pages on the blog. One exciting thing of the month was seeing the Aespa World Tour concert at the cinemas which I went to last weekend. It was great that it got shown here and there was even two sessions! My session only had 23 people in one of the biggest cinemas at my local one and it was good to see support for the group.

Gaming

This month I've been playing stacks of Pretty Princess Party as I've been working on finishing the game. It is a cute game with lots of collectibles and I've been creating some nice looking rooms. Once you get a good range of furniture that is from the same set, it is easy to create rooms. Currently I am focusing on completing the villager houses but I think I've reached the limit I can do until I reach Level 5. Here are some of the rooms I've designed in Pretty Princess Party:

February Favourites

A few days late for the monthly favourites as it has been a hectic start to March. Didn't even realise we were at the end of February until I had to start writing March as the month. Lucky I have a job that requires writing the date quite often otherwise I'd have no idea what month it is. We had some great weather lately as it has been ideal summer weather. Not crazy hot but still warm. Love being able to wear shorts all the time and loose tank tops. Hopefully this type of weather stays around for a while as I'm not a fan of winter. Starting off this post with these cute stickers I picked up at Daiso recently! The store near me has actually been stocking some new sticker styles which is surprising! The prices went up to $3.30 which is kind of pricey for what you get compared to online whoever they are very pretty. I have the one in the middle in the colour pink but had never seen this cream colour set before.

Gaming

Not much happening this month besides playing random games on my switch. I've been super into the Faircroft Antiques series and almost finished my second game in the series. Picked them up during a sale and they are quite fun games. Plus I can get plenty of gameplay out of them over the course of a few weeks. Also been playing lots of solitare and random pet games on the switch too.

Music

So I ended doing something I didn't think I would do and brought some items on Yahoo Auctions. I wasn't planning on buying CD's from Japan for a while however I realise it was the only way I could get certain m.o.v.e albums. They were only available in Japan and luckily I was able to find the three I was after. Still thinking about some other things I want to pick up and will update when the parcel arrives. I'm trying to order albums/singles that I cannot get on iTunes here and looking for albums that are harder to find.

My J-Pop Collection 2023

The J-Pop Collection post for 2023 is not an exciting one and is starting off on a sad note. Unfortunately I had to declutter a large amount of my T-ARA Japanese singles at one point of the year. The story is that when I first got these CD's along with some others from Yahoo Auctions, they stunk of cigarettes. Like super strong! At the time, I managed to get the smell out or so I thought. The CD's that had the jewel case type were okay but the ones in cardboard sleeves were not. I always kept them in a separate box due to the smell and I came across the box whilst cleaning. The smell still hadn't gone from them and I decided it was a sign to clear something out of my collection. At least I still have the songs in my iTunes and maybe one day I'll re-buy them. Until them, my T-ARA collection has shrunk to just these five titles: two albums and 3 singles (one from the subunit QBS).

Everything else in the J-Pop collection is the same as 2022 as I didn't buy any new titles. No Zenmarket purchases as it is too expensive to import nowadays and some of the items I want are rare to find. I occasionally check Yahoo Auctions and I cannot find listings for some of the older CD's I want. No clue where I'll buy from Zenmarket again, maybe if the exchange rate is amazing. I'm thinking about getting some albums off iTunes as it is easier and I don't have to store the CDs which is totally up my alley as I'm big into decluttering in 2024.

Lately I have been listening to a few of my E-girls albums and I forgot how much I love E.G. Crazy! That album is so good and is full of great songs for the gym. That is where I have mainly been listening to it along with some of the singles like E.G Summer Rider. Crazy to think I'm still missing E-girls singles from this photo! Only a few more releases I need from them to complete my collection of one of each of their discography. Also my yearly compliant of the last Dream Ami single not matching the rest as it doesn't have an outer sleeve. Still bummed about that one.

My K-Pop Collection 2023

The end of 2023 is upon us and that means it is time to round up my K-Pop collection for another year. Pretty much only purchased Korean releases this year and no Japanese ones. Luckily I was able to obtain all the albums locally in my city. The main music store here which is JB Hi-Fi has a decent K-Pop collection and it was easy to find ones I was interested in. Let's get straight into it!

First off we have aespa who are the main group that i follow nowadays. I don't stan the group but I always make sure to get their new releases. Aespa is the only girl group that my local store stocks regularly and you can always find a few different versions. All of the albums shown except Girls are purchases in 2023. I pre-ordered My World and was fortunate enough to get the Zine version which was the one I wanted! Plus I got Ningning's photocard! I eventually found the World version at another JB Hi-Fi. The Drama albums are a recent purchase from last week and I wasn't too sure about getting them. Originally they were listed as online only and wouldn't be available in store. Then the listing changed and I was able to order them. It was impossible though to tell what the versions were so I did some research online. I got the big two photobook version and the what I believe is the retail exclusive version of the Giant one. It isn't the Target exclusive as it doesn't have the same inclusions and you get the English message photocard. It is pretty easy to buy other versions of aespa albums in store and it is always those poster versions which I'm not interested in. Just not at the price they are set at and I doubt it would drop.

Isn't this the most aesthetically pleasing photo of this post? So gorgeous and I love the hardbook structure of Red Velvet releases. Previously I only had four of these albums and got two new ones in 2023. Russian Roulette and Summer Magic are the new additions and I adore how they are the same size as the other smaller ones. Rookie is just chilling there being gigantic and The Red I've had forever. The store I brought it from isn't even around anymore.

This year I wasn't planning on collecting more releases from Oh My Girl but I lucked out with finding their latest mini album stocked in my local store. Seems such an old girl group to find so easily available. Love the design on these two albums and all the inclusions were gorgeous. I'm a big fan of bookmarks being included in albums recently as that is definitely something that I will use often. Also picked up their first mini album which I ordered specifically in as the price was quite reasonable.

T-ARA TARGET - Single Review (Regular Edition Type B)

Lately I've been on a spree of writing T-ARA reviews and I'm back again with another one! Today we shall be looking at one of their Japanese singles and it has the most adorable chibi design to the CD. Look at how cute the members look as cartoon characters! This single TARGET had an app released shortly after based off the song and it allowed the player to play as each member in various mini games. You could also unlock different costumes and songs which sounds amazing!

TARGET is the seventh Japanese single released by Korean girl group T-ARA and it was released on July 10th 2013. The single came in three editions: Limited Edition CD+DVD, Regular Edition Type A CD Only and Regular Edition Type B CD Only. Both Regular Editions are the same and just have different covers. The song was also released as a Recochoku Digital Single as most T-ARA singles were. I have the Regular Edition Type B that I brought second-hand and it came with the following contents:

• CD - 2 track single
• Jewel case
• Lyrics booklet
• OBI
• Sticker Sheet

T-ARA Sexy Love [Japanese Ver.] - Single Review (CD Only)

I have quite a few Japanese singles from T-ARA in my collection so I wanted to work through posting a few of them. The ones in the jewel cases are quite easy to take photos of and I cannot even recall whereabouts I put the cardboard sleeve ones. Will have to dig them out of the cupboard one day to take photos. Today we shall be looking at the Japanese version of Sexy Love!

Sexy Love is the fifth Japanese single released by Korean girl group T-ARA and it was released on November 12th 2012. The single came in three editions: CD+DVD Type A, CD+DVD Type B and CD Only. It was also released as a Recochoku Digital Single along with iTunes. I've got all three editions of the single and the CD Only edition comes with a member plate! I got Eunjung who has a gorgeous look going on the CD and if I had to pick a member who I would've like to have gotten, it would be Boram as her outfit is super cute and she is my bias. The CD Only edition of Sexy Love that I have came with the following:

• CD - 4 track single
• Jewel case
• Lyrics Booklet
• OBI

QBS 風のように Kaze no You ni - Single Review (Regular Edition)

The other day I came across this single in my music collection and had totally forgotten about T-ARA's sub-units! There was two groups and this particular one always gets lost in my collection. The reason for that is that the group name is QBS so it doesn't show near all my Korean music which is listed under the hangul spelling. So I always go straight past it however this single is a beautiful one to listen to and we shall be reviewing it today.

風のように Kaze no You ni is the debut and only single from QBS which is the second sub-unit from Korean girl group T-ARA. The first unit was T-ARA N4 who debuted in March 2013 followed by QBS in April 2013. QBS was slated to only promote in Japan with members Qri, Boram and So Yeon and released one single. 風のように Kaze no You ni was released on 26th June 213 and came in two editions: Limited CD+DVD and Regular Edition CD Only. I brought both editions of the single second-hand from Japan and the Regular Edition included the following:

• CD - 2 track single
• Jewel Case
• Lyrics booklet
• OBI

After School DIVA - Single Review (CD+DVD Type B)

I have the last review of After School's DIVA single here and looking back on this CD makes me adore the colours of the design. The pastel pink contrasts well perfectly with the black and I love the solid bluish grey backdrop. After School's Japanese releases always had great designs and my only negative point would be that the editions that come with the cardboard sleeve do not have an OBI so they don't match with the CD Only. However that is when the term 'limited edition' comes in and the cardboard sleeve is all about that limited-ness.

DIVA is the second Japanese single from Korean girl group After School and it was released on November 23rd 2011. The single came in three editions: CD+DVD Type A, CD+DVD Type B and CD Only. This review is for the CD+DVD Type B edition which I brought second-hand from Japan and it is pretty much like the CD+DVD Type A. Not a huge different besides how the girls are posed and the DVD content. I did get a photocard when I purchased this and the seller gave me E-Young! OMG I have so many of her cards and she has quickly progressed to bias in the group this year.

After School DIVA - Single Review (CD+DVD Type A)

I've posted too many After School CD reviews that I've run out of things to say in the introduction. Honestly I always find it hard to figure out what to write so let's just look at the next edition of the Japanese version of DIVA.

DIVA is the second Japanese single from Korean girl group After School and it was released on November 23rd 2011. The single came in three editions: CD+DVD Type A, CD+DVD Type B and CD Only. This review is for the CD+DVD Type A edition which I brought second-hand from Japan. In boring news, I got the same photocard as I got in my new CD Only edition so know I have two group photocards. I should really put the other one somewhere to display since I have an extra. The DVD editions come in lovely cardboard sleeves and there was a promotional sticker on the packaging as well. The contents I received in my copy of the CD+DVD Type A edition were:

• CD - 2 track single
• Cardboard sleeve
• Plastic sleeve
• Jewel case
• Lyrics booklet
• Promotional flyer
• Photocard (Random 1 out of 9 types)

After School Bang! - Single Review (Limited Edition CD+DVD Type B)

The final version of one of the best After School song's ever is here and it always feels so fulfilling when I post reviews of every version/edition of a CD. It is like accomplishing a truly trivial task that probably only a small amount of people have interest in. Oh what a wonderful time it is to have niche interests and I feel After School is quite niche as the group isn't even around anymore and some new K-Pop fans wouldn't know how they are. I will always love them though and I was so happy to get all the versions of Bang! 

Bang! is the debut Japanese single from Korean girl group After School who is also known as AFTERSCHOOL in Japan. This single was released on August 17th 2011 and came in three versions: Limited Edition CD+DVD Type A, Limited Edition CD+DVD Type B and CD Only. The song was also previously released as a digital single a few days earlier and is the Japanese version of their hit song 뱅! Bang! This review is for the Limited Edition CD+DVD Type B which I got second-hand on Yahoo Auctions. It is pretty identical to the Limited Edition Type A design wise with the cardboard sleeve and concepts. For this photo, the girls have ditched the marching band hats for a more sexy look. The Limited Edition Type B of Bang! comes with the following contents:

• CD - 2 track single
• DVD
• Cardboard sleeve
• Jewel case
• Lyrics booklet
• Promotional flyer

After School Bang! - Single Review (Limited Edtion CD+DVD Type A)

Onto the next version of After School's Japanese single Bang! After looking at the CD Only version in the last review post. This won't be a super long text based post as I've said most of the stuff to say in my previous review but we can look at some pretty pictures instead! Today we will be looking at the Limited Edition CD+DVD Type A which comes in a nice cardboard sleeve.

Bang! is the debut Japanese single from Korean girl group After School who is also known as AFTERSCHOOL in Japan. This single was released on August 17th 2011 and came in three versions: Limited Edition CD+DVD Type A, Limited Edition CD+DVD Type B and CD Only. The song was also previously released as a digital single a few days earlier and is the Japanese version of their hit song 뱅! Bang! Some sites list this as limited edition and others do not so who knows! You don't get an OBI in this version as it comes in a lovely cardboard sleeve which has the same images as the jewel case. I brought my copy of Type A second-hand from Yahoo Auctions and it came with the following contents:

• CD - 2 track single
• DVD
• Cardboard sleeve
• Jewel case
• Lyrics booklet
• Promotional flyer

e-girls Mr. Snowman - Single Review (CD Only)

So far on the blog, I have posted one e-girls single review which was Celebration back in August last year. Well I decided it was finally time to chip away at the large amount of singles I own from the group and I took some photos of another one of their CDs. This time we are looking at Mr. Snowman which is one of my favourite singles as it includes the song Move It! -Dream & E-girls TIME-. One of my favourite e-girls songs and I was always disappointed that it was never a single release. At least it later got the special treatment it deserved with being released again with a MV on their album E.G. Time.

Mr. Snowman is the twelfth single released from Japanese girl group e-girls and it was released on November 26th 2014. The single came in four editions: CD+DVD, CD Only, One Coin CD and MUSIC CARD. The One Coin and MUSIC CARD editions were only available through the mu-mo, LDH Mobile store and the E-girls FAMILY fanclub shop. I got my copy second hand through Yahoo Auctions in a bulk lot of e-girls singles and it didn't originally come with the jewel case so I just replaced it. As usual I got the CD Only edition which is the one I always collect from this group. The Mr. Snowman single I received came with the following contents:

• CD - 4 track single
• OBI
• Lyrics booklet
• Promotional flyer

T-ARA TREASURE BOX - Album Review (Pearl Edition CD Only)

A few years ago I reviewed T-ARA's first Japanese album Jewerly Box and it is time to review their follow-up TREASURE BOX. I loved how these two albums had a theme and then that all got thrown out the window with their third Japanese album which was called Gossip Girls. Whilst that name is amazing, it would've been lovely to see another box theme title like maybe music box. I feel that would've been a fun concept for the design. Now this album was kind of a pain to photograph as it is very brown and my camera hated that. Loving the pirate theme though and looks like the girls had fun taking the photos.

TREASURE BOX is Korean girl group T-ARA's second Japanese album and it was released on August 7th 2013. The album was released in three editions: Diamond Edition CD+DVD+PHOTOBOOK, Sapphire Edition CD+DVD and Pearl Edition CD Only. The Diamond and Sapphire editions come with different DVD content with some already been featured on single releases. I remember struggling to find this album for a time as no listings contained the OBI and I originally wanted the Diamond or Sapphire editions however they were super pricey. My copy of TREASURE BOX came with the following contents:

• CD - 13 track album
• Jewel case
• Lyrics booklet
• OBI
• Photocard (Random from 7 types)
• Promotional flyers