Melonbooks is known around the world as one of the biggest doujin-related stores in Japan.
It sells all sorts of things related to anime, video games, and more – but the one thing everyone knows and loves about Melonbooks is its vast offer of doujinshi.
And it’s not just one store! A place this special wouldn’t fit in one place!
Melonbooks has 31 stores across Japan. Their biggest ones are located in Akihabara, the otaku paradise.
If it’s doujin, no matter what you’re looking for, Melonbooks can sell it to you!
That is, unfortunately, if you live in Japan.
Melonbooks does not ship outside of Japan or accept non-Japanese payment methods.
But wait! Don’t panic! There’s an easy way to get what you want!
You can buy all the doujinshi you want from Melonbooks (and its twin site, Fromagee) with the help of ZenMarket.
Read down below to find out how!
How To Buy From Melonbooks?
We’re going to talk as if this was a guide for Melonbooks alone but keep in mind the process is almost identical if you want something from Fromagee too.
Step 1: Go to Melonbooks’s website
First and foremost make sure you are on the right website!
You want to visit Melonbooks.co.jp and not Melonbooks.com.
The former is the one you want, the latter is for digital media only.
If you try to visit Melonbooks.com, you might be blocked from doing so – but it’s not your fault; a lot of non-Japanese IPs have been blocked lately.
Don’t worry, though: Melonbooks.co.jp (the one you want to visit) hasn’t blocked anyone.
Once you’re on the website, you’ll soon realize it’s entirely in Japanese with no support for another language whatsoever.
Using Google Translate will be more than enough to help you navigate the site with no issues.
If you have a specific question, please contact us at ZenMarket, our multi-lingual team will be more than happy to help you with any issue you have.
Step 2: Search For Your Items
Browsing Melonbooks's site is pretty straightforward.
If you already know what you want, write it down on the site’s search bar.
Remember you can send us a message at ZenMarket and our team will help you find what you want.
If you want to browse the site and see what they have in-store, take a look at the website's menu bar, where you’ll find plenty of categories such as:
- 新着作品 – New releases.
- ランキング – Top-ranked Doujin.
- オリジナル同人誌 - Oringal pieces of work.
- サークルで探す – Search by circle
- (Circles are akin to publishers, a group of people, or an individual who publishes doujin).
If you look around, you’ll find plenty of new terminology.
Doujin terminology can be a little hard to grasp at first – but no worries, here’s a little cheat sheet to help you get started:
- 般同⼈誌 (Ippan Doujinshi): Doujinshi for all audiences
- R18 (Rated 18): Adult content
- BL (Boys’ Love): Stories of male love for a female audience. Similar content aimed at gay men is called Bara or ML (Men’s love)
- 男性向 (Dansei Muke): Doujin made for a male audience. Even though some pieces of this genre aren’t explicit, most of them are.
- ⼥性向 (Josei Muke): Doujin made for a female audience. More often than not, it’s BL-related.
- ⼩説 (Novel/Shosetsu): Novel or fan fiction doujin.
- サークル(Circle) – Circles are individual or group publishers.
Step 3: Check Item Information
Before you make an order with ZenMarket, make sure you take a look at your desired item’s details.
Here’s what you need to look for:
- 発売日 (Release Date): Check the release date to make sure you’re not pre-ordering something
- 一般 (Suitable for General Audiences): This will let you know what you’re buying is suited for all audiences. If it has an R18 rating, it’s explicit material.
- 価格 (Price): The final price with tax included.
- 在庫 (Stock): Whether the item you want is available or not.
When it comes to 在庫 (Stock), there are three stock options:
- 在庫あり – In Stock
- 好評受付中 – Taking Orders
- 売り切れ – Sold Out
Step 4: Copy Item’s Page URL
Once you made sure everything is okay with the details of your item, head over to ZenMarket’s site to place your order.
Copy the item’s page URL from Melonbooks’s site and paste it into ZenMarket’s search bar and hit enter.
It’s that easy!
Step 5: Submit Your Order
After you’ve submitted the item through the ZenMarket website, you will be presented with an input box where you can write any specific information with regard to the item you have submitted.
Please be as thorough as possible.
Write down the item’s name, how many of them do you want, and any detail you can think of. Any additional comments are welcome!
Providing additional details will allow us to process your order as quickly as possible.
Check and double-check the details and make sure everything is okay before you proceed.
When we receive the item request, one of our team members will confirm the item details and then provide you will a final quote.
Once you’ve paid for it, the items you bought will be shipped to our warehouse center.
Step 6: International Shipping
When we have the items and are ready to send them to you, we will ask for your preferred international shipping method from the options available.
Once supplied, we will pack and weigh the items you want to ship internationally and then provide you will a quote for your chosen shipping method.
When that’s done and out of the way, all you have to do is wait for your items to arrive!
We will make sure your doujin arrives at your doorstep as quickly as possible.
Happy Shopping!
DISCLAIMER: Rated 18 (explicit material) can be exported from Japan – but this is at the discretion of the customs office. Your country’s customs can refuse to accept the package and send it back according to its own rules and regulations.
ZenMarket has no jurisdiction over your country's customs laws and regulations. Please always confirm first that items you plan to buy from Japan can be imported to your country.
If you need more information on how to shop with ZenMarket you can click the image below to check out our full in-depth guide on how to shop using ZenMarket, which will teach you everything you need to know about how to buy ANYTHING you want, not just doujin, directly from Japan and have it shipped to your front door anywhere in the world.
