Dōjinshi

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Dōjinshi (同人誌? Dōjinshi, often transliterated as Doujinshi) are self-published Japanese or English works, usually manga or novels. They are often the work of amateurs, though some professional artists participate as a way to publish material outside the regular industry. The term dōjinshi is derived from dōjin (同人? dōjin), literally "same person", used to refer to a person or persons with whom one shares a common goal or interest) and shi (誌?), a contraction of zasshi, meaning "magazine"). Dōjinshi are part of a wider category of dōjin including but not limited to art collections, anime, hentai and games. Groups of dōjinshi artists refer to themselves as a circle (サークル sākuru?). A number of such groups actually consist of a single artist: they are sometimes called kojin circles (個人サークル? personal circles).

Dōjinshi are made by artists or writers who prefer to publish their own materials. Avid fans of dōjinshi attend regular dōjinshi conventions, the largest of which is called Comiket (short for "Comic Market") held in the summer and winter in Tokyo's Big Sight. Here, over 20 acres of dōjinshi are bought, sold, and traded by attendees. Dōjinshi creators who based their materials on other creators' works normally publish in small numbers to maintain a low profile from litigation. This makes a talented creator's or circle's dōjinshi a coveted commodity as only the fast or the lucky will be able to get them before they sell out.

Over the last decade, the practice of creating dōjinshi has expanded significantly, attracting thousands of creators and fans alike. Advances in personal publishing technology have also fueled this expansion by making it easier for dōjinshi creators to write, draw, promote, publish, and distribute their works. For example, some dōjinshi are now published on digital media. Furthermore, many dōjinshi creators are moving to online download and print-on-demand services, while others are beginning to distribute their works through American channels such as anime shop websites and specialized online direct distribution sites.

During the 1980s, the content of dōjinshi shifted from being predominantly original content to being mostly parodic of existing series.[1]

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[edit] Perception

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In Western cultures, dōjinshi is often perceived to be derivative of existing work, analogous to fan fiction and almost completely pornographic. This is partly true: dōjinshi are often, though not always, parodies or alternative storylines involving the worlds of popular manga or anime series, and many of them feature overtly sexual material.

[edit] Categories of dōjinshi

Like their mainstream counterparts, dōjinshi are published in a variety of genres and types. However, due to the target audience, certain themes are more prevalent, and there are a few major division points by which the publications can be classified.

As in fanfics, a very popular theme to explore is non-canonical pairings of characters in a given show (for dōjinshi based on mainstream publications). Many such publications contain yaoi or yuri (that is, homosexual) motives, either as a part of non-canon pairings, or as a more direct statement of what can be hinted by the main show. A prime example of such a show with yuri overtones, although never explicitly named, is Maria-sama ga Miteru, appropriately a target of many dōjinshi.

A major part of dōjinshi, whether based on mainstream publications or original, contains sexually explicit material, due to both the large demand for such publications and absence of restrictions official publishing houses have to follow. Indeed, often the main point of a given dōjinshi is to present an explicit version of a popular show's characters. Such works may be known to English speakers as "H-dōjinshi", in line with the former Japanese use of letter H to denote erotic material. The Japanese usage, however, has since moved towards the word ero [2], and so ero manga (エロ漫画?) is the term almost exclusively used to mark dōjinshi with adult themes. Sometimes they will also be termed "for adults" (成人向け seijin muke?) or 18-kin (18禁?) (an abbreviation of 18歳未満禁止 "forbidden to minors less than 18 years of age"). To differentiate, ippan (一般? , "general", from the general public it is suitable for) is the term used for publications absent of such content.

[edit] Comiket

Comiket is the world's largest comic convention. It is held twice a year in Tokyo, Japan. The first CM was held in December 1975, with only about 32 participating circles and an estimated 600 attendees. About 80% of these were female, but male participation in Comiket increased later.[1] Attendance has since swelled to over a quarter of a million people. Many attendants come to exchange and/or sell their dōjinshi.

[edit] Famous dōjinshi authors/Circles

  • Clamp started out as a dōjinshi group of 11 known as Clamp Cluster.
  • Ken Akamatsu, creator of manga such as Love Hina and Negima, continues to make dōjinshi which he sells at Comiket under the pen-name Awa Mizuno.
  • Rikdo Koshi, creator of the manga Excel Saga, originally started out as a dōjinshi artist.
  • Nanae Chrono, creator of the manga Peacemaker Kurogane, has published multiple Naruto dōjinshi, most of a yaoi nature.
  • Maki Murakami, creator of Gravitation and Gamers' Heaven. Her circle Crocodile Ave. created Remix Gravitation AKA Rimigra and Megamix Gravitation is one of the most graphic hard yaoi dōjinshi to be found.
  • Monkey Punch, creator of Lupin III began as a dōjinshi artist.
  • Artist Nobuteru Yuki sells dōjinshi based on his animated works under his pen-name "The Man in the High Castle".
  • Yukiru Sugisaki, author of D.N.Angel and The Candidate for Goddess, started as a dōjinka. She realized dōjinshi about King of Fighters, Evangelion, etc. All were gag dōjinshi.
  • Yun Kouga, a longtime published mangaka and creator of two well-known BL series, Earthian and Loveless, got her start creating dōjinshi for series such as Gundam Wing.
  • Yoshitoshi ABe has published some of his original works as dōjinshi, such as Haibane Renmei. He cited the reason as, essentially, not wanting to answer to anyone about his work, especially because he saw it as so open ended.
  • Hajime Ueda the creator of Q.Ko-Chan and novelisation of FLCL.
  • Rumiko Takahashi- Began drawing doujinshi before being discovered
  • Crimson Comics, a circle (or maybe even one person) of dōjinshi author(s) who have made well over 50 H-dōjin on well over 20 different series, ranging from the popular to the obscure, such as One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Black Cat, Final Fantasy, and more.
  • Masaki Kajishima, creator of Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki, has long used the dōjinshi format to produce additional information about the series he has created, primarily Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki and Tenchi Muyo! GXP. These dōjinshi can either be completely filled with his work, or he will contribute a work to the dōjinshi title. Kajishima-sensei's dōjinshi works break down into one (or more) types of works: manga-style (where he illustrates a new story, usually with limited text), interviews, early drafts of scripts for the series (giving fans great insight into the creative process), storyboards drawn by Kajishima-sensei that ultimately were not animated, story notes (or short stories) giving further little details of various characters, situations, or places in Kajishima-sensei's World of Tenchi. As of this writing, Kajishima-sensei does two dōjinshi titles a year under the circle names "Kajishima Onsen" and "Kamidake Onsen". He has also used these to communicate with fans about his current projects, namely the Saint Knights Tale spinoff anime featuring Tenchi's half-brother and the GXP novels.
  • Datendou, the pseudonym for Nagase Yuuki, created hentai doujins for the Dead or Alive and Rumble Roses series, titling them DOA Lost Eden 00-11 and Jumble Roses 1-2, Endless Desire 00-03, Kasumi Cullus, Ayane Culls, and Ragna Cross. His website is http://daten.maid.ne.jp .
  • Shimoyakedou, a circle created by Tokiichi Ouma, author of over 30 H-dōjinshi mostly parodying the Tsukihime and Fate/stay night series.

[edit] See also

[edit] Related concepts

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Wilson, Brent; Toku, Masami. "Boys' Love," Yaoi, and Art Education: Issues of Power and Pedagogy 2003
  2. ^ Article on the term "hentai" explains the differences between Japanese and English usage.

[edit] External links

  • Doujinshi Online: Reference site with circle/artist listings
  • Passion: Popular dōjinshi fanlisting site
  • Doujinshi DB: Huge user-submitted database of dōjinshi artists, circles, and books, including name translations
  • Ultimate Anime Doujinshi: U.S. dōjinshi site with search page listing information on several thousands dōjinshi and large message board.