Forum - View topicBest places to purchase anime/Japanese music?
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Sohma_Curse
 Posts: 512 Location: New York |
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I'm in the US and I've been looking for albums by bands like TM Revolution and Abingdon Boy School (among others) after hearing some of their songs featured in different shows. Unfortunately, they're not on iTunes and sites like eBay have their albums for upwards of $60 (+international shipping).
Are there any common websites for purchasing import cds like this (or specific anime soundtracks in particular) that are based in the US and don't charge too much? Additionally, I live in New York and have easy access to NYC (which I know is a great place to find import and/or otherwise obscure music), so if anyone knows of any actual stores where I can find such merchandise, please let me know! |
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Dessa
 Posts: 4438 |
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A number of anime soundtracks were released domestically (many by Geneon), and sites like TSRI have some still in stock, so that's one source.
Another site that I've heard a lot of good about is Yes Asia. Checking their site, it looks like orders over $39 get free shipping, and a quick search revealed quite a few abs CDs. However, bear in mind that Japanese CDs are a lot more than US CDs, so what you'd expect to pay $15-20 for in the US is gonna be $30-40 on there. A CD single is gonna run between $10-15. |
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OldCharlieStoletheHandle
 Posts: 1288 Location: Mastic Beach, NY |
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You should definitely check out Book-Off in NYC. It's at 49 W 45th St. in Manhattan. They have a large stock of used and new cds of Japanese artists and anime music, as well as used manga (English and Japanese) and used DVD/BD (including some imports).
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potatochobit
 Posts: 1373 Location: TEXAS |
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www.cdjapan.co.jp sells all the music at MSRP
however, japanese music is not cheap, just fyi. if you can find it on itunes or amazon buy what you can other than that I would not worry about it too much |
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Nocturne123
 Posts: 268 |
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You aren't going to find Japanese music cheap. I've listened to Jrock for about 10 years now and I used to buy releases of my absolute favorite bands, but I couldn't keep up with it. I probably could now, but it would definitely eat into my video game and anime purchases.
SOME bands are on the US iTunes store. I'm very surprised TM Revolutions stuff isnt on there. I know Gackt and Miyavi both are, as well as One Ok Rock. For albums and singles though I always went with CD Japan. But you're going to pay Japanese prices, which are already high for music, plus to have it shipped to you, which in regards to buying singles, sometimes is more expensive than the single itself. |
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Ensof
 Posts: 70 Location: Meifumadō |
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I recommend HMV Japan. They discount most of their items and shipping is reasonable (5 CDs for 2040 yen works out cheapest). They also have a range comparable to Amazon.jp, which is handy for the more obscure titles. I’m a shoegazer fan, so most of what I buy unfortunately counts as obscure.
Amazon.jp are best avoided – they charge 2700 yen for international orders and 300 yen handling per item on top of that, which no discount can make up for. Despite the “free shipping offer” for orders over $40, I strongly suspect Yes Asia include the shipping in their prices; they’re consistently dearer than what you’d pay walking into a shop in Japan. They’ve been good when I’ve used them though; they sometimes have a CD that’s gone OOP elsewhere and they give out discount coupons too. Unless a Japanese CD gets a US release, you have to pay import prices off American retailers, which are the same as importing yourself or (frequently) worse. I can’t believe the prices charged by some independent sellers on Amazon. Apparently my second hand copy of Coaltar of the Deepers’ Penguin EP is worth $190 … As others have pointed out, Japanese music isn't cheap. |
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potatochobit
Posts: 1373 Location: TEXAS |
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if you want to use amazon.jp or something I think you can buy gift cards like for japanese itunes, that might be another option
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superdry
 Posts: 1309 |
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Since you live in NYC have you checked out Books Kinokuniya?
HMV Japan is excellent. I use them for 95% of my importing needs. They run points promos from time to time which helps to save you money on future orders. They only ship via EMS so small orders tend to work rather well. 2 CDs usually come out to about 1500yen for shipping.
The base charge of 2700yen is only if you add a book or magazine to your order. If nothing that can be classified as a book or magazine is in your order the base charge is 1700 yen. Correct on the +300 yen handling per item. Amazon JP shipping works really well if you order a lot of stuff at once. |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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I've bought a few anime soundtrack albums from ImportCDs with good results.
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hpulley
 Posts: 408 |
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Same for videos and books I use amazon.co.jp for my Japanese CDs.
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