There's so much anime and gaming merchandise that remains exclusive to Japan. The anime import stores barely touch the sheer volume of goods there are to buy. You can find a lot of amazing stuff on more general sites like Amazon Japan or special anime stores like Surugaya, but sometimes you need to look somewhere a little more specific to find some real treasures.
Some anime and gaming series have specific stores that sell related goods. These can range from the huge series that everyone knows to the niche titles with a small but dedicated fanbase. These can be unique to the store, have older goods that the more general stories don't stock anymore, or just have a wide range of items for the series.
Unfortunately, most of these don't ship internationally or have other caveats. Luckily, ZenMarket lets you add them to your cart by copying and pasting the URL.
While these are only a few examples, hopefully, they'll give you some ideas.
Pokemon Center Online
The first example is perhaps one of the more obvious ones. Pokémon is huge worldwide and there are tons of different items on sale. It's big enough that there are even dedicated stores in some countries outside of Japan, so you may wonder why it's worth checking out.
While there are quite a lot of official Pokémon goods available internationally, the Japanese store just has a much wider selection. There aren't just plushies for practically any Pokémon you can think of, but some fairly random items from the Gengar camisole to Sprigatito Earl Grey tea. If you love Pokémon and you're looking for something a little different from the local offerings, you'll find it here.
Store: https://www.pokemoncenter-online.com/
Also Read: HOW TO BUY FROM THE POKEMON CENTER JAPAN ONLINE
Sailor Moon Store
Sailor Moon is another huge franchise and the revival of this series with a new anime delighted new and old fans alike. Now if only the Codename: Sailor V anime rumors became true!
This store carries a lot of 'store original' Sailor Moon items and anniversary items. There's quite a wide range from Sailor Moon jewelry to pens and pouches. You can find items themed after everyone from Sailor Moon herself to the Death Busters. I particularly appreciated that some of the items on sale are subtle like a silver pen with a white Sailor Cosmos design.
https://sailormoon-store.com/shop/
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Hololive Store
The Hololive store is a little different in that many of the goods are available via another store that ships internationally. Unfortunately, it doesn't have quite everything, and international shipping can be ridiculously expensive for certain items there. The original store itself does ship abroad to certain countries too, but oddly enough not to Europe. It's always good to keep options open and ZenMarket might be the better option at times here.
If you do love Hololive, there is a huge selection here. Acrylic stands are popular, as are plushies. One of my favorites is the set of items for Sonic x Inugami Korone which was originally launched at a collaboration cafe.
https://shop.hololivepro.com/
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Gust Online Store
Of course, it's not just huge franchises that have their own stores. Gust sells items for several of its titles, including the Atelier series and Blue Reflection. In particular, they have several items from the anniversary events.
One thing I like about these more specific stores is that they don't just have items for the most popular characters, but you can find goods for the rest of the party too sometimes. I like Plachta from Atelier Sophie, but it's rare enough to even find merchandise for the titular Sophie herself. This store not only has a tapestry of Plachta (and Ramizel), but even more unusual items like a diorama of the town where Ryza grew up.
https://shop.koeitecmo.com/
Conclusion
You can find some great anime and gaming goods using the default ZenMarket search bar! But if you widen your search and check out some of the stores that focus solely on a series or publisher, you might be able to find some real gems and ZenMarket can still help you order these. Maybe next time you read about an interesting niche anime game on websites like NookGaming, you can come here to see if you can find a nice poster or figure?
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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