Last month Tenso shipped 14 CDs (including 3 double CDs) for $113. Not bad considering it would have cost $280 shipped separately. The box was heavy and stuffed with air pillow packing. Several bundles of CD were bubble wrapped inside.
Tenso box from Japan (12x8x7.5″)
Tenso shipping box opened
Tenso box packing
bubble wrapped CDs in box
EMS package from Tenso
Three CDs arrived the other day in an Express Mail Service (EMS) pouch. I have to sign for EMS mail when it arrives. I bought all of them from Amazon Japan. All were listed as “Good-Used” but in much better condition than expected. NaNa Mizuki’s Trickster included a retail plastic cover. Trickster came in a Super Jewel Box which I’ve never seen before. It had rounded corners and opens by pressing instead of prying. The cover artwork is enclosed on all sides preventing it from falling out.
Tsuyoshi’s All ABOUT LOVE has varying styles of R&B. “tell me” is more a club mix. Kono Mama Zutto is a ballad which uses the Stylistics’ You Are Everything as a background melody. “Magic” is an another ballad with an older R&B sound and very pleasing on the ears.
There’s several tracks on Trigun’s OST which I like but PHILOSOPHY in a Tea Cup is my favorite. I like its soft jazzy sound.
Tenso package contents
NaNa Mizuki: Trickster
TSUYOSHI: ALL ABOUT LOVE
trigun the first donuts
You will have 14 days within the package’s arrival at Tenso.com to take advantage of the consolidation service. Make sure that you apply within 14 days as you will not be able to do so after.
Tenso sent me a notice saying I only had 2 days left to consolidate one of my packages. What does that mean? That means they’ll ship this CD by itself which costs about $20 by Express Mail Service (EMS). I was planning on buy-as-you-go from Amazon Japan. I still have 2 CDs that haven’t arrived at Tenso so I won’t be able to include them in the shipment. I’ll have to plan next time. I don’t want to get stuck paying $20 shipping just for one CD.
So I was forced to consolidate the 3 packages I have at Tenso now to avoid shipping one CD by itself. It came out to $35 or $12 dollars per CD. That’s still better than paying $60 dollars shipping them separately.
My package from Tenso arrived last week. My CDs arrived in a recycled Amazon Japan box. It was smaller than expected considering Tenso sent me a much larger box with the same amount of CDs last time. They charged me about a $1.50 more than last time but I think it has to do the way they counted the mini CDs. Maybe it was the weight of the Fist of the North Star OST since it was a double CD. I’m not sure. Anyways, shipping was about $57.00 or $8.00 per CD.
Tenso did a nice job on the packaging. The CDs were bundled then bubble wrapped. All the CDs arrived in very good condition as described by the sellers. The empty space inside the box was filled neatly with air pillows and industrial tissue paper. Tenso included the Amazon invoices from the original packages. Outside of the box was a sealed transparent pouch for the EMS (Express Mail Service) label, invoices, and customs form (Customs Form CN 23). If the Tenso site ever asks you a package value it’s for the customs form.
This is actually a Pachislot OST. I wanted the the OP “Ai wo Torimodose!!” and this CD has it for $8.00. It has all the full version OPs and EDs for Fist of the North Star. It also comes with a DVD containing footage from the Pachislot game. The picture I took shows a defect in the case. It’s cardboard bonded to a plastic film making it glossy. Well, that film is wrinkled on the front. I used Photoshop to take out the defect for my iTunes cover.
The case was shrink wrapped. Once I opened the case the plastic CD holders fell out. The glue used to bond them to the case did not stick. The CD and DVD were new. Both played fine. I didn’t count the case against the seller when leaving feedback. He might have mentioned it in the description. Bottom line: I bought it cheap.
I shouldn’t have put off buying this CD till now. The songs are actually pretty good and full versions. All of them made it to my play list except “Hoshizora Cycling.” Steffanie sings great. Her songs could fit in today’s music. I had a tough time tracking her down. Her real name is Steffanie Borges. Of course, I’ve seen Urusei Yatsura. That’s the case with most of the anime music I buy. As a bonus, I have DVD volume 50 which has all the OPs and EDs.
If a Japanese merchant fails to include the value of your package, Tenso cannot complete the necessary information for your Express Mail Service (EMS) package or the U.S. Customs form. Tenso also needs this information if you request insurance. Tenso will alert you with a pop-up to enter the package’s value.
Tenso: package value undefined
Click the package number and enter the package’s value. This might be difficult if you have more than one package missing values. In that case, check the merchant’s name, tracking number or date shipped.
Tenso: Edit package value
Japanese Express Mail package
I had five music CDs imported from Japan using Tenso shipping. I ordered them through Amazon Japan and had them shipped to Tenso. Once all of them arrived at Tenso, I “consolidated” my shipment into one package. Tenso literally opens up all your packages and puts the contents into one package which saves you money. My shipping cost was 3,570 yen ($45). Shipping them separately by Japanese Express Mail would have cost 8,450 yen ($106). Tenso shipped my package on May 23 and it arrived at my door 2 days later.
Kaleido Star: The First Amazing Mini Album
At-X Anime Gun Frontier OST
POWER DoLLS～Omni Senki 2540～
Gatekeepers TV Original Soundtracks
the Indigo: My Fair Melodies 2
I also ordered the Gungrave OST from Amazon U.S. used. Gungrave’s OP has striking visuals and a haunting melody. The CD’s artwork is eye-catching. Notice the stains on the jewel case. It washed off but this was sold on Amazon as “Used – Very Good.”
GUNGRAVE OST 1 Uno "Righthead"
Amazon notified me they shipped my order.
Tenso notified me they received my Amazon CD. My shipment will cost $20 U.S. I was surprised it was so much. That’s the same shipping fee Amazon Japan charges for Express Mail Service. From the testimonials, I’ve heard shipping was $5 dollars. Later that day I logged on to their site and paid for my shipping.
Tenso site: Package arrival
Tenso ships my order. They gave me a tracking number along with link to track it. I couldn’t get the link to work so I navigated the JP Post office site. This is the link to enter your tracking number: Individual International Mail Search by Item Number. As of now my package is still at the Tokyo post office. Tenso has a shipping calculator at the bottom of their page. I’ll keep posting Tenso follow ups.
JP post office tracking