JList

If you can imagine it, you can (or learn) to draw it. If you can draw it – or at least draw it well enough – people will buy it. And if you make it as sexy as possible, people will pay extra to get it. That is the running philosophy of the erotic anime industry and has led to sales not only of comic books, but also figurines, toys, full-length movies, and more. Unfortunately, there are not too many *quality* retailers for these kinds of products. However, there are still a few out there, and we have done a good deal of research in finding them. While their primary focus is not this, J-List does have one of the better retail deals on amorous anime – especially those which feature hardcore, hot smut.

The Japanimation Erotic Revolution Of The Late 20th Century

During the 1970s and 1980s, a wave of inspiration and talent exploded in Japan, which revolutionized its entertainment – specifically, its manga (read: comic book) and anime. During this time, stories became far more complex, characters were written to be far more interesting, and animation styles were far more facial expressive and bodily kinetic. Consequently, some manga and anime began to mature, targeting an older audience. Taking advantage of these breakthroughs and social norms, erotica enthusiasts who had a presence in Japan going back centuries, started to influence the entertainment industry. So, with this combination of factors, what had been kept relatively hidden came out into the mainstream. Called hentai, this form of Japanese-style erotic entertainment arose in popularity and acceptance both in the East and – eventually over the very end of the 1900s – in the West as well. As it spread around the world, this new super genre caught the fascination of a generation as well as a desire for products based on multiple series of anime, manga, and Japanimation franchises. Despite taking place also during the Dot Com boom, there were almost no good retailers for toys, figurines, manga, and anime VHS. Granted, there were almost no online retailers who were selling this kind of merchandise, or at least certainly, there were not too many dedicated to serving this niche. Fortunately, post-Y2K production companies finally caught on to the latest craze among younger people and began to manufacture products for independent online retailers to solicit to rabid and randy anime fans like J-list.

The Fruits Of This Fetish Are Interesting

To be clear, J-list is a general anime and manga, franchise retailer. However, their so-called Adults Corner is packed with plenty of erotic entertainment, toys, figures, and other fascinating items which all focus on Japanese animated franchises. Franchises include Mahou Kaiju, Taimanin Asagi, and tons of famous hentai. There are even sex toys that are marketed using cute anime girls and made of high-quality material. Beyond simple things like basic mastubators, there are sex pillows with anime girls'images plastered on them, advanced oral pumps, sophisticated penis vacuums, and even unisex vibrators if that tickles your phallus…or rather fancy. In addition to all of that, there are what we call sex life enhancers like lotions, lubes, and eggs.

You Can Get Bonus Points When Shopping, Too

While on the pricey side since they are shipped from Japan, there are some nice perks when it comes to ordering items from J-list. For example, you can get points or in-store credit when you purchase products on the site. The more expensive an item is, the more points you get. While this is nice, we find it strange that anonymous shipping can be purchased, it is an additional $5 purchase. Why do customers have to pay for anonymous shipping? After all, this is standard for the rest of the sex industry.

There Is A Bit Of A Language Slip Up

While not a big thing, there is a small yet amusing issue we have with J-List, and that is how they attempt to market to customers. Of course, in the modern era of globalization, all sorts of businesses – especially those who are multi-nationals – want to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. However, that does not mean that everyone who does can do so competently, or rather, adjust to certain language norms. We bring this up because J-list has a tenuous grasp on English. Some readable, other just decipherable, and a few confusing when it comes to figuring out what you are going to see in a particular DVD and manga, or the benefits of buying a particular sex toy.

On The Note Of Overselling

It is also worth pointing out that some product names can be a bit misleading – though, not in a deliberately fraudulent sense. For instance, one of our favorite items, called Churro Screw, appears in many parts of the subsite, and the specific thumbnail may load next to a porn video or sex toy. Based on the promotional image – which has a hentai girl posing suggestively surrounded mostly by Japanese characters – might make you think that it is a compilation of erotic movies. Sadly, that is not so. Happily, since this is a product which is a male masturbator enhancer, we are sure that most of you will find it to be a great perk when pulling on your prick while watching a porno. To sum up, this is one of those sites – at least for Westerners – we encourage people to not judge a title by its moniker and instead read about the actual content.

But There Still Is A Shocking Amount Of Variety

Yes, we are aware that hentai – not to mention everything erotic coming out of Japan – is known for its novelty. That said, this portion of this particular e-store does have a surprising range of erotic content on a single page, which took even us for a loop. For example, in addition to all of the animated amorous action, there are videos featuring live-action women of East Asian as well as Caucasian origin mostly in solo scenes, though some tend to spice it up by inviting some of their "sisters" to join them. Beyond that, there are women with apparently natural cup sizes along with those who either have had extensive breast modifications or are naturally, but seemingly unnaturally well-endowed. Whichever the case, we are sure that most of you will approve. Moving on, in scenes where a guy does show up to offer his phallus, he is largely kept in the background or even masked to keep you in the fantasy. Furthermore, there are a decent number of lesbian movies showing off live ladies doing what we are sure our readership loves to see them do best in their own way. As we are sure you might think, all of this can be seen in the hentai vids as well – however, in even more extreme forms. When we say that, we are referring to parodies of established anime, girls in fantasy "slave" costumes giving "it" all away, super-busted superheroines starring in fantastic fantasies, and, of course, ladies clad in extremely skimpy school uniforms. There are a few things even more erotic which we spotted – but do not include super strange stuff like tentacle porn or extreme gigantism – which may interest you also. Check out J-List and let us know if you caught the same smut that we did. Whether you liked it or only found it interesting, we are sure that most you will not have a problem with any of that.

And Now For The Mobile Experience

It is rare that we find a case where the mobile-optimized and desktop version of a web site are both great in their own right. Still, given its aesthetic and performance, we have to say that J-list is certainly one of them. On both versions, the conservative, but still effective white background, which has bright and colorful thumbnails of products and titles, works well on both versions. Further, while either version does a good job at promoting the enormous amount of erotic content J-list sells, they make navigating between different parts of the site is easy since both variations use similarly organized menus. The one thing that we find is a bit different is that the mobile version is even 'louder' when it comes to warning and advertising the more expletive aspects of certain products. To give you all more specific information, while the desktop has comparatively smaller promotional banners when certain items are on sale or feature clear erotic – through the use of very prominent and colorful banners – the mobile version very clearly advertises items on sale, those which are new, and (most prominently for some reason) products which are definitely pornographic.

For Those Who Are “Really” Into Oriental Erotica…

This is probably the one and only site you will want to do your shopping on since there are toys, figurines, posters, magazines, books, even snacks which are all anime-themed. And to make things even better, while they are not all categorized in the official Adult Corner, some of them really blur the line between fine art and filthy amorous material. Yes, we understand that a mainstream audience will not be as into J-lists wider selection compared to a minority of our viewers. However, we still think you all should check out the rest of the site just in case it piques your interest. We strongly suspect that with just a bit of digging J-list's "officially not adult but they are" products will be something you might like.

What We Like About J-List

While we are only reviewing a portion of this site, we have to say that there is a lot to go over. There are magazines featuring semi-nude women, videos with entirely naked Asian actresses, high-quality mastubators, and other sex toys. Though it should come as no surprise since all of them have an anime theme to them and that entire culture is positively sex-charged. Moving on, the overall design of the site is pleasing to the eye and not just because of all of the tastefully crafted erotic content. Indeed, we find that the clever use of pastels along with an appropriate web layout which leans towards minimalism helps sell the product. After all, no one wants, let alone needs, a distraction when shopping for smut or something coming close to it. On that note, there is a pleasant absence of ads, popups, and redirects. Yes, we are aware that is a minor bit of praise, better after having gone through the number of reviews that we have gone through, it is nice not to have to deal with or whinge about subpar web designer s trying to suck every penny out of every click. Finally, we have to bring attention to the most important part of the site: the product. While the price may be high on some, the quality is guaranteed to be on all. Furthermore, customer service seems to be relatively responsive to customer feedback, complaints, and general questions about J-list.

What We Hate About J-List

The biggest thing about this site is the price tag for almost everything! We understand the need to make money and how value is earned, but the cost for some items is a little extreme. For instance, we found an erotically posed figurine of C.C from Code Geass and were able to find Japanese retailers who, when adjusting for currency, were selling the same item for significantly less. Then there are individual magazines that cost the same as most video games after the first couple of price drops. Sure the periodicals in question are the best of the best when it comes to anime news and feature fantastic cover art. Still, we do not think that it is worth it to spend upwards of 16 USD to get access to information you can get online for free is worth it. We should also note that while it is not that common, you may come across an item that you want, only to find when you click on it that the listed product is sold out or unavailable.

How We Would Rework This Subsite

For one, we would include the Amazon system, or rather the same model which has been adopted since the beginning of this millennium – i.e., providing a system wherein customers can give accurate feedback. Our research indicates that at one point, J-list did have one, but they seemed to be biased, possibly due to paid reviews or some other trickery. At any rate, we would add a neutral rating system and comment feedback mechanism so that people can see what real consumers think. If anything, we would add a program that asks a buying customer to get some sort of review. Moving on, we would review the production costs of items, profit margins, and sales cuts since the prices on almost anything seem to be a little high. To be sure, we are not against anyone making money, and the quality of the items sold on J-list is top-notch. That said, it does seem like this site takes an Electronic Arts approach to selling something – that being, demand as much money as you can get.

Who Is (This Part) Of J-list For?

Clearly, this site is intended to cater to randy anime fans. Nonetheless, there are some nice perks when you shop on this site. The amount of erotic content is surprisingly enormous as are the sex toys, which is a bit more diverse than even we thought we would find. While the quality of the products is high, the price is as well, and there are some minor issues we would clean up. Still, this site is worth looking at if you are Japanophile or just interested in upgrading your sex toy collection. For these reasons, we give J-list a solid four out of five hands with our solid recommendation.