Visual Novels are niche, but their fanbase is growing at an amazing rate. With companies localizing more and more of them in English these days, those of us who enjoy their expansive storytelling or the ability to choose which way the anime-style story changes have never been in a better place. Despite this, there are many that we have no way to get outside of Japan and many fans want to explore those not available to the English-speaking audience.
Code Realize Merch
Luckily, in a world where digital purchases are being region-locked increasingly more often, importing physical copies through ZenMarket is still an easy option. The only difficult part is making sure that your language skills are up to reading them when they arrive!
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Deals on Classic Visual Novels
The used market for visual novels in Japan can offer some amazing deals. They are often in great condition, but ZenMarket does offer a service to take photos of any products if you have concerns.
Used copies of PlayStation and Dreamcast visual novels tend to be particularly cheap and many of the best-known titles are available in this format, including ones such as To Heart and Fate Stay/Night.
There are quite a few good deals on used PC titles too. The only thing to remember is that some of these do include extras which do add to the shipping weight!
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Exclusive New Visual Novels
Certain visual novels only launch physically in Japan. This even includes some that have English language. You can grab Little Busters! Converted Edition on the eShop, but if you want it sitting on your shelf, then you'll need to import it.
Little Busters! Merch
That said, if you want a visual novel physically at all, most of your options will be Japanese-only. Did you love playing through Renai Karichaimashita: Koikari – Love For Hire on Steam and want it physically? You can grab a Japanese copy through ZenMarket. Want to practice your Japanese? The developer's newer untranslated titles are available too.
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First Press Limited Editions
Want to go further than a regular physical copy? You can grab both new and used copies of many first-press and limited-edition copies. These often come with extra items and a box perfect for display.
Utawarerumono Merch
Sometimes even unopened copies of first press editions appear. Really want the best physical edition of Kanon? It's possible to find it. Or maybe you just really want that bonus folding fan from Utawarerumono.
Finding What You Need
Due to the type of titles that visual novels often have, it's best to search for them by using their Japanese names for the best chance at an accurate match. Luckily VNDB is great for this. If you type the English name into VNDB, it'll let you find the title in Japanese and then you just need to copy and paste it into ZenMarket.
Also Read: 5 HANDY TOOLS TO FIND JAPANESE PRODUCTS WITHOUT KNOWING JAPANESE
Sometimes the title isn't enough. In these cases, you can try to click the specific editions, get the Japanese from those pages, and try that. This is particularly the case with titles such as 'Green Green', which use common words. Using グリーングリーン 通常版 (Green Green - Regular Edition) worked to find a copy of that title without any problems.
Green Green Soundtrack
Further to that, adding the platform can help too. You may need to try variations like including 'Windows' or 'PC' as listings may only use one, but this can narrow the search down significantly.
Merchandise
Of course, it may not be the visual novels themselves that you're looking for, but those extras that are Japan-exclusive. Tapestries (タペストリ), figures (フィギュア), and covers for dakimakura pillows (抱き枕カバ) are some common ones. There are even cosplay (コスプレ) items. You can use the Japanese terms listed along with the visual novel or character name in Japanese to find these.
To Heart Tapestries
Again, you can find the character names in Japanese on VNDB by clicking on the characters tab when on the page of the visual novel.
Conclusion
If you want to collect visual novels physically or pick up the merchandise, ordering direct from Japan gives you the most options. ZenMarket allows you to pick up a wide selection of titles both new and used which are near impossible to get outside of Japan.
A gamer since the days of DOS who has spent time living in Japan and South Korea. Thomas Knight has been interested in Japan most of his life due to having an early interest sparked through anime and gaming. After working for a number of other channels and outlets, he went on to create NookGaming.com which focuses on Japanese gaming, including niches such as visual novels and JRPGs.
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