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πŸ›’ Where to Get Japanese Visual Novels

This page lists sources to buy or download untranslated Japanese VNs, whether commercial or doujin.

Note: Many of these sites are in Japanese and may feature explicit content. Some stores require Japanese payment methods or addresses.

πŸͺ Commercial Stores

Recommended:

  • DLsite
    Massive library of indie/doujin and commercial VNs. Has adult and all-ages sections. Accepts overseas payments. Pages with certain tags may be region blocked, but this can be bypassed with a VPN. Generally recommended for most overseas customers.

Other Sources:

  • DMM / FANZA
    Major distributor of digital VNs and eroge. Often includes trials and discounts.

  • Getchu
    Online store for physical and digital eroge. Often used for preorders.

  • Gyutto
    Another digital platform with a wide range of VNs and doujin games.

  • Melonbooks
    Focused on doujin goods and games. Some digital VNs available, especially short/experimental titles. Making an account requires a Japanese phone number.

  • Booth (by Pixiv)
    Doujin creators sometimes sell short VNs here. Search for γƒŽγƒ™γƒ« or ADV tags and check the PCγ‚²γƒΌγƒ  category.

πŸ†“ Free Doujin Visual Novels

  • NovelGame.jp
    Free platform for indie/doujin VNs. Often made with TyranoScript. Search by tag, rating, play length, etc.

  • Freem!
    Hosts a wide variety of Japanese free games, including visual novels and hybrids. Check the γƒŽγƒ™γƒ«γ‚²γƒΌγƒ  category or search manually.

πŸ—ƒ Archives & Preservation

These are listed for preservation/discovery purposes only. Please support creators when possible :)

Recommended:

  • Anime-Sharing β€” Forum-based hub for sharing VNs and related media. Many releases originate here and are often clean rips from DLsite. Focuses on DDL sharing, but offers torrents as well. Make sure sort by new to find working links.

  • Nyaa.si β€” Public torrent tracker with many visual novels. Check here for popular SFW titles.

  • Sukebei Nyaa β€” NSFW side of of Nyaa, popular for eroge and nukige uploads.

  • Shinnku β€” Chinese visual novel resource site offering a wide range of Japanese titles. The site is organized, regularly updated, and supports downloads for Windows, Android, and other platforms. Check out the η”Ÿθ‚‰ι›†εˆ section for raw VNs sorted by release date.

  • H-Suki β€” Adult-oriented DDL site with VN downloads and patches. Great for older and rare titles. Impressive PC-98 collection. Requires a login to download, but links from here are pretty much guaranteed to work.

  • Internet Archive β€” Huge digital library. Great for older obscure titles. The Neo Kobe collection is an essential for anyone interested in PC-98 games.

Other Sources:

  • AnimeBytes β€” Private torrent tracker with a games section. Invite required. For some reason, doujin works are not allowed, so generally not the best source for rare titles.

  • Ryuugames β€” Frequently updated blog with links to Japanese VNs. Keep in mind that their "Japanese (Raw)" section doesn't actually filter out translated games. May be more convenient than other sources due to the inclusion of Google Drive and OneDrive links.

  • Ryuublogger β€” Similar to Ryuugames, but appears inactive.

  • Mikocon β€” Chinese forum-style site with a section for Japanese eroge and VNs. Useful source for finding cracks for games with DRM, as many of them originate here.

  • GGBases β€” Chinese mirror of Nyaa with added metadata like tags, images, and CG gallery links. May help with browsing or previewing content.

  • bt.orzx.im β€” Chinese torrent board hosting "2D. G.F." releases, often including VNs, CG sets, and other otaku content.

  • Akiba-Online β€” Another DDL forum similar to Anime-sharing.

  • Hentai-Sharing β€” DDL site that clones releases from Anime-sharing. May have working links when the originals go down.

  • Hentai-Share β€” Another DDL site that copies releases from Anime-sharing.

  • VivaHentai4u β€” Same as above.

  • Otomi Games β€” Another DDL site.

  • Hentai4Daily β€” Another one.

Looking for console games? Check out the r/ROMs megathread for everything you need.

πŸ•΅οΈ General Search Tips

  • Use exact search terms
    Searching the game title in quotes (e.g. "game title" "download" or "game title" "Rapidgator") can help surface direct links. Quotes force an exact match in most search engines.

  • Try using romaji
    Some uploads only use romaji instead of kanji/kana. Searching both versions can yield different results.

  • Use multiple search engines
    Google doesn’t always show everything. DuckDuckGo or Bing can sometimes uncover links that don’t appear elsewhere.

  • Check VNDB release pages
    For doujin or lesser-known visual novels, the VNDB releases page or discussions tab might list file names or host links. Users sometimes upload to MEGA and only share the link there without a homepage.

  • Use adblock
    Many file hosting or third-party download pages are overloaded with misleading ads or popups. Using uBlock Origin is strongly recommended for safety and sanity.

DDL sites (like Anime-Sharing or Mikocon) host links on cloud services such as:

  • Mega.nz
  • Rapidgator
  • MediaFire
  • Pixeldrain
  • Mixdrop

These are often called β€œpremium links” or β€œmirror links" and some may either throttle download speeds or prevent downloading without a premium account.

Tips:

  • Links may go down over time. Try alternate mirrors or check newer posts.
  • Some links have limits (e.g. Google Drive quota).
  • Occasionally, these are behind shortlink redirects or ad pages. Skip them carefully, and avoid clicking on any ads.
  • Download managers like JDownloader or Motrix can help with bulk or large downloads by merging split releases and automatically handling file extraction.
  • Use a VPN if links are region-locked.

These mirrors are one reason sites like Shinnku or Ryuugames may be more convenient than older DDL forums. If you are committed to being a free user, these tools may help you bypass certain restrictions. If you are someone like me who downloads obscure games frequently, pairing a debrid service like Real-Debrid or Debrid-Link with JDownloader may be ideal. However, this is not recommended for the average user. Do not let anyone convince you that you must spend a lot of money to learn with your favorite games. It is often simply a matter of finding the right link.

πŸ’³ Notes on Buying from Japan

  • You may need a Japanese address (e.g. Tenso) or proxy service (e.g. Zenmarket, Neokyo, Buyee, White Rabbit).
  • Most proxy services will refuse to buy digital goods, but you can always check with their customer support.
  • Some stores do not sell to overseas accounts. Use a Japanese VPN or proxy if needed.